Favorite Bassists' Covers

deeptubes · #1 02-19-2013, 05:41 PM

I've been playing for 26 years. I've decided that I don't want to learn any more of my favorite bassists tunes. I've found that they just come to me really easy. Too easy. I grew up a huge Iron Maiden fan. I can play virtually any Maiden tune blindfolded, literally. Been a Tool fan almost 20 years. Just started learning some of their basslines. Now that I'm figuring them out, I'm finding them to be much more simplistic than I had anticipated. It's rather disappointing. When I learn them, it's stripping them of the mystique I had attached to them. So, I will continue to enjoy my faves. But only with my ears, not with my hands. I want them to remain magical.

**mjac28** · #2 02-19-2013, 05:54 PM

Now what are you going to play sir? I'm just the opposite and I know you are a better bassist than I am but for me when I listened to my Beatles the basslines seemed so simple but when you learn the songs the basslines are more complex than you think they are and I found a new love for Paul's bass playing as well as his writing process.

deeptubes · #3 02-19-2013, 06:25 PM

I'm still going to learn others' stuff. I'm just not going to learn the ones by the bassists I hold in ultra high regard. I'm learning stuff and then saying to myself "Really? Is that all there is to it?" instead of "Wow! I just learned __________. It's incredibly anticlimactic. I guess it's making my favorite bassists appear human, to an extent.

Maybe it's a sign that it's time to expand my bass horizons. Hmmmmm....

I've toyed with the idea of doing Flirtin' With Disaster - basslines as well as all guitar fills and solos on bass - in one continuous flow. Haven't gone anywhere with it yet.

As far as skills go, I'm ok. I've got some chops, but I'm nowhere near where I want to be. I've got kind of a unique playing style. I fluctuate between straight forward fingerstyle and a classical guitar type fingerstyle - assigning fingers to particular strings - depending upon what fits the song best. Kind of like something between Steve Harris and Lindsey Buckingham without the thumbwork. Could stand to focus on tightening up some slapping. I tend listen to the heavier end of the spectrum, and obviously I play quite a bit of it. But, I really like to write and play some crucial dub and roots basslines.