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Surprisingly Difficult Basslines


ChunkyMunky
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[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1433796513' post='2794113']
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]

Just another reason to stick to the superior (to me) original version :lol:

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Oh god, 'The Night' that's the one Mrs.Travis wanted at her 30th (it's he favourite song, she has an original vinyl single in a frame ffs)

The intro part is fairly straight forward with a bit of practice, but the chorus is a bugger.

It's being reintroduced to the set list soon.

I'm saying 'She Caught The Katy' the first track on The Blues Brothers soundtrack. The first time I've called a song a twat.

But once you get the order of notes right, it's mint - but nobody cares about you because whomever pulls the harmonica bit off is obviously much more impressive 😐

Edited by AndyTravis
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[quote name='anaxcrosswords' timestamp='1433854053' post='2794554']
Aaargh - Dancing Queen! If you play it in the right key it's OK, but G (where we have to play it) is clumsy with 4-string. And a nightmare with BVs.
[/quote]

I think that the original DQ line is a work of genius.

[url="http://youtu.be/apN_cX4plvg"]http://youtu.be/apN_cX4plvg[/url]

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[quote name='anaxcrosswords' timestamp='1433850411' post='2794502']
+1. If only we had a sax player. If only we had a sax player who looked like Abi.
[/quote]

I'm the polar opposite of Abi aesthetically but I'm going to have a dabble at this with my PK5 pedals doing some rudimentary sax honks whilst playing bass B)

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[quote name='anaxcrosswords' timestamp='1433854053' post='2794554']
Aaargh - Dancing Queen! If you play it in the right key it's OK, but G (where we have to play it) is clumsy with 4-string. And a nightmare with BVs.
[/quote]
Anything is a good excuse not to play Dancing Queen.

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[quote name='barneyg42' timestamp='1433830252' post='2794249']
Mavericks....Dance the night Away......dead easy to play, but again the constant repetition makes it a nightmare!!
[/quote]

I used to amuse myself by keeping going up until I ran out of fretboard, then going down. On a 5 string, that keeps you going for a while.

Hotel California for me - not from the complexity of the bassline but because to make up for the fact we're missing a second guitar, keyboards, and whatever else the Eagles had available, I arpeggio root-5-octave legato throughout the three verse instrumental outro that we do. The whole song is that root-5-octave arpeggio, but playing it when the vocals are there, I'm relaxing my fretting hand to damp the strings at least once during every bar on a particular chord, whereas I have to just keep fretting when playing legato.

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Guest bassman7755

[quote name='No lust in Jazz' timestamp='1433855923' post='2794571']
I think that the original DQ line is a work of genius.
[/quote]

Its an object lesson in tasteful use of inversions.

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[quote name='lowhand_mike' timestamp='1433782467' post='2793926']
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
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Tried it with open strings or the A and D ? Takes the strain off my left hand...

Works for me with a lot of similar line bass lines as well.

Roadhouse Blues is a struggle for me, Our singer used to do his speech over the riff which killed my left hand, I dont miss playing that one.

Edited by BILL POSTERS
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[quote name='Nicko' timestamp='1433952645' post='2795402']
You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette. The chorus sounds difficult and is, the start of the verse is one note, but hitting it in the right place is an absolute pig. Flea at his best.
[/quote]

Bum, budum budum🎶
"I'd hate to bug you in the middle of dinner..."
Breh-brah-brow🎶

Subtle cheeky bits in the verses, but the pre chorus bits, particularly where he wanders up an octave.

Cheeky boy. Very clever bassist.

Edited by AndyTravis
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Joe Jackson's it's different for Girls for me. Bassline isn't too bad (apart from me making an arse of the improv coda) but as soon as I start singing the backing vocal I fall apart.

Also 80s stuff where I'm having to duplicate a sequenced bassline (e.g. Ultravox - All stood Still, where I lose the will to live after about 3 minutes...)

Edited by martthebass
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Talking of 80s sequenced basslines, Tainted Love. In theory the verse riff is simple – G/G/Bb/Bb/Eb/Eb/Bb/C – but it’s very easy to make the pushed C at the end sound clumsy or inconsistent. I’ve actually taken to keeping the playing digit ‘ghosting’ the swing rhythm instead of just going for the individual notes.

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