Help! Bass player wants to move up!

[lowtone2]

Show me a bored bass player, and i'll show you a bass player who is not doing his job. Whether you are walking or playing 1/5 or whatever, the notes are way less important than getting a good sound and the Time. Time is not a simple thing. You should be subdividing every beat, sometimes with a triplet feel, sometimes straight, looking for a feel that grooves, and every note's end is just as important as its beginning. The beat is a circle, not a point.

You have to set up the other players and try to make them hear a groove that works, that makes people want to move. That's difficult, because mandolin, banjo, guitarist and fiddlers are primarily thinking about what notes they are playing and where they can stick a G run. But the most important thing going on in a bg band is rhythm. BG is about rhythm.

Even if you are playing roots and 5ths, you can be melodic, and you should always be thinking about exactly how every note sounds against the melody note, and how the lines are moving. The bass line even in a BG tune should have a contour, and your note choices can provide or enhance the tension and release in the song. There is plenty to think about, and you have to make the right choice every time.

There are many great players to listen to, too many to list, but just pay attention to Barry Bales on a few AKUS tunes to start. That sound is built from the bottom up!

Yes, it's easy to just stand there and play root five on three chords, or even walk the three or four chords, but that is not getting it done. If you hear a band that sounds good or bad, and you're not exactly sure why, it's the bass player.