Please help! I’ve been looking for bass tabs (yes I know Josh, but I haven’t reached the sheet music bit of the course yet!) online for some songs and I don’t trust some of the results. Specifically I’ve been looking for (I don’t want to go to) Chelsea, and Watching The Detectives by Elvis Costello and The Attractions. There are some others too (Hedonism by Skunk Anansie, etc) so I wondered if @JoshFossgreen offered a transcription service or wanted to use them in an upcoming YouTube vid? Maybe if I concentrate real hard I can manifest it. If not my next move is just to start begging pathetically
Google search?
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Start with those tabs(which might not be right) then listen to this cover to get a feel for the thing.
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So I found this one and about five others that were all different. Do you feel this one is accurate? I don’t know if there’s a way I can check as they all sound ‘sort of’ right
You are my saviour
No I’m not saying it’s right
Welcome to the world of poorly tabbed out music ie The Internet
Use any one of those tabs as a jumping off point.
Listen to various YouTube covers and pick the one you like.
Then try by ear (hard) to replicate what they’re doing.
You can also slow down YT videos to try and watch for the fingering they’re using.
It’s sometimes a frustrating process.
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That’s good advice and I can definitely see me losing a fair few days disappearing down a YouTube hole. I think I found a good one for Hedonism on Songsterr that sounds right. I’ll follow your advice and see how I get on
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Was just about to say exactly all this!
I’ll only add it’s extremely satisfying to get to the point of playing where not only can you hear what’s wrong in a tab but be able to correct it.
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That sounds like something future me will enjoy but it may be some significant time before I get there
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Songsterr is good but inaccurate on many songs from what I have found. They’ll get you in the ballpark then you can refine from there. Definitely check YouTube as well.
Others have given you good info - I’ll just throw these out there….
Ultimate Guitar has official transciptions for Hedonism and Watching the Detectives, and while they may not be perfect, their official transcriptions are generally pretty good (certainly leagues above random internet tabs). I think UG is $25/yr?
Or, there are people who will do a transcription for you. Here’s one. There are others. It would just be a matter of choosing one that you think may do a good job….
Another option - use a stem splitter like moises and a tool like Transcribe! to help you figure it out on your own.
Good luck….
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I’ve used this company many times and very satisfied with their transcriptions. Fast turn around time, usually a week.
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That looks great. I’ll definitely give them a try.
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Thanks for all the advice and support from everyone. I really appreciate it. I’m just getting back into playing bass after over 34 years. Last time I played was pre internet. A big driver of me being able to play again was my mum. She died in October last year and left me a little bit of money so I could buy a bass and some gear and start playing again. If I come across as a noob it’s because I am! It’s feels awesome to be playing again and learning properly this time.
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It is a bit of a worm hole. I will often search YouTube for ‘isolated’ bass. This may help with comparing the various transcriptions.
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Might check out
https://basslessons.be/transcriptions-list.php
They’re real cheap, just seem to want to get more accurate bass tabs out there. They have these huge song packs with like over a thousand songs and full albums even for like €5, and are well regarded as accurate. They’ll do custom transcriptions too.
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Thanks @johnnybarefeet I’ll check them out. They sound like an amazing service.
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