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Ok stars and stripes I will and already have. I posted a riff I was looking for someone to help me out with and the wonderful Mr Zee gave me many options to the riff. I will start that thread if you think it will work and post another riff for people to play with, if they want and screw around with it. Please keep in mind these are bare bones riffs with a concept behind them. Nothing more . Like Marko says and is absolutely right. I cant show you how I play it or give you any tweaks I have to the riff. That is the beauty. You take the riff and piss around with it yourself if you like it. And if you don't move on to the next one. And hopefully others will post a few notes just the same for bass players to play around with. No judgment on anyone that posts a riff. Its just a riff for shit sakes that you have laying around for others to mess with that's all. Its not the keys to the kingdom. No rating the damn thing. No putting stars on it. No knocking anyone one down. Just scroll threw some notes and see what tickles your fancy take it and work on it. Like I said great for beginners to help them take there playing into different directions that they may not have thought of. Ideas from some of you old pros go along way to new players don't you know. You are sort of mentors. It only takes a few notes. I am sure you have a few lying around for the up and comers to play with. For new players just playing other peoples songs and not trying out new ideas on your own is a bad thing. I think you would all agree. So share a few notes…
I will be gone for the next couple of days but if you still think it is a good idea stars and stripes and anyone else I will post a nice easy riff I wrote and go from there. And if not I will drop the whole idea. I hope however you guys will help me tweak the idea and make it happen. Thanks Guys. Talk to you later…
Tabs:
G|--------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------|
E|-1----3----5---1---3-----6-5---1---3---5---3---1--|
That took me an hour which is why I don't tab on this site, good riff though
I had this one jump into my head last night at rehearsal, while a (yet another) key change was being discussed…
G F F# G F# F E (E)
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
I started playing it at the 12th fret on G, moved it down to the 5th fret on D, and even on the 3rd fret of E. When the key change was finally resolved (for a while, at least) I used the pattern on the song we were working up and it didn't fit at all, but I thought it sounded pretty cool for use elsewhere. In G major (or minor, it works either way), I IV V V progression:
G|—————-|—————-| —————- |
D|5-3-4-5-4-3-2~–|—————-|*—————-*|
A|—————-|3-1-2-3-2-1-0~–|*5-3-4-5-4-3-2~–*|
E|—————-|—————-| —————- |
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
You can play the last note in each measure as two 8ths or a single quarter as I have written, depending on the feel you like.
(Edited to try to fix the formatting on the tab - paste into Notepad and it will look OK)
The best riffs are short and sweet, shorter the better; Can You Feel It, The Jacksons, You Got The Love, The Source featuring Candi Staton, (synth bass I know but bass is bass and it can be played on a five string). If you're looking for inspiration Jack Bruce was the Riffmeister, Crossroads is a classic
Quote:
The best riffs are short and sweet
Good point. Too many bassists – both new and experienced – feel they have to demonstrate their skill by fluttering up and down the fretboard and getting all complex and crazy. And as impressive as it might be, if it doesn't serve the song, it's a waste of time. The purpose of the bass is to provide the melodic backbone of the song. The bass (and drums) is the meat; the guitar and vocals are the sizzle.
Think of all the great, instantly memorable bass lines in music, stuff like Another One Bites the Dust, or Rapper's Delight, or Billie Jean, or any number of others. Very simple but instantly memorable, and the instant you hear them they evoke a mood and attitude that characterize the entire song.
It also bears mentioning that not everyone can, should or needs to play like Victor Wooten. That dude's on a cosmically different level. You don't need complex time changes or fingerings, you don't need to play a million notes a minute to create a strong bass line.
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You don't need complex time changes or fingerings, you don't need to play a million notes a minute to create a strong bass line.
“But what about <insert one of about 12 ‘shredder’ bassists here>?”
That’s the point - there aren’t many of those types of players. For every one of them there are dozens, maybe hundreds, of ‘Michael Anthony’ types. He was very maligned for his playing in Van Halen, but come on - he was playing in Van Halen! One of the biggest bands around. And getting paid for it. For a long time. And he’s still playing. I’d be more than happy to have had a musical career half that successful and enduring.
Bill Wymans career was twice as long and ten times more successful and yet he didn't play one 32nd note in his whole career, I'm struggling to find a 16th note in his repertoire
Quote:
Bill Wymans career was twice as long and ten times more successful and yet he didn't play one 32nd note in his whole career, I'm struggling to find a 16th note in his repertoire
Bill knew best, simple and to the point
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