Singing Bass

Subject: Singing Bass
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 May 06 - 08:04 AM

Not talking those phone mounted singing fish that are movement sensitive and start singing when you pass by. Talking about singing bass. This is a fairly esoteric thread, so it may slide off the bottom of the screen quickly, but it's something I find interesting. I'm not a true bass, although I often sing the bass harmony when I'm singing along to recordings, and sing bass very ocassionally with my gospel quartet. Very occasionally, because we have a great bass singer.

Saturday night, my wife and I went to a Doo Wop concert. What a marvelous time we had! There were five groups.. Fred Paris and the Satins, Eugene Pitt and the Jive Five, the Chiffons, the Emotions (who only had one minor hit but were terrific) and some new-made friends, The Sentinels who sing a capella. With the exception of the Chiffons and Fred Paris and the Satins, there was a lot of fine bass singing.. and Fred Paris has a good bass voice, even though he sings a tenor lead.

In the last couple of years, I've tried to guide the bass singer in my gospel quartet to sing bass on a few gospel songs I've written that have a strong Doo Wop (I prefer rhythm and blues) feel. But, black gospel bass singing and Doo Wop bass singing are very different. In a way, that's surprising as so many of the black Doow Wop groups came out of churches and were gospel quartets, too.

Just to start the conversation, bass singers in black gospel tend to sing a more rhythmic, almost explosive bass, doing dum,dums as nonsense lyrics, imitating more of a slapped upright bass while Doo Wop basses often make other sounds like dip, dip, dip, or bah, dah, dah. Or bah, dah, dah. Sorry I can't sing them on this thread to illustrate the difference. When my bass singer, Joe tries to sing bass on a Doo Wop song, his bass is too percusive and it changes the rhythm of the song.

We have bass singers on the Cat like Colin who are fine singers, but in folk music, there's not much in the way of singing nonsense syllables. As a generality, I think bass singers in folk sing words, not nonsense syllables and for the most part, just sing a harmony bass with the same words as everyone else.

I always find it hard talking about music by typing these squiggle little black and white things on a computer screen, but I thought I'd give it a shot. Maybe Jimmyt and some of the folks who sing bass can add something of interest.

Dip,dip,dip,dip,dip,dip,dip,dip,noom,noom,noom,noom,noom,noom, get a job.

Jerry

Subject: RE: Singing Bass
From: GUEST,jim
Date: 01 May 06 - 10:43 AM

In bluegrass gospel, there seems to be a rule that the tenor, lead and baritone are not allowed to sing unisons or octaves. This doesn't apply to the bass singer, who often seems to sing root - five lines.

I like the bass line played on guitar to Don't Be Cruel. I've heard this sung to "Bom, bom ba dom ba" using the appropriate chords and it's quite effective.

Subject: RE: Singing Bass
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 01 May 06 - 11:25 AM

Thanks for the imput, Jim: I have heard bluegrass groups where the person singing the "bass" harmony is actually a tenor. It sounds to me that bluegrass vocals are usually pitched so high that most tenors could sing the bottom harmony.

I have no idea what root-five lines are... can you wise me up?

Jerry

Subject: RE: Singing Bass
From: jimmyt
Date: 01 May 06 - 11:04 PM

Although I sing sort of a baritone harmony in folk music ( and it is paradoxical why basses want to sing high parts and tenors want to try the low ones) I do sing the Bassman part in my do-wop group and I gotta tell ya it is a dream gig.! THe bass guy can just sorto f go nuts while everyone else is tied to the structure of the melody line or at least the strict pattern of the inner parts, the bassman is just off on an ego trip! I have an arrangement of the Belmonts that is simply the harmony parts and basslines to about a dozen do-wop songs in a medley! It is really a trip to hear.

Normallly it takes me several days to re-acquire the bass timbre for do-wop after singing all the inner parts to limeliters and kingston trio songs for a couple months.

Subject: RE: Singing Bass
From: Once Famous
Date: 01 May 06 - 11:05 PM

Is this thread about foghorns?

Subject: RE: Singing Bass
From: Ron Davies
Date: 01 May 06 - 11:40 PM

I've sung bass for a long time, in lots of groups. In bluegrass, it appears there's only a place for a bass in gospel bluegrass--other bluegrass, not being 4-part harmony, has no place for a bass.

What the bass line in bluegrass (and lots of folk) winds up being frequently is the root-4-5- root (or 1- 4-5-1) (or variations on that). That would be, in the key of C-- singing a C then an F then a G then back to C. Or if you don't want to talk about specific keys, it would be like this: You sing a major scale. Now you sing the first note of that scale (that would be the root, or 1 or the tonic, depending on your terminology). Now sing the 4th note of your scale, then the 5th note of your scale, then the first note again. That would be root-4-5-root (or 1-4-5-1. I hope that's not confusing--it's a lot easier to explain at a piano.

Obviously in Bach or something like that, there's a lot more complications--but in folk, country and bluegrass, a bass line for a song in a major key is often some form of this.

But because this is a common chord progression, it's often pretty easy to make up a bass line in Western folk music--even if you've never heard the song before (a hell of a lot easier than making up a tenor line).

Subject: RE: Singing Bass
From: jimmyt
Date: 02 May 06 - 01:06 PM

A lot of Tenors make up lines! "THat's too high" "I can't hear with this sinus infection" "My throat hurts, I need to see a doctor so I can't really sing much tonight, you guys all bust your asses and pretend I am singing along" These are the ones I have heard mostly! grin jimmyt

Subject: RE: Singing Bass
From: EBarnacle
Date: 03 May 06 - 07:35 AM

My problem occurs when I try to lead from my bass register. It seems people have problems singing to it. It does not seem to bother others when I have the same problem...hmmm