Tips for Primus - Jerry was a racecar driver

[Figjam]

Just wondering what the normal way of playing the beginning is.. do you tap with right hand and then play the hammer ons with left?

[Samurai]

Yeah. In fact I don't thing you really have a choice as to what hand does what, so don't worry about that when you are trying to figure out Primus songs.

[Figjam]

Thanks.

[Matt Till]

I noticed you only have a 4 string, I'm pretty sure that will cause problems. Plus, due to the fretlessness of the original recording, you won't be able to do those slick little slides right. But yeah, the song as a whole is really only two riffs, correct? Verse and Chorus? If you look at it like that, you only have to figure out two riffs.


Err, just realized you only want to play the intro... so you only have to figure out one riff, even easier!

[jammadave]

I've been trying to learn this myself, the hardest part I can tell (besides trying to learn it by ear in the first place, which I've almost got) is making sure your right hand fingers land on the right area when tapping it out. (22nd and 23rd fret or so on the D and G from what i can tell)
The left hand part is pretty simple to pull off by comparison.

[Figjam]

Originally Posted by StupidMatt

I noticed you only have a 4 string, I'm pretty sure that will cause problems. Plus, due to the fretlessness of the original recording, you won't be able to do those slick little slides right. But yeah, the song as a whole is really only two riffs, correct? Verse and Chorus? If you look at it like that, you only have to figure out two riffs.


Err, just realized you only want to play the intro... so you only have to figure out one riff, even easier!

Well i have a 4 string fretted, a 5 string fretted, and a 4 string fretless. Maybe i should use a different bass for each part :-p

[Figjam]

I cant play it standing up. My strap is too low, and even at its shortest adjustment setting, its still too low. I play sitting down for most complex stuff.

[Matt Till]

On the Animals DVD they played a clip of Primus doing a completely different version of Jerry was a Racecar Driver. Claypool was using his 4 string fretted and slapping and strumming instead of tapping. It would have been cool to see that in its entirity.

[Figjam]

Originally Posted by StupidMatt

On the Animals DVD they played a clip of Primus doing a completely different version of Jerry was a Racecar Driver. Claypool was using his 4 string fretted and slapping and strumming instead of tapping. It would have been cool to see that in its entirity.

That sounds interesting. more my style, but i want to learn some tapping so this is a start.

[xolin]

Where is this video?! I never saw it on the dvd.

[I-Love-Ratm]

Its actually pretty easy

[xolin]

Originally Posted by I-Love-Ratm

Its actually pretty easy

Its true, it was my first tapping song (along with DMV) and it was very easy...but i have a 6 string so makes it even easier.

[Don_Cholo]

to get better at tapping make sure that ur tapping on the fret and practice major scales, starting slow then speeding up. the right hand should be playing 17D 18G, and then go to 18D 19G, that's for a four sting 24 fret bass. then the hammer is real easy to learn by ear. it's all in the primus anthology book. another good player to listen to is Stanly Jordan, he does a lot of songs whaere its just him playing a bass line and then soloing over it, like a one man band.

[Benjamin Strange]

Here's another tip: practice drumming your hands on your lap. Learn to separate the rhythms from one hand to another to help develop rhythmic independance. JWARCD depends largely on your hands developing a rhythm together, where the fingers don't really move too much.

And another tip: Listen to "Elephant Talk" by King Crimson to see where Primus stole the riff from.

[xolin]

Originally Posted by Don_Cholo

to get better at tapping make sure that ur tapping on the fret and practice major scales, starting slow then speeding up. the right hand should be playing 17D 18G, and then go to 18D 19G, that's for a four sting 24 fret bass. then the hammer is real easy to learn by ear. it's all in the primus anthology book. another good player to listen to is Stanly Jordan, he does a lot of songs whaere its just him playing a bass line and then soloing over it, like a one man band.

I saw a live concert of his...oh, man...even with a band that guy is crazy...playing chords or bassline then doing very good solos. What freaked me out is when he did a run almost as fast as Al Di Meola! all this and playing the chords/bassline...crazy guy. Now thats my goal for this year

[jehangir]

Originally Posted by basstriaxis

And another tip: Listen to "Elephant Talk" by King Crimson to see where Primus stole the riff from.

Haha, I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed that. That song could have very potentially spawned both Primus's "Jerry was a Racecar Driver" and "Southbound Pachyderm"...

If only all "ripoffs" were that enjoyable/musical/respectable etc...

[The Artist]

Originally Posted by Don_Cholo

to get better at tapping make sure that ur tapping on the fret and practice major scales, starting slow then speeding up. the right hand should be playing 17D 18G, and then go to 18D 19G, that's for a four sting 24 fret bass. then the hammer is real easy to learn by ear. it's all in the primus anthology book. another good player to listen to is Stanly Jordan, he does a lot of songs whaere its just him playing a bass line and then soloing over it, like a one man band.

why would that not be for a 5 string 24 fret bass?

when tapping on the frets, do I do so on the on at the beginning of the note or the end of the note (do you know what I mean? I don't know how to explain it otherwise)
example: | 0 |

..... here/\ ... /\or here

[Matt Till]

Originally Posted by xolin

Where is this video?! I never saw it on the dvd.

Uhm, it's like a 10 second blurb either in the Brown Album's Horrible Swill, I believe. It's a really quick snippit in one of those "behind the scenes/live clips" areas.

[Matthew Bryson]

Originally Posted by The Artist

when tapping on the frets, do I do so on the on at the beginning of the note or the end of the note (do you know what I mean? I don't know how to explain it otherwise)
example: | 0 |

..... here/\ ... /\or here

I think I know what you mean. When I had first picked up bass, I was going to teach myself. One of the things I did wrong, or did not know, was that I had thought that you fretted notes "in the middle of the box" or directly between the frets. Of course, I learned better fretting position through trial and error and because I eventually realized I should get a teacher and he helped me get rid of my bad habits. You should fret a note right behind the fret - very close to the fret. This is also applies to tapping - when you tap a note you are sounding a note and fretting a note with the same motion. I say tap really close to the fret, almost on it - I think this is what Don Chello meant when he said "make sure that ur tapping on the fret" To get a nice sound, you've got to tap it nice and hard and hold it solidly upon impact. When I tap, I envision driving finishing nails alongside my frets into my fingerboard with my finger tips - but then again, I'm insane so maybe that's a "just me thing".

[Matthew Bryson]

BTW - You do know what you'll hear from people if you get this tune down and then somebody hears you playing it, don't you. Nine times out of ten you'll get "Cool, you can play that Tony Hawk pro skater song...."