# Playing in a band

A bass player is hired for judgment as much as for hands: reading what you are given, starting together, deciding how loud and how busy to be, locking in with the drums, and finishing on the same note as the band. Each section below is a short procedure you can do alone, then with other players. You will need the [time-feel](time-feel.md) exercises for the starts and the [recording page](recording.md) to check yourself.

## Read a chord chart, and write it in numbers

A chord chart is the plan of a song: chords and bars, no notes. A bass player reads it for the **root** of each chord. Each box between two vertical lines **|** is one bar. Two chords in one box share the bar, half each. A **%** or a slash means “play the previous bar again”. Letters like V, C and B name the sections (verse, chorus, bridge).

```
V   | G | G | C | D |
C   | G D | Em C | G D | C % |
```

Working players write the same chart in **numbers** (the Nashville system) so that a change of key needs no rewriting. The number is the chord’s place in the key, as on [Chords in a key](keys.md#table). In G, G is 1, C is 4, D is 5, Em is 6m. On a bass the numbers are distances: the 4 is five frets above the 1 on one string, and the 5 is seven.

1. Find the key of the song. List its chords and find the row of the [key table](keys.md#table) that contains all of them. (Method on [Find the key of a song](keys.md#find).)
2. Write each chord as its number: **G C D Em → 1 4 5 6m**. Minor chords keep an **m**.
3. The verse above is now **| 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 |**. The chorus is **| 1 5 | 6m 4 | 1 5 | 4 % |**.
4. To play it in another key, write the root for each number from that key’s row of the table. In D: 1 = D, 4 = G, 5 = A, 6m = Bm. In A: 1 = A, 4 = D, 5 = E, 6m = F♯m.
5. Check yourself: play the roots of the verse in G, in D and in A without looking at the letter version. Start on the lowest root you can find, and note where each number falls on the neck.

Do this to three songs from [Play along](songs.md) and you will be able to follow a chart someone hands you ten seconds before the song.

## Count in and start together

A band starts together because one player counts and everyone else plays the next beat 1. The count must be at the speed of the song, because it tells everyone the tempo before a note is played.

1. Decide the tempo *before* you count, not while you are counting. Hear the first bar of the song in your head and tap it on your knee for four beats.
2. Count one bar aloud, evenly, **1 2 3 4**, loud enough for everyone.
3. On the next 1 everyone plays. Nobody plays the “4” of the count as a note.
4. Practise alone: set the practice bar to 90 BPM, listen to a few clicks, turn the click off, count one bar aloud at that speed, and play four bars. Turn the click back on and see whether you were with it. Do this ten times and write down whether your counts run fast or slow.
5. Record your count and the first four bars. On the recording, the count and the first bar should be evenly spaced, with no hurry between the 4 and the 1.

## Dynamics: lift a song without changing the chords

A song gets bigger because the player plays it bigger, not because the chords change. You have five levers. Use them in this order, one at a time:

1. **Where you pluck.** Over the end of the fingerboard the note is round and soft. Nearer the bridge it is tighter and brighter.
2. **How hard you pluck.** Use the pads of the fingers lightly, or dig in. Pluck harder and the note gets louder and more aggressive.
3. **How long the notes are.** Short, muted notes leave air; notes that ring into each other make a wall. See [Muting & ghost notes](muting.md).
4. **How busy the line is.** Whole and half notes are quieter than quarters, and quarters quieter than eighths.
5. **Which octave.** The same root an octave higher is lighter and cuts through; the low root is heavier.

Try it on **G D Em C**, two beats per chord, eight bars per section. Play each section, record all three, and compare.

| Section | Where | Line | Attack and length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verse | Over the fingerboard | Roots on 1 and 3 | Light, short notes |
| Pre-chorus | Middle | Quarter-note roots | Medium, notes joined |
| Chorus | Toward the bridge | Eighths, a root-fifth or octave lift | Hard, let the notes ring to the next |
| Bridge or last verse | Over the fingerboard | Roots on 1 only | Light again, for contrast |

**The test:** on the recording the three sections must sound clearly different in volume. Most players find that what felt like a big difference as they played is barely audible. If so, exaggerate until the difference is obvious on the recording.

## Leave space for the singer and the drums

The rule: when someone else has a part, you play less. The bass is the part the room feels more than hears, and it is easy to cover the singer and muddy the kick drum by playing too much.

You can practise this with the [backing band tool](/tools/backing.html?you=bass&chords=G,D,Em,C&key=G). It plays drums and the rest of the band and leaves the bass out for you.

1. Open the link, press play, and play **the root on beat 1 of each bar** for four bars. Listen to how the drums fill the bar. That is how little a bass part needs.
2. Next play roots on beats **1 and 3**, then a root on every beat, then eighths.
3. At each step listen to the kick drum. When you can no longer hear its thump as a separate sound, you are covering it. Go back one step, or play shorter notes.
4. Where there is a vocal, play less and stay lower. When the singer holds a long note or stops at the end of a line, you may play a little more: a short fill into the next chord.

## Lock with the kick drum

The kick drum and the bass play the lowest two sounds in the band, and when they land together they sound like one big instrument. When they miss each other by a hair, both sound weak.

### Method 1 · Land on every kick

1. Open the [backing band tool](/tools/backing.html?you=bass&chords=G,D,Em,C&key=G) and listen to the kick for one full round. Count where it falls in the bar.
2. Play a root on every kick and nothing between. The aim is for your note and the kick to sound like one sound.
3. Record it and zoom in as on [Time feel](time-feel.md): your note’s start should sit on top of the kick’s.

### Method 2 · Fill only the gaps

1. Once Method 1 is steady, add one short note in a gap between kicks. Keep it quieter than the kick notes.
2. Add notes one at a time. If the kick stops sounding clear, you added one too many.
3. Where the drums pause or the song stops, the bass is the last thing that can be heard, so it must stop with the band.

With no one to play with, record the bass, then listen for the kick in a drum loop. The [recording page](recording.md#second) shows how.

## Set your tone for the band, not for your bedroom

A tone that sounds enormous alone is often too much in a band. Set it with these steps.

1. Start with the amp’s bass, middle and treble at noon, or flat. Play a note on each string. All four should sound about equally loud.
2. If the notes are boomy or hard to tell apart, turn the bass down a little and the middle up a little. A bass that sounds slightly thin on its own is usually the one that stays clear in the band.
3. Keep the kick and the bass out of each other’s way: if you cannot tell them apart, shorten your notes or turn your low end down.
4. Set the volume by listening to the others. You should hear the singer clearly, and the drummer. If you cannot, you are too loud. A bass amp on the floor sounds quieter to you than to the audience, so tilt it up or stand it on a chair so you hear it.

## Endings and cues

Most songs fall apart at the end because nobody agreed on it. Settle these before you play:

1. **How many times through?** Write it on the chart: “V C V C C”.
2. **How does it end?** The three common ways are a *hit on 1* (everybody plays the last chord together on beat 1 of the final bar and lets it ring), a *ritard* (everyone slows on the last bar), or a *tag* (repeat the last line three times, then hit on 1).
3. **Who cues it?** Choose one player, usually the singer or the drummer, and one signal: a nod, or a hand held up with four fingers meaning “one bar left”.

Practise alone: play the chorus with the click, play four bars, and finish with a root on 1 that rings for exactly one bar. Record it. The last note should start on the click and stop cleanly.

## Ready when

Move on when all of these are true:

- You can turn a four-chord chart into numbers and play the roots in three keys.
- You can count a band in at a tempo you chose, with no click, and be within a few BPM.
- A recording of your verse and chorus shows a clear difference in volume.
- You can play a part with only beats 1 and 3 and still hold the song together.
- Your notes and a kick drum sound like one sound on a recording.