Barking Spiders

I don't listen to classic rock, punk, prog or metal so can't come up with any suggestions from these genres. I mostly play stuff from funk, soul, reggae, disco, New Wave, pop and post punk. So from these I'd say Peaches - Stranglers Disco Inferno -Trammps For The Love of Money - O Jays Another One Bites The Dust - Queen Taxman - Beatles / Jam Exodus - Bob Marley Under Pressure - Queen Fools Gold -Stone Roses Ball Of Confusion - Temptations Good Times -Chic

Still four years to go but as with all my 'zero' birthdays I go to some flung corner of the planet with the incumbent mrs Spiders. For my 40th it was Patagonia and for my 30th, Oregon. I like informal get-togethers but can't be doing with organised functions. Just the way I roll.

I'm a huge fan of classic soul, 70s funk, jazz funk and disco. Over the last week I have been mostly listening to Songs In The Key Of Life, What's Going On, the Funk Brothers Millennium Collection and Heavy Metal Bebop by The Brecker Brothers. Tasty bass all over the shop

But at the same time don't overestimate the difficulty of rocket science

16,000, pre and half time entertainment at a match between Gloucester RFC and Leicester Tigers and Bath carnival errm albeit in a samba band. Indoors probably no more than a couple of hundred.

My main instrument is fingerstyle acoustic guitar so I pretty much transposed this technique the bass. But what I say is don't ignore using the thumb on its own. You get different tones compared to fingers or pick. Back to fingers the best exercise is playing walking patterns up and down the neck, alternating between index with middle and middle with ring. Boring but effective

There's the double whammy of a shrinking nightlife scene across the UK and more guitar bands you can shake a stick at, all competing for a dwindling number of venues. Nightclubs are also closing down left, right and centre as well as pubs. From a punter's perspective when I check out to see who's playing what and where it's mostly 'yet another' pub blues rock combo or indie rock band. If I was told there's some incredible band with an amazing stage act like you've never seen my interest would be aroused. At the thought of watching 4 blokes in jeans and t-shirts pumping out 'Mustang Sally', 'Sex On Fire' etc I'd rather stay in and watch re-runs of Miss Marple on the Drama Channel.

Indeed The Greek. While James Jamerson, Larry Graham and other bass pioneers back then came out with cracking stuff they were anonymous to the music buying public. When Mark King et al turned up they took bass right to the front of the band, often eclipsing the other members. For your average music listener, this was the first time they heard slap funk and fretless bass playing. It was King on Love Games and Pino on Wherever I Lay My Hat that got me into bass. These guys weren't the first to play these styles but they sure brought them to the mainstream.

Not sure I reckon 'now' is that great. Sure there are niches like jazz, fusion and prog metal where there are top players but in much mainstream and dance stuff the bass is all computerised. Back in the early-mid 80s the charts were chocka with songs that had upfront bass playing what with Level 42, Sade, Duran, Paul Young, Associates, Smiths, Japan, ABC, Jacko, Paul Simon etc doing their thing.

What do you folks consider to be your golden age for bass - not just the quality of players but great and memorable basslines. As big a fan as I am of Motown, classic funk and Stax for me it was UK pop 1980 to about 1987, when slap and fretless bass had high profiles in the UK charts. Great bass lines all over the shop, even on some really cheesy pop tunes.

He's one of many players whose playing I respect but I really don't like the music one bit. Sometimes I'll watch clips on You Tube of IM, Rush, Dream Theater, Yes and fusion stuff to just to check out the bass players chops. But there comes a point when enough is enough. What I'll say for SH is he' s got powerful fingers and a mastery of keeping time at speed

The Blues, jazz, rock n roll, punk, metal, hip hop, folk...all came into being against or independent of the establishment. Now, Berklee, Rockschool and similar types of institutions offer graded exams. Would you have wanted to pay to study bass at one of these types of places or d'ya reckon taking exams goes against the original spirit of rock n roll? Have a gander... [url="https://www.rslawards.com/music/graded-music-exams/bass"]https://www.rslaward...usic-exams/bass[/url]

Not sure he's old hat as his most recent album was out last year!

I bunged in his name in the search box and the most recent tread was posted in 2012 so I'm guessing there's not a lot love here for the quirky drum n' bass merchant? Viz technique he's right up there with Claypool, Wootten and Sheehan though I much prefer his music to theirs. Any other takers?

Ha..I'm a Sid Vicious too but tbh this quiz is just a bit pants. Thought it might be a lot funnier. And I hate punk

You could use a couple of drum machines instead in a kinda similar way that pioneering acid house duo Hardfloor used to with several TB 303s

It's up to others whether they consider themselves musicians but I don't think of myself as one for reasons other than money. The main one is that playing bass, guitars and drums is not an all-consuming passion but one of several interests. I can easily go several weeks without playing or listening to music. If I had to go more than a week without beer I'd go bonkers. The other main thing is I know what I like listening to and playing and ain't that interested in broadening my horizons . As long as I've a decent repertoire of songs I can master I'm not that bothered about advanced theory and all jazz

I guess when I was at school in the early-mid 80s the in-crowd types played footie or rugby league (northerner, me) while the oddballs formed rock bands. Still, bung in guitar, bass, rock music related phrases into Google Trends and they all follow the same pattern. I've just put in 'greatest guitarist' and as of now it's 14% don from a baseline of 100% in 2004.

I've just plugged in the terms 'learn bass' and 'learn guitar' into Google Trends. From 100% in 2004, there's a year on year decline to 22% in 2016.

In one of the less classic episodes of South Park, Stan and Kyle are wowing their mates on Guitar Hero with 'Carry on wayward son' when Stan's dad walks in and shows them how he can play it on his guitar for real. They aren't impressed, with Cartman saying guitars are for old people. In my 11 year old's year 6 leavers book many of her classmates profiles show they want to be games designers, actors, You Tubers/vloggers and slebs. Not one wants to be a musician let alone a bass player. When I was that age I knew of at least a handful who wanted to be pro drummers or guitarists. D'ya reckon kids these days don't give a monkey's left tit how well someone can cut it on a guitar, drum kit etc?

Hurrah! This might be the first mention of The Red Guitars. Top band but like many fine but overlooked combos of the timothy cameo nowt. Good Technology is a top tune.

My 9 year old daughter is quite small for her age but preferred a full size nylon strung to a 3/4. I got it for £70, not much more than the 3/4 and better in all ways.

ivansc - it's a type of tarantula found in Oz (I have two pet tarantulas but not selencosmia crassipes as it's under threat. I only keep rescued pets) but it's also slang for.. ahem...the action of the a***hole in fart mode

For online lessons Scott Devine is the man. You need look no further. Basswise there are many decent sub £300 instruments. Cant go wrong with Ibanez, Cort, Sterling SUB or ESP.

Back then I was mostly into synth pop/ electro stuff, the gamut of post punk and hip hop. Roll on another 30 years and little has changed . I think fave bands were Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Tears for Fears and Heaven 17