Whats the hardest bassline you've learnt and why?

[leschirons]

Son of a preacher man.

A: I can't hear everything that's going on.

B: I can't keep it that busy without seeming to crowd out the whole song.

[LawrenceH]

[quote name='leschirons' post='1209536' date='Apr 23 2011, 09:18 PM']Son of a preacher man.

A: I can't hear everything that's going on.

B: I can't keep it that busy without seeming to crowd out the whole song.[/quote]

I think both these things are connected. Zero growl in the mids there, proper old-school US sound!

[funkgod]

Not the hardest but one that took a long time to get right, and still my fave bass line
try it,
great sence of achivement when you get it right, that little bit at 1:57 bouncing of the root throws you a bit as its hard to hear whats going on at first, the more you listen the more you find
Enjoy.
Stevie Wonder - For Once In My Life........james Jamerson
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imsB543zqSM&feature=fvwrel"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imsB543zqSM...;feature=fvwrel[/url]

[essexbasscat]

[quote name='funkgod' post='1209588' date='Apr 23 2011, 10:28 PM']Not the hardest but one that took a long time to get right, and still my fave bass line
try it,
great sence of achivement when you get it right, that little bit at 1:57 bouncing of the root throws you a bit as its hard to hear whats going on at first, the more you listen the more you find
Enjoy.
Stevie Wonder - For Once In My Life........james Jamerson
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imsB543zqSM&feature=fvwrel"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imsB543zqSM...;feature=fvwrel[/url][/quote]


+1, a cracking bass line.

[kevin_lindsay]

Pino Palladino playing 'For Once In My Life' for the 'Standing In The Shadows If Motown' book made me realise years ago what an inspirational bass player James Jamerson was. As Pino said in his note for the piece on the CD, 'the baseline is a symphony on it's own'. So many inflections on there. Years later I still haven't nailed it!!!

Edited April 24, 2011 by kevin_lindsay

[the_skezz]

Metallica's Trapped Under Ice, doing that with two fingers bloomin killed - hence why I don't play it any more

[Guest McBass]

[quote name='leschirons' post='1209536' date='Apr 23 2011, 09:18 PM']Son of a preacher man.

A: I can't hear everything that's going on.

B: I can't keep it that busy without seeming to crowd out the whole song.[/quote]

Awesome bass line,Tommy Cogbill is an vastly under rated player.

[JayPH]

I've been trying to learn Master Blaster by Stevie Wonder. That fast bit in the middle is a killer. Sometimes I can play it and sometimes I cant. It depends how loose I'm feeling. I also find it hard to get good contact on the strings sometimes so it's a bit slappy rather than plucky if that makes sense.

I'm learning bass again really after a long layoff and I've just decided to do all the cool bass lines I like. I'm adding pretty much everything on this post to that list. If I can play that lot this time next year I think I will be ready

[bobbass4k]

[quote name='GarethFlatlands' post='1209131' date='Apr 23 2011, 12:51 PM']Continuing the Oceansize theme, I auditioned for them when their old bassist left and had to learn 'Women Who Love Men Who Love Drugs', 'Charm Offensive' and 'Homage to A Shame.'

The first 2 were pretty straightforward apart from a few oddly timed sections but 'Homage to A Shame' was a killer to learn. Lots of off-time bit and a ton of separate sections to get to grips with. My plan of impressing them and learning a couple more tracks was well and truly scuppered after that one took up all the time I had available. Still fluffed it during the audition too.[/quote]

Cool man, I wanted to audition but I was 15 at the time......

Yea, Homage was an absolute bugger to figure out, Charm Offensive is one of my favourite songs to play, and it used to impress my guitarist cos 11/8 confused him. They have some really really inventive basslines. They're not technically the most demanding (although some of them can be a bit tricky), the time sigs and rhythms take some effort to get your head around.

[Pete Academy]

I would say one of the hardest basslines ever is 'Sex Machine'. That was Bootsy at his finest. Despite comprising a few notes, it's extremely hard to pin down the feel and groove.

Some bass parts are complicated, but once you learn the notes they are quite easy to play. The hardest ones are those that have an amazing feel, such as Jamerson's and Stevie Wonder's synth bass lines.

I would say the hardest one that combine's everything is Chuck Rainey's 'Kid Charlemagne' part.

Edited April 26, 2011 by Pete Academy

[scalpy]

+1 to Sex Machine.

For starters, he was jamming, so all those little variations are off the top of his 19 year head. As I understand it, it was recorded in Amsterdam after a gig, so knowing Bootsy he may well have had a little more than JB for inspiration. And he'd only had a proper bass for a few months yet tore it up regardless.

I've practiced this one over and over, just for the challenge really, and yet I just can't get those notes as short or as light as he does, even if I try improvising my own variations so it won't be stale. Love it, and hate it too!

[Bilbo]

Coould never make it work.....

[steve-soar]

The hardest bassline was the first one I ever learned.

[steve-soar]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1212101' date='Apr 26 2011, 09:43 PM']

Coould never make it work.....[/quote]Sounds like something left on the cutting room floor after the Domino Theory sessions.

[lowdown]

Got a match for me [Elektric Band].... 23 years of trying and it stills sounds like tom tit.
And it still has a habit of rearing its head, and talking of heads, stonking line.





Garry

[AttitudeCastle]

Many of you will dislike this but this thread isn't for hatin'!

(Something which the Basschat community does lightly so bravo!)

And this technically isn't a bass line but:



I play "my version" which means simplified

that made me get an attitude and work my socks off at bass! (Its the Low D of the Attitude i love! Other basses just don't sound the same!)

OH and added untold respect for Bass players and made me a complete 4 stringer at heart, even though my go too is my 6!

That was in the first few months (like 3 or 4) of playing bass

Edited April 26, 2011 by AttitudeCastle