Which one was the hardest song you have learned and why?

[fiatcoupe432]

I guys just out of curiosity ....
Atm I m (trying)to learn Havona by weather report.
Is driving me nuts but a point feels very rewarding .I ve been on it for 2 weeks now and manage to transcribe the first 3 min .
How long did take for yours?

[leschirons]

Strangely enough, the song I found the hardest was one I could have played the easiest just for the sake of a bar gig, however, I wanted to try and nail the actual bass playing on the recording.

Son of a preacher man (Dusty's version)
She recorded this in Memphis and I believe the bassist was Tommy Cogbill.

The recording doesn't offer a good enough mix for me to really pinpoint what he's doing and normally, I would've said that he'd played about 5,000 notes too many but it seriously works on the recording.

Not even sure if I've nailed it 6 years down the line😂

[Dave Vader]

When Doves Cry - can't find a decent recording of it anywhere...

[T-Bay]

One I find tricky but in an annoying way is she sells sanctuary by the Cult. It's annoying as it is stupidly simple but it's just relentless so keeping concentration and timing for 4 minutes takes some doing for me. More complicated songs seem much easier to get spot on. To me it was a case of learn it in two minutes but then it seemed to take an age to get it perfect to me, maybe I am being too precise as the rest of the band didn't seem to notice what I deemed mistakes but I noticed them.

[Alex Tootstick]

The song that sticks out as the hardest I've ever tried to nail a song was Hysteria by muse it came out just after I'd started playing. That riff was my Everest as a young bassist. Had to keep coming back to it. Was trying to run before I could crawl. Was all I played for a while once I'd nipped it. Drove all my friends mad!

[Mykesbass]

[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1487950975' post='3244502']
Strangely enough, the song I found the hardest was one I could have played the easiest just for the sake of a bar gig, however, I wanted to try and nail the actual bass playing on the recording.

Son of a preacher man (Dusty's version)
She recorded this in Memphis and I believe the bassist was Tommy Cogbill.

The recording doesn't offer a good enough mix for me to really pinpoint what he's doing and normally, I would've said that he'd played about 5,000 notes too many but it seriously works on the recording.

Not even sure if I've nailed it 6 years down the line😂
[/quote]
I'm saving that one up for my retirement (not that that will ever happen)!

[Barking Spiders]

I find James Jamerson lines tend to be among the more tricky as they're typically not repetitive and feature a lot of subtleties. The bass line to Bernadette is a deceptively tough one to perfect

[SpondonBassed]

At the moment it's Rhythm Stick. Not so much difficulty learning it as executing it faithfully.

[Paul S]

Two Bon Jovi bass lines for me, unsurprising as my new band is a Bon Jovi tribute. First one is 'Keep The Faith'. Getting it to bounce along nicely took me a long while. Now it is 'Homebound Train'. It is the bass playing equivalent of saying 'red lorry yellow lorry'. Making my fingers very sore it is. I always get there but sometimes it takes longer. I have gained much respect for Hugh McDonald since I started scrutinising his parts (so to speak)!

[Dood]

[quote name='Dave Vader' timestamp='1487951856' post='3244520']
When Doves Cry - can't find a decent recording of it anywhere...


[/quote]

I was thinking about wheeling that one out again lol

[MoonBassAlpha]

Teen Town for me. I've given up on it, I find it too hard!

[bigjimmyc]

[quote name='Alex Tootstick' timestamp='1487952128' post='3244525']
The song that sticks out as the hardest I've ever tried to nail a song was Hysteria by muse ...,
[/quote]

Same here. It saw it voted best bassline ever, bought it, realised it was beyond my ability! Fast forward a year or two and the band suggest adding it to our set. Cue six weeks of slowly gathering pace and fx pedals!

Edited February 24, 2017 by bigjimmyc

[christhammer666]

5 magics by megadeth.I can play all the parts but altogether no chance

[dmccombe7]

Always found this one difficult. Not just to learn the notes but to have the stamina to play the riff continuously. I had only just discovered Camel with The Live Record. Coming from a Rock background this was by far my biggest challenge at that time.

http://youtu.be/5ADW5aJfY7U

[Hobbayne]

Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way.
Not particularly hard, but I couldnt seem to grasp the chromatic bass runs during the solo.
They just seemed a random set of notes with no pattern to them.

[arthurhenry]

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1487966186' post='3244727']
Lenny Kravitz - Are You Gonna Go My Way.
Not particularly hard, but I couldnt seem to grasp the chromatic bass runs during the solo.
They just seemed a random set of notes with no pattern to them.
[/quote]
G, G#, A in low octave.
G, G#, A in higher octave
E, F, F# (Octave up)

Mix them all up, throw in a C, C#, D (Octave up) at some point and job done.

Edit: Don't forget the climb from C# to E each time.

Edited February 25, 2017 by arthurhenry

[Hobbayne]

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1487967466' post='3244737']
G, G#, A in low octave.
G, G#, A in higher octave
E, F, F# (Octave up)

Mix them all up, throw in a C, C#, D (Octave up) at some point and job done.
[/quote]

Bugger! I'm still doing it wrong!!!

[YeastieB]

[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1487967466' post='3244737']
G, G#, A in low octave.
G, G#, A in higher octave
E, F, F# (Octave up)

Mix them all up, throw in a C, C#, D (Octave up) at some point and job done.
[/quote]

Yep, didn't get the solo section either as it didn't quite make sense. This was a godsend. Now satisfying to play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrCm4AXOl44

[cytania]

Autumn Leaves in Dm. I am not a natural jazzer 😅

[NickD]

Change of Heart -Cyndi Lauper.

An angular, low synth bass line, not really suited to bass guitar from a fingering point of view, with a very wide uncomfortable stretch. Told the BL it was more trouble than it was worth, which he responded to by giving me a copy of a live performances with Bakithi Kumalo making it look easy... git!

[russtufella]

I really struggled with I predict a riot by the Kaiser Chiefs. I think it was because it seemed like a busy song to play.

[Cato]

The Anthrax version of Got the Time, back in my metal days.

http://youtu.be/be7iNHw8QoQ

It's not a difficult song, but the bassline is relentless. I just didn't have the speed or endurance to play it finger style. I eventually gave up and played it with a pick, which was still a bit of a work out.

25 odd years on I just tried it again finger style and it's still a tough call. I can just about do it, but I'd definitely need a couple of ballads to recover straight afterwards.

Frank Bello is a machine.

Edited February 24, 2017 by Cato

[Funky Dunky]

[quote name='SpondonBassed' timestamp='1487953039' post='3244541']
At the moment it's Rhythm Stick. Not so much difficulty learning it as executing it faithfully.
[/quote]

This is, deceptively, THEEEE hardest bass line of all time. I can play things WAAAY harder, but the correct execution of Rhythm Stick eludes me 90 times out of 100. Without a word of a lie, I spent three months learning and polishing this. I practiced it every day. And I eventually got it. And I went "Right. Done. Learned." And I stepped away from it and moved on to the next tune.

Then I tried to play it again and haven't pulled it off since.

And the thing is, from reading others' posts on Basschat over the last few years, and from conversations with other bassists - some of them I would describe as special - the phenomenon I described is by no means limited to me. This bassline continues to stump bassists WAY better than me.

My question, therefore, is what kind of VOODOO resides in the fingers of Norman Watt-Roy?

Don't even mention Paul Turner's flawless version with Shuffler, which is noticeably faster than the original.

[ambient]

Joe Frasier by Jeff Berlin for an exam. I have to admit to approaching it with the wrong frame of mind. I don't like his playing, and that annoyed me. He seems to be of the mind, why play two notes when I can play eight, oh there's a space, there, I'll stick four notes in.

[mingsta]

Overture 1928 by Dream Theatre. I learnt it fot my friends prog metal side project. There were more notes to learn in that one song than about ten of the regular verse-chorus-verse type songs in my pop covers band. I never really nailed some of the insanely fast runs that myung does. Anyway, certainly made me appreciate the technicality of the peops who play this genre of music. I also find that I have trouble really committing to really learning a song well unless I know that it's going to be gigged.