Question:
Now, I realize there's no one, set way, but I'm the only one in my band who plays a rhythm instrument (unless you count bass, but I thought that was more along the lines of the beat), and I want to solo somehow, just because I want our music to be spicy. It's kind of dull right now. I want my instrumental work to be pleasing . How do you solo when you're the only one carrying it all, aside from the bass?
Answer:
lol, you really don't.
Get a keyboard player. Or a harmonica. Or an egg shaker.
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Listen to some Jimi Hendrix. Or heck, even John Mayer with his Blues Trio.
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Yeah, the problem is, if I could play like Hendrix, that might actually help
(EDIT: Yeah, I see what you mean, but I can't figure it out well at all)
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i do songs with just bass and drums pretty frequently for prelude music at church. We generally do a bluesy/jazzy kinda thing. I'll make up a chord progression (usually based on a I-IV-V blues pattern with maybe a VI thrown in), the bass will pick up a groove and the drummer will do a rhythm based off the groove. Once we've got it going, I'll take off and solo over that using a pentatonic blues scale in the major key or most likely the relative minor (VI) key - that gives (to me, anyway) a 'livlier' or 'happier' sound. We have fun with it, and it's a great way to get the ppl into the sanctuary and ready for the worship service to start.
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I threw something together here, and I post this because I want to be able to do it better . This recording is junky playing, but it serves to show that I want to be able to do better soloing by myself + bass.
And this isn't an actual bass, lol, it's just a track I put over it by using only the low E string to try to simulate a bassline . And excuse the rough recording, I just put it together quickly on purpose for this thread, as well as to see if I could get away with an idea of mine. Tell me how the basic idea went, please, ha.
Answer:
The bass should be able to carry the chords enough. I play in a three piece band, though a rhythm guitarist would help, the bass should be enough to carry the tonal centers of the chords.
Or you could try really chordal soloing, like playing chords using the leading tones to create a melody line (listen to Hendrix's "Little Wing").
Answer:
Rainer. is right. The bass should be able to carry the rhythm aspect. I play in a three piece band and I solo occasionally. It works well.
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So how does the bass carry the rhythm? Just play the same line it's been playing? Because it would seem that you couldn't use 1 3 5 stuff to help coordinate what you want to play next, because the bass would only be covering one of those.
Example of what I mean by 1 3 5 stuff: You have a G chord, which is made of the notes G B D.
If your progression is G D Em C, then, on the G, if you play a G, B, or D when it switches to the G, it'll sound pretty good with it, normally. If the bass is only playing a G note, will it sound okay if you play a B or a D?
Answer:
Originally Posted by DaGeek So how does the bass carry the rhythm? Just play the same line it's been playing? Because it would seem that you couldn't use 1 3 5 stuff to help coordinate what you want to play next, because the bass would only be covering one of those.
Example of what I mean by 1 3 5 stuff: You have a G chord, which is made of the notes G B D.
If your progression is G D Em C, then, on the G, if you play a G, B, or D when it switches to the G, it'll sound pretty good with it, normally. If the bass is only playing a G note, will it sound okay if you play a B or a D? yes - it's all in the progression. With that progression I'd probably use the Em blues scale
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Okay, cool. I don't mean to say you could only play a G, B, or D, by the way. I often play other stuff. I just phrased it that way to better convey my question .
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I'll do higher chord inversions or licks in between chords or interesting rhythmic breaks or all of the above and then some.
Just like when playing with other instruments, try to play something interesting that compliments the song.
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listen to the john mayer trio album a lot and try to learn some songs, like another kind of green. The chords in that songs you could apply to worship songs and improv a lot with them
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Playing live, Salvador does it all the time. So does Pillar. Just let the bass do the rest while you're soloing.
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I don't know if there's an exact "how to" play solo when you're the only instrument. It's different than playing "a solo" when you're with a combo, because then you've got the other instruments to feed off. I listen to recordings of Joe Pass doing loner solos all the time, though, and I know that some people have got it figured out. Phil Keaggy is another who will sometimes do this, although most of the time he will set up his "backup band" piece by piece on a looping delay and then solo overtop of that.
Nate