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Post by badfish051 on Sept 14, 2009 10:23:44 GMT -5
I have been playing bass now for a little under a year (proud to say that Roger Waters was one of my main influences) and I am reaching the point where I am starting to feel embarrassed that I am still unable to sing and play with any real proficiency. I know that there are plenty of bass players that simply cannot play and sing, and that rhythm and melody are hard to coordinate... But at the same time I see that so many of my favorite bass players do sing and play. Geddi Lee, Les Claypool, Roger Waters, Eric Wilson...
So Eroc, my question to you is: What exercises or practice methods do you recommend for the aspiring bassist/vocalist?
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Post by Eroc on Sept 15, 2009 23:57:03 GMT -5
Practice? Exercise?
Huh?!?!? lol....
I don't really get the chance to do much of that these days - except for the one-armed Jagermeister lifts!
But seriously, the best way to get better at playing any instrument is to get out there and GIG and play music live with other people (after learning the tunes at home, of course). For singing and playing, it's just a matter of going over it and going over it again & again... I've gone both routes of learning the words & music separately, as well as learning them both at the same time, and I can't really tell ya what is better/easier/more efficient/more effective - you'll have to find out on your own what works best for you. Looking back at my history of learning tunes - for me, I think the songs get more ingrained into my head if I learn the lyrics first, then tackle the music... but that's not always true, I've also learned tunes the other way around too.
It's so much easier now to learn the correct lyrics of songs, due to the internet... back in the day, it was always a job to have to transpose lyrics from songs, half the time we would get words wrong & wonder what the hell they were singing, LOL....
I hope that helps... the more time you put into it, the more you will get out of it. And try, as often as possible, to play with other people (get out of your bedroom!) whenever you can - that really is the best way to learn - do your homework & learn the tunes to the best of your ability, then get out there and thrash it out with other players... it's not always easy, you may have to deal with people that aren't on your level... but if you find players that are on or above your level, you can only get better!
I hope that makes some sense - now I gotta get back to practicing some more of those Jager arm lifts!
Cheers!
Eroc
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Post by badfish051 on Sept 17, 2009 10:28:18 GMT -5
LMAO at the Jager lifts... I may or may not be familiar with those exercises myself... Haha.
I see what you are saying, but does it ever get to the point where you can learn the words and the bass of a song simultaneously? Or is it always going to be that two pronged approach until I'm gray?
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Post by Eroc on Sept 17, 2009 11:54:49 GMT -5
Definitely, simultaneous works too - as I said, I do that as well. The key is just to go over it so much until it becomes ingrained. Another exercise I've always done is listen to the radio a lot (especially when driving) and sing along with the vocals, and listen to the bass parts... they may be songs that you'll never play or want to play, but it will help train your ears to pick out parts, and make you a better player & singer. Also, I like to make up harmony vocal parts that aren't there, just to train my ear more as well. Especially fun doing that with Beatles songs.  The more diverse & knowledgeable you are on different styles within a genre, and different genres themselves - the more you'll grow as a player, and the more gigs you'll be able to get. Just my 2 cents! Eroc |
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Post by PLPFJunior on Oct 13, 2009 10:53:53 GMT -5
I've been playing for 8 years now and I still struggle a lot with playing and singing simultaneously when the bass lines get a bit more complex or irregular with where the notes hit.....esp if I have to rest on 1 and play on an "e, and, or uh"......so guys like Geddy Lee and Les Claypool (and Eroc...Dave too) are a bit freakish to me with their abilities to seemingly sing and play independently of each other. It's like their brains are split in two with each side taking one action. Obviously, I also suck at multi-tasking (and druming.....I can't do feet and hands at the same time (proficiently)....yet, but I don't really try but twice a year lol).
An alternative is what I discovered Mike Gordon does almost all the time......he really simplifies what he's playing when he sings and immediately jumps back in to whatever he was playing before he sang--it's kinda humorous. The small drop out really isnt that noticable mainly because the vocals are filling the space. Maybe he does it to give the vocals room.....or maybe he also struggles to play complex and sing (altho his version of simple and mine differ quite a bit as with most bass players LOL).
Very cool that someone asked this question tho! And I am also going to be trying the listening for basslines while singing with the radio......that has thusfar seemed like a pretty good brain-training exercise! Thanks Roc!
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