What are you learning / working on right now?

[Stub Mandrel]

12 hours ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I’ve just finished making charts of Queen’s set from Live Aid in 1985. Just have to commit to memory now 🙃

I have to say the highlight is We Are The Champions. There’s some really lovely little runs up the dusty end during the verse sections, not to mention the hugely powerful choruses. Gotta love John Deacon. He knew how to put a bass line together.

Crazy Little Thing called Love is on my list of 12 (not 140, thank goodness). Not at all technical but great fun to play, in his lines the spaces mean as much as the notes.

My weak point is remembering the way that good players vary their runs at the end of sections

[Dem Jolie-blues]

I've just  committed  'Black Night'  by  Joe Bonamassa to my head, now I'm trying g to add a couple of fillings in to make it more interesting  for me without spoiling things.

[Akio Dāku]

I'm working on this cover of my friends song, here's the original; 

and here's how mine's sound thus far;

https://www.dropbox.com/s/74qo7qml0l3exet/Boundaries Of Sensation - rough clip 4.mp3?dl=0

this is all just drafting it out, so the playing and vocals are fair rough and I need to tweak how the harmonies in the chorus work, I'll post an update when it's properly finished. X

[seashell]

'Runaway' by Del Shannon. It's a nice bassline - sounds to me like a double bass on the recording.  I could only find one YouTube video of it - it's all focussed on Del and you only catch the merest glimpse of the other musicians. They don't even show the keyboard player on the mellotron solo. There's no sign of an upright bass and no sign of any black musicians.  However, according to Wikipedia the session player used on the recording was Milt Hinton who was an African American double bass player. (As I'm sure a lot of you already know, but it was news to me!) Interesting.

Another fun fact is that it was recorded in A minor and then the recording was slightly speeded up to Bb minor.  I'm learning it in Bb minor at the moment but it the rest of the band want to play in A minor it will be easy enough to shift it.  

I've also been looking on line about the life and sad death of Del Shannon. So learning this relatively simple song has turned into a real education! 🙂

 

[Hobbayne]

Schools Out by Alice Cooper. Not too taxing but there is a little off time bit in it that throws me off.

[interpol52]

I'm refreshing my knowledge of Pinkerton by Weezer. What an album!

[bazzbass]

On ‎15‎/‎04‎/‎2019 at 02:20, Mykesbass said:

Loads of new original material for a new band. Really happy with my ability to learn new parts (been making up my own for last few years), and surprised myself at getting my fingers around some fairly compley bits where bass plays unison with guitar. Looking forward to first rehearsal on Tuesday.

yes, nothing beats playing originals. I love the feeling when you write a bassline that is more than roots-third-fifth-octave, though some or all of the aforementioned are used , of course.

are you going to be recording anything soon? I'd like to hear you.

[Mykesbass]

2 minutes ago, bazzbass said:

 

are you going to be recording anything soon? I'd like to hear you.

Not sure. The main man has just finished an EP that he played bass on. Very nice that he has already commented on my lines being better 🙂 Hopefully we will do something later in the year.

[Stub Mandrel]

Frustration for me is that I can't get a cd written on my PC to play in the car; some of these songs I want to hear over and again.

First rehearsal is on Tuesday and I can now play all but two of my twelve right through, with just polishing left to do 🙂 Very pleased with how Balckberry way and Crazy Little Thing Called Love have started to 'embed' in my brain!

Last two?

Sunny Afternoon - which is one of those where no two tabs or videos are the same, just a few bars of the bridge to unpick from a video which seems to be the most accurate source.

Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting - a simple structure but the bass seems to be so raucous and varied I've decided to use this one as my opportunity to improvise and throw in whatever fills and runs I feel like, there's just one distinctive chromatic run I want to get right - the tab doesn't sound quite right, but it might be my lack of familiarity with the song.

 

 

[bazzbass]

I've been playing originals mostly since 1980.

I've recorded on the ubiquitous Tascam Portastudio cassette recorders, and in some nice recording studios on 2" tape, to home recording on a pc at the moment.

One thing has remained throughout all these methods.

The minute, nay the SECOND you commit to a take, your brain has already come up with a slightly better bassline, but it won't let you know til the very next rehearsal

[bazzbass]

8 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Frustration for me is that I can't get a cd written on my PC to play in the car; some of these songs I want to hear over and again.

what about one of those cig lighter fm transmitters that u can plug a usb stick/ipod/phone into that xmits to your car radio?

Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting - a simple structure but the bass seems to be so raucous and varied I've decided to use this one as my opportunity to improvise and throw in whatever fills and runs I feel like, there's just one distinctive chromatic run I want to get right - the tab doesn't sound quite right, but it might be my lack of familiarity with the song.

yeah that is a killer bassline. and it's all over the fretboard. I reckon just get the feel of the song, ANY note you hit is only a fret away from the right one

If there is a part you are stuck on, lemme know I might be able to remember it, it's been a while but I had it down pretty well.

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2019 by bazzbass

[Guest oZZma]

Writing the drum line for a new song. We spent the whole day reharsing yesterday, and today another full immersion with Easter pic-nic at the reharsal space 

[Reggaebass]

Just started working on the circle of fifths , not quite sure what I’ll use it for yet 😀 , but curiosity got the better of me 🙂

[Stub Mandrel]

5 hours ago, bazzbass said:

what about one of those cig lighter fm transmitters that u can plug a usb stick/ipod/phone into that xmits to your car radio?

If there is a part you are stuck on, lemme know I might be able to remember it, it's been a while but I had it down pretty well.

I've got one of those, didn't think of trying it. It's not very good but it works and I can give it a go.

I charted the chords based on the bass tab I've got - and they didn't fit with what I got from jamming along -  all the Fs were missing. Just looked up the chords and I should have trusted my ear! I'll shout if I can't fix up something!

[Stub Mandrel]

Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting Update!

Both tabs on UG seem simplified (but still 'interesting')... but then I looked at the tab for the Nickelback version. All root notes eight to the bar, except one chromatic run.

Tells you everything you need to know about Nickelback 🙂

 

[dmccombe7]

On 21/04/2019 at 09:18, Stub Mandrel said:

Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting - a simple structure but the bass seems to be so raucous and varied I've decided to use this one as my opportunity to improvise and throw in whatever fills and runs I feel like, there's just one distinctive chromatic run I want to get right - the tab doesn't sound quite right, but it might be my lack of familiarity with the song.

 

 

Great song. We cover that in our Glam covers band. From memory i thought the bass tab was ok for it but its been a few years since i learned it. I usually play along with the song first to get a feel for it and then work out the fine detail and correct anything missing or wrong on the bass tab. Love that little bass run in the chorus too.

Dave  

[Oopsdabassist]

I struggled to find anything accurate for Saturday Night's Alright at the time.   I ended up going for the stand out bits and riffing the rest..as long as they danced I was happy

 

 

[dmccombe7]

This was the version i used from Ultimate Guitar but i honestly can't remember how accurate it was (or is) I use bass tabs as a guide and work out any bits i need by ear..

Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting Bass by Elton Johntabs @ Ultimate Guitar Archive.html

[EliasMooseblaster]

"Babooshka" came up on a thread about great fretless basslines, and one kind soul directed us to a No Treble article with a transcription of John Giblin's sublime performance, so I've been trying to get my fingers 'round that. I'll see if I can dig up the link and share it on here.

Anyhoo, it's been a good challenge for my fretless intonation, as it's not often I find myself having to play up the dusty end in E-flat. Definitely a good workout for the ears!

[dmccombe7]

1 hour ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

"Babooshka" came up on a thread about great fretless basslines, and one kind soul directed us to a No Treble article with a transcription of John Giblin's sublime performance, so I've been trying to get my fingers 'round that. I'll see if I can dig up the link and share it on here.

Anyhoo, it's been a good challenge for my fretless intonation, as it's not often I find myself having to play up the dusty end in E-flat. Definitely a good workout for the ears!

That would be good to see if you still have it. 

Dave

[EliasMooseblaster]

Here we go - managed to track down the original post:

 

[Zoe_BillySheehan]

19 minutes ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

Here we go - managed to track down the original post:

 

This is great, thanks!! 

[basslass]

I did a Version of Ennio Morricone's Ecstasy of gold. What do you think? Cool or blasphemy?
 

 

[dmccombe7]

Really like that and it matches the film clips really well. The harmonic touch at the eye close ups was nice.

Cheers for posting.

Dave

[basslass]

2 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Really like that and it matches the film clips really well. The harmonic touch at the eye close ups was nice.

Cheers for posting.

Dave

Thank you Dave! I wasn't aiming for a hip hop/skateboard type of expression but the drum machine kind of set the pace and I think it turned out fine. Some foibles in the playing but it is what it is. Thanks for checking it out!