Basically I’m in a band where their ability is much higher than my own. I can play a number of songs but with simpler bass lines. However, when it comes to something like, Sultans of Swing or Black Magic Woman, I’m not quite there yet and would take me about 3 weeks learning that I don’t have.
I understand there’s a way to play and it sound good as long as know the root note of each bar? Is that along the right lines?
Any resources on this site or otherwise would be a help. Maybe I’ve missed it in the lessons?
I use Chordify, it helps me learn the progression. From there I can piece it to try and honor the original. That said, I’m a jamband kid and the chord progression is the key. The accuracy of the program is more than 90% accurate and the mistakes it makes are blatent and easy to remedy as long as you have ears.
Yes. I use Moises to split a song out into the various stems, then specifically listen to the bass line. Moises also give you the chord progression. From there I work out where the song is going and get a sense of what the bass is doing. For simpler songs, I then just jump straight in and learn it, findings that are more complex, I might elect to play something akin to the bass line, or just do my own thing - root, 4th, 5th, octave, chromatic transitions etc.
At the end of the day, in a band context, unless the bass line is particularly iconic (eg, Another one bites the dust etc.), providing you’re (generally *) hitting the one and kind’a doing what the bass line does, no one is going to particularly notice.
Guitar Pro , Ultimate Guitar, Songster or Youtube.
Black Magic Woman is a straight Blues (with a Bossa rhythm) using a Willy Dixon box pattern, There are undoubtedly YouTube tutorials for Sultans.
It is great you are playing with people better than you- this is the way.
Always hang out with people better than you are.
For Sultans, I play a very simplified version of the song. It hits all the marks and is easy to remember. I don’t have it transcribed, but here’s the PDF I used to s tart me off. Just hit the notes that keep the groove going.
