Early on in my mystical journey to become just okay on bass, I read a Bass Player magazine article featuring Richard Cousins. One absolute gem in the piece was when Richard talked about how he intentionally controls the length of his notes to improve a song’s groove.
The article is brilliant (seriously—dig through Bass Player’s online archive and find it), but today I want to share how that one revelatory idea helped shape me as a player and land me a lot of killer gigs.
In short: Control your sustain.
We spend so much time focusing on how we start a note—timing, technique, dynamics—but there’s so much to gain by being intentional about when we end a note.
As I started to focus on this, I discovered something cool: if I cut off the sustain of a note just a fraction before another instrument came in, it created this super hip “give and take” with the rhythm section. It tightened everything up and made the groove feel deeper.
If you want to explore this concept, start with the snare drum. Grab a drum machine (or a very patient drummer) and program a basic beat with snare hits only on beats 2 and 4.
Now, play simple half notes starting on beats 1 and 3. Don’t get fancy—just the same note over and over. Once you’re locked in, let each note sustain right up to just before the snare hits, and then cleanly mute the note. Let that sonic space make room for the snare, then hit the next downbeat.
Do this on repeat and really listen to how that little detail changes the feel.
Next, start shortening your notes. Leave even more space before the snare. How does that feel? Keep going until your notes are short and punchy—staccato. Now listen to how that locks in with the snare.
You’re learning how sustain—or the lack of it—shapes the groove.
Once you’ve got the hang of it, try playing with a more syncopated beat. Or shift your focus to another instrument—one of my favorites is the rhythm guitar. Try cutting off your notes right before a guitar accent. You’ll start to hear funky, syncopated conversations between your bass and the rest of the band.
Eventually, this will become second nature. You’ll be able to play with and around multiple instruments or vocal accents in the same song—building subtle push-pull energy that gets you those knowing smiles from your bandmates. And let’s be honest… that feels great.
At this point you might be thinking, “But Dale, my bass does not have any sustain.” Boy, have I been there! When I first started playing bass, I had an instrument where the notes only sustained for less than a second before becoming dull and dying out. But don’t worry—here are a few ways to improve your instrument’s sustain:
Strings
Older strings that are dirty and/or corroded can have shortened sustain. Try changing or cleaning them to see if that helps.
Bridge
Some basses have very inexpensive bridges that can impede sustain. I experienced this with my first bass, and our local luthier suggested that I get a better-quality bridge installed. I did and instantly my bass had that grand piano-like attack and sustained for days.
Proper Setup
A regular checkup from a good tech can uncover subtle tweaks—neck relief, string height, saddle contact—that affect sustain, tone, and playability.
Compressors
A good compressor (like Aguilar’s TLC Compressor) is a game-changer. It tames the initial attack and lifts the quieter tail of the note, giving you smoother dynamics and longer, more even sustain.
Before I say goodbye, I would like to address a related, sustain topic to those bassists who sightread music.
Play the rests!
If you a reading a quarter note and it is followed by a quarter note rest, make sure you cut off the note when you get to the rest. There are few things worse than musicians letting notes sustain through rests.
OK. I feel better now.
Got your own tips on how you use sustain and silence to punch up a groove? Or how you’ve improved your instrument’s sustain? Drop them in the comments—we’d love to hear them!
Story by Dale Titus
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Dale has been a professional bassist for 40 years and during that time was an instructor/counselor at the Bass Institute of Technology, a freelance writer for Bass Player magazine as well as the Editor of Bass Frontiers magazine. He also released The Ultimate Beginner Series for Bass videos and book for Alfred Publishing, as well as the Everything Bass YouTube channel.