Song: Papas Got a Brand New Bag
Artist: James Brown
Tuning: Standard (EADG)
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This was a deceptively tricky one. Getting the syncopation on some bars, playing straight others, it felt a little like doing math in my head for awhile, but eventually I started to feel it. Thanks for checking it out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll6mrsNSzmg
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Whoa - that does look tricky. Good job! I was tapping my foot during that one 
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Thanks @Ed! Glad it got you movin’, I wanted a “bass you can feel” sound because the backing track is pretty much all treble. I think I may have cut the highs and boosted the lows a little too aggressively after listening on various speakers, but sometimes you gotta get a little wild and try things 
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Sounds damn perfect to me!
Are you doing these in order?
I think you are out standout challenge leader by a few now @dlamson13
Keep paving the way!
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Thanks @StartedAt48 and @John_E!
Well…mostly, I skipped over Garbage (#28), which I really like and am just about ready to record. For my own mental health I also skipped “My Sharona” (#27) which I absolutely can’t stand. I might save that for cover #49 because I sure as hell don’t want to end on it. 
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Yeah that’s going to be a very hard pill to swallow.
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No way - sounds really well balanced to me 
This is definitely one of the better song challenges 
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This is a very interesting learning experience.
The last song I did, London Calling, I got under my fingers in about 15 minutes, another 30-60 to perfect enough to record. And, it was easily memorized!
This song was really interesting for a couple reasons.
- BEFORE you listen to it, imagine the bassline in your head, then listen. To me, the actual bassline was nothing like I thought it was, so much for musical memory.
- I could not for the life of me memorize this damn thing. even small bits of it. I had to memorize a few end of section riffs so I could look down to play them.
- In general, I didn’t have to look at the fretboard (except for those little end riffs). London Calling I had to look at the fretboard with passion! Otherwise I would miss those slides.
Basically, this was the total opposite experience to London Calling.
Which got me thinking…
Why is one song easier to someone than another?
How can this be completely opposite for another person?
If I am a professional bassist, do I create riffs/lines that are easy, to me?
Do pros struggle with other people’s tunes if they are not in their ‘slot’?
@dlamson13 - what was your take on these two songs?
I find the whole process of the 50 Song Challange interesting as many are songs I would never pick on my own, but I learn so much from each one!
Anyway…
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Outstanding! You nailed the timing and got a great thump going on this. Also enjoyed the analysis
This is dang good teaching by Josh and friends. These songs weren’t picked by accident or based on difficulty level alone. They all reinforce things in B2BA, like this song has syncopation all over the place, and the triplet feel in the Clash song. Everyone keeps asking for the intermediate course, but this is it IMO.
Well, I struggled with them both, but I found this one easier. The groove took me a bit, but I didn’t struggle to memorize it. To be fair though, your covers are more authentic than mine. I probably dropped a few details. I tend to “lossy” compress the details on my covers like an MP3, whereas your covers are like WAV files
On the Clash song, I struggled to play the triplets in the verse cleanly. I even had to metronome it for a few weeks.
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Nice job @cheeze_pizza! You gave us the long version. One of my favorites from the challenge for sure.
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Thanks man! It’s super helpful that Josh has a lesson on this one. 
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No video, but hope it is ok?
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You have been doing a really nice job of finding the right tone to sit in tunes and mixed well too.
Nice playing again here.
Doing great.
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Great job Johnnyb! I like this tone a lot, are you using a reverb or delay here? It has a cool sense of space in the mix.
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Thank you @dlamson13 and @John_E . I have to be better writing the settings down for each song, I dont remember. Probably I emulated that I moved the mic a bit away from the speaker and also used EZ Mix master 2.
At least in Abelton, there is a track notes field that I put in all my settings for any pedals used so I can go back there for similar sounds. Saved me a few times when I started a song and gave up a while and went back to it months later.
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