In the middle of 2019 I started taking bass lessons once a week for an hour. In many, but not all weeks, I'd learn a song and then my teacher would critique my playing.
When Covid-19 hit and my lessons became remote, I went back and recorded most of those songs using a computer interface to get a clean take, then I started picking new songs to cover, and have continued to do so (minus a break here and there) even after quitting lessons.
Nearly all the songs use a karaoke backing track which has had the bass removed. Each recording is a single take with no edits. The exercise it to record my playing development, not my editing skills. Most of them have a bit of EQ and compression applied to make the bass more distinct. They tend to be mixed a bit bass heavy to make it easier to hear.
In the table below, there are one or two versions of each song. The different versions are as follows.
Date | Artist | Song | Full | Bass | Time | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2023-01-29 | Black Crowes | Hard to Handle | full | bass | 3:05 | Learned this for a band tryout |
2023-01-28 | Tom Petty | Honey Bee | full | bass | 4:52 | Learned this for a band tryout |
... I developed some hand problems so I stopped playing entirely for a year, hoping for improvement. | ||||||
2021-12-11 | Stealers Wheel | Stuck In The Middle With You | full | bass | 3:28 | Using my Spector Bantam bass, with flatwound strings and a pick |
2021-12-05 | Beatles | Don't Let Me Down | full | bass | 3:37 | Using my squire vm bass with damping foam for the thuddy sound, with a pick. I learned from this particular take. BTW, that take on youtube is 25 cents sharp. |
2021-11-26 | America | Sister Golden Hair | full | bass | 3:16 | Playing my new Birdsong Cortobass. The geometry is a bit different, so it required many takes to avoid fret buzz and fart issues. It has round-wound strings, which are brighter but has more finger noise; I'm still getting used to it. On the bass track, I've skipped the first 45 seconds, as they only come in then. |
2021-11-25 | The Beatles | Penny Lane | full | bass | 3:02 | Played with pick and a foam mute on my Squier Vintage Modified SS bass |
2021-11-18 | Stevie Ray Vaughan | Couldn't Stand The Weather | full | bass | 4:42 | This is the first SRV song I ever heard, on the radio in the summer of 1984. |
2021-11-06 | Paul McCartney | Maybe I'm Amazed | full | bass | 3:52 | I worked from Tom Bornemann's transcription |
2021-11-05 | Bob Marley | Is This Love | full | bass | 3:52 | I worked mostly from Tom Kenrick's transcription |
... I quit taking lessons in March, 2021, and then didn't play much for 8 months... | ||||||
2021-03-01 | Stevie Ray Vaughan | Texas Flood | full | bass | 5:25 | Another really good backing track form karaoke-version.com |
2021-02-12 | Van Morrison | Brown Eyed Girl | full | 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 | full | bass | 3:12 | Not perfect, but good enough for the 2nd take |
2021-02-05 | Booker T and the MG's | Time Is Tight | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | bass | 2:44 | Another Duck Dunn bass line; the vocal sounds pretty autotuned to me |
2021-01-23 | Doobie Brothers | Long Train Runnin' | full | 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 | full | bass | 3:36 | Classic song |
2021-01-14 | Booker T. & the MG's | Hip Hug-Her | full | bass | 2:20 | Duck Dunn bass line, with lots of fuzz |
2021-01-12 | Eddie Floyd | Knock On Wood | full | 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 | full | bass | 3:37 | With a pick and some damping foam, but on my Supro with roundwound strings. |
2021-01-05 | Steely Dan | Deacon Blues | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | 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) | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | bass | 2:57 | On my fretless |
2020-11-03 | Pink Floyd | Hey You | full | 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' | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | bass | 1:58 | Bassline by Donald "Duck" Dunn. Played on my fretless. |
2020-10-20 | Albert King | Born Under A Bad Sign | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | bass | 3:18 | Used my fretless bass on this one |
2020-06-10 | youtuber Artmant Studios | Rock backing track | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | 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 | full | bass | 8:38 | quick take playing my new fretless bass |
2020-03-11 | Allman Brothers | Melissa | full | bass | 4:01 | |
2020-03-04 | Marvin Gaye | Mercy Mercy Me | full | bass | 3:18 | |
2020-02-19 | Marvin Gaye | What's Going On | full | bass | 3:57 | lots of faking on my part |
2020-02-12 | Elvis Costello | Alison | full | bass | 3:32 | |
2020-01-22 | Elvis Costello | Pump It Up | full | bass | 3:25 | |
2020-01-15 | Robin Trower | Too Rolling Stoned | full | bass | 5:45 | |
2020-01-08 | Elvis Costello | Peace Love and Understanding | full | bass | 3:41 | |
2020-01-01 | The Waitresses | Christmas Wrapping | full | bass | 5:41 | This is my wife's favorite christmas song |
2019-12-18 | Neil Young | Cinnamon Girl | full | bass | 2:52 | |
2019-12-11 | Crowded House | It's Only Natural | full | bass | 3:27 | clean take has original on left; me on right (too stiffly) |
2019-12-04 | R.E.M. | Radio Free Europe | full | bass | 3:37 | |
2019-11-27 | Led Zeppelin | Hey Hey What Can I Do | full | bass | 4:03 | toward the end I lost my place and just (sloppily) made up fills |
2019-11-13 | The Pretenders | Back On The Chain Gang | full | bass | 4:07 | |
2019-11-06 | Elvis Costello | Watching The Detectives | full | bass | 3:57 | |
2019-10-30 | Jimi Hendrix | Fire | full | bass | 2:47 | |
2019-10-16 | Pink Floyd | Money | full | bass | 6:26 | the lesson had a few problems with transitions |
2019-10-09 | The Cars | You Might Think | full | bass | 3:10 | Rick Ocasek, 1944-2019 |
2019-10-02 | The Police | Roxanne | full | bass | 3:22 | using a pick; palm muting the quiet parts |
2019-09-25 | Talking Heads | And She Was | full | bass | 3:39 | |
2019-09-04 | ZZ Top | La Grange | full | bass | 3:46 | The bass track skips the first 30 seconds of the song |
2019-08-21 | Jimi Hendrix | Manic Depression | full | bass | 3:45 | |
2019-07-31 | The Police | Driven To Tears | full | bass | 3:29 | no karaoke version available; me on left channel and original on right |
2019-07-24 | Cream | Sunshine Of Your Love | full | bass | 4:07 | |
2019-07-17 | Jimi Hendrix | Purple Haze | full | bass | 3:06 |