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Post subject: Least favorite, boring bass line...
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 9:41 am
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I'm placing this thread in the P-Bass section just as a convenience, but it also applies to J-Bass artists as well.

Think about the past 10 years of gigging... what song has the most repetitive, boring bass line that you can remember playing ?

One of my least favorites was a selection made popular on the Dance charts in the mid 90's from the Real McCoy called "Another Night, Another Dream", written by Mark Archer and Chris Peat. Boring, boring, boring... and no room for bass improvisation without destroying the vocals and lead guitar licks.


How about yours???


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Post subject: Re: Least favorite, boring bass line...
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2011 11:49 pm
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Its a hard thing for me to narrow down,there are so many repetite "easy" basslines that are exactly what the song needs,some of our favorite musicians have big hits with some of those repetitive basslines that seem boring,but most importantly they serve the song whether boring or not.
:mrgreen:

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Post subject: Re: Least favorite, boring bass line...
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 4:09 am
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Sabre Lane wrote:
It would be very easy to come up with a nice big list on the subject, but Memphis had a good point...

As far as "Roadhouse" goes, whether it was rehearsal or a gig, I used to let my son sit in for that one back in like 2006....
He didn't care much for the song either, but he enjoyed playing with the band. :)

And unfortunately, that song was popular with the audiences, so we played it.



AH, MEMPHIS... Man - one single note for 16 bars and a slight change at the chorus. I remember falling asleep on stage playing that once and never missed a note...LOL... I guess my snoring was in the key of A, so it didn't sound too bad.

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Post subject: Re: Least favorite, boring bass line...
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 6:31 am
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Post subject: Re: Least favorite, boring bass line...
Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2011 10:10 am
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OK, I'm willing to go down in flames ...

Even if you have to play the same note over and over for the WHOLE freaking song, if that's what serves the song, so be it. You just have to get into the sum of the whole. And I think to some extent how boring the line seems depends on how into the song you are.

Having said that, I'm constantly bugging my bass teacher for "fills". And yeah, I'm aware that I need to watch out for playing too many notes.

KABOOM! There I am, in flames. :)

posted from the universe of 2-dam-serious

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Post subject: Re: Least favorite, boring bass line...
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 2:03 am
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slidewaysracing wrote:
OK, I'm willing to go down in flames ...

Even if you have to play the same note over and over for the WHOLE freaking song, if that's what serves the song, so be it. You just have to get into the sum of the whole. And I think to some extent how boring the line seems depends on how into the song you are.

Having said that, I'm constantly bugging my bass teacher for "fills". And yeah, I'm aware that I need to watch out for playing too many notes.

KABOOM! There I am, in flames. :)

posted from the universe of 2-dam-serious


you're right swr, a bass-line may come kinda boring but as long as it serves the song it's got to be... what counts only is the punch one is willing to give, simple or virtuous; the bass is the bass! :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Least favorite, boring bass line...
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 3:55 am
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I'm gonna lean to the side of he's going for the song you remember playing that if you just stopped moving and quit playing, barely a soul in the joint would genuinely take notice. One of those bass lines that you're sitting there playing going "WTF am I even wasting my time on, I'm so far back in the mix of this even I don't think I'm necessary".

I've played a few AC/DC songs "Livewire" comes to mind where I pounded away for 4 minutes just chugging eighths on a single note and I felt like I added to the song. A line where, even simple as it is, it's integral. Then I've also jammed out some tunes where I felt I was just exercising and could have gone and had a beer and would have been adding about the same amount of value to the song. A few odd ball punk tunes here and there where I did just that and the guitarist gave me a look full of wonder. Afterwards, he told me he didn't notice me gone. The kick from the drummer was filling the same approximate area I was. This was just a session with friends, but all the same.

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Post subject: Re: Least favorite, boring bass line...
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 5:18 am
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If I could find 3 guitarists, an air raid siren that can also hang with the DiAnno years, and a drummer who can play like he's got a double kick with one foot, yeah, we'll do that, but for now i'll stick to jammin some random tunes with random dudes.

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Post subject: Re: Least favorite, boring bass line...
Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2011 12:24 pm
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I have to think that the most boring bass lines are the ones that allow absolutely no derivation. Even when playing one boring note in a song for however many bars, you can usually add something here and there and at least make it your own rendition.

But in a song such as ... well, let's see ... Cocaine comes to mind. In Cocaine, even though there are four notes in the bass line (and ONLY four notes) they must be played exactly the same, over and over and over.

That, to me, defines boring.

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Post subject: Re: Least favorite, boring bass line...
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 1:07 pm
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We all know the bass is the foundation of any song, and yes, we're holding everything together, but it seems you guys forgot the question. My pick? "The Zoo-Scorpions"

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