I don't think it's me, but

I have a question for everyone…I just finished the Sweet Home Alabama lessons & was wondering…when all of you were first going through the B2B lessons, did you find that when you listened to music you paid more attention to the bass lines than you used to? I was listening to The Outfield today at work & realized how much I had missed when I first listened to Tony Lewis play. Now, I pick up EVERYTHING. I’m sure I’m not alone in this but wanted to hear everyone’s thoughts on it. Do you find that you hear the bass lines more now that you’ve taken lessons?

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Oh yeah, totally.

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Yes, I do too.

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I try to but occasionally the guitarist takes over :woozy_face:

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Indeed, every bassline sound more through (and sounds better now)

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Yep.

I started to hear the bass lines in songs more.

I started hearing more music in nature/mechanical/atmosphere sounds

I started thinking up more bass lines in my head spontaneously

I started pointing out bass lines in songs to friends and family

I started campaigning on how the bass is the soul of a song

I started losing money in my bank account

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It certainly enlightened me to the joy of afterpay :joy:

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My basses and saxes ARE my bank account (at least that’s the excuse I use)

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No, you converted liquid assets into solid investments in your future growth.

You’re welcome! :sunglasses:

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I only hear bass…

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You also start to notice complex bass lines in songs you didn’t realize had them. You take for granted that RHCP is going to have a crazy baseline, but the verses in Huey Lewis’s Power of Love are so difficult to play (chorus is fun and easy). And I can’t even begin to attempt Kenny Logins Footloose.

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I even hear bass lines in songs that don’t have them :thinking: Like, I was listening to a song by Dutch singer/songwriter Eefje de Visser, which has a very distinctive, pulsing keyboard/synth melody line, and I thought “I bet I can play that on bass”. So I transcribed it (by ear, in tab though) and I’m currently working on that. Great fun, and good practice!

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Indeed, they sneak up almost everywhere.
I am always amazed at how an artist can have some super simple bass lines in songs and then some are just darn near impossible to play.

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BTW, Rick Springfield is one of those with some really hard or enduranc-y tunes for bass. Who would have guessed!

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Agree, and – This is a pretty great topic. Active listening is one of the best ways anyone can improve their playing. When you start to hear how the bass interacts with the rest of the song, you can start to figure out what’s ‘driving’ the whole tune – more so than isolating the other instruments, I feel.

Bass behind the kick? You’re going to sit up and take notice to the bassline. Bass playing the same thing as the guitar? The guitars are going to run the show. Bass hitting the same beat over and over? The song’s ‘moving’ or ‘catching’ the audience as they wait for a resolution. Bass repeats the vocal melody right after the singer? You’re being told to think about those lyrics a little longer.

There’s a million ways a song can come together, and these are just a few that come to mind. It really is exciting, if you’re just starting out, when you begin to make these discoveries. It’s like you’ve been given the Rosetta Stone to a new language.

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I also appreciated drummers more and paid more attention to drums in songs. Drummers and bass have a special connection as the rhythm section.

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:heart:

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Most definitely. I was listening to London Calling on the car radio a few days ago and found myself fretting on the steering wheel :grin:

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Ditto all the above, @JT . . . :slight_smile:

But I {ahem} didn’t lose too much money in my account . . . :roll_eyes:

Cheers
Joe

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I’ve been listening to The Outfield a lot in the car & have been doing that too

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