How To (not) Irritate Your Band | 5 Overplaying Mistakes Bass Players Make

[@ravenbom]

I had to learn this recently when for the first time ever, I started playing bass for a country band with a bunch of old cowboy songs. I was putting fills in all the transitions, putting in counter melodies, etc. Then I got a sheet of lyrics and realized that there's dramatic meaning in just leaving all the transitions to the chorus alone, I was robbing the song of any meaning. Also, just made learning a shitload of new songs in a style I've never played before way easier.

[@montecook5260]

So easy to overplay bass, takes a lot of willpower!

[@aaronl7669]

thanks, great info!

[@savedplayer]

Thank you for this its always a good thing to be reminded of every few months to keep you in check.

[@kevinlander46]

That's why i love playing Reggae, great learning this genre to keep you in check, and discipline in your playing.

[@AllAboutBasses]

Oh man, you really killed the groove in Another Bites the Dust when you added all those notes. Great video :)

[@bassmanpedro1]

There's a different mentality between lead guitarists and bass guitarists. Here in Australia I played in several rounds of a Weekend Warriors programme. Because of a shortage of bass guitarists, several bands had guitarists playing bass. The results were generally not good. One in particular that stuck in my mind was a band playing Smoke on the Water with a lead guitarist on bass. When the bass comes in on that iconic intro the bass is mostly single notes that drive the song along. This guy was all over the neck and totally destroyed it.

[@jrjazz]

Great content for me, a guitar player, learning bass😊

[@salofilm]

Thanks for all the great content, Ivan! Happy to hear about your continued success! Here’s to a great 2025!! 🎉

[@DaleBurke-j8r]

I'm 62 and have seen quite a few bass " super showmen" in my day. I even got hired during a set break by a group that owned the instrument and equipment their "bassist" was playing.

[@sethbrown8912]

😂

[@edzr7s]

I love this.

[@Omarencarnacion1]

wow amazing tips guys!! that help me a lot!! thank you!!!

[@klaiejah]

Very enjoyable video with pertinent content - thanks 🙏

[@pgrvloik]

Playing bass is so thankless 😊 I know a couple of bass players who overplay in jam sessions, like they're competing against the guitar player. Bass is my instrument and my character: something/someone you notice only when he's not here, but providing the foundation and...making the girls dance 😊

[@robertklein6693]

Very entertaining - thanks guys!

[@nzsteve]

I like the idea about learning a load of old hip-hop basslines to use as for solos. Any particular suggestions? And what do I do to irritate my band mates? I keep trying to get them to actually practice the material we're supposed to be playing away from the practice room, so that when we practice we're simply bringing everything together.

[@adamswing6115]

Check out anything mf doom and anything played by Thundercat

[@ACMan-Sports]

Great video guys

[@robertmock4146]

Enjoyed that

[@ragsna1630]

Another great video

[@Daniel_Levis]

another one bites the dust much better the way you played it

[@NickHarman]

Very interesting, BTW what bass is Toby playing? I love that minimalist big white knob

[@renespengler]

Sterling Joe Dart

[@NickHarman]

@@renespengler Thanks, I don't normally care about kit, but that is a very attractive bass

[@BEN-us7ue]

I like to bring a hi hat with me to help out the drummer a little bit

[@richardstober2540]

‘Thinking Out Loud’ is the bass line to Marvin Gaye’s Let’s get It On ! How did that happen?

[@ebassguitar]

There might have been a court case all about that… ;-)

[@tjsmith3741]

Listen. Play the song. Leave space to suit the song. Hold the tempo. Employ dynamics at the right points. I’m trying to be more disciplined in my approach.

[@froorocks100]

Actually enjoyed some of those fills 😅

[@IggyYTube]

Great topic Playing too loud might not be appreciated always and using the wrong sound such as kicking in (or not) distortion & fuzz (or other FX) a the wrong time ... ;-) Another one might be badd pocket & timing. More of this content please ... Cheers :-)

[@MackGuffen]

I watched the bassist in a funk band doing runs up and down the neck everytime the guitarist took a solo (and through whole songs for that matter). He acted like it was his band, so maybe it was…🤣🤣

[@pillbug1657]

Funk band guitarists shouldn't really be playing many solos, if any! In that context, the guitar is a rhythm instrument, primarily, and should fall behind the bassist in primacy. The idea that every song should have a f-ing guitar solo (or in funk, any solos, necessarily) is a sad relic of crappy rock.

[@fallingsky1984]

12:34 😅😂 lmao

[@DaddyBooneDon]

I irritate my band by putting loads of slides and power chords into songs. But it's only during practice, so I feel entitled 😅 One thing I used to do were a ton of ostinatos in songs. I mean, why learn a song if I can just do my own thing. I can imagine that was really annoying.

[@johnkilpatrick2343]

I allow myself one fancy show off fill once in a set.

[@Jared-h8f]

we have this bass player at church that couldn't stop slapping any songs and when anyone confronted him about it, he always gets mad and tell us that it's how he plays. Even angels can't change that man so irritating.

[@johnxaviermusic]

If you can’t keep “the 1” / down beat, you are not only useless but taking away the groove. The moment he got busy filling the gaps, he lost the groove. As long as you can hit that down beat, just sprinkle some fills here and there. And always keep your ears open.

[@ebassguitar]

Absolutely! Show how important the groove is to making things feel good…

[@graphicmaterial5947]

If the other members of the band just did their job already, we wouldn't have to overdo anything... just sayin'

[@TMBANKS]

i think i got your names mixed up, toby sounds like ali-g lol

[@fallingsky1984]

one could easily turn all this info to get the band fired lol if done intentionally 😅

[@silvianvalcu8433]

As a bass player you can't overplay😂😂😂

[@christopherstorrier5560]

Yeah , you gotta remember your in a band/group not Marcus Miller or Victor Wooten, nice if you like slapping but your band mates won't thank you for getting in the way of the singer & guitarist...got to keep locked in with your drummer 90% of the time, not that we get 10% of time to show off on many songs anway...lol Keep it real....listening to people dump there trickbag gets boring after a few songs anyway, imo..nice if you do get some space to do something different.....

[@selfactualizer2099]

i thought this video would be dumb :/ first part was you purposely playing bad forget about playing too much. music is context stop wasting peoples time with all this over thinking. you guys are the reason everyone is so flakey and insecure literally everyone realizes what youre trying too hard to describe. im sick of these videos assuming this about people while the entire comment section is saying things like "i learned this i knew this bravo good job youtuber man even though we all already witnessed this immediately and early on in just practice"

[@ebassguitar]

Thanks for sharing your opinion. Very insightful how you think about this topic. There are many things I would disagree with in your take on this…. But here’s the beautiful thing about this world, we can disagree and still be friends. Toby and I have a many decades of combined professional experience between us and we just share what we feel is pertinent and relevant to someone in early phases of learning. If it’s not for someone they can move on to another video. Have a good one and thanks for writing!

[@jimvandenhandel5980]

No slapping!

[@TMBANKS]

james is super cool but when he talks he sounds just like ali-g lol

[@michaelgalietta5623]

Hmmm...guilty here😢

[@dguyiop8]

Its funny how this guy thinks he is saying something that people don't know. Maybe this is just for beginners

[@ebassguitar]

Sure! With any education video or educational piece of work there are always a group of people who know the subject matter, those that don’t, and those that need a recap. EBassGuitar is channel designed for beginner to intermediate players… so the chances this video isn’t intended for you!