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Beginner Looking for songs to learn!


Jag_Bassist
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Hi Everyone !


i have learnt the basics of upright from a teacher ( how to hold the bass how to finger the board how to pluck and holding a bow)

aswel as practising finding the notes


i am now looking for a simple songs to get me started


any genre will do dont mind classical, country or anything else!

Please leave me some suggested songs i can learn :]


Thanks

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(assuming you have a background in electric bass, so have some technique...)

(Pop/Swing) - The Love Cats - The Cure

(Swing/Jazz) - Moondance - Van Morrison (or Michael Buble arrangement)

(Country) - Folson Prison Blues - Johnny Cash (I love playing these root and 5th 2-step tunes on the upright)

[quote name='Jag_Bassist' post='1318649' date='Jul 27 2011, 08:36 PM']Hi Everyone !


i have learnt the basics of upright from a teacher ( how to hold the bass how to finger the board how to pluck and holding a bow)

aswel as practising finding the notes


i am now looking for a simple songs to get me started


any genre will do dont mind classical, country or anything else!

Please leave me some suggested songs i can learn :]


Thanks[/quote]

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(Pop/Swing) - The Love Cats - The Cure

(Swing/Jazz) - Moondance - Van Morrison (or Michael Buble arrangement)

(Country) - Folson Prison Blues - Johnny Cash (I love playing these root and 5th 2-step tunes on the upright)
[/quote]



Know where i can get the sheet music for any of these?

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[quote name='Jag_Bassist' post='1319444' date='Jul 28 2011, 04:04 PM'](Pop/Swing) - The Love Cats - The Cure

(Swing/Jazz) - Moondance - Van Morrison (or Michael Buble arrangement)

(Country) - Folson Prison Blues - Johnny Cash (I love playing these root and 5th 2-step tunes on the upright)




Know where i can get the sheet music for any of these?[/quote]

nevermind found moondance very simple will check the other 2 out now

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How's Moondance coming along? I'm not going to enter a debate about whether it's Jazz/Swing or not, but the Michael Buble version is a great big band arrangement and the original is in the Real Book of Jazz. :)

I'd also recommend getting a lead sheet for Fly Me To The Moon. It's a good tune to work with as it's largely cycle of 5ths and the changes aren't too fast.

First practice the chart playing 2 per bar you could use root, 3rd, 5th and 7th of each chord as a starting point. Then practice going through the chart walking with 4 to the bar. (listen to Diana Krall's 'live in Paris' version to hear what I mean).

If you enjoy playing this one, then get a copy of the Real Book from your local music shop (there are different versions of this, each with many jazz gems).

Best of luck,

James

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[quote name='Doddy' post='1319308' date='Jul 28 2011, 01:52 PM']I'd recommend learning a blues in F and Bb-both standard and jazz changes.[/quote]

I'd second this. You can learn a lot without needing to have any music in front of you.

The real book is great but a lot of the charts in there will have original changes that will really push you if you are new to it, great if you want that though!

The best thing I use the real book for is melodic sight reading, open the book at a random page grab a metronome and, depending on your sight reading/notation reading ability, set a time scale to have the head learnt and memorised. Most of the real book is either 16 or 32 bar heads and there are some really good ones for practicing intonation and getting to know your way round the fingerboard!

I realise that this might not be exactly what you are looking for right now, but charts like satin doll and as mentioned all blues aren't the most terrifying to look at but have some really good examples of good intonation and progression.

Just my 2 pennies!

D

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Solid Air - John Martyn
May You Never - John Martyn
Fire And Rain - James Taylor
50 Ways To Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon (no, really, it's not as hard as you think)
The Look Of Love - Dusty Springfield (more challenging than the others here, but oh so satisfying)

Folsom Prison Blues is a great track, but much harder to play on DB than on electric bass if you want to play a double-time walking bassline under the guitar solo.

If you like that feel, you'd be better off with something like Livin' On Tulsa Time by Eric Clapton.

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[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1324817' date='Aug 2 2011, 08:28 PM']Solid Air - John Martyn
May You Never - John Martyn
Fire And Rain - James Taylor
50 Ways To Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon (no, really, it's not as hard as you think)
The Look Of Love - Dusty Springfield (more challenging than the others here, but oh so satisfying)

Folsom Prison Blues is a great track, but much harder to play on DB than on electric bass if you want to play a double-time walking bassline under the guitar solo.

If you like that feel, you'd be better off with something like Livin' On Tulsa Time by Eric Clapton.[/quote]

Would love to have a crack at the John Martyn stuff in particular, any ideas where i could pick up sheet or tab ?

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[quote name='grumble' post='1324884' date='Aug 2 2011, 09:02 PM']Would love to have a crack at the John Martyn stuff in particular, any ideas where i could pick up sheet or tab ?[/quote]

No need - it's not difficult to play the right notes, very simple basslines and so on. Just listen to it and play along.

The hard bit is sounding even remotely as good as the original. :)

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[quote name='Happy Jack' post='1324895' date='Aug 2 2011, 09:14 PM']No need - it's not difficult to play the right notes, very simple basslines and so on. Just listen to it and play along.

The hard bit is sounding even remotely as good as the original. :)[/quote]

OK, will have to see if I can get the chord sheets. Yeah trying to sound even an eighth as good as Danny and Victoria will take more years than I can spare :)

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[quote name='Doddy' post='1319308' date='Jul 28 2011, 01:52 PM']I'd recommend learning a blues in F and Bb-both standard and jazz changes.[/quote]

+1 for me too. Freddy Freeloader by Miles Davis comes to mind. In fact, lots of Miles Davis tunes are simple enough to have a play along too and hear some fantastic upright players. Try All Blues for a start.

And Herbie Hancock stuff like Watermelon Man, Cantaloupe Island, etc.

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[quote name='Doddy' post='1319308' date='Jul 28 2011, 02:52 PM']I'd recommend learning a blues in F and Bb-both standard and jazz changes.[/quote]
I found a link for that...[url="http://http://www.learnjazzstandards.com/real-book/f-blues/"]blues in F[/url].
May be a bit steep to start learning, but I'm having a go at it anyways :)

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[quote name='kras' post='1334626' date='Aug 10 2011, 10:13 AM']I found a link for that...[url="http://http://www.learnjazzstandards.com/real-book/f-blues/"]blues in F[/url].
May be a bit steep to start learning, but I'm having a go at it anyways :)[/quote]

[url="http://www.learnjazzstandards.com/real-book/f-blues/"]Fixed it for you[/url] :)

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