bass_dinger

A child drummer in the church asked me to learn Come Together by the Beatles, and Mr Brightside (because it has a "great bassline").  

Happy to learn these new songs, if it encourages her to play drums in a band. 

I am still trying to think of songs for her to learn, for which I already know the bassline.  Maybe Good Times by Chic, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, or I Wish.

12 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

My group isn't going to do this, so I doubt I will ever play it, but it has a really killer bassline so I thought I would learn it anyway!

 

Spoken like a true musician!

If I had $4,000 to spend on musical gear, I would not spend it on musical gear!

But if you are forcing me.....

Lessons. Bass,  piano, mandolin, theory. 

That should keep me busy, and on track for the 2024 Bass Abstinence thread.

15 minutes ago, Rosie C said:

 

It went well, the band was piano, cornet and double bass. I took my little 25W Orange practice amp - just to give a little boost to the sound. 

 

We played:

• Alleluia Sing to Jesus
• There is a Redeemer
• All Heaven Declares
• Light of the World
• Guide Me Oh Great Redeemer  (we we assured this was scheduled well before the rugby)

 

The bass looks huge, until I compare to those organ pipes! They seem to have put the big ones at the front.

I was surprised to learn the 25w amp is enough to boost the sound- but I guess that it is mostly the acoustic sound that is filling the space. 

9 hours ago, xgsjx said:

Just learn the chords G, C, D & Em.

That lack of variety was why I took up bass!

I also struggled with strumming patterns - I got bored easily, and found it a bit dull.

Bass has now become my mother tongue, my first language of expression. If I want to say something musical, I prefer to say it on the bass. 

So, I want to revisit the guitar  and see if I can still do it.

I have been asked to play guitar in church.  Or rather, I asked if I could play as the second acoustic guitar one morning, just to see whether I could still do it.

I have not played acoustic guitar in church for over 20 years. At the time, I was a big fan of dual capo settings (me capo 2 in G, the other guitarist in A. Or indeed, me on Capo 5 or 7, to give the harmonic spread).

Any hints or tips?  Any YouTube lessons?

1 hour ago, neepheid said:

 

 

How are the rest of you doing?  Any near misses?

 

Not yet, but I will fall soon.  I am tidying out my dad's loft (to make space for a rewire) and rediscovered two big boxes of marvel comics.  Mostly British stuff, but also, some random American stuff.  Tales to Astonish issue 57 in near-immaculate condition, and in the rare Pence Variant (the cover price is in pennies, rather than cents), already bagged and carded, to protect it from my sweaty hands. 

So, perhaps that (and other comics) will fund a replacement neck and refinished body for the Washburn XB925 bass that I have.  Or more, likely, a pack of ukulele strings from eBay . . . .

15 hours ago, SamIAm said:

 

I really felt in the groove and it will take days for the smile to disappear from my face.

Nothing better than playing in a band with good musicians! It lifts your own game, and makes it easier to play with them.  

6 hours ago, BigRedX said:

What would you have been hoping for by reaching your current technical standard 37 years earlier?

 

On the whole bands don't want virtuoso musicians. They want people who are competent, reliable and look the part.

 

 

@Jason Karloff would have looked 37 years younger, for a start - enough to get him into a boyband! 

1 hour ago, OzJzF said:

Lee Sklar did something similar to his '62 Jazz. Along with carving the top and reshaping the lower horn...

Does that make it more valuable, or less??

"62 jazz hacked about by a legendary bassist."

24 minutes ago, Beer of the Bass said:

 

I'd be struggling with my double bass at about 41 1/2 inches!

After a certain scale length, it's Legs Together again...

4 hours ago, Richard R said:

Not with this band - I am very definitely the least experienced and capable. All the others could wing it by ear.

So, technically, they could indeed not look at the music. 

But in this case, they don't need to!

Well done for finding a church band of such high quality.  Enjoy yourself, and be sure to let us know how it goes. 

3 hours ago, Richard R said:

No excuse for messing up now.

You have forgotten the ultimate church band excuse - other band members not looking at the music!

I have books that I couldn't use 20 years ago - too complicated, beyond my capabilities, etc.

However, when I look at them now, I can use them easily.  I can read the dots, count the beats - and use what I learned when I play. 

6 hours ago, Bassfinger said:

 

 

My Prince Albert, on the other hand...

Note to myself: if Bassfinger ever sells a Bass guitar with buckle rash on the back - it isn't buckle rash.....

I appear to already have been entered into this year's challenge  - thank you. 

I am likely to be out - last year's failure was a purchase of a bass guitar that needs a new neck.  Not so much a repair, as a rebuild. 

Can I sign up for 2025 now....?

Everybody wants to rule the world, but you will need a 5 string for the low D

6 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

I'm left handed so it doesn't affect me, but the right handed guitarists in my band both remove theirs to play because it causes them issues. 

Yes - it makes them appear married, and thus, unavailable to the groupies.....

I used to take my ring off to play, but not now.  The difference seems to be better technique (and the fact that I had the ring enlarged to fit my finger, which had grown 3 sizes fatter over the years).

I am reminded that I once caught a cheap and rough ring on a push-plate on a fire door.  I carried on walking, the ring carried on being stuck on the plate, and I only stopped when I couldn't move forwards any more.   I then spotted that the top layer of skin on my finger had peeled off. I pushed the skin back onto my finger, and once it was stuck,  I removed the ring and binned it.  

I can play

Mr Blue Sky

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

I can sight read, at speed:

You're my First my last...

Silly Love Songs 

Mission Impossible 

but will make mistakes 

I can't play all of 

Good Times (not enough dexterity)

Master Blaster

The James Bond theme

Fly me to the moon (too many accidentals, and too fast)

I have no chance with 

Hit me with your rhythm stick.

I want to create a plan for learning bass, and music. 

I see that I have a habit of playing what I already know, and giving up on the difficult stuff.

What I want is a schedule for learning, along with techniques and habits. 

I recently found an add-on for the Chrome browser that allows me to slow down YouTube music and change the pitch, and loop sections. 

That has allowed me to slow down Good Times by Chic, and move from 60 to 70 to 80% and play the dots under the A13 chord. Next step, 83%, and so on...

I primarily want to learn to read music - I am improving, but want to be able to do it accurately and consistently. 

Is there such a thing as a practice schedule that I could use? 

What sort of things should I include?

Ear training? Music theory? Warm ups? 

I play mainly in church (where the ability to play the root notes in the keys of G, C, and A are enough to pass the audition, but not enough to sustain my interest).

In a moment, I will share what I can play, and what I struggle with....

On 14/11/2023 at 23:05, Owen said:

I bought one of those small Yamaha doobries for lush Rhodes noises. Only to realise that if I cannot actually play keys then it is all for naught.

Is the small yamaha doobrie in fact a Yamaha Reface CP1?

If so, a wood worker and sound engineer took one, and added a bigger keybed to it, along with a wooden case.

I would have just midi'd the keyboards up to each other, but that is because I have no wood working abilities, no studio, and no YouTube channel!

It's a great video, nonetheless. 

Good grief - that is a full-on workout!

On 03/05/2021 at 15:58, dodge_bass said:

Looks great at a glance — all I can say is that adding the chord symbols in to show harmony makes a big difference to any transcription. Thanks for sharing. 

Agreed - it's harmonically rich, with chords from outside of the key. 

But I shall be having a try at this tomorrow!  Thanks for transcribing it.

5 hours ago, Simon C said:

I did promise to share if I purchased "in the next few days".  So here goes.  As an added bonus, you could even play a game of "Spot the difference."

 

 

One picture has an instrument that divides opinion, and is fiercely defended by its few fans.

The other contains a ukulele. 

16 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

 

Absolutely. I also hate the way they over-enunciate every word.

To be fair, the words can be very difficult to understand unless they enunciate clearly.  

Here, the real lyrics of O Fortuna - or are they just the misheard lyrics...

1 hour ago, Steve Browning said:

I have a recollection of Graham Bonnet, on Rockschool, singing opera. Very impressive it was too. He had training in case you thought I was suggesting he was a natural. 

 

I was impressed that he had taken his craft so seriously. 

Here 

Part 1 will take you to part 2, wherein he sings opera.