Can any bass player here tab/score this bassline

[Bassy Bass]

So if anyone here has not heard of Dennis Bovell ( Dennis Bovell - Wikipedia ) I would recommend talking a look at him and his music. However, I'm reaching out to all you bass players for some help. Specifically anyone who is good at scoring sheet music, or better again, tabs. Would anyone be able, or willing, to put one of Bovell's hit tunes into tabs for me please? The tune is Silly Games and was sung by Janet Kay (#2 in the British singles charts in 1979). I have this youtube link showing a bass player playing the bassline along to the original recording …

 

…….. also just to add, a quick look/listen at the youtube video makes the bassline look very simple but there are a lot of funky guitar chords in there, 7ths, 11ths etc., which is why I'm trying to get my hands on a tab score that is 100% accurate.

Edited April 16, 2019 by Bassy Bass
Adding youtube link.

[Bassy Bass]

 

Edited April 16, 2019 by Bassy Bass
deletion based on edit/correction to previous post

[yorks5stringer]

You can edit the Thread title by going back into 'edit' on your first post.

[Bassy Bass]

Thanks, I'm trying to do that but can't find the "edit" button!!

 

[Bassy Bass]

just found it, thanks again!!

 

[Bassy Bass]

That reply doesn't help at all & I think I saw something somewhere on this site saying don't bother replying to someone with this type of reply, i.e. If someone asks can you help with this bassline don't bother replying if your reply simply states, listen to it and learn it yourself!!! I assume you can't do it, but thanks for looking anyway.

[Paul S]

5 posts in and he comes out slugging!  I fear your time on this bass forum will be short lived unless you learn some manners, matey.  For one thing, I have read and re-read the OP and can't see the word 'please' anywhere.  Maybe I was dragged up differently.

[Bassy Bass]

2 minutes ago, Paul S said:

5 posts in and he comes out slugging!  I fear your time on this bass forum will be short lived unless you learn some manners, matey.  For one thing, I have read and re-read the OP and can't see the word 'please' anywhere.  Maybe I was dragged up differently.

I agree the word "please" never goes astray, strongly agree in fact, I will edit and add. (Now that I know where the edit button is LOL). At the same time it really is a waste of space and vey non helpful to post a reply to a request for tabs to tell someone just go listen to it and do it yourself. 

[Bassy Bass]

1 minute ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Oh, been here five hours and you’re already taking offence. Why don’t you sign up to Talkbass? You’ll fit right in there 😀

Let’s try again. We’ve all started the bass thing somewhere and I can appreciate how some songs might seem daunting at first. In my experience, this song is not in the top tier of hardest bass lines ever. Likewise, it’s not the easiest either, especially the timing. That’s the thing that could take a while to master, depending on your skill level. As I mentioned before, if that video is anywhere near accurate, it’s right there for you already. 

‘Another option would be to sign up to Cover Solutions on You Tube. He may well do a play along with TAB for you.

Thanks for the tips. I'm not starting to play bass, I've been playing bass for 30 years. The timing is not an issue. I have played reggae for most of those 30 years. I have toured with some reggae/ska legends playing both drums & bass. I just thought somebody might have been playing this specific bassline for some time and therefore captured the 7ths, 11ths etc., which are not as easily caught with a poor quality recording, that's all. A friend's very young son requested the tabs and I didn't want to do a rush job and miss anything for him. When /if I have time I can sit down and do it myself, no problem, I just thought maybe some helpful individual might already have it there or possibly even have software that would do it quickly.

[Bassy Bass]

that cover solutions channel is pretty cool, thanks

[timhiggins]

Here is the chord chart if its any help

i use to blag it when i played it and no one ever seemed to mind 😀

https://www.scribd.com/document/388881705/Silly-Games-Chord-Sheet-docx

[Bassy Bass]

3 hours ago, timhiggins said:

Here is the chord chart if its any help

i use to blag it when i played it and no one ever seemed to mind 😀

https://www.scribd.com/document/388881705/Silly-Games-Chord-Sheet-docx

Thanks Tim, yeh I'm not a stickler for exact notes when it comes to my own playing, I'd much prefer to feel the groove and understand where I am in the structure of the tune and obviously in the right key/on top of the right chords but I did/do want to get my hands on this one, on paper, note for note if possible.

[fretmeister]

5 hours ago, Bassy Bass said:

That reply doesn't help at all & I think I saw something somewhere on this site saying don't bother replying to someone with this type of reply, i.e. If someone asks can you help with this bassline don't bother replying if your reply simply states, listen to it and learn it yourself!!! I assume you can't do it, but thanks for looking anyway.

a ha ha hahahahahahahaha!

How to make friends and influence people.

 

I can point you in the direction of someone who does transcriptions if you want.

He's a pro so he'll want paying though. I think he starts at about £60 for a part notation with tab.

(£20 for me as well of course for telling you who he is. Got to grease the wheels)

[drTStingray]

That's an interesting song to learn - however advice to join Talkbass should be ignored as it's likely even fewer bass players there can play with a reggae feel there as can here.

I can't tab it or provide a transcription but can tell you the bass part is built around 5th, octave, 5th, root patterns or the reverse throughout - largely matching the chord changes - the timing is very much reggae - the 5th leads into either an octave or root which is then a double note. There is a bar with no notes in between each bass phrase apart from when he plays a run down. 

Try it against the actual song, using the chord chart provided above. The feel's really important to make this work - generally each phrase is quite busy (6 notes) around that pattern followed by a bar's rest. 

I just had a go at it and it seems to work like that - especially with the reggae drums feel. Let us know how you get on. 

Edited April 16, 2019 by drTStingray

[Bassy Bass]

Not sure why everybody is taking so much offence at my comment. I simply stated that if someone asks for a tab on something and the answer is basically just listen to it and learn it then that doesn't really help in achieving the objective of having a specific tune put in tab form., does it?

If you stick with that one point and don't wander off, in politician style, into running down other bass players or other websites or any other topic for that matter, then you might see my point. Try that, think about that question, and try answer it without insulting anyone else or any other website etc.

The request wasn't for advice on how to develop as a bass player, I am a very accomplished reggae bass player and as explained in earlier parts of this thread I simply didn't have time to do it myself & thought someone might have a copy.

The original bassline is written by Dennis Bovell, an amazing bass player, musician, producer etc.  so I ended up just going back to someone I did a few reggae tours with in the 80s who knows Dennis quite well, should have thought of that earlier.

Thanks for those who tried to impart some knowledge.

I won't be coming back here though. Maybe if some of you who took offence at my simple, accurate, statement are administrators of this site you can take down my response and save the embarrassment of looking in the mirror.

[Raymondo]

 Well he seems a nice chap. Now

Back to the cats.....

 

[Jakester]

So, let me get this right: you come on and ask for a (free?) transcription? And when you don’t get it you flounce off? Is that about right?

[Jakester]

4 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

 and you’re so busy. You know what, so are the rest of us pal. You of all people should appreciate how long it takes to do a note for note transcription, especially of a song like this.

Well said. 

[fretmeister]

flip it.

 

The song is fosters easy - or at least should be for someone who claims to have played for 30 years. And there is a video that shows the guys hand positions as well, so that deals with any audio quality issues

Tabbing it out would take me under an hour. I've been playing as long as the OP has.

The OP appears to have spent more time getting upset about this thread than would have taken him to tab it out.

 

I have a day off work and I was considering transcribing it, partly to help and partly for my own practice.

Not now. 

[Bassy Bass]

7 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

flip it.

 

The song is fosters easy - or at least should be for someone who claims to have played for 30 years. And there is a video that shows the guys hand positions as well, so that deals with any audio quality issues

Tabbing it out would take me under an hour. I've been playing as long as the OP has.

The OP appears to have spent more time getting upset about this thread than would have taken him to tab it out.

 

I have a day off work and I was considering transcribing it, partly to help and partly for my own practice.

Not now. 

I can't see the video, I'm blind, also makes the tabbing difficult, thanks to technology I can use the internet though, but thanks for the suggestion I will pass it on to the kid who first asked me did I have a copy.

[fretmeister]

6 minutes ago, Bassy Bass said:

I can't see the video, I'm blind, also makes the tabbing difficult, thanks to technology I can use the internet though, but thanks for the suggestion I will pass it on to the kid who first asked me did I have a copy.

This appears to be more pertinent information that could have been useful in the original post.

[Bassy Bass]

3 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

This appears to be more pertinent information that could have been useful in the original post.

Don't like how some people react to that type of info. Some people seem to think blindness makes a person totally incapable which is not the case. Admittedly there are a few things one needs help with though. Could be worse!

 

[fretmeister]

1 minute ago, Bassy Bass said:

Don't like how some people react to that type of info. Some people seem to think blindness makes a person totally incapable which is not the case. Admittedly there are a few things one needs help with though. Could be worse!

 

Without the information I think it's an entirely reasonable reaction to a post that contains a Video to assume the poster can see it. And that the reaction is basically "do it yourself lazy goit" because the information all seems to be there and the OP says he's been playing for 30 years..

 

I've never seen musos react badly to blindness or other different abilities. After all we have Stevie Wonder and Jeff Healey etc, and the far better than me 1 armed bassist Bill Clements.

 

[Bassy Bass]

13 minutes ago, fretmeister said:

Without the information I think it's an entirely reasonable reaction to a post that contains a Video to assume the poster can see it. And that the reaction is basically "do it yourself lazy goit" because the information all seems to be there and the OP says he's been playing for 30 years..

 

I've never seen musos react badly to blindness or other different abilities. After all we have Stevie Wonder and Jeff Healey etc, and the far better than me 1 armed bassist Bill Clements.

 

Nice, yeh, I'm a big fan of Stevie and some of the wonderful bassists he worked with. Nice that you personally haven't had any bad experiences in that regard. I spent a few month last year in New Orleans and although the local musicians are a beautiful community some of the musicians just passing through don't seem to come from the same mold! But in general, I would say you're right, most musicians tend to have an appreciation for some things that other folks overlook.

[mcnach]

On 16/04/2019 at 16:35, Bassy Bass said:

I agree the word "please" never goes astray, strongly agree in fact, I will edit and add. (Now that I know where the edit button is LOL). At the same time it really is a waste of space and vey non helpful to post a reply to a request for tabs to tell someone just go listen to it and do it yourself. 

 

He didn't just say "go and do it yourself", he explained how that could be a good exercise and I have to agree with that. It's a repetitive bass line so there aren't many different bits to it, so it would not be a huge amount of work but it can be quite educational. I get it that you were just after a tab you could go ahead and use straight away, which is fine, so you're entitled to ignore that post and carry on.

The main thing is that he meant well, even if it didn't solve your issue. You don't need to bend over backwards thanking him or anything, but getting uptight about it will not help matters either and it's not a good look, I think.