Q+A #32 - Why bass solos suck

Bass solos could be used to break the tension between two very shy people who are left alone in a room and don't know how to start conversation

Continuing on the "why bass solos suck" theme - could you show us some of your favorite bass solos and why you think they work so well?

On: am I too old? For example: I was startin' to learn music (play bass) when I was 36 years old (now I'm 43) because when I was in my teenage years the civil war was going on in my country (Croatia) and it was hard to learn music when bombs dropin on your head every day, but it was my dream to play jazz, and I've done it. I'm still learnin I and hope it never ends.

I remember an old interview with Victor Wooten when the guy asked him "no offence, but why do bass solos suck?" He kinda said the same thing - when the bass starts soloing it stops grooving, and groove is it's job.

"kind of unfinished but in a finished way" art.

In reference to the "never too old to learn" comment you made, I teach beginner private piano lessons, and one of my students is a 67 year old man. He has such a desire to learn and works hard. He lacks confidence, but I enjoy watching him learn and improve upon each new concept. ☺️

“I’ll never tell you!” “We have ways of making people like you talk” *plays bass solo*

You pointed out two advantages kids have over adults when learning music: they have more free time and they learn stuff faster. I find there's a third item that can be even more important , but fortunately is not completely out of reach for adults. Kids don't have sophisticated expectations and can enjoy achieving something simple. We adults who start out as beginners carry a ton of baggage, a highly developed ability to discriminate between beginner attempts and pro-level playing. Even relatively non-musical people have this. But a kid can play Smoke On The Water (wrong, on one string in E) and get a big grin out of it. As horrible as that may sound to the rest of us, it could be the beginning of the journey to being a creditable musician. So, IHMO, the biggest challenge to any adult that wants to learn something new (to play, or read, or play a new unrelated instrument or style) is to cultivate your inner child, learn to notice and appreciate the progress, and enjoy it!

I think, you explain why bass solos are not to the point sometimes (and I agree with your argument). So, not the solos suck, but bassists who want to play them like 10 times a gig.

Can I talk about "bass solos" for a minute? I've been playing bass since 1985, when I was 15. As soon as I could expand beyond the necessities of playing in a band context; I wanted like anything to play solos, to let MY musical ideas shine through without always being subordinated to guitarists, keyboardists, etc. I worked out complex melodic/harmonic ideas, interspersed surprising "quotes" of classical and other musics, worked on "shredding", etc. No one cared. If anything, it confused people; even when I was playing in a jazz group. There was no cultural "handle" for regular listeners to hang it on at that time (like a Hendrix, for example, for guitarists), so it just seemed weird; like a man who starts lecturing on existentialism at random in a subway car at rush hour. He could be great at it, but...why? 30 years later, YouTube is heavy with bassists (esp. young ones) who can do everything I could then, and more. I resigned myself years ago to do only tasteful little "fills" when I could fit something in here and there; with an occasional sweet melodic departure when it seems necessary (which was, and is, rare). The attitude of the (non-musician) listener is no different, however. I've come to learn that they only expect one of 2 things from instrumental solos: fireworks or tears. Problem is, our fireworks usually sound like something bubbling in a kettle (if down low), or a tone-poor imitation of guitar "leads" (up high). Our tears sound lugubrious rather than affecting; and, like Adam says, people begin to talk over them. I know there are exceptions to this, but they remain, sadly, few. I don't feel like I can blame anyone over this (much as I'd like to blame Glenn Fricker, on General Principle); it just seems like our musical conditioning as humans isn't geared to gravitate to complex sounds in the lower registers of our hearing. Maybe it'll take another Jaco to come along and awaken people's cultural consciousness to our unique musicality, like Segovia did for classical guitar, I don't know. If you're out there, don't give up. But as for me, even when they point to me, I pass on it these days. I encase "my" sounding good within the band's sounding good. If that's not enough for others, I understand; I was there once, too. But I never have to look out beyond the lights, and see only blank faces struck stony with incomprehension anymore. The ones who know, will know; the ones who don't can't yet be taught. Sorry for the really long 'minute", but that's my take on it; for what it's worth. Thanks, Adam, for all you do.

Makes me think about Vulfpeck, one of my favorite bands, and their bassist Joe Dart. There are a lot more fills than solos, which makes more sense when you pause the groove, fill, and resume together. Then there's "Beastly" which is a piece with Bass being lead with keys and drums. Bass solos fit when the bass is the main voice and the other players are keeping the groove. I think then, for a bass solo to fit, there must be other players keeping the rhythm like a rhythm guitar, keyboard, or drummer. And if too many players drop out, the movement is lost like you say.

Dude said "pedagogical" without skipping a beat. *salute*

Do you know the worst thing about the bass solo? The drum solo goes after it :P

That moment when you watch Adam yet you play woodwind.

Davie504: I'm going to call the police

"sibelius is easy to use" lmao

Honestly - Adam's comment sections are some of the best on YouTube!

hilariously informative as usual

I'd say the same about a lot of guitar solos. They sound like the guitarist taking an opportunity to show off rather than something that feels an integral part of the song. Same goes for other instruments.

"Sibelius is very easy to use" FINALE MASTERRACE