The funny thing is that this guy is so good that I’d still be glad to have him playing his “wrong examples” on a gig. But the right examples are much better.
Another stellar lesson session, Paul!! I would constantly wonder how I got the swing vibe working by accident and then couldn’t retrace my steps how I got there, much to my disappointment. Now I know how to repeat that. Thank you so much for your passionate and educational videos, which are so very helpful and inspiring!! Thank you!!!
This is so great, just found your channel yesterday, already in my top 10 music channels, working your way up quickly! I am harmonica player (46 years, was full-time pro by age 20) and I had a Swing Dance band for 10 years. (Bass, Drums, Guitar, Piano, female vocals, myself on harp, plus 1-2 horns so we could play lines and get a big band affect). I would meet with swing dance teachers and we played at events, they will critique you hard on tempo's and swing feel if you don't have it going on! We played straight ahead Jazz too, as well as Blues, R&B. I had Bass players over that 10 years who played both electric and stand-up on same gig, some electric only. You could really tell when someone employed the techniques you lay out here. I could not always tell why, which makes then video even better! I only knew by feel.....like funk or other things, in swing "you are either swingin' or you're dying" a a wise person once told me. Jimmy Smith plays some pretty cool good sounding swinging bass on B-3 organ also. Love your videos, thank you so much for posting, quite valuable, even as a harmonica player!
@@pdbass I am based in San Diego at the moment, was in Austin 7 years just before COVID. I have played with some cool people over the years, mostly by invite sitting in: Lester Chambers (He plays harmonica too so he invited me to sit in on his set at a festival), Bo Diddley, some of the horn players from Joe liggins old band, One of my guitar players did that tour with Rose Royce when working at the car wash came out, He is a white guy but Barry Gordy picked him for the gig to tour! Did you ever know of Cecil lytle? The piano player who was head of music at UCSD? I did a very cool concert with him in 1978, just him on piano, me on the solos he gave me for harmonica and then the full gospel choir doing some funky black gospel. I I haven't seen yet where you are located but I'm going through your videos right now I am on the Chaka Khan naughty. We used to do Chaka Khan, Aretha and Sade, had good singer that could pull it off.
Swing like there’s no tomorrow!!!! Love it! Learned a lot about the positioning on the electric to help get that even rounder sound. Awesome breakdown! Love the chapters included as well.
Excellent video! I play strictly electric bass in a pianoless jazz-rock group (two saxes, bass, drums), and on our more straight-ahead swing tunes, I've been working on employing all of these techniques to sound "less electric". One other suggestion I'd add is to play with flatwound strings! It took me 30 years of playing bass before I ever tried flats, and not only do they sound better for swing, they're smooooth to play. I just have to say though, the demos in this video crack me up… you can't play badly even when you try! :D
Flatwounds definitely along with a muted bridge. Leo had it right with the early P basses. I see a lot of younger guys using flats on a Precision. John Mayer's bass player and the guy with Snarky Puppy as well.
@@jeffmorrison5695 Yep… flats on a Precision. That's my setup. I just finished playing bass in the pit for a community theater production of Mary Poppins and even though the book was written for about 80% acoustic and 20% electric, I played it all on my P-Bass… right hand right at the base of the neck to get that acoustic-ish sound, and then directly over the pickup for the electric parts. Tone rolled off to about 7 the whole time.
"Handle yer sonic bidness"😎 And please love your neighbor!♥️😉 Brilliant , as always. Check it out, though: the sonic thing gets tricky...A lot of times when one plays through an amp onstage, it is necessary to make the tone brighter than usual to compensate for the sonic "throw"(sound projection distance/dispersion pattern) of one's speaker cabinet(s) as well as for the acoustics of the stage and/or the room...Live recordings of both Anthony Jackson and Gary Willis come to mind in which the tone settings of their basses are very bright, yet somehow still manage to sit well in the mix of the overall band sound...On UA-cam, check out Willis with Bireli Lagrene(live) at the Blue Note in Milano and check out Anthony in a trio setting with Steve Khan and Dennis Chambers in Germany; allegedly, Anthony played through a rackmounted phase shifter or chorus straight into the board because the provided backline amp was so crappy. In both scenarios, those guys swung their butts off and the house sound folks did their job, the somewhat bright tone settings on the basses notwithstanding...Love your channel, thanks for these fantastically engaging and informative posts!👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽🤗
Oh this was one of your greatest topics. Yes they all are but sometimes you’re that much more passionate in your voice tone with an occasional flourish that’s perfect. Thanks so much.
I love your channel, your work and your whole aura……. I’m a semi pro drummer who has locked in with bass player friends for a long time…… all along kinda wishing I was in his shoes!! Thanks for all you do…. and who you are!!
Another great video, Paul. Of course I agree with most of this, but the reality is the double bass makes a very strong visual statement, especially among people who don't know much about jazz or music in general. For better or for worse, many people listen with their eyes. However I do believe a truly great musician can swing and sound great with whatever instrument they choose to play. Some of my favorite bass lines have been played by musicians who are not bass players per se.
Great thank you this helps, I have a show on the 16th and I just bought a bass about a week ago and been kinda stressing to make sure I get the sound right without bringing too much attention. Wish me luck ha! 🙏🏼
What up Hometown! Just found your channel a few days ago. I like your versatility and deep knowledge of many types of music. I'm definitely learning a lot from you. So glad I found your channel.
Marcus Miller on the We want Miles lp . Some extended walking bass with Al Foster . I would bet you have heard this lp but if not it’s awesome. Hope you are doing great this week . Looking forward to the next video.
Oh my gosh. I’m a DRUMMER and you sir are spot on in this video. In my youth I was a session drummer in LA and played with monster musicians. However, fast forward a few decades later and now I live in a smaller city, and BOOM, it’s hard to find a bass player whom you just described. Excellent advice that is so well communicated by you. I now can speak diplomatically to a couple of bass players. Thank you.
Paul...awesome info! Just throwing this out there...listening/watching Jaco over these past decades, it seemed like he lived over the Bridge with a bright tone when playing Walking Bass (e.g. "Rockin' 'n' Rhythm"). When he played up near the neck...that seemed to be when he was getting that classic Jaco-mwah vibe. As usual, I am probably wrong. ;-)
I think it's true that Jaco, when playing swing, rarely played a whole song or even 4 consecutive bars with a big fat "end of the fingerboard" tone. He seemed to sprinkle passages with a deep tone into his regular mid-rangy sound that "popped" more. "Wedding Waltz" on the 1986 "Standards Zone" piano trio record is about as close as Jaco got to playing like Bob Cranshaw or someone more traditional. ua-cam.com/video/BG0N0-Aiz2E/v-deo.html (at least as close as I can find).
i just started watching your videos so far you have kept me entertained and i love your content as a bass player and a lover of music you absolutely be a great hang you seem to be a great cat and i would jam with you anytime thanks for the content im a big fan
Hi Mister! Thank you very much for your videos. It is essential to pay attention to your advice so that my electric bass sounds better in the jazz ensemble in which I participate. I've been listening to the records you recommended and I can't find the bass player for McDuff's Honeydripper. Who is the bassplayer?
@@pdbass yess, I am subscribed now... I play jazz a lot, that's the most dominant style for me now. I feel like the lowest frequencies limit the punch and makes "small" the high octave notes. Sometimes I feel some "fight" between pickups config, bass EQ and amp EQ... I'll be tuned anyway.
A relatively unknown, yet iconic bass solo by a 22 year old Marcus Miller. The sophistication and command of jazz vernacular is mind blowing still to this day. I don’t know if folks know what a high level jazz musician he is in the straight-ahead realm. ua-cam.com/video/x15KTAazq_k/v-deo.html
Nice video presentation Paul! May I add Scott Lafaro to your list? I have never heard better pulsating walking bass lines coming from any bass player as exemplified in the following album- (not talking about his amazing solos, just the walking bass lines which accompany the piano): ua-cam.com/video/_nc6e8U65ow/v-deo.html
I can't hear a single note in the tone section... hardly better through the rest of the video. I'm all for warmth on electric bass but you want to be heard!
![6 Ways To Use Modes On Bass [Finally know what to do!]](/img/n.gif)
The funny thing is that this guy is so good that I’d still be glad to have him playing his “wrong examples” on a gig. But the right examples are much better.
I love everything about this lesson, especially what you said about tone and note length. Fantastic, brother. 🎯
I'm an old bassist and have played forever.You are to be admired as a complete player.The highest compliment for a bassist imo.
Another stellar lesson session, Paul!! I would constantly wonder how I got the swing vibe working by accident and then couldn’t retrace my steps how I got there, much to my disappointment. Now I know how to repeat that. Thank you so much for your passionate and educational videos, which are so very helpful and inspiring!! Thank you!!!
Good one! I learned by melding with the bass player in the swingingest tunes I could find.
Thanks Paul. A great companion piece to the "put a hump in your lines" suggestions. Appreciate your suggestions!
I wanted you to know that I'm trying to learn a doom metal song with swing and this video helped me. Thank you.
4 great tips! Thanks, Paul!
This was a great video. Glad I stumbled onto it.
This is so great, just found your channel yesterday, already in my top 10 music channels, working your way up quickly! I am harmonica player (46 years, was full-time pro by age 20) and I had a Swing Dance band for 10 years. (Bass, Drums, Guitar, Piano, female vocals, myself on harp, plus 1-2 horns so we could play lines and get a big band affect). I would meet with swing dance teachers and we played at events, they will critique you hard on tempo's and swing feel if you don't have it going on! We played straight ahead Jazz too, as well as Blues, R&B. I had Bass players over that 10 years who played both electric and stand-up on same gig, some electric only. You could really tell when someone employed the techniques you lay out here. I could not always tell why, which makes then video even better! I only knew by feel.....like funk or other things, in swing "you are either swingin' or you're dying" a a wise person once told me. Jimmy Smith plays some pretty cool good sounding swinging bass on B-3 organ also. Love your videos, thank you so much for posting, quite valuable, even as a harmonica player!
Hope we can play together sometime! Thank you!!
@@pdbass I am based in San Diego at the moment, was in Austin 7 years just before COVID. I have played with some cool people over the years, mostly by invite sitting in: Lester Chambers (He plays harmonica too so he invited me to sit in on his set at a festival), Bo Diddley, some of the horn players from Joe liggins old band, One of my guitar players did that tour with Rose Royce when working at the car wash came out, He is a white guy but Barry Gordy picked him for the gig to tour! Did you ever know of Cecil lytle? The piano player who was head of music at UCSD? I did a very cool concert with him in 1978, just him on piano, me on the solos he gave me for harmonica and then the full gospel choir doing some funky black gospel. I I haven't seen yet where you are located but I'm going through your videos right now I am on the Chaka Khan naughty. We used to do Chaka Khan, Aretha and Sade, had good singer that could pull it off.
Swing like there’s no tomorrow!!!!
Love it! Learned a lot about the positioning on the electric to help get that even rounder sound. Awesome breakdown! Love the chapters included as well.
Invaluable advice, bassman! Thank you so much again for creating such wonderful videos and sharing your insight 😊🎶🎵❤️🙏
Excellent video! I play strictly electric bass in a pianoless jazz-rock group (two saxes, bass, drums), and on our more straight-ahead swing tunes, I've been working on employing all of these techniques to sound "less electric". One other suggestion I'd add is to play with flatwound strings! It took me 30 years of playing bass before I ever tried flats, and not only do they sound better for swing, they're smooooth to play.
I just have to say though, the demos in this video crack me up… you can't play badly even when you try! :D
@Room 34 Creative Services You are soooo right about his demos of playing " badly "! 😉😂
Flatwounds definitely along with a muted bridge. Leo had it right with the early P basses. I see a lot of younger guys using flats on a Precision. John Mayer's bass player and the guy with Snarky Puppy as well.
Me too i was like....nothing wrong with this or that..his super trained ear knows what it hears though I suppose.. .its all great to my ears 👌
@@jeffmorrison5695 Yep… flats on a Precision. That's my setup. I just finished playing bass in the pit for a community theater production of Mary Poppins and even though the book was written for about 80% acoustic and 20% electric, I played it all on my P-Bass… right hand right at the base of the neck to get that acoustic-ish sound, and then directly over the pickup for the electric parts. Tone rolled off to about 7 the whole time.
"Handle yer sonic bidness"😎 And please love your neighbor!♥️😉 Brilliant , as always. Check it out, though: the sonic thing gets tricky...A lot of times when one plays through an amp onstage, it is necessary to make the tone brighter than usual to compensate for the sonic "throw"(sound projection distance/dispersion pattern) of one's speaker cabinet(s) as well as for the acoustics of the stage and/or the room...Live recordings of both Anthony Jackson and Gary Willis come to mind in which the tone settings of their basses are very bright, yet somehow still manage to sit well in the mix of the overall band sound...On UA-cam, check out Willis with Bireli Lagrene(live) at the Blue Note in Milano and check out Anthony in a trio setting with Steve Khan and Dennis Chambers in Germany; allegedly, Anthony played through a rackmounted phase shifter or chorus straight into the board because the provided backline amp was so crappy. In both scenarios, those guys swung their butts off and the house sound folks did their job, the somewhat bright tone settings on the basses notwithstanding...Love your channel, thanks for these fantastically engaging and informative posts!👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽🤗
Oh this was one of your greatest topics. Yes they all are but sometimes you’re that much more passionate in your voice tone with an occasional flourish that’s perfect. Thanks so much.
super helpful, the tip on swing and lines is especially useful
Great video thanks. Now the real work as a bass player and musician begins.
Great insight. I am a newbie on the bass and trying to not get too many bad habits. I appreciate your playing and teaching. Big Thanks. Mike
I love your channel, your work and your whole aura……. I’m a semi pro drummer who has locked in with bass player friends for a long time…… all along kinda wishing I was in his shoes!! Thanks for all you do…. and who you are!!
Excellent basics to live by!
Using flatwounds helps quite a bit too !
Excellent advice. I dig your bottom line encouragements, sir!
The Family Feud buzzer X was hilarious. Great info.
Excellent advice, especially people who only play bass guitar. Also try flatwound strings. Roundwound is like piano string.
Another great video, Paul. Of course I agree with most of this, but the reality is the double bass makes a very strong visual statement, especially among people who don't know much about jazz or music in general. For better or for worse, many people listen with their eyes. However I do believe a truly great musician can swing and sound great with whatever instrument they choose to play. Some of my favorite bass lines have been played by musicians who are not bass players per se.
Great thank you this helps, I have a show on the 16th and I just bought a bass about a week ago and been kinda stressing to make sure I get the sound right without bringing too much attention. Wish me luck ha! 🙏🏼
Paul "is" the "MAN" !!!
Word to the Mothership 👍
Thank you so much!!! This is a very informative and simple to understand.
Thank you! I have been searching for this type of info
Great!
Great video !
What up Hometown! Just found your channel a few days ago. I like your versatility and deep knowledge of many types of music. I'm definitely learning a lot from you. So glad I found your channel.
🙏🏽👊🏽👍🏽
The Honeydripper! For my money, McDuff was the king of the organ bass. That record swings so hard. And Jimmy Forest just kills on it.
You are insanely helpful! thanks alot
Well done. Handle your sonic business!! Thank you!
Great vid, very useful. Thanks
Great lesson. Loved this!
Bravissimo e utilissimo. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Excellent advice particularly when electric bass playing has really swung to the "guitar" side of sounds and techniques these days.
GREAT topic
Going to do more walking on the electric bass armed with this information. I just prefer walking on the double bass.
Wisdom!
Super stuff bud! Im getting into alot of artists on your recommendations. God bless from DUBLIN Ireland.
Marcus Miller on the We want Miles lp . Some extended walking bass with Al Foster . I would bet you have heard this lp but if not it’s awesome. Hope you are doing great this week . Looking forward to the next video.
One of my faves!
This was great. Thank you!
all great info! monk montgomery!
So good!
Loads of great tips here, (although I have to disagree with not plucking next to the bridge; I think it sounds great on walking basslines too).
I think you’re right, but it depends on the gig. Thanks for watching!!
Oh my gosh. I’m a DRUMMER and you sir are spot on in this video. In my youth I was a session drummer in LA and played with monster musicians. However, fast forward a few decades later and now I live in a smaller city, and BOOM, it’s hard to find a bass player whom you just described. Excellent advice that is so well communicated by you. I now can speak diplomatically to a couple of bass players. Thank you.
Amazing..
Thanks! Learned something.💥💥💥💥
Great advice!! Awesome channel!
Great lesson. I busted a stitch when the family feud X made its appearance 😂
I like how Ron Carter jazz walks ahead of the beat.
Another VERY important element of swing is to accent the 2nd and 4th beat!
Paul...awesome info! Just throwing this out there...listening/watching Jaco over these past decades, it seemed like he lived over the Bridge with a bright tone when playing Walking Bass (e.g. "Rockin' 'n' Rhythm"). When he played up near the neck...that seemed to be when he was getting that classic Jaco-mwah vibe. As usual, I am probably wrong. ;-)
LOL. He was all over the bass, wasn’t he?
I think it's true that Jaco, when playing swing, rarely played a whole song or even 4 consecutive bars with a big fat "end of the fingerboard" tone. He seemed to sprinkle passages with a deep tone into his regular mid-rangy sound that "popped" more. "Wedding Waltz" on the 1986 "Standards Zone" piano trio record is about as close as Jaco got to playing like Bob Cranshaw or someone more traditional. ua-cam.com/video/BG0N0-Aiz2E/v-deo.html (at least as close as I can find).
Play over the neck I find it gives my bass a warmth sound that upright gives
Flatwound strings and a foam mute make a huge difference.
i just started watching your videos so far you have kept me entertained and i love your content as a bass player and a lover of music you absolutely be a great hang you seem to be a great cat and i would jam with you anytime thanks for the content im a big fan
New sub:D
Volume knob, super important “ turn down “
Yes! Another valid option: learn to adjust volume/dynamics with the plucking hand, without touching the volume knob...✌🏾😎
Two outstanding exceptions, for sure
Wisdom.
Well ok thanks for the lesson, BUT you being such a good bass player even you bad examples still didn't sound bad...
You just too darn good sir 😉
Hi Mister! Thank you very much for your videos. It is essential to pay attention to your advice so that my electric bass sounds better in the jazz ensemble in which I participate. I've been listening to the records you recommended and I can't find the bass player for McDuff's Honeydripper. Who is the bassplayer?
His left hand. Great, swinging basslines on the organ
@@pdbass ua-cam.com/video/ivYFzlapYTA/v-deo.html&ab_channel=BobHardy Yes! I´ve just found out. GENIUS!
Joey De Franco?
What are modes that usually use at swing bass lines?
The good ones 😎
But didn’t Jaco love to groove from the bridge ..
Oh, excellent. But: should I roll off ALL of the high frequencies (0) and set the low frequencies to 10 in the bass (without considering the amp EQ)?
NO. I would say to take off some of the “edge” and finger noise in the sound. Back off a little on the treble. That’s all.
@@pdbass thank u! and what about amp speaker inches and EQ? maybe the same as bass EQ? Thank u very much in advance!
@@huansmith depends on the sound you're looking for...I'm actually working on a video about this! Stay tuned.
@@pdbass yess, I am subscribed now... I play jazz a lot, that's the most dominant style for me now. I feel like the lowest frequencies limit the punch and makes "small" the high octave notes. Sometimes I feel some "fight" between pickups config, bass EQ and amp EQ... I'll be tuned anyway.
Thank you! 🙏🏽
A relatively unknown, yet iconic bass solo by a 22 year old Marcus Miller. The sophistication and command of jazz vernacular is mind blowing still to this day. I don’t know if folks know what a high level jazz musician he is in the straight-ahead realm.
ua-cam.com/video/x15KTAazq_k/v-deo.html
Man you swing like Tarzan😀
🤣🤣🤣my man
Nice video presentation Paul! May I add Scott Lafaro to your list? I have never heard better pulsating walking bass lines coming from any bass player as exemplified in the following album- (not talking about his amazing solos, just the walking bass lines which accompany the piano): ua-cam.com/video/_nc6e8U65ow/v-deo.html
Nice! My favorite non-Bill Scott is from a record called “The Arrival Of Victor Feldman”. He swings extra hard on that one!
@@pdbass Thanks! I'll check it out!
@@pdbass Man oh man--this is lightning speed at it's extreme! Never heard this one. Thanks again!
I can't hear a single note in the tone section... hardly better through the rest of the video. I'm all for warmth on electric bass but you want to be heard!
Thanks for the feedback! I will make it louder next video. Thanks for watching!
@@pdbass thanks for the video and the response... it's a minor criticism. I should have prefaced my remarks by saying how good the videos are xMx
Another VERY important element of swing is to accent the 2nd and 4th beat!
I totally disagree about jumping around. If you listen to Paul chambers he’s all over the fretboard