solo4652

Very first jam with potential new band last night. Line up: Myself on bass, drummer, lead guitar, rhythm guitar/keys, lead vocals. Nobody had played with anybody else before, so odds stacked against us. Lead vocals couldn't make it because of her husband's poor health. Maybe we shouldn't have met up, but drummer (who is self-appoointed band leader) decided we should. He pressurised/bullied lead guitarist into singing, and guitarist was pretty unhappy to do so, becoming visibly upset towards the end of the session. Guitarist's playing and singing were not good at all. I stood off to one side watching all this unfold. At one point I said to drummer - "I think we're asking an awful lot of [guitarist] - I have the 6 songs here on my laptop - why don't we play over the top of them and in that way have some lead vocals to guide us. That'll help [guitarist] to focus on his playing" Drummer: "No. I want to hear the instruments clearly, even if it means we have to imagine the vocals in our heads (sic)" In the car park afterwards, I told the drummer I wasn't happy and that I'd speak to him today. I suppose the obvious way forward is for all five of us to meet up and see how we get on with the lead vocalist there. Take things from there.

The band found a new bassist quickly, and is still running. I've no idea whether the BL's wife learned the bass. My leaving the band coincided with the return of some neck and shoulder problems I'd been having, so I took 6 months out. Last month, I was appeoached by a drummer friend about helping him to start his own band, and I agreed. Sort of a blues-funk covers band. 5-pice band; lead guitar/BV's, drums, keys/rhythm guitar, myself on bass, female lead singer. Our very first jam session with 6 try-out songs is this coming Friday, 21st February.

I have to not play for a week following a spinal operation. Bad timing since I'm in the middle of learning a lot of songs for first jam with a start-up band. I have tabs for all the songs - it's a matter of practising them now. Does hands-off visualistion help? Sitting playing air-bass with my tabs in front of me, visualising fretting and plucking? Bit like a golfer, rugby place-kicker, crown-green bowler mentally rehearsing a shot?

Can't get more Stones-like than this:

Got to learn this song. Loads of covers out there. Here are three bass covers. Which do you prefer? Just talking about the bass playing, not the singing or arrangement or anything else. Clear winner for me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_FabfGxYvM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HE16Dc2JB3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWFKio5NBV8

Anybody playing this? Before I sit down and write a bassline (can't find anything on the web, and it sounds like a synth bass), does anybody have anything written? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU7_yP8-Lzc

Update: After another rehearsal with the orchestra, I've decided it's not for me. Fish out of water. I asked for the rehearsal tracks and bass tabs for the last rehearsal to be sent in advance so I could practise at home. Some arrived, some didn't, which was frustrating. Also, to my ears, many of the backing tracks for rock songs really did not sound much like the original rock songs. They sounded like - errmm - an orchestra playing a rock song. All of that, together with my complete absence of experience of playing with an orchestra, meant it was clearly not the right place for me. A drummer friend has contacted me about setting up a pop/soul/funk band from scratch. Drummer, bassist (me), keys player already in place, with a couple of female singers showing interest. Now then - that's my scene...

Hi, Just emailed it to you.

I'd like to thank everybody here for helping me to understand what's going on with these orchestra tabs. A lot of the confusion comes from me attempting to play bass in an environment that I have no previous experience of. I naively thought it would be like playing in a large covers band but, of course, it certainly isn't! This is what I'm going to do: I'll ask the arranger to send me the tab for four songs, and to tell me about any key changes. I'll also ask him to send me the rehearsal tracks for those songs. That way, I'll give myself the best chance of going to the next rehearsal and making a useful contribution. I can't sight-read tabs, so to be given a tab sheet sight unseen and be expected to play it there and then is not going to happen. If he can't/won't send me the rehearsal tracks, I suppose I could use Audacity to change the pitch of a standard YouTube recording for re-keyed songs to give me something to practise against, but that's not going to cover any new arrangements. The four songs would be: Riders on the storm, Baker Street, One Vision and More than Words (Extreme). There's also The Chain. If any of that causes any difficulties for the arranger, I'll most probably throw in the towel.

Arranger's reply to my request for clarification: "The tuning is all standard tuning, no detuning needed. With that said, as I warned you, some of the arrangements will be different keys due to accommodating the transposing instruments and trying to give them a more comfortable key in which to play. I know you like to write your own tab, which isn’t a problem, but I’d advise looking at what I’ve given you so you get an idea of keys and structure. Once you've joined us permanently, I can let you have access to the Dropbox which has the rehearsal tracks we use during the [rehearsal] sessions."

I've messaged the arranger and asked for clarification. Watch this space...

You see, this is what's confusing me. Here's a tab for Baker Street in EADG: https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/gerry-rafferty/baker-street-bass-1672337 which agrees with this cover on YouTube in EADG. Sounds OK to me against the original. But it doesn't agree with the tab I've been sent which I think would sound correct if the bass was tuned Eb. Sorry - I'm showing my ignorance here.

Examples of supplied tabs This is page 1 of Rolling Stones medley. I think it relates to Paint it black, but i'm not 100% sure...

Yes - I'm the only bassist there and yes, there are lots of brass instruments. Some of the supplied tabs are in EADG - My Sharona, You really got me, for example. Supplied tabs for other songs e.g. Baker street, Rolling Stones medley appear to be in Eb/Ab/Db/Gb. So, I have to transpose those tabs back to EADG, or have a second bass at hand pre-tuned to Eb, or faff about changing tuning on my main bass between songs - none of which appeal to me at all.