Stand Out

I have to share with you something I’ve noticed that is sad but true : musically, the general public expects very little from us bass players. I know some of you are rejoicing, but most of you hate this fact as much as I do. That's why I’ve always used it to my advantage.

When I was coming up, I could never figure out, when a round of solos were happening, why everyone but the drummer stopped playing or got really quiet whenever I had to solo. I always thought that if I’m keeping the energy up to back their solos, then they should keep the energy up to back mine. After time, I realized that if the musicians I’m playing with aren’t in my regular band, where I can tell them what I want when I solo, then I just have to live with it. Think about it, when a keyboard solos, he's able to comp the chords in his left hand while blistering a 100-mile an hour lead line in his right. The guitar player hits a switch and his instrument goes into distortion that makes anything he does sound great. The drummer, as long as he can keep a beat, has the first instrument ever created to his advantage. When we step up everyone else shuts off so the audience can hear every little thing we do, and if you haven’t got much to say, unfortunately, you say it loud and clear.

Now, my approach is if the band is going to shut off when I solo, great, 'cause they would probably just get in my way anyway. Here are a couple of things you gotta learn, to make sure that when it’s your turn to solo, you Stand Out.


1. Learn to solo like a lead instrument. Why? 'Cause no one expects it. This is not easy to do and it will take you years before you get a handle on it, but when you do, trust me, it’s a great feeling to actually make your bass sing the blues over a blues.

2. Learn to comp. Why? 'Cause no one expects it. What I mean by comp is learn to play the chords that dictate those great solo lines, that’s what the keyboard player just did for his solo, try to out do him.

And finally the must dangerous trick in the book.

3. Stop the band and unleash your thumb. Why? 'Cause no one expects it - including the musicians on stage.


I actually got to the point where I didn’t want the band to play at all. I would stop the band and just have the audience clap on the 2 and 4’s of the beat. Think about it, if I’m going to play a solo where I know I’m gonna eventually work my way up from a funky thump groove into a blistering display of 16th note triplets that would make Victor Wooten proud, why would I have a drummer step all over me. This works great if you can pull it off, 'cause you're actually getting the audience involved, they become a part of your solo.

Start slow and funky and don't play the same bass line to the song, alter it or come up with something fresh. Believe it or not, less is more at this point. Pull your thumb out of the holster and slowly start into a slight flurry of notes, make sure that after you’ve done your run or lick, you get back to being slow and funky to make sure they know that you know what you’re doing. Double up the speed and intensity to the point where you only have about 4 bars left for overdrive. Go for the kill, cue the drummer for the last 4 bars that you’ve saved for your ego filled 16th note triplet, hammer-ons, double thumping and what ever you can throw in the solo. The big finish comes when you hit the 4th bar of overdrive, the audience is going wild, your hand is about to fall off, then you cue the rest of the band, hit the chorus of the song, and once again you come off looking like the man.

Please don’t try this at home, remember in front of an audience is the only to truly Stand Out. Till the next time, mad love to all my Bottom Dwellers.