Bass guitar and Drums

[C.J.]

Hi !

Me and my bass guitar player would like to work our "cohesion" (like the bass being in unision with the bass drum etc...).

I now it's a question of experience and getting to know each other musically, but I know it can be worked aswell...

Would anybody be able to help on this ?

[pfeff]

You want to come up with 2 or 4 bar phrases and decide what the bass should play, then decide which of those notes (if not all of them) you want to play on the kick. It can be helpful to write it out.

When recording myself playing to some music minus drums from Dave Weckl's contemporary drummer + 1 I noticed how important it is to know what the bass player is playing. If you're hitting most of the bass notes, but missing the odd one, you notice how weak the missed ones sound. Try to record your practise sessions. Perhaps set some rules - like you just play hats and snare while the bassist comes up with a 2-4 bar bass line, then you join in. It'll be good practise for both of you to remember exactly what he played. Then you play a 2-4 bar kick groove and he can join in and put a bass line around it. Start simple!
Joe