Bass Lesson 26 - Bass Solo

Many people don't think of a guitar solo as being on a 4 or 5 string instrument. Bass solos and soloists are becoming few and far between in the mainstream music scene… sure, there are a few bass soloists out there, but not compared to other instruments. A bassist that can solo can bring something new to a band. This lesson will cover a few things you can do to start a new path in bass soloing. If you’re not familiar with solos, the most important part is to learn to play what you’re feeling, although at first this is probably a little misunderstood. But first you should know your basic scales and arpeggios and know how to use them. A bass solo is sometimes just the groove you were playing the whole song with a few twists in it.

The most important aspect to grasp when soloing is your own ideas, ideas about melodies and rhythms that you think would make the song better or more pleasing. If the song is slow and mellow, it might sound good to put in some fast triplet runs or eighth note rhythms to provide contrast. Try different scales as well. Oftentimes bass solos are just the drums and bass players laying down a groove. Sometimes the rest of the band can have some chord hits, but for the most part, all the eyes are on the bassist. It is a bass solo...

However, there are a few theory tricks you can use to lure your audience in. Knowing what key you’re playing in is the obvious first, with scales and arpeggios a close second. The really good tricks involve emphasizing certain notes more than others. For now, let’s stick with Ab maj and the Ab7M (Ab major with a major 7th). This will give us the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 8th notes of the Ab major scale as our arpeggios. Each of these notes will be “places to breathe.” Soloing is like talking; you have to stop and breathe every once in a while to provide space. If you just keep talking and talking, nobody will want to listen. Soloing is the same… you have to add in some space. Let’s look at how we can use these notes as pit stops in a solo.

 

Scan these 4 bars and pick out the longest notes. The first long note is on beat 4 of the first measure, a C. C is a major 3rdnd measure, a Db or a major 5th in the Ab7M chord. Next comes the fabulous 8th note of the Abmaj scale, the Ab... The notes that are not notes of the arpeggio are less significant because they don't provide the same tension or predictable feeling that the arpeggio notes give. To emphasize notes, we can accent them (play them a bit more loudly or deliberately) or play them repeatedly, or even just play them longer. Emphasizing the 7th) will give the “ahhh” and conclusion. Now for another look at how we can emphasize notes and provide a little tension.

 

Above is another example in Abmaj with the major 7th added to the arpeggio. This example uses the major 7th to add in tension in measures 1 and 3. It also repeats the note on beat 4, measure 1 to emphasize the 7th again. Notice in both examples that there are long notes spread throughout to give the solo space. You can play long eighth note runs, but just don't play only eighth notes for your solo. There aren't any rests in the examples, but you can easily use rests instead of longer notes to provide space as well. If you have questions, the forums have answers! Find the GLI forums at www.guitarlessoninsider.com/forum.