Song 10 - "With or Without You" by U2

Yeah, just got out of Memorial Service. My cousin husband past away (55) from cancer. Life is to short. I’m not here to make Enemies only friend. I Consider all you on this forum as friends. If I sounded disrespectful I’m truly sorry. I do think your playing is awesome you you are an inspiration not only being a bass player but also a sax player. Pam is also an inspiration only total respect here. Peace and Love my Brother.

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Here is my submission.

Driving that beat consistently is not that easy. I might be in front of the beat slightly at the beginning. Also, the video gets of of sync as it progresses. I noticed it after uploading, so it’s staying like that. Close your eyes while you listen. :rofl: This was a one take song and what came out is what you get! :slightly_smiling_face:

I tried the volume swell as the song progressed during mastering, and had some fun with the thumbnail. :crazy_face:

https://youtu.be/ztgIde8AbZw

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If you listen to the record (for my ears) it sounds like after the bar of G he starts at B on the A string and slides into the D.

I’m prepared to be wrong but it sounds like a slide. It’s really hard to get it consistently smooth, but hey that’s the fun of it i guess.

The first few bars around the 16 sec mark highlight the slide into the note.

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Great job @RuknRole I can’t get enough of that awesome U2 number, and so far all of you have done it justice.

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I heard the slide as well, and I tried to do a mini slide at the D within the fret (if that makes any sense), to try to replicate that sound. Not sure if it came through.

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Nice job John @John_E ,
great tone and nicely mixed.
I did this song when i first learned bass the first time round in around 1989 , i found it boring then and i don’t think anything has changed. It is a good won for chugging along too though,
Cheers Brian

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Nice cover @BigAl ,
like your take on the song,
Cheers Brian

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Nice job @RuknRole ,
Cheers Brian

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Sorry Pam, I don’t understand this. This is in no way a contest. There is no competition. It is just everyone learning covers together. There is no voting or rankings or the such. It’s just to do something for fun and learn along the way.

I also don’t understand why you wouldn’t cover the song just because it is in the challenge? Or maybe it is because you thought it was going to be judged (which it isn’t). I’m just confused on this. We haven’t reserved the 50 songs exclusively for the challenge or anything. Anyone is welcome to cover any of the songs, whether during the time frame the challenge does them or not. There is also no problem at all if you just join in for one song or a few. You clearly like the song a lot, so join in the fun! The more the merrier.

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@John_E @RuknRole @BigAl - You all did a great job on this. Playing and tone were great from each of you. This song has a lot of memories for me, so I’m looking forward to playing it.

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On the topic of the slide. I also heard the slide. But interpreted it as a longer slide. So I usually slide from 3fret on E up to the 10 fret on E and use that D.

I would join in since I actually can play that song. But I have no possibility of recording my bass right now. So I’ll probably join in some time later. (Probably when I’m finished with Josh’s course.)

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So sorry for your loss @BigAl and sorry I mistook your comment.
This forum is one of my biggest happy places too.

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I think we all should stop introducing our submissions with explaining our mistakes.
I am guilty of this too.
@RuknRole your did a great job, as did @BigAl
I would rather know what you did to get your tone, what your setup is, etc.
let the constructive comments tell you what others hear.
We are our own worst critics.

I didn’t hear anything that stood out for me.
I generally don’t watch the videos other than to look at people’s fingers and technique, and I am jealous of how in control your fretting hand is, mine still likes to ‘wave’ at me when I am playing and realized yesterday this is hindering me on the slap course. So nice control there. Maybe those groove workouts are paying off in this regard!

Well done!

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Thank @JT but as I explained earlier, I am not the group participation type (note my comment about line dancing). I’m happy to cheer everyone on, but it’s just not my thing. The songs I cover are of my choosing, and I try to make sure nobody has done them previously. I try my best to be unique.
And I am in no way fearful of being judged, I take all sorts of criticism for my covers and it would be the same with the 50 song “challenge” if I chose to be a part of it.
I did notice yesterday that one of the songs I already covered and posted on my site (and here) is on the list. I wasn’t aware of that when I recorded it, but it’s already done. When it comes time for that song in the challenge, I may just toss it out there so I can say I at least partially participated.
Sorry if my use of the word “contest” offended you. Whenever I hear the word “challenge” I think of competition. It’s especially so, since multiple people are covering the same song. I’ll do my best to think differently :smile_cat:

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Makes sense. I like to do things a bit different than others as well. BTW, I wasn’t offended about you calling it a contest. I just wanted to re-assure you that it wasn’t anything competitive just in case that was holding you back. No worries.

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Yes I agree @John_E, I think most people tend to be their worst critic. lol
Regarding the fretting hand, I feel like the groove challenge exercises I have completed so far have helped me tremendously with finger dexterity. I highly recommend them to anyone trying to improve, whether they participate in the challenge or not.

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Hey @John_E and all! Yeah, I think the most accurate way to play this would be with the A and B on the E string, which allows you to get the little slide-y sound Adam Clayton gets coming from the G back around to the D.

I tabbed it differently because of where it fit in the course, how it affected the plucking/string crossing etc., and so I stuck with that version for the full tab. But I welcome anyone who wants to to do it Clayton-style, and to try to get that slide in there sometimes too!

For the record, I’m generally very averse to “easy-fying” bass lines. I think it’s lame and misleading, for the most part. You think you learned a song, and then a year later you realize you’re playing a watered down version. Not fun.

But in this case, since it’s all the same notes, same rhythm, I took the liberty for teaching purposes.

Just be grateful I’m not teaching you Smoke on the Water in the key of E, playing the guitar riff instead of the bass line. :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue: :stuck_out_tongue:

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I want the the version with tapping you did in one of the YouTube videos. :sunglasses::+1:

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Nice @RuknRole and LOVE that Bass.

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Thanks @JDDaniel! It’s become my favorite bass. The neck just feels great!

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