The easiest ever set list, for bass.

[Geek99]

14 hours ago, ambient said:

I’ve never played that, it sounds like a D repeated over and over. 

It is 

[Maude]

21 minutes ago, White Cloud said:

...yes, and paradoxically one of the greatest ever bassline (imo).

I quite agree. 

From all these 'simple bassline' songs you could compile a cracker of a setlist. 

It's not so much what you play as how you play it. 

[Geek99]

10 minutes ago, Slappindabass said:

When love comes to town..U2

I love playing that song - trying to master  “please”

[Geek99]

12 hours ago, Lozz196 said:

Once in a Lifetime, by Talking Heads, thinks it’s only two notes, repeated through the whole song.

Yes but martina makes it special 

[Hobbayne]

3 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

Possibly subtlety has been my undoing, and therefore the point of the thread has been missed .

In the OP the song examples given feature NO BASS!

Er, Blackbird by The Beatles? 🤔

[Beedster]

14 hours ago, Cato said:

Everyday People - Sly and the Family Stone

A great example of how playing one note only through an entire song is all about feel, so it's not as easy a song to play as the single note idea would suggest

[Maude]

9 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

Possibly subtlety has been my undoing, and therefore the point of the thread has been missed .

In the OP the song examples given feature NO BASS!

Why let that get in the way of a good thread 😂

Edited December 10, 2019 by Maude

[Paddy515]

When you were young

My Hero

Sit Down - super easy!!!

Commom People

Song 2

Teen Spirit

Should I stay or should I go

Basically, most of our party setlist!!!!

 

 

[Dood]

13 hours ago, pete.young said:

That's a piano piece.

It has been played by an Orchestra too!

 

 

[BigRedX]

15 hours ago, Maude said:

I'll also add Transmission by Joy Division. 

Are you sure?

Every note is stopped and it's a relatively fast tempo. I can't get beyond the end of the first verse before my left hand seizes up.

[Dood]

First comment on the above video... 😂🤣

[BigRedX]

13 hours ago, pete.young said:

That's a piano piece.

It's only a piano piece in that the cues for the start and the end of each of the three movements are the closing and opening the piano keyboard lid. 

The ensemble "playing" it can be a as big or small as the conductor wants.

[Muzz]

It's surprising how many of the songs listed I've heard bands play very very unconvincingly, and a lot of the time it's the bass that's at fault. We play Elbow's One Day Like This which is basically E/octave on the bass all the way through, but to make it sound good it's all about the dynamics of those two notes. As someone has already said, it's not about what you play, it's about how you play it...

[BigRedX]

16 hours ago, Maude said:

Simple Minds - Waterfront

Again are you sure?

From what I can see from the various live videos of the Simple Minds playing the song the repeating D is a sequenced synth part. The bass guitar plays something else that appears to follow the guitar part.

[tinyd]

3 hours ago, Bassfinger said:

Anything by The Doors.  Their bassist is very easy to emulate 🤣

Pedant alert - LA Woman (album) has bass guitar and I think that quite a few of their other tracks have bass as well (you can't get rid of us that easily )

[MacDaddy]

5 hours ago, Jimothey said:

I think we need to start a new thread ‘BEST LYRICS YOU'VE HEARD ON AN INSTRUMENTAL TRACK’ .........😀

A joke of former rubber faced TV mimic Phil Cool, back in the day:

Who has the easiest job in the world?

The person who does the laundry for Motorhead.

[Vinny]

Angi

Songbird

Redemption Song

May You Never

Kathy's Song

Not to mention a million 80s synthy hits.

[Stub Mandrel]

18 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

Sharp dressed man - ZZ  Top

Aside from having to count 19 (why?) bars over the solo... 🙂

[Stub Mandrel]

L'il Devil - the Cult

Nickelback's version of Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting (NOT the original!).

 

 

[Twigman]

Laurie Anderson - O Superman

[Roger2611]

To be fair Ceremony by New Order is pretty simple but a very effective bass line

[Reggaebass]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Aside from having to count 19 (why?) bars over the solo... 🙂

I don’t normally play this but I quite like ZZ top,   I didn’t count, I just got with the rhythm 🙂

 

[Si600]

8 hours ago, Fozza said:

Molly's Lips by The Vaselines

The first few times I heard that I thought the chorus was "Kids, kids, Molly's dead."

[solo4652]

Kiss by Prince. I think there's no bass at all in the original. 

[el borracho]

4 hours ago, BigRedX said:

Again are you sure?

From what I can see from the various live videos of the Simple Minds playing the song the repeating D is a sequenced synth part. The bass guitar plays something else that appears to follow the guitar part.

I played a gig with a band Derek Forbes was in a few years ago. He played the D on a looper then played over the top of it.