The fact that you’ve arrived here means that you have likely watched musicians like Sting, Paul McCartney, Geddy Lee, or others, and asked yourself, “How did they get to the point they are today, shredding on the bass while singing their songs brilliantly?”.
Paul McCartney shows us the way to write a pop-song, lead a band, and play the bass with the ease of an afterthought. Prefers playing bass, 40 years after making it big.
To spectators who are even mildly familiar with user-unfriendliness of the bass-guitar, the bravado and effortlessness of the singing and playing of these musicians is a magnetic aspect of their show. Singing and playing bass is anything but intuitive, and therefore the singing-bassist’s personal ability must be higher than that which is required for either singing, for playing bass, or for other parallel roles for that matter. It is clear that these world-class singing bassists are fine examples of indomitable human-nature: their sheer career-longevity indicates that mankind simply does not give up. It is no accident that Singing-Bassists often go on to achieve superlative feats as performers and as songwriters.
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In the upper echelon’s of guitar-based rock, it is not so rare at all to find singing-bassists leading the bands. If we were to distill the correct decisions that these Singing-Bassists have made in learning how to play and sing, such that newcomers needn’t spend more than twenty years working like oxen in order to play and sing, what would that list of tips and tricks look like?
The methods and tips presented here are put together from our own experiences and experiments as well as interviewee’s information. It is important to understand the information on equipment and experience, as well as to know what is not covered here.
The road from guitar-strumming singer-songwriter, or primordial bass-player (in either case performing at home) to band-leading performer is fraught with twists, turns and pitfalls, yet I claim that there exist three phases to this transition.
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The performing musician must convey a sense of ease in his/her playing, and therefore it is essential that the musician’s practiced ability greatly exceeds that which is required for the stage.
Phase. Why? Because entering into a band requires an audition which itself is a form of public performance. Rehearsal is in many ways more demanding than Concert Performances, because in a Rehearsal, the Audience consists of other musicians, who are more critical than paying concert attendees.
Self-study is thus paramount for the singing-bassist. Our content focuses on automating the fine-motor skills to a level to play a song on the bass and to sing. In other words, transferring the bass-playing knowledge of the song from the
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Is a vital aspect of playing bass and singing. A singing-bassist’s bass-playing must be almost completely automated, in order to free up concentration for expressive singing performances.
Another important aspect of playing bass and singing is the requirement to play blindly. The singing-bassist should not stare at his fretboard for the duration of the concert. The singing-bassist’s role as Singer dictates that he looks at his audience (for the vast majority of time onstage). Another aspect which precludes fretboard-gazing is that proper singing posture obliges the singing bassist to abandon hunched-over fretboard-gazing postures.
A very useful exercise for practicing singing and playing blindly has been provided by Dennis Alstrand, again from his article Exercises for Playing Bass and Singing:
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Pick a note, any note and then find that note on the neck in four places. Go through every note by fifths (i.e. start with E, B, F#, C#, Ab, Eb, Bb, F, C, G, D, A). Find four notes quickly for each note. If you can’t find one, stop and locate them then start the exercise from that note. Do this without looking at the neck.
Key to undertaking the role of singing-bassist is the ability to deconstruct and dissect a song, isolating the “collisions of” or “connections betweens” the bass-lines and the vocal-lines. Chris Ballew of The Presidents of the USA coined the term “Landmarks”, which is an apt metaphor.
Up to the 1970s, slowing the playback of a recording was possible using half-speed tape-players and by using a finger on a record. James Hetfield (Metallica) has mentioned learning guitar-solos by slowing down records (source needed).
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With digital recordings it is possible to use software such as Audacity to slow down recordings of intricate instrumentation, which is useful for the singing bassist to establish a mental lattice of bass-notes and vocals. Digitally slowing down a recording has the advantage of retaining the pitch while slowing down the playback (impossible with a phonograph). Slow down the recording to a speed at which you can already play and sing.
Then use a metronome to gradually accelerate accurate playing of these problem areas, up to a tempo which is faster than (120% of) performance speed.
I break it all down into bars and beats, and where the voice and the bass connect with each other. Once I have that map figured out, and then coordinate with the drums, then I’m pretty good to go. It becomes instinctive. I don’t need to think about it any longer.
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The greatest bassist-vocalists emit multiple intricate melodies from their fingers and from their vocal-chords simultaneously. In order to become a singing-bassist yourself, it is essential to (a) demystify their performance – watch the videos in our subscribers’ section, and (b) to deconstruct these activities into small manageable portions, and (c) to master your bass-guitar to the point of unsupervised automation.
To get started along the path towards leading a band with your voice and your bass-guitar, take the lessons from the self-study section of this article seriously. Achieve a certain level of visual independence while playing the bass. Locate and work through the landmarks of the songs using Audacity and a metronome. Once you do that, you won’t appear a fool when singing and playing bass with a drummer, who will help you further attain an automated sense of rhythm. Then you will be able to simultaneously occupy two posts within the band and navigate the landmarks of whichever songs come your way.When I first started playing, I wasn’t really concerned about how to hold a bass at all. I just wanted to play all of my favorite songs with my friends. I just slung it over my shoulder and away I went.
This was fine for a while, until I started having pains in my left wrist. This was really bad news and threatened to stop me playing forever.
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There was more than one thing that contributed to this pain, but the way I was holding my bass was one of the main factors – but more on that soon.
Now I don’t like to talk in absolute terms, (everybody is different, you know…) and there is a little bit of wiggle room, but in general, there is a ‘right’ way to hold your bass and it pays to know it!
Take care of this sooner rather than later. The longer you wait to address this, the harder it will be and the more unnatural it will feel when you get around to correcting it.
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Sit up straight with your bass on your leg and get comfortable. Notice the position of your bass on your body. Unless your bass is outrageously shaped or missing large chunks, this will be the best place for your bass to be on your body.
Put on your strap and set it’s length. It should be sitting firmly in place while you’re still sitting down. That way, when you stand up, your bass will stay in the same place in relationship to your body.
When you stand up, do you feel your bass sliding down your body? If so, sit back down and bring your strap up a notch or two. Keep doing this until you can stand up without your bass sliding down too much.
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As it turns out, the pain that I was having was a result of having my bass WAY too low on my body. It was low enough that I had to put my wrist at an unnatural angle to play any of the notes.
Of course, everybody is different, but remember, that the more your bass is below the ‘sitting’ level, the more stress it puts on your fretting hand. Sure, it might look cool to be holding your bass around your knees, but is it really worth the potential carpal tunnel or tendonitis?
I don’t want to risk any kind of serious injury that would stop me from playing. Being able to play is far too valuable to me.
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If you have any questions or comments about how to hold a bass, leave them below. I read all of them. I’ll talk to you soon!If you’ve ever tried to sing and play bass at the same time, you’ll know it can be challenging. In fact, us bass players often have a more difficult time than other musicians who play and sing.
So how can we do the same thing? How can we sing beautifully and lay down a solid groove at the same time? Is it possible to do
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