I’ve been enjoying playing “I’m only happy when it rains” by Garbage
Takes me back to angsty teenage years listening to the album in my bedroom 
And it’s pretty straightforward, so provides some relief …
because I’ve also decided I want to learn Tragic Kingdom by No Doubt, which I think will take a LOT of practice to get anywhere near full speed Particularly where it ramps up near the end.
Love to play that song too … especially since I cannot play “Empty” anymore, as it is such an earworm, that I often woke up in the middle of the night, having Shirley Manson singing “Emptyyyyyy” in my head 
If you like straightforward songs with a strong female voice, go for Hole too. They made some d@mn good songs with very smooth bass lines!
Ah good shout thanks 
I’m doing what I’ve dreaded and playing the 5 string lately. Ive found it to be imposing and so it hasn’t gotten much play. So Today I’m learning are you in by incubus.
Oh, my. I really, really like playing the garbage basslines. I especially like playing them down-tuned. It’s very good stuff.
Learning Nowhere Man this week, a bit belatedly for Saturday’s jam.
I had never been a Beatles fan or had more than a passing interest until I started playing bass.
The more I dive into their songs though really makes me appreciate what a great player and musician Sir Paul is.
Not just in regard to when he was playing but on his own merits.
Nowhere Man’s bassline seems to have nothing to do with the melody but it sits under and bouys up the whole song.
I think of other songs like Something, which is in a league of it’s own, the bassline here wanders up and around the melody usually doing the opposite for what the guitar is going (up/down, fast/slow)etc.
He is also able to sit on roots (Ticket to Ride, Letting Go and others).
It is also easy to see his development as a player over the course of his career.
He is not underappreciated by any means but in my case it took a bit of education in order to understand how good he is.
When I switched from Dutch to German school in the early 80s, I ended up in a mandatory music course. Never learned anything, no notes, nothing … as it was too late to keep up (we didn’t have music courses in Dutch school). My teacher liked me, as we both shared an interest of electronic stuff (think: Stockhausen), so I still got ok grades.
BUT: he was a big fan of the Beatles (which was extraordinairy in that fairly conservative school) and explained their genius in great length many times. I still cannot listen to “Lady Madonna” without thinking about that teacher, as he deconstructed the song one day and even related it to Bach!
@Gloucestre - you confirm everything he said about the Beatles in a nutshell. I’m still not a fan myself, but your insights made me fire up some Beatles song that I am listening to now (mainly the remixed “Love” album…)
EDIT Just found an article about that: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/schriftlich-german-journal/bach-the-beatles/
Good article, I have been meaning to look at Bouree (which I will always associate with Jethro Tull) and now I will look at Blackbird too
Still stuck on ibcubus-mostly because i play thorough the list alphabetically and I’m at I. “Are you in” isn’t really hard-I’ve got it at 85%, but i stink on the 5 string. So to avoid frustration, i moved on.
This did not help…
Because next up was “battlestar scratchlactica” and i freely admit this will be a stretch exercise for me. I dunno about anyone else, but this thing is hard for me to play.
Our Jam group had Norwegian Wood on the list for tomorrow (It was cancelled tho) so I was looking at it during the week.
Norwegian Wood doesn’t even seem to have a bass in the original, most tab suggestions are a pretty boring 1,5 but on a cool of beat pattern.
I used to play it on my banjo with a cool Foggy Mountain Breakdown roll type roll, so I dug that out for a revisit but wasn’t really happy. I am very rusty and I can’t amplify it.
I looked at some of the Youtube vids and thought I could just double on the Bass VI with a capo (gasp, horror).
I ended up putting the capo on the 9th fret and playing up the neck, fits in with the Rubber Soul recording nicely, gives the guitar room to do jangly guitar things if they want.
But then I found this:
Some guitar players I know don’t like Marty, they say he is the Wish Guitar guy, but I reckon he is great, he has a way of teaching easy versions that get you into playing a song quickly.
So I spent some time on this last night and now I can play Norwegian Wood on guitar and Bass VI and I realised that where I was playing it up the neck from ear is exactly an octave above this just starting on the two lower strings
My ear is better than I thought.
Since the banjo is out now I am going to revisit Journey of the Sorcerer, one of two only Eagles songs I can stand.
If you don’t like Marty then there’s something wrong with you. That guy has taught more people to play than pretty much anyone in the world.
That guy is awesome
I agree, I think he is good.
Certainly makes guitar accessible
Just started noodling around on “Just the way you are” by Billie Joel.
In my more romantic time in the 80s I liked “Honesty” and this song too (don’t care for Billie Joel otherwise), so it was nice to revisit.
When I practice playing bass, my girlfriend is mostly quiet (when she does not like/know a song) or sings along (when she likes a song AND I play it reasonably well), but here she protested loudly: “Oi, this song will NOT be a cover, right?”
I was pretty astounded by this reaction. Quickly dropped my bass, jumped behind the sofa to hide.
Was ist my mediocre playing? (Likely!)
“Listen to the lyrics!”, she said … looking at me like my mother always did when she caught me doing something forbidden.
So I listened, and yes:
“I don’t want clever conversation
I never want to work that hard, mmm
I just want someone that I can talk to
I want you just the way you are”
“This is about a guy that wants a dumb girlfriend and is too lazy to engange in intelligent conversation!”, she remarked … this song will not be played in this house.
OK, end of discussion - the Force is strong in her!
So, this is a song I’m NOT currently working on
Song is actually a love letter to his wife, but okay. No argument from me.
Why don’t you practice quietly wearing headphones so:
A. Your girlfriend doesn’t have to listen to you mangling a classic
B. So you don’t have to listen to her complain about your music choice.
She’s wrong about the song. It’s about being perfectly happy where you are in a relationship.
Tell her to wind her neck in.
I hope you don’t communicate like that with your girl (boy?) friend?
Explain this: “I don’t want clever conversation
I never want to work that hard, mmm”
I’m happily married.
I don’t tell her what music to listen to and vice versa.
Hahaha! Yeah.
So, just to understand: your wife is talking to you and you say: “I don’t want clever conversation”, she does not complain? Could you try that and give some feedback?
Or when you talk about her with friends and say “I don’t want clever conversation” - is this a compliment?
Also, in the context of not wanting to have a clever conversation, saying “I never want to work that hard”, it would also reflect on the capabilities of Joel, right?
Maybe he is not very clever … and lazy too??!
Nothing against Billie Joel, and I still love “Honesty” (need to listen to the lyrics again, though ^^), but I agree with my girlfriend.
Maybe it means something different in english, and the respect gets lost in translation? Or - based on the impression I get from certain media - intelligent conversation really is not very important
Then it is really a cultural misunderstanding and I’m sorry!
PS I’d rather not tell the story how an ex-girlfriend made me see the absolute silliness of Star Wars … with one sentence!
Women have a wonderful way to make me see things in a new light!
I love this conversation so much
(mostly because I think Billy Joel is responsible for much of the worst music ever made)
