ubit

I would rather go into a bar and see a crap band playing badly than hear a bloody disco!

I'm sorry, but the thought of slap bass in any song from the '60s, fills me with the boaks. Not that I like the Beatles, but to slap over their music is just wrong! 😂

That reminds me of when we used to play regularly. We played with an accordion player, as we mixed Scottish trad. with our rock and pop set. He would ( on paper) sit out the rock stuff, but no, he insisted on vamping over the top of just about EVERY song we did! It used to drive me up the feckin' wall! Lots of hard driving rock songs with bloody accordion featuring! 😡

I'll have to wait until next payday as I'm all skint after Crimbo! ☹️

In whatever universe does someone think slap bass fits in a Beatles song? 😒

Fool for your loving is a great bassline. We tried it, but as I'm the singer too, it was too hard to sing and play. I could do the verses, but the chorus just stumped me as it was getting too busy.

It doesn't have to be exactly like the original

Yeah, For instance, I can sing and play Crazy Little Thing Called Love easily as its a walking bass line, but struggled with The Killers All These Things That I've done. I had to simplify it as I just couldn't get that the notes were different lengths. Dead easy bass line to play. A bugger to sing over. It used to annoy the hell out of me, as I always felt it was rubbish not playing that verse correctly, but it went down so well, that we kept playing it

Hear hear!

Way back when I first started singing, I remember the weirdest thing was hearing your voice coming from somewhere else. I got used to it, but I love singing as much as playing.

As I said, I have flats on my acoustic bass and it sounds nice. It came brand new with bronze strings, but they went dead very quickly. I thought I'll embrace the acoustic element and went for flats.

I should add, you will need to hold down the peg at first until you have enough tension on the string. Once this is achieved, the string can be fully tuned and won't move ever! You might need a tool to remove it when you come to change the strings. You can buy these quite cheaply. They have snips and a socket for winding strings easily. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Planet-Waves-Pro-Winder-String-Winder/dp/B0002E1G5C/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1548062489&sr=8-3&keywords=guitar+winder+and+cutter. The cupped bit at the end can be used to remove the pegs

Just to add, the swing bass 66’s are my favourite option

I can only use stainless steel strings, as I suffer from an allergy to nickel. It's not a bother though, as I prefer the bright sound of steels. I always used to use Elites, but they became so expensive that I changed to Rotosound 66's. If I'm feeling really skint, I will buy Coban stainless strings £ 5.99 a pack.

This! Plus you don't need special strings for acoustic bass. I have flat wounds on mine and they sound great. If they are fitted as described by Dad and RedVee, you won't have any problems. It's exactly the same as stringing an acoustic guitar.

Exactly! I LOVE music. That is what my hobby is. Listening to music and trying to play it, be it on my bass or guitar. I also have an electronic drum kit and a piano, although I'm not any good on them. Id love the time to spend learning any instrument, but above all, the hearing and appreciation of just music is what I love!

I know what you mean mate, but it's not always being lazy when you change a song. You can change a song to make it more palatable to your target audience. Taking out a tedious passage or cutting short long outros etc, etc.

Mrs Ubits brother is proof of this. He plays guitar and could not sing to save his life. He kept plugging at it and now has a fine singing voice

I find that time is the thing that helps me. I feel like I am never getting the piece, then after playing it for a while, it becomes easier. That was my biggest bugbear. Our guitarist was always saying, right we will do this-this weekend and I would not be ready

I’m sure he is a decent musician mate. I was just being hilarious.

Yeah, I find that complicated bass lines are not too hard to sing over just as long as the bass falls on the beat. As soon as you have to play half notes or triplets, it becomes harder. Then I am forced to simplify the bass line. I once heard a guy saying he played with a pick as it was easier to sing and play as it was more percussive. Not sure what he meant but I play more or less all the time with fingers unless I want the pick sound.

We have not played for a couple of years now ( constraints of my job) but all through my musical life, I have been not only the bass player but also the lead singer. This has posed many problems over the years. Mainly I have to take far longer to learn my parts as I have to learn the bass line, learn the lyrics and then master the art of doing them both at the same time. Obviously, you need to be able to concentrate completely on the singing, therefore you need to be able to play the bass part without thinking about it. Our guitarist used to always say, right lets do this next gig and I would be like, I'm not ready, but he would insist. It used to drive me up the wall. Do any of you singing bass players have techniques that you use?

It's amazing how wrong some online tablature is. I like that Songsterr site, but I see so many that are obviously wrong, it's annoying!

Sorry, but that's quite embarrassing. No offence, but to be replaced by someone from Black Lace! 😂

This! I found that I knew the notes, but had completely forgotten the melody or swing of the song. Even worse, as I sing, I've had to resort to making up lyrics. Singing Esperanto to the baying masses!