Co-ordinating with drummer
- Thread starter cracko
- Start date
There are quite a few things that it refers to, but for a start, the timing of both you and the drummer is the most important.
It's essential to ensure that you and your drummer are both on the same page when you're playing, neither of you should be rushing ahead of or lagging behind each other.
The other thing that is essential for a bassist is to be able to lock in with the kick drum, so that you can help to add to the punch of the band.
If the above two are achieved as a foundation, you'll be good to go to explore more things with your drummer and band.
It's essential to ensure that you and your drummer are both on the same page when you're playing, neither of you should be rushing ahead of or lagging behind each other.
The other thing that is essential for a bassist is to be able to lock in with the kick drum, so that you can help to add to the punch of the band.
If the above two are achieved as a foundation, you'll be good to go to explore more things with your drummer and band.
chan_derrick
New member
RentaBass said:
iverson763
New member
hmm... lock in with the bass drum, i think he means when the drummer hits the bass drum, it's a dull "boom". the simple rule of thumb of playing bass is playing a note everytime the drummer kicks the bass drum, which will emphasise the "boom" and make it sound solid and accented.
As exin said, listen to the pop/rock songs playing on the radio and you'll notice the bass notes coinciding with the bass drum most of the times.
Timing bad? i dunnoe man, but imo a good way is to learn the basics of drums, and after you get the feel of what your drummer is playing, you can sortof play out the rhythm of the drums with your bass notes, and fit it into the timings correctly.
or anything else that works for you... go find bass teacher, 24 hours bass playing, go swallow a metronome.... :lol:
As exin said, listen to the pop/rock songs playing on the radio and you'll notice the bass notes coinciding with the bass drum most of the times.
Timing bad? i dunnoe man, but imo a good way is to learn the basics of drums, and after you get the feel of what your drummer is playing, you can sortof play out the rhythm of the drums with your bass notes, and fit it into the timings correctly.
or anything else that works for you... go find bass teacher, 24 hours bass playing, go swallow a metronome.... :lol:
exin
New member
iverson763 said:
copying basslines is the best way to learn lah .. =) .. really .. and at the end of the day you'll realise that most of the time .. basslines are quite standard in song ... timing can be corrected by using a metronome when you practice ...
iverson763 ... hope you're enjoying the warmoth .. =) ... forgot to tell you to take care of it .. =P .. hahaha .. i'm sure you will ..
iverson763
New member
haha, dun worry exin bro. it's sitting pretty next to my bed. 
alvinthedrummer
New member
Locking in with the drummer does not add "punch" to the band! It simply means playing tightly together with the drummer so as to achieve the desired groove and feel for the song/tune. I think we have to be really careful with words we use to describe things in the forum because we can create misleading info for beginners.
The best way to improve is to listen to CDs and focus on first learning the various basic grooves for various styles such as Rock, Pop, Funk, Jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian etc. When you learn, dun just learn to play the notes, but try to go deeper...For example: iversion763 said-
"hmm... lock in with the bass drum, i think he means when the drummer hits the bass drum, it's a dull "boom". the simple rule of thumb of playing bass is playing a note everytime the drummer kicks the bass drum, which will emphasise the "boom" and make it sound solid and accented."
Which is the basic idea, but to go deeper is to listen to how long your individual notes should be. Should your first or second note be short or long? If short, how short, if long how long? All these contribute to playing a good tight groove.
These are just the bare basics, to really improve, you'll need proper guidance from a professional bassist. Also, www.themusiclab.com.sg provides band performance courses which is most valuable in fixing these problems too. The band directors are all current professional performing musicians and they'll teach you all you need to know to perform certain styles well in a band context.
Good Luck!
The best way to improve is to listen to CDs and focus on first learning the various basic grooves for various styles such as Rock, Pop, Funk, Jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian etc. When you learn, dun just learn to play the notes, but try to go deeper...For example: iversion763 said-
"hmm... lock in with the bass drum, i think he means when the drummer hits the bass drum, it's a dull "boom". the simple rule of thumb of playing bass is playing a note everytime the drummer kicks the bass drum, which will emphasise the "boom" and make it sound solid and accented."
Which is the basic idea, but to go deeper is to listen to how long your individual notes should be. Should your first or second note be short or long? If short, how short, if long how long? All these contribute to playing a good tight groove.
These are just the bare basics, to really improve, you'll need proper guidance from a professional bassist. Also, www.themusiclab.com.sg provides band performance courses which is most valuable in fixing these problems too. The band directors are all current professional performing musicians and they'll teach you all you need to know to perform certain styles well in a band context.
Good Luck!
good post alvin 
i agree we need to be careful of our terminology... most of us might know what is being conveyed, but it might set people off on the wrong track if its the first time they've heard the term and they start off on the wrong foot.
my understanding of drum-bass interaction is evolving too - 'locking in' with the kick drum is a basic thing we do as bass players, but locking into a tight groove doesn't mean we need to do exactly what the bass drum does. It often is the case for pop music, but different styles of music lends itself to pretty different types of drum bass interaction.
i agree we need to be careful of our terminology... most of us might know what is being conveyed, but it might set people off on the wrong track if its the first time they've heard the term and they start off on the wrong foot.my understanding of drum-bass interaction is evolving too - 'locking in' with the kick drum is a basic thing we do as bass players, but locking into a tight groove doesn't mean we need to do exactly what the bass drum does. It often is the case for pop music, but different styles of music lends itself to pretty different types of drum bass interaction.
