The Singing Bass Player
(or, the Bass-Playing Singer)
Sting. Geddy Lee. Paul McCartney. Jack Bruce. Roger Waters. If you’re a bass player who sings - or even a frontman who plays bass - you are part of a rich heritage of musicianship. And, if you’re like me, when you first picked up the bass and tried to sing, you were immediately struck with that pat-your-head and rub-your-belly experience. How do I DO THIS AND THAT at the same time?
I was a lead singer first, and took up the bass after relinquishing my position as rhythm guitarist (much to the relief of my lead guitarist and, initially, the chagrin of my drummer.) I am very proud to say that in just 4 years since picking up the bass, my guitarist refers to me as “the four-string thunder god” and my drummer calls me, affectionately, his bass player. I get weepy just thinking about it.
Since we became a power trio, our band has toured the US twice and played countless colleges, bars, clubs, and special events (weddings, etc.) In the process of learning dozens of cover songs, as well as re-learning my originals as a bass player, I have developed a method for learning tunes that is specifically designed to meet the challenge of being a bass player AND a lead singer. That said - even if you just sing backing vocals, or if you’re a singer who wants to take up bass playing for kicks - this method will give you power in learning to play and sing at the same time. Here are the steps. Don’t skip! Trust the order, I promise it works.
Memorize the words & rhythm of the vocal line you’re working on.
Listen to the accompanying bass line over and over until you can can clap the rhythm without mistakes. I like working fast too, but here’s a hint: you’ll actually get there FASTER if you slow down the riff you are trying to learn. I recommend starting at 50% of the original tempo - use the tap feature on your metronome to find the recorded tempo, then cut that in half. Use your Tascam Bass trainer, Pandora, or software-based solution to slow down the recorded version so you can hear all the tricky spots in slow motion. NOTICE you haven’t picked up the bass yet!
Now, Sing the vocal line while you clap the rhythm of the bass line. Once you can clap it at half-tempo, speed it up 5-10 BPM at a time until you can clap & sing at full speed. Now you’ve mastered the rhythm.
NOW pick up your bass. Having heard the bass line over and over, you should be able to learn to play it fairly quickly. Play along with the recording (slowed down) until you can play the bass part without mistakes. Nice work, that sounds great.
Here’s the real magic: Set your metronome back to 50% of the original tempo. Now, CHANT or SAY the lyrics while you play the bass line at half speed. If you’re comfortable singing right off the bat, go ahead- but you may discover that, at first, focusing only on the rhythm of the lyrics while you’re playing the bass line will allow you to get proficient MUCH more quickly. Here are some tips for when you hit those tricky parts and you just can’t seem to break through:
Notice where a bass note & vocal note occur simultaneously and use those instances to anchor your performance.:
If you’re facile with notation, transcribe the bass & vocal lines - even if it’s just the rhythm. Circle the places on the page where a vocal note & a bass note occur simultaneously. (If you’re not facile with notation, this is a great excuse to jump in! You can download a free version of Finale, which is like a word processor for music notation, and you can “spell check” your notes by playing them back on your computer. It’s awesome.)
Notice where the vocal and bass notes happen on the grid. If you’re playing something funky, you may notice that there’s a 16th note on the bass on the second syllable of the phrase. Practice by emphasizing those syllables with the bass line until you can play the bass line correctly with the vocal rhythm.
SLOW IT DOWN AND BREAK IT DOWN! Sometimes it comes down to playing one bass note and saying one word at a time. The smaller the chunks the better. Word by word, phrase by phrase, that’s how songs are built.
As you master a section, increase the tempo by 5-10 bpm until you can play it at the original tempo.
NOW put melody & rhythm together. At half-tempo, start out by playing & singing a phrase till you can do it with no mistakes. Then expand to two phrases, or a whole verse. If you hit a snag, go back and zoom in to that phrase or word and slow it down and work it out. Zoom back out, try again, and then increase the tempo by 5-10 bpm until you can play the whole song.
THE GOOD NEWS is that once you’ve put in all this work on a few songs, it will get easier and easier, until you can pick up a bass and sing while you’re playing, effortlessly. Remember - TAKE IT SLOW and the process will go faster. Use this method a couple times, and it will start to become second nature.
List of handy tools:
Tascam Bass Trainer
Pandora PX5D
Metronome
Finale Notepad
Jeff Garvin is the bass player & lead singer for nationally touring touring rock/pop trio 7k. Check him out at 7ktheband.com and on Twitter at twitter.com/jeff7k.
(or, the Bass-Playing Singer)
Sting. Geddy Lee. Paul McCartney. Jack Bruce. Roger Waters. If you’re a bass player who sings - or even a frontman who plays bass - you are part of a rich heritage of musicianship. And, if you’re like me, when you first picked up the bass and tried to sing, you were immediately struck with that pat-your-head and rub-your-belly experience. How do I DO THIS AND THAT at the same time?
I was a lead singer first, and took up the bass after relinquishing my position as rhythm guitarist (much to the relief of my lead guitarist and, initially, the chagrin of my drummer.) I am very proud to say that in just 4 years since picking up the bass, my guitarist refers to me as “the four-string thunder god” and my drummer calls me, affectionately, his bass player. I get weepy just thinking about it.
Since we became a power trio, our band has toured the US twice and played countless colleges, bars, clubs, and special events (weddings, etc.) In the process of learning dozens of cover songs, as well as re-learning my originals as a bass player, I have developed a method for learning tunes that is specifically designed to meet the challenge of being a bass player AND a lead singer. That said - even if you just sing backing vocals, or if you’re a singer who wants to take up bass playing for kicks - this method will give you power in learning to play and sing at the same time. Here are the steps. Don’t skip! Trust the order, I promise it works.
Memorize the words & rhythm of the vocal line you’re working on.
Listen to the accompanying bass line over and over until you can can clap the rhythm without mistakes. I like working fast too, but here’s a hint: you’ll actually get there FASTER if you slow down the riff you are trying to learn. I recommend starting at 50% of the original tempo - use the tap feature on your metronome to find the recorded tempo, then cut that in half. Use your Tascam Bass trainer, Pandora, or software-based solution to slow down the recorded version so you can hear all the tricky spots in slow motion. NOTICE you haven’t picked up the bass yet!
Now, Sing the vocal line while you clap the rhythm of the bass line. Once you can clap it at half-tempo, speed it up 5-10 BPM at a time until you can clap & sing at full speed. Now you’ve mastered the rhythm.
NOW pick up your bass. Having heard the bass line over and over, you should be able to learn to play it fairly quickly. Play along with the recording (slowed down) until you can play the bass part without mistakes. Nice work, that sounds great.
Here’s the real magic: Set your metronome back to 50% of the original tempo. Now, CHANT or SAY the lyrics while you play the bass line at half speed. If you’re comfortable singing right off the bat, go ahead- but you may discover that, at first, focusing only on the rhythm of the lyrics while you’re playing the bass line will allow you to get proficient MUCH more quickly. Here are some tips for when you hit those tricky parts and you just can’t seem to break through:
Notice where a bass note & vocal note occur simultaneously and use those instances to anchor your performance.:
If you’re facile with notation, transcribe the bass & vocal lines - even if it’s just the rhythm. Circle the places on the page where a vocal note & a bass note occur simultaneously. (If you’re not facile with notation, this is a great excuse to jump in! You can download a free version of Finale, which is like a word processor for music notation, and you can “spell check” your notes by playing them back on your computer. It’s awesome.)
Notice where the vocal and bass notes happen on the grid. If you’re playing something funky, you may notice that there’s a 16th note on the bass on the second syllable of the phrase. Practice by emphasizing those syllables with the bass line until you can play the bass line correctly with the vocal rhythm.
SLOW IT DOWN AND BREAK IT DOWN! Sometimes it comes down to playing one bass note and saying one word at a time. The smaller the chunks the better. Word by word, phrase by phrase, that’s how songs are built.
As you master a section, increase the tempo by 5-10 bpm until you can play it at the original tempo.
NOW put melody & rhythm together. At half-tempo, start out by playing & singing a phrase till you can do it with no mistakes. Then expand to two phrases, or a whole verse. If you hit a snag, go back and zoom in to that phrase or word and slow it down and work it out. Zoom back out, try again, and then increase the tempo by 5-10 bpm until you can play the whole song.
THE GOOD NEWS is that once you’ve put in all this work on a few songs, it will get easier and easier, until you can pick up a bass and sing while you’re playing, effortlessly. Remember - TAKE IT SLOW and the process will go faster. Use this method a couple times, and it will start to become second nature.
List of handy tools:
Tascam Bass Trainer
Pandora PX5D
Metronome
Finale Notepad
Jeff Garvin is the bass player & lead singer for nationally touring touring rock/pop trio 7k. Check him out at 7ktheband.com and on Twitter at twitter.com/jeff7k.
