Faithfully memorizing bass covers - how many?

[MartyBRebelMC]

Re: Billie Jean - if you've ever had to learn 'Help the poor' (Robben Ford) i bet you could get confused and end up 'over egging' your Jackson cover.

[kiat]

[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1262388' date='Jun 9 2011, 10:27 AM']At the risk of being pedantic (what! [i]moi[/i]?) I thought the OP's point was that he has memorised the original basslines, note perfect.[/quote]


Almost. I meant that most covers I've attempted to play all the key figures note-for-note, but not necessarily every note, especially if the original bass player puts in lots of subtle variations only bass players might pay attention to. Then I don't have the time or memory to learn every single variation. Jamerson's "I was made to love her" is a little like that for me, a lot of small but cool variations. Whereas like Jamerson's beautiful line on "Ain't nothing but the real thing" I get a real kick out of doing it note-perfect. And not all my covers are exact, some are just close.


[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1262388' date='Jun 9 2011, 10:27 AM']I know dozens, perhaps hundreds, of covers but I would hesitate to claim that I'm note perfect on any of them. That's not false modesty - merely an observation. I suppose that I could learn them with that degree of accuracy if it was an absolute requirement, but IME (best make that my [i][b]limited [/b][/i]experience) it never has been a requirement. I'm not in a tribute band, and I'm nowhere near good enough for professional work (pit or session).

Most of the time, I play something that works for me, works with the song, works with what the rest of the band are playing, and seems to work with the audience. Occasionally I re-listen to the original and I can be genuinely startled at how far away I have become from the original.

Obviously, if there's a famous and distinctive hook in the bassline then that will be there when I play it. What I play is recognisable. But it ain't a replication of the original.[/quote]

Am with you on that, I'm half-way there and heading in the direction you're talking about - nicely put!

One of the reasons for posting was to get an answer to "how many basslines can you remember, when they are close to the original?". I am very hungry to know more and wondered what other folks capacity is

[OzMike]

Hmmm ... I find learning covers note-perfect, at least initially, is a great way of improving my playing. Capturing the exact nuances of someone else's playing can be hard, and it really forces you to concentrate and analyse what is going on. And once they are learned 'perfectly', it seems to make sense to keep playing them that way. I can't think of many rock / pop cover tunes I'd do my 'own thing' on - that's what other bands (that allow more flexibility) are for.

[WalMan]

[quote name='paul h' post='1262107' date='Jun 8 2011, 11:35 PM']0.

I'm just a blagger I'm afraid. I learn the song (ish) and then make it up as I go along.[/quote]
that'll be me largely

[gafbass02]

Me too unless there is pay invloved and an expectation that I would nail em note perfect. Otherwise I just 'Gaf 'em up a bit'

[Prime_BASS]

I have 2 playlists on my iPhone. One for guitar and the other bass, only one song over laps "my sharona" the bass ones have to be separate as they are more interesting to play but I could if I had to play either instrument with both playlists. Altogether it's exactly 100 songs. However this doesn't include any that I learned and don't own.

I think adding any songs to a playlist is a good way of at least keeping track. Although I could never sit there and play 100 songs, and sometimes I have to remind myself how to play ones ive not bothered going over for a while.

On the large part aswell I'm not playing each song note for note, playing 20 blink 182 basslines gets rather repetitive, so usually I'll make up stuff while playing.

Edited June 10, 2011 by Prime_BASS

[JTUK]

[quote name='OzMike' post='1263529' date='Jun 10 2011, 05:34 AM']Hmmm ... I find learning covers note-perfect, at least initially, is a great way of improving my playing. Capturing the exact nuances of someone else's playing can be hard, and it really forces you to concentrate and analyse what is going on. And once they are learned 'perfectly', it seems to make sense to keep playing them that way. I can't think of many rock / pop cover tunes I'd do my 'own thing' on - that's what other bands (that allow more flexibility) are for.[/quote]

kind-off...but...........

The bass learns a part and then that assumes that everyone else can do the same..which is not always the case.

You can have a hard time making that work.

I would get the jist pretty close and then go with what the drums can do. It may well be that the drums or anyone else hears it differently and has no desire etc ..to play that part like that..so you can be setting yourself up.

Far better to make the thing work in context with the band invloved..that slavishly assume that because your part is right..the rest will follow.

Classic mistake IMO..of a lot of people...oblivious to what else is going on or what works and what doesn't and this can get close to that scenario, IMV.

[kerley]

All depends if there is a need to. I do not gig/play in band so I like to get them note perfect as that is why I am learning it. I can also hear every note very clearly as my bass is louder than the backing track.
If I was playing in a band I would be much looser and just give the main gist of it. Only I am going to notice if every note exactly matches the original track (with exception of main, commonly known riffs)

Edited June 10, 2011 by kerley

[ezbass]

[quote name='MartyBRebelMC' post='1262574' date='Jun 9 2011, 12:50 PM']Re: Billie Jean - if you've ever had to learn 'Help the poor' (Robben Ford) i bet you could get confused and end up 'over egging' your Jackson cover.[/quote]
Ha ha just had to relearn HTP and then transpose it. Adding some of those 'altered runs' to Billie Jean would be funny

I learn the majority of the covers I do as per the original, but it doesn't take long before I start adding or subtracting stuff that make it more me. When playing with a band of live musicians this is bound to happen and I'm glad it does (isn't part of being a musician being able to interpret ?), otherwise the venue might as well get a dj in IMO.

[kiat]

I'd intended as OP to get a sense of the distribution of how many basslines folks have learned and can recall from memory alone (especially ones that were, at least, mostly the originals and not their own additions).

Hearing about the variety of ways bass players approach covers has been a major side benefit from this thread for me.

[Spike Vincent]

None.Don't do covers.

[OzMike]

[quote name='JTUK' post='1263584' date='Jun 10 2011, 10:33 AM']Classic mistake IMO..of a lot of people...oblivious to what else is going on or what works and what doesn't and this can get close to that scenario, IMV.[/quote]

No mistake here, although my experience for "pure" covers has been limited to (somewhat ironically) a Brit-rock covers band (organised by a hard-core pommy drummer who could play the drum parts of many 60s-00s tunes note-perfect) and a Motown / Soul band. In both cases, a lot of effort was put into reproduction of not only the notes, but the right tones too. I guess I've been lucky in that I could 'assume' other people would learn the original parts as well as I did - or poorly - as the case may be.