Types of Bassists (Part 2)

The Country Gentleman – This type of bass player is common throughout country, bluegrass and rockabilly. More often than not you will see them with an upright bass in hand.  Generally their style is similar to the meat and potatoes bassist, with tons of root notes and lots of driving rhythm. Often times these bassists will add a bit of flair with some walking lines, string popping (especially in rockabilly) or maybe even a bit of classical bow technique, but generally they just hold down the beat while the rest of the musicians let loose. A good example of this style of bass playing would be upright powerhouse Paul Kowert of the Punch Brothers.

The Walking Jazz Man – This species of bassist occupies a school of musical theory beyond that of the everyday pop song. You can often here them navigating between the complex chords, rhythms and melodies of jazz standards. The key to this style is the walking technique (which is akin to that of ska music). Instead of staying on one note or playing a riff these bassists will walk from chord to chord with the notes of a musical scale. A good example of this type of bassist is the jazz genius Charles Mingus

The Bass God – Jaco Pastorius. Ever heard of him? If you play bass and you haven’t heard of him give up on music and sell your instrument. He is only the greatest bassist of all time hands down. Yes James Jamerson can stop tame the soul with one finger. Yes Victor Wooten can melt your face. Yes Stanley Clarke can rearrange your anatomy.  But Jaco can turn musical water into wine.

Mr. Pastorius invented everything that is modern bass. He could play entire songs with harmonic notes that don’t even exist on a six string guitar, let alone a bass. His rapid fire technique could take on the mutually exclusive rhythmic and melodic qualities of the bass guitar at the same time. Not to mention he invented the first fretless Fender Jazz bass. He was an absolutely brilliant, until of course in 1987 when the security guards at one of his gigs beat him to death because they didn’t know who he was. And people wonder why I feel the need to write this blog.

The Trials and Tribulations of a Singing Bassist

Early on in my quest to start a band and woo the fairer sex I realized that bass players go unnoticed more often than not and I set out to figure out what I could do to remedy this. In my research I discovered a common factor that connected all the famous bass players (with the exception of maybe Flea): every single one of them sings. Therefore the only way I could achieve my goal was to become that rare species of singing bass player. Unfortunately for me, it did not take long to realize why singing bass players were so uncommon.

Now I’m sure everyone has seen somebody sing and play a normal guitar. I’d say 80% of singers can sing while strumming a few chords or maybe playing a bit of piano, though rarely is one seen hanging out in the low end and the melody. I thought bass is just like guitar right? This should be easy. You just play notes and sing and next thing you know you are famous right? Well it turns out playing bass and singing is akin to playing operation without looking while reciting Shakespearean verse. If you don’t believe me try it for yourself.

I attempted song after song, but it was to no avail. I figured maybe I’m just not good enough. To test my hypothesis I picked up a guitar and learned a couple chords and literally within 15 minutes I could play and sing any song consisting of the chords G, C, D and E minor which any musician would tell you is the chord progression for just about every song ever.

I was completely baffled at this point. Why couldn’t I just sing while playing music like all the guitarists out there? The answer lies in some technical music mumbo-jumbo which basically comes down to the bass part of a song counters the melody (the sung part) of the song and the brain has quite a bit of trouble doing two opposing actions at once. So now the real question is how in the world do these people do it?

Thus began my obsession. I poured over hours and hours of Geddy Lee, Paul McCartney, and Sting with a new found respect for what they were able to do. All three of them completely blew me away with their abilities. Then a girl by the name of Esperanza Spalding came in to my life. This Grammy winning jazz singer and bass player absolutely obliterated what I thought was possible in the realm of singing and bass playing.

With the divine inspiration I received from these bassists and their styles I painstakingly taught myself to play and sing. It eventually just came down to learning a song to the point it was muscle memory. After 5 or so years I could finally do it consistently. Even today after doing it for years I still find it challenging, but my bass heroes are testament that it is indeed doable.