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. Usually we play along to a karaoke backing track which has had guitar and bass removed. Lacking that, we either play to a generic drum pattern or, once, to a youtube drum cover.
In the table below, there are one to three versions of each song. The different versions are as follows.
Date | Artist | Song | lesson | clean | bass only | Time | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2021-03-01 | Stevie Ray Vaughan | Texas Flood | clean | drum & bass | 5:25 | Another really good backing track form karaoke-version.com | |
2021-02-12 | Van Morrison | Brown Eyed Girl | clean | drum & bass | 3:10 | Classic to the point of cheesy. My playing against just the drum sounds OK, but in the final mix it sounds deadly stiff. | |
2021-02-06 | The Beatles | Get Back | clean | drum & bass | 3:12 | Not perfect, but good enough for the 2nd take | |
2021-02-05 | Booker T and the MG's | Time Is Tight | clean | drum & bass | 3:18 | Probably the 2nd most famous Booker T song, after Green Onions. Duck Dunn bass line. | |
2021-02-02 | The Beatles | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | clean | drum & bass | 1:59 | Paul McCartney bass line. The backing track vocals are great, but the synth drum is terrible. | |
2021-01-31 | The Beatles | Come Together | clean | bass | 4:21 | Paul McCartney bass line (of course). I'm not sure how to duplicate the original tone. | |
2021-01-30 | Martha and the Vandellas | Nowhere To Run | clean | bass | 3:00 | A relatively simple James Jamerson bass line, but with plenty of little variations | |
2021-01-24 | Otis Redding | (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay | clean | bass | 2:44 | Another Duck Dunn bass line; the vocal sounds pretty autotuned to me | |
2021-01-23 | Doobie Brothers | Long Train Runnin' | clean | drum & bass | 3:31 | A great bass line by the great Tiran Porter. The backing track is kind of a muddy mess, though. | |
2021-01-17 | Tom Petty | American Girl | clean | drum & bass | 3:36 | Classic song | |
2021-01-14 | Booker T. & the MG's | Hip Hug-Her | clean | bass | 2:20 | Duck Dunn bass line, with lots of fuzz | |
2021-01-12 | Eddie Floyd | Knock On Wood | clean | bass | 3:05 | Another Duck Dunn bass line, using my "motown" bass. Like many of these backing tracks, the singer seems to be nordic. | |
2021-01-12 | The Beatles | Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds | clean | bass | 3:37 | With a pick and some damping foam, but on my Supro with roundwound strings. | |
2021-01-05 | Steely Dan | Deacon Blues | clean | bass | 7:19 | This backing track comes from a bass transcription book; great instrumentation, but no vocals | |
2021-01-01 | Queen | Crazy Little Thing Called Love | clean | bass | 2:41 | The drum machine in the backing track is regrettable, and I push the beat in places, but overall a lot of fun to play. | |
2020-12-29 | Otis Redding | Respect | clean | drum & bass | 2:12 | This is Otis Redding's "Respect", which came a couple years before Aretha Franklin's more popular version. | |
2020-12-24 | The Beatles | Dig A Pony | clean | bass | 3:38 | I used to play this sometimes with Gary et al, but I never recorded it. Using a pick. Take 2 of 2. | |
2020-12-22 | Al Green | Let's Stay Together | clean | bass | 3:20 | A little bit loose take on it; I didn't sweat the exact rhythms in some places | |
2020-11-22 | Stevie Wonder | Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours) | clean | drum & bass | 2:41 | There is some question about it, but most people believe it is Bob Babbitt on bass | |
2020-11-11 | Sam and Dave | Soul Man | clean | bass | 2:42 | Duck Dunn bassline. I'm crowding the beat again; funny I can't hear it when playing but I can on playback. | |
2020-11-08 | Marvin Gaye | Let's Get It On | clean | bass | 4:08 | Jamerson bassline; lots of fun to play, even if imperfectly | |
2020-11-05 | Elvis Presley | Can't Help Falling In Love With You | clean | bass | 2:57 | On my fretless | |
2020-11-03 | Pink Floyd | Hey You | clean | bass | 4:41 | Another excuse to use my fretless. I did three takes and all were about the same. | |
2020-11-02 | Sam and Dave | Hold On I'm Comin' | clean | bass | 2:42 | Duck Dunn bassline, played on my Motown bass. The backing track seems a bit plodding when compared to the original. | |
2020-11-01 | Marvin Gaye | I Heard It Through The Grapevine | clean | bass | 3:18 | Another Jamerson Bassline. Less technical, but the incessant syncopations and variations mean I sometimes am stabbing at the timing instead of being 100% sure of it. | |
2020-10-26 | Steely Dan | Pretzel Logic | clean | bass | 4:32 | Better than I could do it 18 months ago. I'll try again in 18 months more. | |
2020-10-25 | Bill Withers | Ain't No Sunshine | clean | bass | 1:58 | Bassline by Donald "Duck" Dunn. Played on my fretless. | |
2020-10-20 | Albert King | Born Under A Bad Sign | clean | bass | 2:51 | Bassline by Donald "Duck" Dunn. Simple but effective unison with the guitar riff. | |
2020-10-18 | Marvin Gaye | Ain't No Mountain High Enough | clean | bass | 2:27 | Yet another great Jamerson bassline, with my Motown bass and a bit of distortion on it. | |
2020-09-21 | Marvin Gaye | Ain't That Peculiar | clean | bass | 3:05 | Another great Jamerson bassline. Using my "Motown bass", a Squier Vintage Modified Jaguar bass with tapewound strings and a sponge under the strings near the bridge to "thuddify" the tone. | |
2020-09-13 | Marvin Gaye | How Sweet It Is | clean | bass | 3:00 | Everyone knows the James Taylor version, but it was Marvin Gaye's first. Jamerson bassline, and I have trouble not rushing the beat. | |
2020-08-19 | Norah Jones | Sunrise | clean | bass | 3:18 | Used my fretless bass on this one | |
2020-06-10 | youtuber Artmant Studios | Rock backing track | clean | 5:30 | This is an attempt to create a bass part for this bass-free backing track. I played along to the video, to generate some ideas, then did one take. | ||
2020-06-10 | youtuber Tomas Sandanus Music | Sad Dark Power Ballad backing track | clean | 4:02 | This is an attempt to create a bass part for this bass-free backing track. I generated some ideas, then made to takes of the pieces that seemed promising. This is the second take. More takes could improve it, but I didn't have it in me. | ||
2020-06-10 | youtuber Music Jam Tracks | Neo Soul backing track | clean | 10:44 | This is an attempt to create a bass part for this bass-free backing track. However, I never found find anything I liked, and since it goes on for 10 minutes, I just got frustrated and never tried extract the good ideas and polish it. It is pretty embarassing to post, but it is what it is. | ||
2020-06-02 | youtuber Quist | Quist Jam | clean | 5:16 | The exercise for the week was to take a bass-free backing track and come up with something structured, instead of just noodling. My timing is poor because I'm thinking hard about what to play next! | ||
2020-04-08 | Allman Brothers | Stormy Monday | clean | bass | 8:38 | quick take playing my new fretless bass | |
2020-03-11 | Allman Brothers | Melissa | lesson | clean | bass | 4:01 | |
2020-03-04 | Marvin Gaye | Mercy Mercy Me | lesson | clean | bass | 3:18 | I didn't spend enough time practicing it |
2020-02-19 | Marvin Gaye | What's Going On | lesson | clean | bass | 3:57 | lots of faking on my part |
2020-02-12 | Elvis Costello | Alison | lesson | clean | bass | 3:32 | |
2020-01-22 | Elvis Costello | Pump It Up | lesson | clean | bass | 3:25 | |
2020-01-15 | Robin Trower | Too Rolling Stoned | lesson | clean | bass | 5:45 | Steve had the shred dial turned up to 9 |
2020-01-08 | Elvis Costello | Peace Love and Understanding | lesson | clean | bass | 3:41 | |
2020-01-01 | The Waitresses | Christmas Wrapping | clean | bass | 5:41 | bass-heavy mix | |
2019-12-18 | Neil Young | Cinnamon Girl | lesson | clean | bass | 2:52 | |
2019-12-11 | Crowded House | It's Only Natural | lesson | clean | bass | 3:27 | clean take has original on left; me on right (too stiffly) |
2019-12-04 | R.E.M. | Radio Free Europe | lesson | clean | bass | 3:37 | |
2019-11-27 | Led Zeppelin | Hey Hey What Can I Do | lesson | clean | bass | 4:03 | 1:30 is the sound of me tossing down pages of sheet music |
2019-11-13 | The Pretenders | Back On The Chain Gang | lesson | clean | bass | 4:07 | |
2019-11-06 | Elvis Costello | Watching The Detectives | lesson | clean | bass | 3:57 | |
2019-10-30 | Jimi Hendrix | Fire | lesson | clean | bass | 2:47 | |
2019-10-16 | Pink Floyd | Money | lesson | clean | bass | 6:26 | the lesson had a few problems with transitions |
2019-10-09 | The Cars | You Might Think | lesson | clean | bass | 3:10 | Rick Ocasek, 1944-2019 |
2019-10-02 | The Police | Roxanne | lesson | clean | bass | 3:22 | using a pick; palm muting the quiet parts |
2019-09-25 | Talking Heads | And She Was | clean | bass | 3:39 | ||
2019-09-18 | Kansas | Carry On Wayward Son | lesson | 5:25 | |||
2019-09-04 | The Beatles | Taxman | lesson | 2:46 | the busy bass part at 0'54" is a fun train wreck | ||
2019-09-04 | ZZ Top | La Grange | lesson | clean | bass | 3:46 | took another try at this |
2019-08-28 | ZZ Top | La Grange | lesson | 3:48 | |||
2019-08-21 | Jimi Hendrix | Manic Depression | lesson | clean | bass | 3:45 | took another try at this; better, but still fumbled a few times |
2019-08-07 | Jimi Hendrix | Manic Depression | lesson | 4:28 | playing to drum cover; bass sucks | ||
2019-07-31 | The Police | Driven To Tears | lesson | clean | bass | 3:29 | lesson: played to drum cover; clean: me on left channel and original on right |
2019-07-24 | Cream | Sunshine Of Your Love | lesson | clean | bass | 3:32 / 4:07 | drum machine backing; next student arrived in the middle |
2019-07-17 | Jimi Hendrix | Purple Haze | lesson | clean | bass | 3:18 | drum machine backing on lesson take, karaoke backing track on clean take |