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Meg Peders
i am a bassist and i want to have good stage presence and and i want to develop my own rock attire( when you see a guy playing guitar with a top hat and a cigarette you think of Slash, and i want to make something like that so any ideas would be a major help) Should I jump?sing?etc how should i do it when should i do it, any tips on rocking out, finding your original rock attire, and simply just having fun on stage would be a great help?
thanks and no bad answers
also i am very charismatic so that should help
Answer
There's no one formula. A lot depends on how your stage presence blends in with the rest of the band. If the other band members stand in place and play calmly, dressed in basic jeans and t-shirts, while you're in some wild getup hopping all over the stage, it doesn't look cool, it looks like you're in the wrong band. Stage presence has to be a band decision, so talk about it with your bandmates.
One thing; move around, and engage the audience. If you just stand still with your eyes glued to the fretboard, you're not going to establish much presence. Learn your part till you can play it backwards and forwards with your eyes shut. That will free you up to move and engage the audience, make eye contact, all that, without screwing up the song.
When you move, MOVE. Don't mince around and cautiously shift from spot to spot like you're not sure whether to do it or not. JUMP. DANCE. STRIDE over to the other side of the stage. Rock out! If you're not going to move with decisiveness and action, then plant your feet and stand your ground and don't move around at all (other than swaying in place, maybe). Smile, grimace, don't fake it but get into the music and let it show.
If you go for a jump, make sure you jump on the four-beat so that you land on the one. Much more dramatic statement that way. With all this, a wireless unit helps to save you tripping on cables. Don't try any huge crazy moves (like spinning the bass around your body by the strap) that you haven't practiced a hundred times in rehearsal.
Clothing is up to you, and up to the kind of music the band is playing and what the band's overall look is. If you're playing funk, you don't want grungy flannel shirts and greasy hair in your face; if you're playing grunge, you don't want feather boas and sequined sunglasses. Agree with the rest of the band about whether the look you want is flamboyant or subdued or what. Probably the best bet is to take a cue from the way the bands you imitate or cover tend to dress.
The sort of default "uniform" for a cover band playing in bars would be a decent pair of jeans (not just cheap Wal-Mart jeans, but with a little style), a t-shirt with some sort of interesting graphic, and a bit of accessorizing to set it off from your regular street clothes - a leather jacket or vest, cowboy boots, armbands, chunky jewelery for women, that kind of thing. But if the band wants to dress like superheroes or something, go for it. Just don't have it be ONE person in a superman suit and everyone else in jeans and t-shirts.
And having said all that - one of the greatest rock bassists, of all time, the Who's John Entwhistle, "The Ox," was known for not moving around AT ALL. He stood in place and just played amazing music on his bass. But he could do that for two reasons; one, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey did enough jumping around for seven people; and two, Entwhistle was a flamboyant clothes-horse, always dressed in the flashiest 1970s style he could; he may not have been moving, but you sure SAW him there.
There's no one formula. A lot depends on how your stage presence blends in with the rest of the band. If the other band members stand in place and play calmly, dressed in basic jeans and t-shirts, while you're in some wild getup hopping all over the stage, it doesn't look cool, it looks like you're in the wrong band. Stage presence has to be a band decision, so talk about it with your bandmates.
One thing; move around, and engage the audience. If you just stand still with your eyes glued to the fretboard, you're not going to establish much presence. Learn your part till you can play it backwards and forwards with your eyes shut. That will free you up to move and engage the audience, make eye contact, all that, without screwing up the song.
When you move, MOVE. Don't mince around and cautiously shift from spot to spot like you're not sure whether to do it or not. JUMP. DANCE. STRIDE over to the other side of the stage. Rock out! If you're not going to move with decisiveness and action, then plant your feet and stand your ground and don't move around at all (other than swaying in place, maybe). Smile, grimace, don't fake it but get into the music and let it show.
If you go for a jump, make sure you jump on the four-beat so that you land on the one. Much more dramatic statement that way. With all this, a wireless unit helps to save you tripping on cables. Don't try any huge crazy moves (like spinning the bass around your body by the strap) that you haven't practiced a hundred times in rehearsal.
Clothing is up to you, and up to the kind of music the band is playing and what the band's overall look is. If you're playing funk, you don't want grungy flannel shirts and greasy hair in your face; if you're playing grunge, you don't want feather boas and sequined sunglasses. Agree with the rest of the band about whether the look you want is flamboyant or subdued or what. Probably the best bet is to take a cue from the way the bands you imitate or cover tend to dress.
The sort of default "uniform" for a cover band playing in bars would be a decent pair of jeans (not just cheap Wal-Mart jeans, but with a little style), a t-shirt with some sort of interesting graphic, and a bit of accessorizing to set it off from your regular street clothes - a leather jacket or vest, cowboy boots, armbands, chunky jewelery for women, that kind of thing. But if the band wants to dress like superheroes or something, go for it. Just don't have it be ONE person in a superman suit and everyone else in jeans and t-shirts.
And having said all that - one of the greatest rock bassists, of all time, the Who's John Entwhistle, "The Ox," was known for not moving around AT ALL. He stood in place and just played amazing music on his bass. But he could do that for two reasons; one, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey did enough jumping around for seven people; and two, Entwhistle was a flamboyant clothes-horse, always dressed in the flashiest 1970s style he could; he may not have been moving, but you sure SAW him there.
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