Many Thanks Bilbo. Much appreciated.

By chance yesterday I was amusing myself watching uTube and stumbled across the Leland Sklar channel. Session bass player who has been around years. In the attached video he plays Sussudio.

Rick Beato is always worth a watch.

I have been playing bass for more than 40 years and any musical situation I have found myself in has always relied on how good or how bad the drummer is. 

Many moons ago I started work as a cruise ship musician playing in the orchestra, this means that more than a good 90% of my playing was reading and the other 10% chord sheets.

My first cruise found me joining a Trio playing on a ship in the Caribbean. The drummer was the MD and he would forever say my last bass player didn't play it like that, fortunately

the keyboard player would step in and look at my chart and say "That's what's written". After about two weeks the MD summoned me to his cabin to read an email he was sending to the head office stating he felt I would be best suited to an orchestra gig and that he would like a replacement. A month later I joined the Orchestra on a different ship with an MD who was a keyboard player. It was his first contract as an MD and was keen to make an impression. After about 3 weeks myself and the drummer were called for a meeting and was told in no uncertain terms unless our playing improved we would be on the next flight home. The MD took me aside and asked if I felt the gig was beyond my playing. No, I said far from it I just cant gel with the drummer. The drummer was fired 2 weeks later for fighting in the crew bar (instant dismal on cruise ships). A new replacement drummer was found and after the first night of playing the MD summoned the drummer and myself to the crew bar. He wanted to buy us both a drink in his words " Tonight I had two new musicians playing for the first time, and what an excellent job you both did". New drummer was bemused as he knew I had been in the orchestra for close on two months. The MD thanked me for teaching him a huge lesson. I continued playing on cruise ships for the next 16 years.

To conclude, for me it's all about the drums and if things don't sit right with your playing before you give up playing be sure to check it's not the drummer and not you.

My favourite drummer who has played on the most memorable tunes which I only liked because of the drumming and which I only found out it was Steve Gadd, "Fifty Ways to leave your lover""Chuck E's In Love""Aja" etc.etc.

For the past several years I have been creating my own practice movies.  My idea was to create a movie which enabled me to randomly choose a song that not only contained a transcription but also the song to play along to. Many are my own transcriptions and several I would have downloaded from Basschat (heads up to ChrisDev,  TomRead, Steve Glasgow plus others always a good source) many I would would often download from random sites I found via a google search. After a rewrite due to any errors I would then create a practice movie for myself. To cut a long story short I have decided to share the 400 plus files I have made. The list grows by the day. Any file that has 2 or more by the same artist I have created there own folder the rest are in the Various Play Alongs folder.

I hope there are folks on here who will find them useful.

I would appreciate your views, either good or bad.

Unsure how legal these are so best download your favourites while you can.

Oh yes and any TABS have been removed in order to preserve the dignity of bass players who do not rely on an out dated and unreliable form of music transcription.

And if you have a transcription you would like me to create similar with please email me.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sfC9-zxzMUQ2v0NJla8KGoyJ896Mvz1e

First time I heard this track back in the day it blew me away. Still does. Those false harmonics are something else.

Struggled to find a descent transcription of this for years until I discovered the attached PDF. To my ears the second bar is not only spot on but also falls logically under the fingers.

1. Ian+Dury+Hit+Me+With+Your+Rhythm+Stick.pdf

I have attached a small part of Level 42's "The Machine Stops" which may help. To clarify LH (left hand) is a muted note without hitting the string with the right hand.

The Machine Stops.pdf

As regards your fretting hand, a finger per fret is always the way to go, many tunes can be played without the need to shift your left hand position, this may require  you play a usually open string fretted, often a bit of a stretch at first but in the long runs pays dividends, plus, if you are ever required to transpose a tune up or down and you have learnt the tune using open strings then you will have a problem.  when I began playing I took it upon myself to only ever play the E string open, you also have far more control of a fretted note, just be sure to warm up and rest if any unusual pain in your left hand or arm starts. 

As regards your right hand plucking hand. Try to practice playing quavers with a different attack with alternating fingers. The first note (first finger) being louder than the second (second finger) this second note can even be muted. And then alternate attack,

Dougie Thomson's bass line on "Lady" by Supertramp

Lady.pdf

Here we go mate. I believe it was a Arcelles Sykes transcription.

Shooting Star.pdf

You gently rest your thumb on the string below the one your playing surely?

Anyone have a transcription? I suspect not. (The "fella with the Brite Nitegown" refers to a statement from W.C. Fields -- he liked to refer to Death as "the fellow in the bright nightgown.").

I dreamed I had a fever
I was pushin' one-oh-three
My mom's all upset - cryin' by my bedside
Everybody's prayin' for me
I hear a scratchin' at the window
I somehow twist myself around
I realize I'm eyes to eyes
With the fella in the Brite Nitegown
Brite Nitegown
Brite Nitegown
You can't fight with the fella
In the Brite Nitegown
The eagle flies on Friday
My baby wants to bash
I hit the ATM - and march down the street
With a roll of party cash
Right then a couple lit-up brothers
They gently put me on the ground
They do the steal and leave me to deal
With the fella in the Brite Nitegown
Brite Nitegown
Brite Nitegown
You can't fight with the fella
In the Brite Nitegown
Ten milligrams of Chronax
Will whip you back through time
Past Hebrew kings - and furry things
To the birth of humankind
I shared in all of nature's secrets
But when I finally came around
I'm sittin' on the rug gettin' a victory hug
From the fella in the brite Brite Nitegown
Brite Nitegown
Brite Nitegown
You can't fight with the fella
In the Brite Nitegown

My final words are this, TAB is really the work of the devil and more often than not inaccurate. It belongs in Room 101.  TAB should only be used as a learning aid on the way to learning to read notation. There are far too many TAB sites but thankfully, not enough but also several sites with really good transcriptions, TKendrick to name just one. However there is just one exception to my hatred of TAB, this site I believe belongs around the year 1700, just prior to the start of notation as we know today, and the only site I would recommend.  If all TAB was written this way I would have no issue with it.

Unfortunately the site is now subscription only to download but the songs are all visible.  Also be aware not all have the bass lines and also several have the bass written on the very last page.

https://www.guitar.ch/en/guitars/tabs/tabs.html

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Indeed, but while I see how the stave allows you to build chords, for example, because each adjacent pair of lines or spaces is a third apart my brain insists this is merely a convention that creates a meaningless inconsistency where you can't tell what type of chord it actually is.

Actually, to me, the fact that the stave is inherently diatonic and suited to penny whistles and perhaps even pianos, it seems illogical to force it on a totally chromatic instrument like a bass.

You are over complicating things, I think you will find all Western Instruments are chromatic, adjacent pairs of lines or spaces are a third apart but not all without a sharp or a flat. i.e. A to C# and D to F#. A major third up is always 4 frets or 4 semi-tones apart regardless of the starting note.  Think of the sharps or flats simply as the black keys on a piano, just not so easy to see.

Written notes are not difficult to learn.  If you learnt all the notes on all 4 strings there is a total of 48, which sounds a lot but in reality there is only 12, as the notes are repeated the higher up the fret board you play (by higher I mean the closer to the pickups) . And to play the same note an octave higher  its up two frets and up two strings. If you learn the twelve notes on the E string and then apply the above to play an octave higher already you would have learnt 24 of the 48 notes. Another rule which never changes is that the note F is played one fret higher than an E, the same goes for C which is one fret higher than a B. All other notes are two frets apart i.e. G is two frets higher than F, A is two frets Higher than G and B is also two notes higher than A. I recall my music lessons in school, I never could grasp the rhymes on learning the notes on a stave "Every Good Boy Deserves Favors" E,G,B,D,F which represents the note names on the lines of a  stave.  There is another rhyme for F,A,C,E which represents the spaces in between the lines. Total crap for three reasons 1. This is for the treble Clef. 2. Why not teach line space E,F,G,A,B.C,D.  and 3 by continuing the same alphabetical pattern we see that the next E,F,G,A,B,C begins on a space.

There are only 7 note names which is G,A,B,C,D,E,F and the octave G. If starting on any other note i.e. a B this would be B,C,D,E,F,G,A and the octave B.

The frets which don't have a note name are known as either a # (sharp) or a  b (flat), so between the F and G the note is known either as F#  or a Gb.

Between the G and A known as either G# or Ab

Between the A and B known as A# or Bb

Between C and D known as C# or Db

Between D and E known as D# or Eb

Between F and G known as F# or Gb

As a reference point an added line above the stave is a C. A bit of theory not necessary to know but may make a bit more sense. You are familiar with how a treble clef and a bass clef look and that the bass clef is always written below the treble clef. Both clefs originally was written on eleven lines which eventually  was divided, The top 5 lines became the treble clef and the bottom bottom 5 the bass clef with the remaining  middle line became known as middle C .  

It's learning to read rhythm which can take time. But it is really a question of remembering what has gone before. By this I mean that there is not an infinite  number of rhythms and the more you play the more you will recognize these patterns. I do remember  when I started to play I began to learn riffs while I was saving up for lessons. One of the Riffs was Zeps "Whole Lotta Love" I could play along to the track no problem but then when I began to learn to read I picked up the transcription and immediately thought I could never play that. But of course I could already, no, it was just a question of working out why the rhythm was written as it was and realizing it was all to do with how the beat fell.  

I am glad I took the initially harder route of learning to read music. I am not restricted to playing only tunes I know or have heard before. I can now play whatever is put in front of me having never seen the chart before whatever genre or style. I have literally hundreds of charts that I can pull out and play having not looked at them for years. This allows me to dep with little or no rehearsels. 

TAB was originally developed around the 1300's and notation began to be developed around the 1750's. So, in reality TAB has moved on and notation gives you the added information of where notes are to be played in relation to the beat or tempo and not just which notes to play. In my opinion the main problem with TAB is that more often or not where it is telling you to play any given note .  A bass with tuning 1st (E), 2nd (A), 3rd (D), 4th (G). And so for example if TAB is telling you to play the 2nd fret on the 3rd string then to play the 9th fret on the 4th string then this would need a left hand shift. Notation however leaves the choice of note position to you.  But notation visibly makes it clear that to play the same sounding notes as the TAB if first note is played 7th fret on the 2nd string and then 9th fret of the 4th string with no left hand shift needed. Likewise the same notes could be played 12th fret 1st string then 14th fret 3rd string. with no left hand shift. Even if you never learn to read music it is a good idea to learn the notes on the fret board and where the same note can be found.  i.e. 2nd fret 3rd string, 7th fret 2nd string and 12th fret 1st string  all three the same sounding note (E).

On 16/04/2019 at 10:43, naxos10 said:

I hope you do not mind me downloading this to use wal4string? it is a song I have been thinking would be good to have a go at for while.

Unfortunately I think your grandson will have the playing edge on me.

Thanks again.

No problem with you downloading. I posted it for fellow basschatters to enjoy.

Mr.Blue Sky.pdf

Been teaching my 10 year old Grandson bass. After wracking my brains I rediscovered my love of ELO and this bass line. He nailed the bass line to the intro and verse no problem. Will be teaching him the chorus next week.  The walking bass line section will be his homework. His Mum tells me he is able to sing along while playing along. The rug rat is an aspiring Jack Bruce, Mark King, Sting etc. However he is only 10, I just hope his enthusiasm continues or I can sustain his love of the bass while I try to teach him to read so he will no longer need his grandad to show him. 

If any basschatters can suggest any similar tunes for a beginner  I would appreciate any suggestions.

Any Good?

Babooshka.pdf

Take The Long Way Home.pdf

Dougie Thomson's bass line on Sister Moonshine by Supertramp. For educational purposes only. 

Dougie Thomson's bass line on Child of Vision by Supertramp. For educational purposes only. 

I use these play along movies as quick practice movies. I have produced countless numbers of similar what I would say are easy practice tunes. No need to find a pdf and mp3 file and then somehow get everything to fit on screen and then having to hit the space bar to move the pdf on, that is of course if I don't happen the the mp3 file chosen.

With this particular tune from letter F until the 8th bar after Feel no Sorrow, try playing in the 3rd position (Ist finger over the 3rd fret) which means the bar before F begins on  the 4th fret of D (Gb) starting with your second finger. Next note 2nd finger on G (5th fret D string) then at F your 4th finger on the Ab (6th fret D string). Try playing the rest of F section still in the 3rd position. The Bb on the 6th fret of the E string is a bit of a stretch but is more than doable.