Whenever I've played w/other people, it's always been w/ the bassist. I set tempo, they drive the rhythm, trombones and saxes follow along, my band teacher goes crazy cause we're playing faster than he wants us to, it's all good.
Yesterday, the bassist in my band and I were working on matching my kick hits with his picking pattern. Later when we were playing through our songs, I realized the reason he wanted to work on this is because when we are playing our songs, my kick and the rhythm guitarist strumming pattern were synchronized. So rather than the bass and drums matched up and grooving, it's guitar and drums. I think the reason is because I have been playing with the guitarist for 5 or 6 years now while this bassist has only been in the band for a few months now. In the absence of bass, I synchronized with the rhythm guitar.
I'm guessing most people set the groove with bass and drums, but I was wondering if anyone else locks on to the groove of a specific band member or instrument when you are playing and why do you play to that person rather than someone else in the band?
Whenever I've played w/other people, it's always been w/ the bassist. I set tempo, they drive the rhythm, trombones and saxes follow along, my band teacher goes crazy cause we're playing faster than he wants us to, it's all good.
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You know, I thought I was the odd man out here. I do exactly as you do for very similar reasons. I lock in with the guitar 95% of the time. Why? Well he is an original member and until we recruited our current bass player (2.5 years ago) we had bass players who weren't very good. They couldn't be counted on to lock in with.
Now, I noticed one day at practice when I focused on our bass player's right hand and lock in with it the songs are really tight.
If you can develope a symbiotic relationship with the bass, it will get you through anything you have to play.
Bass....alot of small bands that did NOT have a drummer(mostly old three pc ) use the bassist as the beat...take for instance Elvis...he had another guitar and bass player at first at sun records..drums added later.
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I lock with guitarist quit a bit myself, but then I now I have a awesome bass player again, so I'm locking back in with the bass.
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I used to lock in with the bass player, but then there was a bit of a line up change. Our current bass player is not as experienced, so I tend to lock in with the rhythm guitar. Hopefully, the lock with the bass player will return.
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Just depends on the situation for me. If behind the kit, and I'm with a strong bassist, of course we lock in. But if the bass ain't that great, then I'll lock in with who has the strongest sense of tempo and timing....it might be the guitarist, it might be someone else. I've also worked with a handful of singers that possess a really strong sense of rhythm, and of course you might find that they are former drummers themselves or they have a great sense of timing on the piano or guitar. I think it might be a cultural thing, but I've rarely met a Latino musician with bad timing...loads of them seem to play some sort of percussion instrument as well as their main one....one of my sax mates was like that, he had a bass playing background, played piano and also owned a couple of hand drums. And there was a gig I did filling in for a band of Latinos who were also doing rock originals.....I really had to do my rhythmic homework at first, and really locked in with the bassist, they're all great people.
Speaking of percussion....as a percussionist, one major job is to lock in with the rhythm section, so I have to groove with the drummer and bassist. Mind you, that would be if I was playing Latin stuff with congas, timbales and other rhythmic toys. But percussion roles are so varied. I have to keep up with hand techniques for a variety of drums, so there's the rhythmic aspect. But when you have to add 'colours'.....all the stuff like shakers, windchimes and other bits and pieces, that's when you may or may not choose to lock in with a particular player (so long as I'm not stepping over the vocals and other important melodic, harmonic and rhythmic parts). And when I get the rare chance to do melodic percussion (marimba, vibes etc) then that's totally different. Some parts lock in, like a repetitive pattern, arpeggio up and down the scale or other kinds of motif, but other parts won't necessarily be. Again, it depends on the piece, but it's certainly a very different discipline and balance to get right.
Last edited by Drumbledore; 03-24-2013 at 08:21 AM.
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Somewhat similar to Drumbledore, I think it depends on the song/genre.
Completely depends on the song with my band. I follow the bass a lot, or he follows me; but other times it just sounds a bit cooler if I lock in with a synth pattern or guitar part. There are also a few instances where the bass player and I intentionally play against each other to create a certain dynamic...
So, to me, it completely depends on what kind of music you're playing and , probably, who you're playing with.
I groove with the bass player, it helps that he's also a drummer.
I like to groove with all of them. I think it helps get to know the individuals more, their styles and tastes. Many times we improvise and do just this, playing off of each other. I'd have to admit though, I like playing off the long time friend lead guitarist when he goes off sometimes and try to duplicate it....sorta.
the drums, bass and rhythm guitar are the rhythm section of the band ,you must be tight with them. if the 3 of you are together ,the rest of the members have a great foundation to build on . if the rhythm section isnt tight your band will suffer.
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I love to lock in with the bass especially when it's not overplayed which I feel personally is the way hard rock bass should be played. It just makes the song so much cooler. The bassist I play with now is an awesome player and sings on top of it. So is our guitarist. Lots of fun and super cool dudes. I love you guys man!
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Groove with everyone if possible. Rhythmically lock to the bass, but dynamically take cues from the vocalist and guitar and/or keys.
all the best...
Typically, I'd groove with the bass player. The guys I jam with now, the bass player is the weakest link. I find him eye-balling the guitar player alot because he dosen't know the material or the chord changes and never bothers to learn them at home; frustrating to say the least. If we had a stronger bass player, the rhythm section would be totally locked in so I find myself grooving to guitars.
Well, I'm locked with the bassist in my rock band "Brainstorm shadow". He's not the most experimented, but he get a good timekeeping. Since we're coached by a professional bassist in the context of a collective project and my dad, who's and experimented guitarist... They all recommend me and the bass to be tightly locked in. And that's how it's work generally, as we all know.
When I play in duet with my dad, generally I locked me in his time (he can be insanely tight and HE decide of the tempo like random if we start a kinda traditionnal jazzy improvisation^^) and we both follow the metronome while practicing. Sometimes he ask me to lead him, cause I have to lead other musicians. Metronome is GOD, remember that, but my fellow rockers aren't willing to hear any "click"...
In my Folk band called "Wootwootmen"... I'm locked with both the bassist and the guitarist. They began to practice together a couple of years before I joined the band, the two have good timekeeping...
So what I do is just a back-up job, which makes me very happy... Sometimes I complicate a part, I'm like "ouuumf, there was no need of that" and the leader reply "no, no that was great! Good little groove, perfect for the bridge."
Sometimes when I do a syncopation all my rock band became loose cause individually the others musicians don't have a good timekeeping (the bassist is an exception) and don't practice to a click track. Since the listening becoming better and better (we started with our new songwriter only 3 months ago), the whole band is on the journey to tightness...
It depend greatly on the dynamics *inside* the band, *between* the musicians. We drive the tempo, but everybody have to participate keeping it if we want tight, tasteful music, whatever the genre.
If I go to a jam, with unknow musicians, then I lock me in with the bassist.
Bass Nuff Said
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