In the middle of 2019 I started taking bass lessons from Steve Baranowski once a week for an hour. After a few weeks I asked if we could spend part of each lesson covering a new song every week. It didn't have to be challenging necessarily -- I just wanted the pleasure of making music, instead of it being me endlessly fumbling about with scales and concepts. Steve agreed to it, and so here they are -- the songs we've covered.
They are one take affairs, mostly the first/only take, captured by an ambient mic. This is quick and dirty, and the resulting mix is not great, but this way leaves more time for the real lesson. Sometimes the accompanying drums are generic drum patterns; other times it is from a youtube drum cover, or when possible, from a karaoke backing track which has had guitar and bass removed.
| Date | Song | Artist | Time | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-01-15 | Too Rolling Stoned | 5:45 | Robin Trower | karaoke backing track; Steve had the shred dial turned up to 9 |
| 2020-01-08 | (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding | 3:41 | Elvis Costello | karaoke backing track |
| 2020-01-01 | Christmas Wrapping | 5:41 | The Waitresses | karaoke backing track, bass-heavy mix |
| 2019-12-18 | Cinnamon Girl | 2:52 | Neil Young | voice and drum backing track |
| 2019-12-11 | It's Only Natural | 3:27 | Crowded House | original on left; me on right (too stiffly) |
| 2019-12-04 | Radio Free Europe | 3:37 | R.E.M. | voice and drum backing track |
| 2019-11-27 | Hey Hey What Can I Do | 4:03 | Led Zeppelin | voice and drum backing track; 1:30 is the sound of me tossing down pages of sheet music |
| 2019-11-13 | Back On The Chain Gang | 4:07 | The Pretenders | voice and drum backing track |
| 2019-11-06 | Watching The Detectives | 3:57 | Elvis Costello | voice and drum backing track |
| 2019-10-30 | Fire | 2:47 | Jimi Hendrix | voice and drum backing track |
| 2019-10-16 | Money | 6:26 | Pink Floyd | voice and drum backing track; a few problems with transitions |
| 2019-10-09 | You Might Think | 3:10 | The Cars | voice and drum backing track |
| 2019-10-02 | Roxanne | 3:22 | The Police | voice and drum backing track; not a great mix |
| 2019-09-25 | And She Was | Talking Heads | voice and drum backing track; no recording | |
| 2019-09-18 | Carry On My Wayward Son | 5:25 | Kansas | voice and drum backing track |
| 2019-09-04 | Taxman | 2:46 | The Beatles | voice and drum backing track; the busy bass part at 0'54" is a fun train wreck |
| 2019-09-04 | La Grange | 3:46 | ZZ Top | took another try at this |
| 2019-08-28 | La Grange | 3:48 | ZZ Top | voice and drum backing track |
| 2019-08-21 | Manic Depression | 3:45 | Jimi Hendrix | had to take another try at this; better, but still fumbled a few times |
| 2019-08-07 | Manic Depression | 4:28 | Jimi Hendrix | playing to drum cover; bass sucks |
| 2019-07-31 | Driven To Tears | 3:29 | The Police | playing to drum cover |
| 2019-07-24 | Sunshine Of Your Love | 3:32 | Cream | next student arrived in the middle |
| 2019-07-17 | Purple Haze | 3:18 | Jimi Hendrix | comment |