How to Drastically Change (and Hopefully Improve) Your Bass Playing Forever

by Andrew Reilly
November 7, 2008 - 12:52am

There's a dirty little secret in most musical circles that, while remarkably important to any fully functioning rhythm section, bass players tend to get ignored and passed over far more often than any other member of any rock outfit. For all their anthems and platinum records, nobody would know the name of any of Journey's bass players if Randy Jackson hadn't later landed the American Idol gig. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant were so synonymous with their old band that they staged the first Led Zeppelin reunion without bassist John Paul Jones. Were it not for one of the most distinct voices in rock, Geddy Lee would most likely be known only as "the other guy in Rush."

But why? The problem isn't that bass is inherently worthless (it's not) nor is the problem that people don't like bass (they do). Unfortunately, versatility and style go a long way with most fans and musicians, and bass is simply not an instrument usually synonymous with experimentation. Sure, there are a few standouts who made themselves famous with their low-end skills and others who were simply in proximity to more prominent frontmen, guitar players and drummers; everyone knows who Steven Tyler and Joe Perry are, but who among us knows Aerosmith's bass player from memory?

The good news is this: the power to change this sits entirely within reach. . . or at least the power to try to change this. How? By changing your entire approach in a few easy steps. The simple nature of bass makes expansion a snap, and this simplicity also means minor tweaks can unlock some major possibilities.

One of the great debates, at least among electric bass players, is which means of attack is the one true method of playing the instrument: to pick or not to pick? The picking crowd will argue there is greater precision in using the plectrum; the non-picking crowd will say they have control over more of the instrument at any given moment, and then kick dirt by saying pick-users don't really know how to play bass. The politically correct answer is that both groups are right, but the full answer includes the fact that they're both wrong as well.

If you're using a pick, try playing without. No one's saying it's time to learn those John Myung-style (who?) tapped bass chords, but the slap and pop of a manual attack may open new avenues of musical exploration when you're able to devise and hear a fuller bass arrangement. For pick-free players, adopting a pick and limiting yourself to a mere one note at a time will force a more economical way of thinking about bass lines. The specific results of either experiment may not be applicable, but with time the lessons could prove infinitely useful.

More drastically (and considerably more expensive) than simply changing the attack, why not change the instrument altogether? The thick string gauge allows bass manufacturers the luxury of crafting fretless basses, whose uninterrupted fretboard (or lack thereof) creates a considerably more fluid slide motion designed for groove rather than punctuation, which can considerably change the role the bass is playing in your arrangements.

Or, to take that a step further, why not actually learn one of the other instruments in your band? This may seem redundant and almost pointless, because how could someone learning guitar or drums inform their bass playing? In terms specific to bass guitar chops the impact may be non-existent, but by willfully adopting another musician's perspective you can suddenly put your bass playing in the context of how your bandmates' instruments fit into the music you're making.

Another option, depending how adventurous you are with your bass sound, is to employ effects and digital signal processing. Most people equate things like chorus, wah pedals, delay and the like with lead instruments such as guitar and keyboards, but in reality any signal chain based in instrument cable is fair game for this kind of audio manipulation. Flanged bass may sound like a strange, but that's exactly the point; when you're not hearing the same old thing, you won't react in the same old fashion.

Mike Watt (who's that?) took this idea one step further and actually brought a second bass player aboard, hiring Kira Roessler (never heard of her) to form the intermittently-recording Dos. Their arrangements and songs weren't always great, but their sound and eclectic selection of cover songs ensured their results were always at least interesting. It should be noted that in addition to writing songs and releasing albums every few years, the two also dated, married, and divorced. These last three steps may not be advisable for all bass duos.

Like any instrument worth playing, bass is worth exploring down as many avenues as possible and is often the most overlooked in terms of both sonic and musical direction. Your results may not all be keepers, but don't worry about that. No one ever notices what the bass player's up to anyway.

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