Bilbo

A partial transcription from the 1976 Return To Forever album, 'Romantic Warrior' featuring Stanley Clarke. The tune is 'Dual Of The Jester And The Tyrant'. I did this one becasue I just wanted to know what was going on for the first minute or so. Dual Of The Jester And The Tyrant – Return To Forever – Bilbo's Bass Bites

Another tune from the Kazumi Watanabe 'The Spice of Life' album. This is the head from the tune 'Period'. I bottled it when the solos started; it just got too difficult to pin down! Period – Kazumi Watanabe – Bilbo's Bass Bites

Another transcription from the most recent album fron UK Prog band Solstice, 'Sia'. This is Robin Phillips' bass part from the track 'Seven Dreams' which offers some interesting opportunities to practice reading in 7:4 https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/seven-dreams-solstice/

Uli Jon Roth at The Railway in Ipswich (yes, a pub) about five years ago. It was so loud I had to watch the gig sideways on to the stage. Anything in front of the speakers would have been killed. It is the only time the volume had ever actually hurt. And, yes, I have seen Motorhead.

From the 1987 Kazumi Watanabe Trio recording, 'The Spice Of Life', this is the full Jeff Berlin bass part to the track 'City'. A tough read and a tough tune to play due to the endless sixteenth groove. The solo is not for the faint hearted. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/city-kazumi-watanabe/

Robin Phillips' bass part for the tune 'Shout' from the new Solstice CD 'Sia'. Easier to play that it is to read!! https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/shout-solstice/

Will Lee's bass part for the tune 'Going Home' from the 1991 Gary Burton CD, 'Cool Nights'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/going-home-gary-burton/

Another monster bass part from Chris Squire; this is the bass part for the tune 'Changes' from the 1983 album, '90125' (1983 - where did that 37 years go!!). Changes – Yes – Bilbo's Bass Bites

Mark Egan's solo on the tune 'Walk In' from the 1988 Elements album, 'Illumination'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/walk-in-elements/

No Quarter. Last song on side two of the HM Heroes LP. A few tracks are on YouTube, type in NWOBHM No Quarter (otherwise you get the Led Zep song).

My moment in the sun.... https://www.discogs.com/Various-Heavy-Metal-Heroes-Volume-II/release/2138908 NWOBHM was where it all started for me. In 2 years or so, I did the Friday Rock Show an EP and the above track on a compilation LP. It went down hill from there. I am far Left on the photo and politically.

My transcription of Jeff Berlin's part to the YouTube video he did of the tune 'Two Thoughts' with the Argentinian pianist Mariano Augustoni. I am not entirely confident of all of it as there are a couple of passages where the details are hard to identify with absoute certainty but, as a means of getting closer to sweet tlittle this performance, it's a start. Two Thoughts – Mariano Agustoni & Jeff Berlin – Bilbo's Bass Bites

Just buy a decent professional instrument and forget about it. Its about the music, not the gear.

I have recorded myself on and off for decades; cassettes, minidisc, Mp3 and, of course, recording studios. The biggest problem I have is that, as I am primarily a Jazzers, I am improvising most of the time. As a result, almost every recording I have of me has mistakes in it, some minor, some colossal. A clean take always feels like a 'kin miracle to me. The transcription thing is a revelation, though. So many mistakes on recordings I have listened to sometimes for decades and haven't noticed.

Regarding the popular thing, I was discussing this with a guitar player friend of mine. Someone mentioned the fact that people join bands to 'get girls'. I laughed and said that, in 40 years of playing gigs, I had never been spoken to by a girl after a gig. In fact, I have rarely been spoken to by anyone at a gig unless it was a gig I had arranged. A few months later, he was talking to a girl after a gig we had done together and, just as they were finishing their conversation, she told him she was a bass player. 'Fcuk me, Rob', he said. 'Even the bass players don't talk to you'. 🤣

Where are you, mate? People on here will let you play their affordable basses if you make contact. Plenty of credible starter instruments out there but a friendly steer will help you avoid a catastrophe.

I have no idea where to start on this. Being a kid is challenging for all of us and, as an adult, I know that feeling left out is a very common experience for children and young people. I was probably attracted to music because people liked pop stars and I wanted to be liked. I had older cousins who played and who I admired so the seeds were planted. One of them gave me a guitar when I was 12. With nobody to direct my energies, I knobbed about with it until I was about 17. The day I started working, I bought a bass guitar. The instrument made sense to me in a way that the guitar didn't at the time and it became my thing. I was playing in my bedroom for hours at a time. Nothing else had captured my attention like that before. I joined No Quarter about six months later and recorded a session for Radio 1 within a year. It went from there. Since then, I have been to places and met people I would never have met otherwise. An acceptable round of recordings, gigs, writing etc. It has always been a rich and vibrant part of my life in a way that the day job never has been able to compete with. Did I ever get to be popular? No, not really. But these things matter less as you get older and I have relationships with loads of other musicians which, for my part, I value. Some, very much so. At the core of it all, though. Is some really beautiful music.

From the 1957 Paul Chambers Quartet album, 'Bass On Top', this is a full transcription, walking lines and solo, of the tune 'Dear Old Stockholm'. Some real challenges in terms of writing down the nuances of PC's phrasing. Masterful performance. Dear Old Stockhom – Paul Chambers Quartet – Bilbo's Bass Bites

And another one - Steve Swallow's exquisite opening solo from the tune 'YOur SOng' from Pietro Tonolo's 2007 CD, 'Your SOngs: the music of Elton John' Your Song (bass solo) – Pietro Tonolo – Bilbo's Bass Bites

Let's do the whole LP - This is the tune 'Sunkissed You're Not' from the same Greenslade album; Sunkissed You’re Not – Greenslade – Bilbo's Bass Bites

While I am in a Greenslade frame of mind, I wrote out the bass part for 'Pilgrim's Progress' from the same 1973 album, 'Bedside Manners Are Extra'. Some iteresting challenges in reading this, with three notes phrases crossing eighth note rhythms, https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/pilgrims-progress-greenslade/

Of course, he is going to have to deal with the fact that, in 10 years time, his hands will be twice as big so everything he has learned with be in a different place. It will drive him nuts....

I spent some time with slapping and tapping as a younger player but long ago realised that I don't really like pretty much ANY of the music played using those techniques. So I stopped investing in those techniques. I listen and learn the same stuff mostly. If I don't listen to it, I tend not to try to learn it.

From the 1973 Greenslade album of the same name, this is Tony Reeve's bass part for the title tune, 'Bedside Manners Are Extra'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/bedside-manners-are-extra-greenslade/

In my experience, 'learning' the frilly bits less important than nailing the core stuff.