Jam

Steve Harris for me!

I was playing some Mario with the other half last night and fancied trying to work out some of the bass to some of the songs - Nintendo games generally have some pretty interesting arrangements and they tend to get stuck in your head if you have to keep replaying the levels... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6MfnbeilTY[/media] I sat down and tried to work out the above note for note, but have struggled a little. I can pick out a fair bit of it but struggled to get everything perfect. I'm enjoying myself doing it, I'm using it as ear training so am trying to avoid transcriptions but would appreciate any advice from people who often work out basslines/key signatures by ear. Am starting by picking out the root notes and fleshing out the rest with some pausing and repeating. I have a fairly rudimentary knowledge of theory and suspect more knowledge of key signatures and chord progressions would be useful!

Cheers for the advice guys, will check out the videos and the exercises suggested The fingertip/pad thing is something I've noticed recently with videos on youtube of "proper" players, I've tried to adjust and can already feel my control has improved but any advice is appreciated. Chris_B, you're right, it's just something that I [i]think[/i] I'm doing wrong - I've had a feeling for years that my technique is slightly cack-handed but it doesn't affect my playing too much and the bass teachers I've seen sporadically haven't had any issues with it. Just as an aside, the thumb to pinky thing is something I've always been afflicted with, from a very young age. CrackerJackLee, thank you for the detailed response, very much appreciated - will give the exercises a go when I get home from work. Keeping the thumb curved is something I'd not considered; while holding my imaginary bass at my desk (cue odd looks from colleagues) it seems like I might have my thumb quite straight...will report back later!

Recently I've noticed some bad habits with my technique, mostly with my fretting hand. Rather than keeping my fingers curved they tend to be straight when I fret, pressing down with the pad rather than the top of the fingertips. I've been working on some exercises, namely 4 fingers per fret type exercises (Ariane Cap, Scott's bass lessons) and it is helping, but I'd appreciate any feedback. Also, I don't know whether this is bass related or not, I might just have duff hands, but I cannot touch my thumb to my little finger, on either hand. I had a bad time in cub scouts. When I try I end up with what looks like an arthritic claw, the muscle under the thumb goes rock solid. Anyone have any experience with this? Cheers! (I've been playing for 12 years, mostly self taught with some lessons here and there)

I've really been digging the new Opeth album and discovered this chap on the Opeth Reddit page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6WASaxF06s Not only an excellent player (only been playing 3 years?!) but a really nice bloke too. This song goes crazy at about 3:50, I'm stumbling through it like an idiot but it's great fun. This also, is testament to Martin Mendez's bass playing, and one of the reasons he's my favourite bassist! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItWdxjio1l4

[quote name='roman_sub' timestamp='1457623973' post='3000312'] Nice, but unlikely to be "£2k nice" on second hand market. [/quote] Yeah the price is a tad optimistic!

So I was doing a bit of window-shopping on Crack Converters and stumbled across a beautiful looking Warwick Corvette $$. They're great basses, this one is particularly nice, but it's very distinctive so I wondered if anyone was missing one? Don't often see anything that nice on there! Going by Warwick's site it's a Corvette $$ 911 special edition swirly bubinga. http://webshop.cashconverters.co.uk/auction-item/1158417/warwick-corvette-4-string-special-edition-electric-bass-guitarmasterbuilt

I've got it too!

Anything by Scouting for Girls makes me furious. My other half often gets bits from superdrug and they seem to have THAT song on a loop. She's so lovely She's so lovely She's so lovely She's so lovely She's so lovely She's so lovely She's so lovely She's so lovely She's so lovely AARRRRGGHHHHH

Bought Steve's Tech 21 Sansamp VT Bass pedal last night, lovely chap, swift communication and the pedal is in excellent condition Cheers dude!

Haha hey man, thanks for the love

Cheers man! We're gigging lots at the moment, mostly around Oxfordshire though. Hope to spread further afield soon!

I love the tone, is that through a pedal of some kind or just the way your bass sounds?

Ooh nice growly tone!