Muse Bass Line??!!

::Saint:: · #1 02-07-2007, 11:27 AM

I don't know how many of you are fans of the band Muse, or specifically their bass player Chris Wolstenholme (one of the most innovative rock bassists around, in my opinion) - but they have very swiftly become my favourite band, largely because of what their bass player does. I have managed to learn quite a few of his basslines, but there is one that is eternally eluding me.

On the song 'Hysteria' - the bass line is a fat, synthy-distorted thing of beauty, but I cannot begin to fathom how he his playing it -- does anyone know this particular song? Can you give me a brief run down, or any tips on how exactly it is being played (I have been told he uses a lot of open strings, but I just can't figure it out).

Thanks!

fynnpopel · #2 02-07-2007, 11:47 AM

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/...a_ver3_tab.htm
I could have tabbed it myself but was too lazy

If you have Guitar Pro check this out : http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/...guitar_pro.htm
It´s pretty good.

::Saint:: · #3 02-07-2007, 12:05 PM

Hmm.. I've never actually played from tabs before - but if I am reading that correctly it shows me the string and fret? Wow.. he's playing a heck of a lot on the A and E strings all in a row.. weird.

Thanks for that, I'll have to give it a shot later on. By the way, what is Guitar Pro?

::Saint:: · #4 02-07-2007, 12:08 PM

Hmm.. having a bit of a hard time deciphering which tabs are for bass and which are for guitar here..

Flongoid · #5 02-07-2007, 12:20 PM

do you mainly read sheet music?

::Saint:: · #6 02-07-2007, 12:38 PM

Er.. no.. I mostly don't read music, except for basic chord charts. I picked up the bass for the purposes of playing in a U2 tribute band when I was 15 and have been playing mostly by ear ever since (12 years) - though for the past 4 or 5 years I guess I have been playing mostly contemporary church tunes with a chord chart in front of me (Note letters overtop of the song lyrics). The idea of a tab is a little foreign to me, but seems much more useful for the purposes of actually learning to play a particular bit the way the original artist does...

VanillaO · #7 02-07-2007, 01:49 PM

Guitar tab will usually have 6-strings while a bass tab will typically have 4 or 5... or 6 (but it'll be BEADGC probably instead of the guitar which will be EADGBE)

On that website, they should say 'Bass Tab' or 'Guitar Tab' in the column to the right.

Guitar Pro is a program that runs tabs. Basically it uses MIDI soundfiles and you can create a lot of different variety sounds. People use it to tab. You don't have to take your hand off the guitar/bass to scroll down your mouse while reading (while if you were playing a 15 minute song on guitar, you would have to a few times), and you can just keep going. People have put full songs onto Guitar Pro. 3 guitars, 2 basses, 2 drums, solo guitars, slide guitars. All in file so they play together like the song but very electronically sounding. It's a good program, and very useful for writing simple but effective basslines in when I'm writing with my friend but we're both at our own houses. If you get into trickier timing and stuff while writing a part, I'd advise against using it, because it'll take a while to write it out and it'd probably be easier to record it if you have the capabilities.

Holy off tangent batman. Seriously though, if you want to start looking at tabs, I'd suggest taking a peek at the free trial of this program, and getting some tabs of a few songs you've been meaning to learn but haven't had the time

At that website in the 2nd post, these files will have Guitar Pro or Guitar Pro Tab in the second column.

evhest · #8 02-07-2007, 02:40 PM

Hi,

Also, use a freeware program like 'Best practice' to slow the song down, so you can actually hear which notes he's playing (and especially; when). That, together with the tab, should help you on the way.

In any case, start playing it VERY slowly in the beginning and then speed up. May take you days or weeks before you get it right, but it will come. Practice makes perfect!

And yes, it's a great bassline and Wolstenholme is a very inovative player.

Regards!

905 · #9 02-07-2007, 04:06 PM

Sheet music for guitar including the bass intro / verse

If you want, I can tab the rest out for you

Chriso21 · #10 02-08-2007, 05:33 AM

you can play all the same notes as him and it still won't sound like the cd or muse live - the reason? They double up with a synth for that song which give it that smooth beefy electric sound. Fun bass line though.

905 · #11 02-08-2007, 07:45 AM

I've seen some very close ones on Youtube with "nothing more" than synth pedals.

Either way, it's a cool line, not very dynamic though.
Three parts to an entire song

SirCanealot · #12 02-08-2007, 09:14 AM

I've seen the book that sheet music is from. I'm pretty sure it's wrong anyway. He plays the riff that's on the E string partly on the A string. Buggered if I know. I gave up on that song anyway, as there's weird noises in the song and runs that simply aren't tabbed anywhere, and I can't work them out by ear...

Flongoid · #13 02-08-2007, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirCanealot

I've seen the book that sheet music is from. I'm pretty sure it's wrong anyway. He plays the riff that's on the E string partly on the A string. Buggered if I know. I gave up on that song anyway, as there's weird noises in the song and runs that simply aren't tabbed anywhere, and I can't work them out by ear...

As for the E string bit partly on the A = some tabs put the D and E on the A string instead of on the E. Some people find it easier because you don't have to shift your hand as much

jonpeck · #14 02-08-2007, 10:59 AM

dont play it as fast it sounds if you link it up to the drums and in time its actually quite slow it just sounds quick

FoHBass · #15 02-08-2007, 11:21 AM

Funny you mention it, as I just learned the song to cover in my band. Best advice I can offer is to use a synth pedal (I use a Boss SYB-3 before a Boss ODB-3) to get that sound and tweak it a little. I'm pretty sure Wolstenholme uses an Akai Deep Impact pedal, but I could be wrong. Other than that, the intro part and bridge parts work much better with pull-offs to the open strings. He tends to that a bit (also listen to the break in "Invincible" off Black Holes & Revelations.)
Hope this helps. Wolstenholme's become one of my favorite bass players just recently. Very interesting bassist.

Subculture13 · #16 02-08-2007, 11:33 AM

Huge Muse fan here for he exact same reasons as you, and live yes he uses an Akai Deep Impact, but it is also doubled with a synth.

905 · #17 02-08-2007, 03:48 PM

My offer to tab out the whole song still stands, by the way.

SirCanealot · #18 02-08-2007, 04:45 PM

Then what the heck is he doing at 1:00 in, just before the chorus? And I've never been able to work out which tab for the chorus is right either.

Thanks

::Saint:: · #19 02-08-2007, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 905

My offer to tab out the whole song still stands, by the way.

If you felt like tabbing it out that would be really cool.. I'd love to be able to play that bass line - I try to absorb as many cool ones as I can find in the hope it will someday teach me how to come up with such cool lines myself.

I know he definately uses a Deep Impact (I've gotten some fairly similar sounds with a BMS - he also uses a Big Muff, among a whole slew of other things).

One of the things I find particularly intimidating about that bass line is that it is quite long, with frequent changes. It'd be fun to learn though!

905 · #20 02-09-2007, 06:35 AM

Get your tabs here, get your tabs here. Red hot! Get your tabs here.