Rock Bass

1

Heyyyyyy gang.

I’m working on a piece about Rock Bass.
I have some questions that I’m hoping you all can throw down on and help me out.

  1. What defines Rock Bass to you?
  2. Who are the definitive Rock Bassists?
  3. If you wanted to play, specifically, Rock Bass, what would you want to know?

Holler back when you can!
Really curious what happens if we try and dig deep into a single genre (even one as amorphous and all-encompassing as Rock).
Y’all rule.
Have at it!

3 Likes
2

The WHO- John Entwistle
Rush- Geddy Lee
Jack Bruce
Chris Squire but he can be too yessy sometimes :joy:
Donald Duck Dunn
Cliff Burton
To name a few.

To me rock bass lines are solid 4/4 great “rock” fills and counter melodies as seen/ heard on many iconic songs.

What I’d love to learn is the Rock fills. Like drums I ended up using a lot of R&B and funk fills I’d love to have more Rock chops in the tool bag.

5 Likes
3

People are going to reference stars of the rock bass, but I think rock bass is a working mans bass. Most rockers are regular players, it’s about attitude. Rock can be fancy, but usually is not.

A good rock bass with distortion lays the foundation and almost blends in with the background.

This is a good example of that, this is rock bass 101

Who are good bassists

  • Ian Hill, Judas Priest
  • Cliff Williams, AC/DC
  • Dusty Hill, ZZ Top
  • Dee Dee Ramone, Ramones
  • Haraguchi, Nemophila for a modern one
4

Hell yes.
I’ve been diving deep into Rock Lore this week, and Cliff Williams and early ACDC is just the absolute money.
It’s Rock defined, in my mind. Simple as hell, but with the indescribable energy that makes it a force of nature. So so good.

Ooooo - good call.
And such a cool, slippery topic, because so many of the forms, the sounds and the riffs (particularly early rock) come straight from blues and soul…
I like this.
Thanks!

1 Like
5
  1. The initial question seems kind of broad. To me, rock is everything between Slayer to Simon and Garfunkel with stuff like punk, new wave, grunge, industrial etc. falling somewhere along that scale. Not even mentioning classic rock like Buddy Holly and the crickets, Chubby Checker, the Beatles, the Animals. Velvet Underground, the Doors, Television, Bowie, Roxy Music, and the Bee Gees. All that said, the spectrum of bass in those is just as wide. Pete Wentz is a rock bassist but so is Geddy Lee, Jason Newstead, and Les Claypool. I’d have a hard time finding a lot of commonality play style wise other than they all play stringed instruments that happen to use the bass clef.

Even the idea that at it’s heart, rock being based around blues is a bit of a simple answer. To me, rock was based on blues but also country, boogie woogie, jazz and built on that for the past 70 some odd years.

  1. Paul McCartney / John Paul Jones / Dee Dee Ramone / Les Claypool to me have all redefined what rock bass can be in their times. Would Jason Newstead have been Jason Newstead if Dee Dee Ramone hadn’t done his thing first? That’s kind of how I’d put this list together.

  2. I’m still new and suck enough that my answer here would be Yes or D. All of the above.

4 Likes
6

I’m thinking about quite basic, 1/8 notes, almost 100% root notes, punchy, efficient, in your face, locomotive-like bass lines. Think AC/DC, Airbourne and those kind of bands.

Also cool rockized shuffles like a lot of ZZ Top songs.

1 Like
7

Ale Villareal of the Warning is another good example

Those are my thoughts and why I thought of Ian Hill/Priest as a god of eighth notes

1 Like
8

Pino Palladino is a good example too. Whether he is playing with John Mayer, the Who, or Nine Inch Nails he melts into the background

1 Like
9

Can’t ignore Chris Wolstenholme as a modern example.

1 Like
10

My 2 example of rock bass lines

Tony levin

Mike McDonald sweet freedom this live version the fills are definitely rock.

1 Like
11

Love all this!
Yes -

Fully agree - that’s what makes it so damn weird to try and hone in on what is rock…
Which is why I’m really appreciating all this good stuff.

@terb - I love that, and definitely hooking into the archetypal grooves is super smart. I’m gunna definitely do this, and definitely need to tip a hat to ZZ Top.

Thanks for the good stuff, all.

3 Likes
12

This almost hurts to write but you have forgotten Gene Simmons.
I am not a KISS fan, even though we play a couple of their songs.
I know he is generally not well regarded as a person or bassist, but undeniably he does rock KISS songs and they put on a hell of a show.
Don’t flame me too bad- as I said this is painful to type.
I’m a cowboy, I’m a cowboy, I’m a Mexican cowboy.

2 Likes
13

Yeah I agree. You can like the music without being a fan of the person.

2 Likes
14

Actually, changed my mind while I’m working on a song and frustrated at the moment. Ghost notes. How the hell do I play ghost notes right? I’m working on a Jane’s Addiction tune and omg Eric Avery loves him some ghost notes.

1 Like
15

Here’s 3 amazing rock bands 2 artists and 2 great videos:
Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave Tim Commerford: https://youtu.be/peZ_JYViSS8?feature=shared
Tool: Justin Chancellor https://youtu.be/aDX_2-jWmRY?feature=shared

1 Like
16

I’d love to be able to get really consistent tone when chugging, it’s not anywhere near as straightforward as I thought when first starting out.

3 Likes
17

What worked for me was just doing it using both fingers and a pick (and don’t skip out on the upstrokes with pick) until it was muscle memory.

1 Like
18

Yeah it’s the upstrokes with the pick that sound pretty wimpy when I’m playing.

1 Like
19

i don’t really think there is an answer for that. do i love ale (from the warning) for her crazy metronome precision and no nonsense holding down the fort bass lines? i do. but do i also love super busy melodic let somebody else worry about the foundation bass lines like geddy or les claypool? i love those too.

20

It will come, alternatively you can only do downstrokes like Dee Dee.

1 Like