Global Bass Online April 2001
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CREATING BASS GROOVES by
George Urbaszek Welcome
to a new column designed primarily for bass players with a desire to improvise.
Many aspects of improvisation will be covered, from walking bass line
construction to soloing techniques and groove creation. Often
bass players are required to come up with a groove instantaneously, now!
Inexperienced players often have no idea where to begin and therefore stumble or
freeze. Here are some tips to guide you beyond that first moment of panic. The
following steps will initially develop slowly. However, with practice and
increased awareness of the elements, grooves will start to come quickly and
intuitively. (Intuition can be defined as a quick sub-conscious decision-making
process based on our relevant prior experiences and current observations.) 1)
Sing or
hum a phrase of a tune or bass line you know very well
IMITATION. 2)
Hum only
the rhythm of that phrase or line on one pitch/note SIMPLIFICATION. 3)
Choose a
different group of notes (try using only a few notes) and put them in some kind
of order ALTERATION. 4)
Play
those notes in the chosen order using the rhythm of the reference phrase/line
APPLICATION. 5)
If this
does not sound satisfactory, change a note and/or rhythm until it works MUTATION. 6)
You
should still be able to relate to the reference phrase/line ASSOCIATION. 7)
Now play
the new phrase until it grooves, i.e. has consistency GROOVE
CREATION. Another
option just as good as the one discussed, is to use only the notes of the known
phrase or bass line and alter the rhythm to create a new groove. Lots
of great grooves and tunes have been consciously or sub-consciously found using
one of these approaches. Think about this method in relation to your own
groove-making abilities. If it seems like a good option, use it. Bass
of Luck! George Urbaszek
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