I’m sure many have gone through this and also spoken about often but I wanted to share how much my perspective has changed as a result of going through this course.
What I appreciate a lot from the B2B course is how many reps you naturally get from just working through the lessons.
Something I hadn’t expected (maybe naively) was how much my approach to bass would change.
When I started the course, my goal was to be able to jam with others and play new songs with some degree of aptitude. I noticed though, that with the sprinkling of music theory and musicality, I’ve found myself wondering about the “why” more than the “how”.
Guys like Tim Commerford and Flea were some of my earliest bass heroes. And now I’m going down the Jameson hole, making a left into Sting-town, and now planning a short visit to McCartney-Ville.
The tie that binds these three greats are the musical choices they make in constructing truly fine bass lines.
As Lee Sklar, Ron Carter and other such master bass players have proved time and time again, it’s not how complex or how many notes one can squeeze into a line, it’s how tastefully and appropriately a line can ultimately serve the tune.
What I’m noticing (feeling?) more of now is what a bassist is doing for the song, whether that’s playing less or adding a fill, I’m a lot more curious now about how it all fits together.
After A LOT of digging and inspiration, I think I finally have my first bass hero:
PHIL LYNOTT!
I’ve been listening to a playlist I made of my favourite Thin Lizzy songs (hadn’t really listened to much of them before) for the past 72 hours and I’m obsessed!!
I still enjoy and admire my original bass heroes (Chris Squire and John Taylor). My appreciation for and interest in other bass players has certainly grown since I started playing.
The most unexpected one for me is Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads. She is the first bassist who I would say rose to the level of influencing the way I play (discounting instructors).
Seriously, I got into bass for Hooky, Simon, David J. I’ve ended up more into playing or wanting to play stuff from Carlos Dengler (Interpol), Alex James (Blur), and most of all Tina. There’s so much groove and just joy in what she’s playing that comes through with her bass lines. I still can’t play this one well enough to record, but the parts I can play, I love playing them.
I don’t like that tab chart though. She plays the main riff a bunch of different ways, and I don’t think she ever plays it as straight 8th’s like that.
I keep trying to get my band to play this, but the keyboardist thinks that part is too hard.
