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What are good songs to learn to get a grounding in blues


juayman
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Hello all,

Many thanks for so many good replies to my previous post. I am in my fairly early period of learning bass (due to various stops and starts). This post is also related to the thread "Things that musicians do that are a waste of time!, We all do it but we shouldn't...."

I want to try and get a grounding in a style say over 3 months then move onto something else. Does that sound good? I was going to start with blues....an obvious starting point. In an ideal world I'd like to cut through anything I am wasting time on obviously but please don't think that means I am trying to cut corners as I have a good practice schedule.

What are some good blues basslines? Particularly 12 bar type stuff?

Thanks in advance

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Hi Juayman, 12 Bar Blues is relatively simple and to help people grasp a simple understanding of it and some basic Major style riffs you can play, I have published a little "12 Blues Riffs" pdf file on [url="http://www.thebassment.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=9"]The Bassment[/url]. Check it out and see what you think.

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I'd start by doing a lot of listening to the "greats" e.g. the 3 Kings, Chicago, Texas legends etc. I'd also invest in a decent blues bass book e.g. the one by Ed Friedland. This will give you a good overview of the main types of lines and riffs, as well as chord progressions and arrangements e.g. 8 bar blues, slow blues, Stormy Monday etc. I'd then apply the ideas from the books and play along to the CDs and try to pick up fresh ideas along the way from your listening.

I'm no expert obvioulsy, but I did used to play in a blues band and play it a lot as a means of escape from my function band.

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Get Ed Friedland's 'Blues Bass' book, unlike the rest of his Hal Leonard series it has actual real songs in it and he really knows this subject. Be careful not to think 'ah this is easy stuff' getting the tight feel and keeping repeating the blues groove is hard (Pinetop Perkin's version of Kidney Stew lasts over 7 minutes).

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