Bilbo

Big band bass charts can be notorioulsy lame; R357, R357, R357 and so on. It can sound terrible so you draw upon you own knowledge and experience to add layers of interest.

You don't have to choose. Do you think Marcus Miller can't jam? Can't improvise? Steve Vai? Steve Morse? Anthony Jackson? Paul Chambers? Jeff Berlin? Jaco Pastorius? Transcribing directly onto the bass is not transcribing. Transcribing is writing down. I am not attacking the basic premise of your video but I think there are as many pitfalls in learning by ear as there are in reading. The first is memory capacity. I have learned thousands of tunes and solos and licks over the years. Can I remember them all? Can I f*** 🤣. I find reading enhances my capacities to perform immeasurably and I don't recognise the negative image of the disciplines presented here. It makes learning so much quicker once you have a handle on it. It's not all about reading on a gig. I do regular Jazz gigs with visiting artists and often the charts are chord charts but with odd passages written in. You never get to see them in advance. Being able to pick things up by ear gets you so far but, if you aren't match fit reading-wise, it can go t*ts up very quickly. This was one chart I got put in front of me. The whole thing works perfectly easily as a chord chart until 4:21 - then your ears aren't going to help.

Another one of my own. A transcription of my bass performance on the tune 'Que Vale La Pena' from the Albino Cubana CD 'Dime Tu'. A bit of practice reading Latin grooves where the emphasis is on the fourth beat rather than the first. Que Vale La Pena – Albino Cubana – Bilbo's Bass Bites (bilbosbassbites.co.uk)

Rubens Sabino's bass part for the tune 'Soy Loco Por Ti America' from Gilberto Gil's 1997 album of the same name. A great exercise for finding a way into the discipline of Latin bass, where the emphasis is on the fourth beat of the bar rather than the first. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/soy-loco-por-ti-america-gilberto-gil/

A bit of fun today. I have transcribed the Steve Howe version of Vivaldi's Concerto in D Major 2nd Movement for both guitar and bass - it can be played in first position or up an octave - just play the whole chart 8va. Guitar and bass charts are available here. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/vivaldi-concerto-in-dmaj-2nd-movement-steve-howe/

It's a line I have never been able to make groove since I heard it as a flexi disc on the cover of Guitar Player in the 80s.

A bass part by Genesis keyboard player, Tony Banks, this is the dots for the title tune from the 1979 concept album 'A Curious Feeling'. An old favourite of mine, the bass part is easy to perform and relatively easy to read cold. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/a-curious-feeling-tony-banks/

I have various albums with slivers of rap on them; Blues Traveller (Business As Usual), Rush, Ozomatli, The Fugees/Lauryn Hill and some others I can't remember the names of but, no, it leaves me cold. It all sounds like bad, schoolboy poetry put to dreadfully unimaginative music to me.

I was thinking about this question when I was out driving last night. My ipod told me the answer. Classical music from full orchestra (Holst, Rimsky-Korsakov, Howard Shore, Elgar) to string quartets (Bartok) to solo piano (Beethoven) to Prog Rock, Jazz (Ellington to Coltrane to Fusion to William Parker and Free Jazz), to Heavy Rock/Metal, to a whole gamut of Latin/Latin Jazz. I reckon that eclectic enough!

From the same Scofield LP, this is Darryl's part to the tune 'Techno'. A much tougher nut to crack. Techno – John Scofield – Bilbo's Bass Bites (bilbosbassbites.co.uk)

Darryl Jones' bass part for the tune 'Protocol' from the 1986 John Scofield album, 'Still Warm'. The part is only two bars long and repeats throughout. Easy win! Protocol – John Scofield – Bilbo's Bass Bites (bilbosbassbites.co.uk)

And the winner is......

Yes - this one was transcribed solely for the purpose of putting something on the website that began with X. Geddy Lee's bass part for the tune 'Xanadu' from the 1977 Rush album, 'A Farewell To Kings'. Note: the recording plays slightly sharp - legend has it that the tubular bells that the band used on the track were out of tune so the band tunes sharp to compensate. Whatever the truth of it, it is challenging little read and will test your concentration. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/xanadu-rush/

Can anyone point me in the right direction for the above? Or confirm whether 'ordinary' sets will work on an acoustic bass guitar (for the record, I have used the same electric bass guitar strings sincs 1986. Acoustic strings are a new area for me).

Long Time Coming - Tim Ainslie and the Vibes

The website just clocked 50.000 hits.

From the 1984 John Scofield album, 'Electric OUtlet', this is Sco's bass part to the tune 'Filibuster'. It is essentially only two bars long and moves about with the chords, changes keys and then changes back. There is a section where he doubles the guitar part and others where he pedals the part for a bit longer that normal but, otherwise, once you have the first two bars down, it's pretty simple from there on https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/filibuster-john-scofield/

Another Dave Holland solo, this one from the 2001 album, 'Bill Frissel w. Elvin Jones and Dave Holland'. The tune is 'Moon River'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/moon-river-bill-frissel-with-elvin-jones-and-dave-holland/

OMG! What is he doing! A GUITAR transcription on BASSCHAT!! THis is a head chart for the Philip Catherine tune 'Homecomings' from the 1977 acoustic duo album 'Twin House' which features Catherine alongside Larry Coryell. I have said elsewhere on here that I am working on my treble clef/guitar reading and this felt like something that I could put down. There are additional challenges with gutiar parts, where notes ring on in chordal arpeggios and this requires a different approach. I also struggle to stay in course when writing in treble clef as I keep reverting to bass so by Ds turn into Bs and my Gs to Es. Dont worry, though. There are no plans to start a Bilbo's Guitar Bites website. Homecomings – Larry Coryell & Philip Catherine – Bilbo's Bass Bites (bilbosbassbites.co.uk)

One of my own - the bass part for the old Jazz standard 'Witchcraft'. I recorded this the first year after I got the double bass (on loan from the legendary Jake Newman) and I transcribed it as a basic, quarternote walking line with almost no rhythmic inflections outside of the solo - just doom, doom, doom, doom,,, and off into the sunset. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/witchcraft-simon-brown-trio/

Wasn't that Sarah Brightman?

Get the trumpet solo on this...

It's guilty pleasures, isn't it 😃 I loves me a Bossa, I do.

Carlos Rios at 3:13