Skip to main content

Performing Archives - Page 3

What Makes A Great Bassist? Part 2: Expressing Yourself
What Makes a Great Bassist?

What Makes A Great Bassist? Part 2: Expressing Yourself

With all the things to work on to improve ourselves, it’s easy to lose sight of why we play bass. That’s why we’ve been polling famous bassists and the community at large on what they think makes a great bassist. (Be sure to check out What Makes a Great Bassist? Part 1: Playing for the Song). For part two of...

What Makes a Great Bassist? Part 1: Playing For The Song
What Makes a Great Bassist?

What Makes a Great Bassist? Part 1: Playing For The Song

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the “hows” of bass playing: scales, chords, arpeggios, slapping, tapping, harmonics… Maybe you’re working on getting that one awesome lick just right so you can use it someday. With so much information to digest, sometimes it’s best to take a step back and remember what it is we’re actually working toward. What is...

Bass in an Acoustic Setting: Knowing How to Play Your Role
Ask Damian Erskine

Bass in an Acoustic Setting: Knowing How to Play Your Role

Q: I think I have a good suggestion for an area you may have not covered: the role of a bassist in an acoustic setting. No drummer (maybe a Djembe), just acoustic guitar, bass and vocals. How do you keep it grooving, how do you fill the space, how do you make it sound good? I’ve had to play a...

Choosing the Right Tone for the Song: On Stage and In Studio
Ask Damian Erskine

Choosing the Right Tone for the Song: On Stage and In Studio

Q: How do you decide what tone to use for different songs? A: This is a great question. And it is one that is very subjective. This will be different for everyone, but I’m happy to share my personal take on it. This is also something that may be very different live than it is in the studio. Quite often,...

Performing Live: Adapting to Your Environment
Ask Damian Erskine

Performing Live: Adapting to Your Environment

Q: I had a gig last night at a church and the room resonated right on F#. The designer of the church could not have designed it any better to mess up anybody playing F#. When I would hit an F#, it would instantly double or almost triple my output. Very crazy. I tried to remember to play it lighter...

Following the Singer: A Guide to Dealing with Rhythmically Challenged Vocalists
Ask Damian Erskine

Following the Singer: A Guide to Dealing with Rhythmically Challenged Vocalists

Q: What do you recommend when you’re tasked with accompanying a seriously rhythm-challenged vocalist? I was both music director and bassist for a recent musical review, with our band backing up a variety of vocalists. Two talented singers passed the audition with their carefully prepared selections, but with new show music, we discovered some serious rhythm challenges. Personnel changes were...

A Guide to Making the Switch Fretless Bass
Ask Damian Erskine

A Guide to Making the Switch Fretless Bass

Q: I’ve just removed the frets from my first bass, and this is my first experience with a fretless bass. What advice do you have to start out? A: There are two areas of focus for making the switch. At a glance, these might seem to contradict each other, but one applies to practicing and one applies to performance. Fretless...

On Soloing: Think Pocket, Melody, Theme, Interplay and Form
Ask Damian Erskine

On Soloing: Think Pocket, Melody, Theme, Interplay and Form

Q: During a recent performance with my band, I was given a spot to solo in a fast, up-tempo (120 bpm) funk tune. I basically have as much time as I need to “do my thing” with only the drummer accompanying me. My question: during my solo spot, should I stay in the pocket (the song’s in E) and just...

Lazy Horns and Keeping Time
Ask Damian Erskine

Lazy Horns and Keeping Time

Q: I’ve started rehearsing with a big band and while I’m finding it a lot of fun and a good challenge, I’ve been having a hard time keeping the time. The horns seem to play way behind the beat much of the time and it just feels uncomfortable no matter what I do. If I try and lay back for...

Blues Endings: Tips for Avoiding the Train Wreck
Blues Bass

Blues Endings: Tips for Avoiding the Train Wreck

Early on in my musical career, a wise man once told me that the mark of a good band is one that starts together and ends together. This doesn’t mean that whatever is played in the middle doesn’t matter, but it alludes to the importance of how well-rehearsed the players are or how well they feel each other out if...

Improving Your Sight Reading: A Guide to Better Reading on the Bandstand
Ask Damian Erskine

Improving Your Sight Reading: A Guide to Better Reading on the Bandstand

Q: I’m at the point where I’m handling lead sheets better on gigs, but I sometimes get lost and/or second guess myself, usually resulting in me getting lost. Do you have any tips for becoming a good sight reader? A: Reading chord charts, and especially written notation, is one of the most useful tools you will develop as a working...

Playing As One
Ask Damian Erskine

Playing As One

I’m pushing the pause button on questions this week thanks to an experience I had just last night, which is a great lesson for all musicians. I’m traveling to Tokyo with the Jaco Pastorius Big Band at the moment. Last night, we had our warm up concert in Sunrise, FL. After the gig, I got into a conversation with fellow...