ChunkyMunky Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 On the contrast to Nicko's thread similarly titled thread, I'd like to offer my inversion of it. I'm throwing my bet on 'Billie Jean' for the sheer repetition of it all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cameronj279 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Any walking bassline is near impossible for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I'm fine with Billie Jean (will probably mess it up at the next gig now ) I find some disco lines a challenge, not so much because of any complexity but more the tempo and the octavingness Hot Stuff/Donna Summer springs to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I've never had any issue playing Billie Jean, but I find repetititave octave stuff can be surprisingly uncomfortable on the fretting hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChunkyMunky Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Surprisingly enough and without trying to boast here but I'm able to nail 'Everybody Dance' by Chic, yet, I find 'Billie Jean' infinitely harder. Weird that, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojo Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 [quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1433768761' post='2793753'] Any walking bassline is near impossible for me. [/quote] Even walking on sunshine ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuNkShUi Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Hot stuff was pretty tricky for me when we first started playing it. Ok with it now, but took a while to get up to speed with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anaxcrosswords Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 [b]Can’t Take My Eyes Off You[/b]. It’s not difficult as such, but in the disco version there’s some sustained octave work based on Gb and I find the stretch to the octave gets uncomfortable very quickly. [b]Billie Jean[/b]. Again, not difficult, but I used to start the phrase with the Gb octave note before deciding it sounded better with the lower note on the E string (which I think is what the original does anyway). That was the best part of a year ago but even now I occasionally get the ghost of what I used to play and it can throw me off the riff. [b]Hysteria[/b]. Well, yes. The truth is I’ve made this hard for myself because I didn’t start by studying the actual notes – just plugged in and tried it. I knew it wasn’t quite right but found myself constantly playing it the same way. Now I’ve got a good MIDI version in Cakewalk Sonar I can see where I was going wrong and it’s made two parts especially difficult; in the riff with A as the root, part of the climbdown involves two hits on Eb then E/D/E, and that has completely thrown my rhythm. In the riff based on D the climbdown is D/C/B/D/B/Bb/D/Bb/A with each D the open string and the A octave being the first note on the return to the A riff. Timing-wise it’s pretty tough anyway, but made far worse by the wrong way I’ve become used to playing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subbeh Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Billie Jean is certainly tricky for me but it's down to repetition, anything that repeats quite that much my mind starts to wander and I'll mess up. It's also like when you say a word over and over again and eventually it just sounds odd/wrong, I get a bit of that with overly repetitive lines and that'll throw me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anaxcrosswords Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 You also have to bear in mind what other instruments are doing. The Amy Winehouse version of [b]Valerie [/b]has the simplest of basslines, but getting the rhythm right (and constant) becomes almost impossible if the drummer doesn’t nail it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnythenotes Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 One that sounds easy is Riders on the storm by the doors..... Very similar to Billy Jean, but a lot more tricky.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 "Babylon is Burning" by The Ruts - very busy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowhand_mike Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 dizzy miss lizzie, maybe its the way i play it but its relentless and our guitarist likes to do a few solos on it so i start to get cramp in my fretting hand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaypup Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 '1960 What?' by Gregory Porter. 4 notes. Repeated for 6 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karlplaysbass Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 the ending of out of the black by royal blood looks easier than it is :L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChunkyMunky Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 Most Reggae! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cosmo Valdemar Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 [quote name='anaxcrosswords' timestamp='1433777399' post='2793869'] The Amy Winehouse version of [b]Valerie [/b]has the simplest of basslines, but getting the rhythm right (and constant) becomes almost impossible if the drummer doesn’t nail it too. [/quote] First thing I thought of! Sounds dead easy but is actually fiendishly tricky to get right. And if it's not bang on, you won't get away with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bassman7755 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Tears of a clown, because you are constantly leading the chord changes by half a beat (in the verse). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek1071 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 +1 for Valerie! Thought it was just me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 The middle part and end of schism by tool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChunkyMunky Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 I got shown an excellent 16th note endurance challenge. I present to you... Donna Summer! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2q2bis6eLE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 [quote name='ChunkyMunky' timestamp='1433804384' post='2794208'] I got shown an excellent 16th note endurance challenge. I present to you... Donna Summer! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2q2bis6eLE [/quote] Do you play that as semiquaver octaves? This was one of my fave songs as a teen & I played it as just the lower quavers from the bassline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barneyg42 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Mavericks....Dance the night Away......dead easy to play, but again the constant repetition makes it a nightmare!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul S Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 [quote name='gary mac' timestamp='1433769697' post='2793762'] I find some disco lines a challenge, not so much because of any complexity but more the tempo and the octavingness [/quote] For the same reason 'Uprising' by Muse. One I have tried very hard to get right (and still struggle with by the end) is 'Keep The Faith', Bon Jovi. I play with a pick and have found making the fast changes between strings rather than just grazing down as a finger style player might just doesn't sound right. I sort of cheat and play it as a pull-off and hammer-on which is the only way I can get it to flow. But nailing the overall vibe of the bass line, nuances in how long the notes are held, getting it all to flow properly without derailing has been (continues to be?) a long process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 (edited) I learnt octaves very early on from believe it or not Roger Waters. A lot of Pink Floyd stuff uses octaves, nothing difficult but it gets you used to playing them. From then I got into Nathan East through his stint with Eric Clapton and started learning all of the disco stuff to the extent that I'll sometimes invert the pattern. Anyway for me it's most stuff by Nat King Cole and the likes.The chord progressions and basslines tend to be unexpected to what you'd think that they should be, yet they sound dead easy when you first listen to them Edited June 9, 2015 by Delberthot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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