Oscar South Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Since theres now a battery powered bass amp (Roland Bass Micro Cube RX) and also due to the fact that I've got about 5 months (waaayy too long) of summer holiday to kill before I can go back to uni I've decided to take up busking. I want to do it solo without accompaniment so its just my bass playing (EADGC tuned 5 string) and below-average vocal ability, I want to get a set of about 5-6 really solid pieces ready at first (can just keep playing the same things as people will be coming and going) then I'll add to that. So far for repertoire I've got: Yesterday played 2 hand tapped, Original song with a dominant tapped bass part that can be performed solo. Potential additions: Frosty Acres (Jean Baudin) Vanishing (Jean Baudin) Lemon Tree solo bass arrangement (copied from the guy who did it on youtube) Mad World solo bass arrangement Can anyone suggest any solo bass tracks or songs that'd lend themselves well to a bass/vocals or just bass arrangement? I'm pretty competent at most techniques (fingers, pick, slapping, tapping, natural or artificial harmonics, chordal etc., no double thumbing) and an ok arranger so those limitations aren't really too much of a big deal. Thanks for any advice . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Hmm, I recently arranged Claire De Lune for my 7 string, and it sounded pretty cool. Don't know if it is the kind of thing you're after, but it sounds pretty on bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 (edited) Yeah I love classical music, actually I can add Fur Elise (yeah yeah overplayed , I didn't take piano lessons so I still like it) to the potential list as I started learning it ages ago. Do you have your arrangement of Claire De Lune in sheet music or did you just work it out on your instrument? Actually I reckon I could add Cello Suite 1 prelude to the list too, thats probably well known enough to get away with. Cheers for the help! Edited May 23, 2008 by Oscar South Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 [quote name='Finbar' post='204710' date='May 23 2008, 02:00 AM']Hmm, I recently arranged Claire De Lune for my 7 string, and it sounded pretty cool. Don't know if it is the kind of thing you're after, but it sounds pretty on bass [/quote] weird !! i've recently been getting hold of lots of back issues of 'bassist' magazine to get look at some solo bass arrangements (the advantage of working in a national library is that i can get hold of such things) and one of the first ones i got hold of was 'clare de lune' !! but i'm currently working on "feeling groovy (59th st. bridge song)" what i'm actually looking for it 'abide by me', which i remember being tabbed out [i]somewhere[/i] in 'bassist' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBalls Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 [quote name='Oscar South' post='204709' date='May 23 2008, 01:57 AM']Since theres now a battery powered bass amp (Roland Bass Micro Cube RX) and also due to the fact that I've got about 5 months (waaayy too long) of summer holiday to kill before I can go back to uni I've decided to take up busking. I want to do it solo without accompaniment so its just my bass playing (EADGC tuned 5 string) and below-average vocal ability, I want to get a set of about 5-6 really solid pieces ready at first (can just keep playing the same things as people will be coming and going) then I'll add to that. So far for repertoire I've got: Yesterday played 2 hand tapped, Original song with a dominant tapped bass part that can be performed solo. Potential additions: Frosty Acres (Jean Baudin) Vanishing (Jean Baudin) Lemon Tree solo bass arrangement (copied from the guy who did it on youtube) Mad World solo bass arrangement Can anyone suggest any solo bass tracks or songs that'd lend themselves well to a bass/vocals or just bass arrangement? I'm pretty competent at most techniques (fingers, pick, slapping, tapping, natural or artificial harmonics, chordal etc., no double thumbing) and an ok arranger so those limitations aren't really too much of a big deal. Thanks for any advice .[/quote] Are you busking already? If so i might have seen you playing in Kingscross tube station? There is the same person every sunday doing playing some really nice pieces on a 5 string yamaha of some kind i think? He has some good tapping skills too. If its not you, there is competition! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allighatt0r Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I have a photocopy of Abide with me somewhere, i could dig it out and scan it in when i have some free time if you would like? I saw a guy with some bagpipes in one tube station, i can't for the life of me remember which one, but i remember that, to my ear, he wasn't playing anything musical at all, he had the technique down and could make all the right noises, but he just seemed to be playing random notes I'd say Take Five would be a great song to learn for busking, it's something anyone would know, if you could figure it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 [quote name='BassBalls' post='204787' date='May 23 2008, 09:34 AM']Are you busking already? If so i might have seen you playing in Kingscross tube station? There is the same person every sunday doing playing some really nice pieces on a 5 string yamaha of some kind i think? He has some good tapping skills too. If its not you, there is competition! [/quote] Not me unfortunately, but I think I'll have less bassist competition in Lichfield or Chester . [quote name='allighatt0r' post='204818' date='May 23 2008, 10:11 AM']I have a photocopy of Abide with me somewhere, i could dig it out and scan it in when i have some free time if you would like? I saw a guy with some bagpipes in one tube station, i can't for the life of me remember which one, but i remember that, to my ear, he wasn't playing anything musical at all, he had the technique down and could make all the right noises, but he just seemed to be playing random notes I'd say Take Five would be a great song to learn for busking, it's something anyone would know, if you could figure it out.[/quote] Yeah that'd be great if you could, take five is a good idea too, I learned all the bass/piano parts tapped and worked out all the melody/sax solo for bass in the past and can perform it with a looper, just need to figure out how to play it all at the same time . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahpook Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 [quote name='Oscar South' post='204850' date='May 23 2008, 11:08 AM']Yeah that'd be great if you could...[/quote] plus the on eon abide by me..many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 (edited) Stick to good tunes with well known melodies. Trick tapping and sophisticated jazz solo stuff won't bring in the cash. Do the Beatles songbook and anything else the general public can sing along to ... happy peopel pay more so keep it happy and "up" Abide with me may limit your takings somewhat ... Take 5 might swing it Edited May 23, 2008 by OldGit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 (edited) [quote name='OldGit' post='205032' date='May 23 2008, 03:22 PM']Stick to good tunes with well known melodies. Trick tapping and sophisticated jazz solo stuff won't bring in the cash. Do the Beatles songbook and anything else the general public can sing along to ... happy peopel pay more so keep it happy and "up" Abide with me may limit your takings somewhat ... Take 5 might swing it [/quote] Heh, yea I stick with more well known songs to arrange for open mic nights and stuff, for this busking thing its mainly just to keep me entertained over summer so I'm going to find a balance between stuff I specifically like to play and stuff that the general public will like more, I'm not really too worried about money. Going to do 'In My Life' as well as the sped up piano solo should work great tapped on bass. Edited May 23, 2008 by Oscar South Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I don't have a transcription for my Claire De Lune unfortunately. I got hold of the piano music, and then just worked through bar by bar, learning it - didn't write it down Forgotten half of it now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 (edited) [quote name='Oscar South' post='205074' date='May 23 2008, 04:02 PM']Heh, yea I stick with more well known songs to arrange for open mic nights and stuff, for this busking thing its mainly just to keep me entertained over summer so I'm going to find a balance between stuff I specifically like to play and stuff that the general public will like more, I'm not really too worried about money. Going to do 'In My Life' as well as the sped up piano solo should work great tapped on bass.[/quote] Oh sorry thought you were doing it to fund GAS, college or beer ... Just play what you feel then ... For stuff with vocals I've found the Who's Substitute and Steve Earl's Copperhead Road work well on bass and voice Edited May 23, 2008 by OldGit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar South Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 Another one I considered was Tears by Rush with a lot of the guitar stuff worked into the bass, but I don't think I could handle the vocals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allighatt0r Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 I hope this is alright, sorry for the poor quality, this is soemthing like a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy It's a surprisingly simple song to learn,but to make it sound really polished takes a little while I've only just read the name of the author, i met Terry at the Institute on the open day last saturday! a great bassist. and also quite interesting, he plays left handed with the strings upside down. A really friendly guy all round. Here's the two pages i have: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted May 23, 2008 Share Posted May 23, 2008 Up until about an hour ago, it had never ever occurred to me that I wanted to learn a solo bass version of [i]Abide With Me[/i] (or any other morbid Victorian hymn, for that matter). Now I can't leave it alone! Thanks a bunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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