Here’s my latest No Treble bass lesson on how to play across the bar line. Understanding these concepts begins to create an elasticity in your groove and feel. This will enable you to phrase your lines with greater freedom and ease. Many bass players are completely in the dark when it comes to rhythmic variation and much of it is left up to chance.
Don’t be a ‘chancer’- instead start learrning what is common vocabulary for any drummer. There’s a myth going around that drummers are the only musicians that are responsible for laying down and keeping the time. This is a false narrative! Everybody is responsible for keeping the time. You must be able to understand how the rhythmic subdivisions that you are playing are felt against the pulse- period!
I have a very in-depth rhythm program that’s broken down from basic to advanced levels on my bass membership site. There is also a complete section in my sight reading book on Rhythm Systems, which is unparalelled. If you feel this is a weak area for you, then check out the video and then follow that up by checking out my sight reading book, along with a month’s membership at http://www.joehubbardbassvideos.com/.
Buckle Up!
Joe
P.S. Click Here for the link to the transcrption.
Hi Joe,
So nice to read that : “There’s a myth going around that drummers are the only musicians that are responsible for laying down and keeping the time. This is a false narrative! Everybody is responsible for keeping the time”
As a drummer (learning bass), this “time keeper part” is something I really hate, this just forbides me from really playing. I’ve always considered that every musician should be able to play in time by himself.
As always, great lesson. Keep on this way Joe.
Cheers
JJ
Salut Jean-Jacques,
I’m a bassist with little experience drumming. Nevertheless, you are absolutely correct! Also, in jazz with walking bass lines, it’s has been said that the bassist is the time keeper–as the drummer is often embellishing and supporting others’ embellishments. Meanwhile, bassist is defaulting to 1/4 notes as a rule of thumb.
In any case, a groove is a consensus on what’s happening with the time and how to articulate it (on top/behind the beat, etc.). Without that, for me, playing becomes less of a pleasure and more of a chore. The good news is that when the groove IS happening, it’s pure bliss!
Having said that, musicians who have been identified by the word professional, may still have challenges in these areas without knowing — and without accepting any implications of it.