Double Bass Good albums or other resources for learning bluegrass bass?

squeally dan

squeally dan

Mar 30, 2008
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#1
I’m new to upright but not to bass. Meeting with an instructor a couple time a month but am wondering what some good recordings would be for play along purpose. I’m familiar with root-5 but want to get comfortable with doing it in all keys. Also, want to add some walking elements as well.
So what are some good recordings to play along too and what bluegrass-specific lessons, tools, etc. have you found helpful? Thanks.
 
#4
Your picture implies you're an electric player.

First rule: Play less.
Second rule: Never forget first rule.

Most new bluegrass bass players (and I was one) get a little experience under their fingers and they start throwing in all kinds of stuff: walk-ups, walk-downs, grace notes, 16th-note arpeggios, you name it. Stop it! Play IN TWO. When you are TRULY solid in two, THEN you can add a few little things in four - like, once a tune, maybe. You're half the rhythm section and if there's not a mandolin player, you're 7/8 of it (guitar players are supposed to "chunk" on two and for also, but most of them try to do all that hippie strumming instead). As soon as you move out of playing a BIG SOLID NOTE on 1 and 3, the whole thing can fall apart.

Players on electric or players coming from electric are particularly prone to this, because it's so easy to play a ton of notes on the electric.

Especially avoid the constant walk-up and walk-down at chord changes. Yeah, you can do it occasionally, but the way most newbie bluegrass players do it, it's like screaming "CHORD CHANGE NOW!!!!!!" every four bars, in perpetuity. Hey, we know the tune already, you don't have to hit us all over the head with it!
 
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#5
What @turf3 said... there's actually a lot of dynamic room in a simple 1-5. You can drive the song by hitting the downbeat right on head and muting your notes, or let it relax into that "riding on the back of a mule" feel by relaxing it slightly, letting the notes bloom. Here's an example of the latter, I love the space on the words "where" and "help," and "same" in the chorus where it's basically only voices and bass.
 
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#6
Yup, I'd second the thought of getting into a jam. Just like with any instrument, be gentle at first as you get used to the jam and others get used to you. If they have a regular bassist then listen and learn. If they don't have a regular bassist, tell them you're new and ask them to be gentle.

I wouldn't decide on your approach to bass playing style until you hear what the jam does and know what fits. Some jams like it trad/simple/thumpy/boring, some like a more creative/modern/wild touch.
 
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#7
Depending upon where you live, upright bass players can be in incredible demand. I literally got a gig offer 20 minutes after the first time I casually picked it up and played a couple of tunes like it was a big guitar. Just because you get a gig after the second week of hangin' with your buddies does not mean you have enough information. Keep at it practicing and studying and you will be rewarded far beyond your expectations!
 
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#9
turf3 said:
.. all that hippie strumming instead…
Click to expand...

HA!

CF148C43-8EAB-44BC-A36E-D1165837D71C.jpeg
 
#14
I've often found albums challenging. Many of the old ones - including F&S - don't seem to be quite in tune. We've discussed that before. You might need to tune your bass up or down a half step so you aren't playing everything in weird keys.

I recall enjoying playing along w/ The Henhouse Prowlers, A Dark Rumor.

A Dark Rumor - CD — Henhouse Prowlers

Good mix of fast and slow, a waltz, some modulations. It has been a while since I really played along with any albums. I recall it being challenging finding an album that has several tunes I wanted to work on.

First rule: Play less.
Second rule: Never forget first rule.
Click to expand...

We talk and joke about this a lot, but I had a couple of 2x4 across the head moments this week - at my usual Sat jam and at my band practice on Mon. The jam is really satisfying w/ 6-7 pretty hot and tight pickers. We really listen and challenge each other to stretch ourselves. Which is fun, as I'm taking more breaks, messing with dynamics... But there were a couple of songs where I just really realized I was playing stuff for my personal enjoyment, and that the song would do better the less I played. It is almost magical when you just pare your line down more and more each time around, until you're playing what seems like next to nothing - but the damn song just rocks.

Similar with my band. We are just a 3 piece, so there is a ton of space that COULD be filled. But a lot of the oldtime that we really lean towards just sounds amazing when it is stark.
 
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#16
Dave Pomeroy once described country bass playing as a two-part process:
1) Find the simplest line you can possibly play.
2) Play half of that.

All kidding aside, it’s really not bad advice and it applies to bluegrass just as it applies to traditional country.

While many folks would argue that this isn’t, strictly speaking, a bluegrass album (and they’d be right), The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Will The Circle Be Unbroken is two LP’s worth of Roy Huskey Jr.’s great playing (and an awful lot of great playing by a bunch of other luminaries on other instruments as well). His work on that album is a master class in bluegrass bass, even if it’s not exactly a bluegrass album. Everything you need is there.
 
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#17
(quick thread hi-jack) Dave Pomeroy and I discussed the cheater dots/fret markers on his BSX EUB. He stressed the importance of the "1st fret" cheater dot and how easy it is to have bad intonation on F or Bb...that's all, back to original thread topic!
 
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#18
Ed S said:
I've often found albums challenging. Many of the old ones - including F&S - don't seem to be quite in tune. We've discussed that before. You might need to tune your bass up or down a half step so you aren't playing everything in weird keys.
Click to expand...
Flatt and Scruggs were well known for playing wicked sharp, usually just about three-quarters of a half step. Yeah, you'll want to re-tune to play along. I've heard that Lester went through a bunch of guitars through the years, with the heavy strings he used and tuning high they'd just kind of graduallly fold up.

And the real good bluegrass bands don't hesitate to play stuff in Eb or Ab or whatever key suits them, unlike us amateurs who want everything in G or D. So get that left hand technique in order.
 
#19
Regarding pitch, these recordings were invariably made on tape machines. The capstan motor speed can be as much of a contributing factor as the players' tuning for the perceived playback pitch.
 
#20
True, that is also in there. But the F&S thing is anecdotal, aside from the potential issues with tape speed. In the absence of a recently tuned piano, they didn't have pitch references, unless someone had a pitch pipe or tuning fork. Traveling working bluegrass bands weren't likely to cart around a Strobo-Conn.
 
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