"I Hate Playing That Song"

[nousername]

A small portion of our setlist are songs I don't listen to, but will gladly play.

[StratGuy22]

I do like the song sanctuary and how I fit into it. It really plays off that drone. La Grange, I'll play off the bass player & drummer & still enjoy it. I like the stops in it, the shots.

 

Dreams. Well, I do my best. Ya can't win em all.

 

 

[Lee Knight]

 

I have always been a groove player. For me, the concept of a player in the band not getting a simple groove song, I totally get that. But...

 

... I can change their mind with the way I play it. When simple, repetitive patterns have an inner world of accents and ghost notes, you can get a groove. But YOU'VE got to create that bounce or grind or fire. When I decide, with my bass, to really lay in to those accents and ghosts notes, the drummer will fall in with my bass while he's wearing a big smile. Rhythm SECTION.

 

Now the guitarist and keyboardist realize how silly they sound kind of drifting around in a mist of pointless rhythm. So they lock into one of those accents, so they complement one of those ghost notes.

 

So they become part of the groove.

 

The singer feels this. The singer digs in and delivers. A boring song is now kicking ass.

[Vito Corleone]

 

---

Lee Knight wrote:

 

I have always been a groove player. For me, the concept of a player in the band not getting a simple groove song, I totally get that. But...

 

 

 

... I can change their mind with the way I play it. When simple, repetitive patterns have an inner world of accents and ghost notes, you can get a groove. But YOU'VE got to great that bounce or grind or fire. When I decide, with my bass, to really lay in to those accents and ghosts notes, the drummer will fall in with my bass while he's wearing a big smile. Rhythm SECTION.

 

 

 

Now the guitarist and keyboardist realize how silly they sound kind of drifting around in a mist of pointless rhythm. So they lock into one of those accents, so they complement one of those ghost notes.

 

 

 

So they become part of the groove.

 

 

 

The singer feels this. The singer digs in and delivers. A boring song is now kicking ass.

---

 

Songs and performances are what you make them.  And locking in and rocking simple grooves and chord patterns is often a bigger challenge than doing the same with a more complex song. 

[StratGuy22]

I actually LIKE playing Mustang Sally. We usually get some crowd members up on stage to sing backups, we trade solos etc etc.

 

We rarely do BEG. It just doesn't seem to get requests.

[SeniorBlues]

 

---

Lee Knight wrote:

 

 

I have always been a groove player. For me, the concept of a player in the band not getting a simple groove song, I totally get that. But...

 

 

 

... I can change their mind with the way I play it. When simple, repetitive patterns have an inner world of accents and ghost notes, you can get a groove. But YOU'VE got to create that bounce or grind or fire. When I decide, with my bass, to really lay in to those accents and ghosts notes, the drummer will fall in with my bass while he's wearing a big smile. Rhythm SECTION.

 

 

 

Now the guitarist and keyboardist realize how silly they sound kind of drifting around in a mist of pointless rhythm. So they lock into one of those accents, so they complement one of those ghost notes.

 

 

 

So they become part of the groove.

 

 

 

The singer feels this. The singer digs in and delivers. A boring song is now kicking ass.

---

 

I want to believe that your approach works.  Sadly, too many bands I've played with just don't interpret what you're playing the way you'd like.  I did a sub gig a while back where the rest of the band genuinely appreciaited what I was trying to do and had the chops and musical frame of reference to follow along, but I've been in too many other situations where the rest of the guys just didn't understand the rhythms I was trying to convey.

To deal with the broader question, don't settle for less than playing with a group of players that have a broad enough frame of reference that will allow them to understand what someone is trying to do rhythmically.  I had it in the last band, and I wish the gigs had been there to sustain it.

[Lee Knight]

SeniorBlues says:

 

"I want to believe that your approach works. Sadly, too many bands I've played with just don't interpret what you're playing the way you'd like. I did a sub gig a while back where the rest of the band genuinely appreciaited what I was trying to do and had the chops and musical frame of reference to follow along, but I've been in too many other situations where the rest of the guys just didn't understand the rhythms I was trying to convey.

To deal with the broader question, don't settle for less than playing with a group of players that have a broad enough frame of reference that will allow them to understand what someone is trying to do rhythmically. I had it in the last band, and I wish the gigs had been there to sustain it."

 

Of course you're right. But...

 

1. With cool players it's easy.? Agree.

 

2. With less experienced groove players, you don't just lay down a cool groove, you lay down a groove constructed specifically to be coat tails for everyone to jump in. Simple and with exaggerated accents in the right spots. I try to play my bass like a high hat for this kind of thing. Not overplaying but still including the 8s or 16s as ghost notes.

 

Climb aboard.