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Hit me with your rhythm schtick....


Richard Jinman
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After considerable time with the sheet music I was pleased as punch to have this memorised. Then I tried to play along to the record. Oh crap. 16th notes at 105bpm! I can get to about 75bpm before I start falling behind the beat. When I turn the metronome to 105 it feels like a place I will never get to visit. I’ve seen all the advice - start slow, build up, you’ll get there... but I’ve been toiling away for a couple of weeks and my speedometer seems stuck at 75. Perhaps it’s all a horrible mistake and you’re supposed to play it at 75bpm? Help!

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It’s tricky! Make sure your picking is consistent, in that you alternate or rake across the strings the same way every time you play it. Pay attention to which finger your start picking with and stay with that. 
Also, maybe drop down a few bpm, to 70 or 72 or so and play at that speed for a while, double checking that your technique is consistent and then slowly crank it back up. You’ll get there!

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Hi Richard, good for you for keeping at it, hopefully you'll have it up to speed soon. I've heard a few people talking about this tune and would like to give it a try - wondered where you got the sheet music please? Another one I saw people talking about on this forum was Blondie's Rapture, I tried it out and wrote a chart for this a few days ago so will post below in case you'd like to trade. Many thanks.

 

Rapture.pdf

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Not the same tune, but I had a similar issue with Frank Wilson's 'Do I Love You?' a while back, which is 8ths, but supposed to be 134bpm.

I started down at about 100bpm to work out all the phrases, and then increased it by just 5bpm at a time. Sometimes the 5pbm increment felt like a huge jump, sometimes it seemed to flow OK. Got there eventually.

Good luck!

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I tried this track for years and struggled with my right hand speed. The thing that made it much easier for me was changing the way I play. I use to really dig in for tracks like this but found by digging in my muscles were tensing up and slowing me down! Once I lightened up my plucking and relaxed my hand / arm / finger muscles I managed to work up to full speed. Just my 5p worth (2p plus inflation 🙂 ) Hope it helps.

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Thanks Acebassmusic .... I've come to the same conclusion. Trying for. a really light touch and let the amp do the work. I've seen quite a few mentions of raking as a way to increase speed, but I can't see many opportunities in Rhythm Stick (not the first section anyway) where it helps much. You're mostly riffing on. one string, then shifting to the next. One small trick I've discovered is doubling the speed of my metronome (eg: setting it to 160bpm to play 80bpm) as that keeps you closer to the beat with 16ths (well it does for me anyway). I'm still waiting for the big breakthrough however ... hovering at about 80bpm and 105 seems like a long way away still!

Edited by Richard Jinman
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On 06/02/2021 at 10:41, Caz said:

Can anyone recommend where to get a good chart for this tune please?

HI Caz, I've been using this video tutorial:

...which links to this notation chart: https://www.talkingbass.net/the-coolest-bass-line-in-the-world-ever/
 

The page also has a breakdown of each part and drum backing. Enjoy!

Edited by Kevsy71
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