I was reading an old article by Paul Romanko the resident bass player for Shadows Fall,in the now defunct Bass Guitar Mag.SF is one of a very few metal bands I follow because they are original in their work and have a bass sound that keeps the bottom down better than most.And they decided to go the indie route finally.
http://shadowsfall.com
Okay,Paul talked about his role as a bass player and the fact that bass playing is about keeping the foundation down,in the pocket in a way that keeps everything in sync.Yet when the phrasing gives you an opening you can improvise and still stay in the pocket with going some where else.
I hope that makes sense to all you bottom feeders out there.It will to veterans who are playing gigs and doing regular session work live or in the studio.When you keep the foundation or bottom when you play a complicated lick your playing will complement the lead more.
A lot of rock and metal bass axemen seem to play beyond the tempo which turns the song in side out and makes it difficult to get back to the original riff or lick the song was based on.
If more bass players learned basic blues,country and jazz their playing would take on simple and more technical techniques to stretch their ability as players.Even learning to cop bottom-feeder techniques such as applying lead guitar picking and fretting--yet keeping the bottom in place will serve you well when auditioning,,jamming,playing live or doing sessions in the studio.
I hope these bottom feeder principles will help you in your career as a bass player.
Mark Grove--Create value for other musicians and your career will soar forever.
mdgrove@rock.com
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