Help me jeebus

Rick Blanc · #1 10-11-2011, 07:01 PM

So my band wants to do Gov't Mules version of WHAT IS HIP. Great song but I'm not that good a bassist. Any and all help welcomed. Notation, video, heck, I'll even look at tabs.

Many many thanks in advance.

carlthegroover · #2 10-11-2011, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Blanc

So my band wants to do Gov't Mules version of WHAT IS HIP. Great song but I'm not that good a bassist. Any and all help welcomed. Notation, video, heck, I'll even look at tabs.

Many many thanks in advance.

I'm not a great bassist either (yet) but I can offer a suggestion: get a reference, like a tab, and strip it to the most basic elements, leaving the fills and other fancy playing for until you feel comfy with the song.

I would do that.

Rick Blanc · #3 10-12-2011, 08:14 AM

Thanks I'll look for some tabs. I know some are better than others so if anyone has a link to a good one please post it. I found this:
Tower of power - What is Hip for bass (slow and details) - YouTube

I like it cuz it's slowed down. Most of the others are full speed and really don't help. They help some obviously but the nuances go away.

carlthegroover · #4 10-13-2011, 09:41 AM

Someone in this forum said that tabs are never accurate. Personally, I wouldn't care about that as long as they give me the gist of the bassline (until I develop my ear enough to figure out the songs myself). Besides, I still play it mostly in my own style (throwing bad sounding fills here and there), so accuracy is not relevant.

carlthegroover · #5 10-13-2011, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Blanc

I found this:
Tower of power - What is Hip for bass (slow and details) - YouTube

I like it cuz it's slowed down. Most of the others are full speed and really don't help. They help some obviously but the nuances go away.

Is it me or the bass sound in the video is really low? I couldn't really hear it.

LexD · #6 10-13-2011, 11:15 AM

For what it's worth Rocco covers that song as well as others in the dvd/songbook :

Fingerstyle Funk
with Francis Rocco Prestia
Video Progressions - Downloads page.

Rick Blanc · #7 10-13-2011, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlthegroover

Someone in this forum said that tabs are never accurate. Personally, I wouldn't care about that as long as they give me the gist of the bassline (until I develop my ear enough to figure out the songs myself). Besides, I still play it mostly in my own style (throwing bad sounding fills here and there), so accuracy is not relevant.

I'm totally with ya there. Most tabs that I've played along to or learned from weren't 100% right. But they got me in the ballpark.

Rick Blanc · #8 10-13-2011, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carlthegroover

Is it me or the bass sound in the video is really low? I couldn't really hear it.

Hmmm, weird. Not low for me.

Rick Blanc · #9 10-13-2011, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LexD

For what it's worth Rocco covers that song as well as others in the dvd/songbook :

Fingerstyle Funk
with Francis Rocco Prestia
Video Progressions - Downloads page.

Oooh, this looks interesting.

**bassybill** · #10 10-13-2011, 03:24 PM

Notation for the TOP version, courtesy of Lucas Pickford. This is a good transcription.

I play this with my band - challenging at first, but keep at it!

Rick Blanc · #11 10-14-2011, 05:12 AM

Thanks Bassybill

Rick Blanc · #12 10-14-2011, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LexD

For what it's worth Rocco covers that song as well as others in the dvd/songbook :

Fingerstyle Funk
with Francis Rocco Prestia
Video Progressions - Downloads page.

Hey LexD, This looks really cool but I have a question or two. This one seems to be "download" only. If that's the case how do you play along with it on your ipod? Do you have to sit really close to it to get the visual while is plugged into the stereo? I have the iRig so I can play and not bug the whole famn damily but I guessing iRig and this video won't work together. So I guess my big question is how does this work for you on an iPod. On BTW I have the iPod Touch.

Thanks

Phadreus · #13 10-14-2011, 06:18 AM

Hi ya Rick,

Some food for thought for ya to chew on. My band also has done a few songs that were slightly beyond my reach on the bass and it was quite bothersome to me. I worked and worked on certain bass lines, could play them, but not consistently at speed. So one day, I mentioned my struggle and my drummer said "dude, don't play it note for note, just "dumb it down" some to make it easy on yourself." So I went home after rehearsal and thought about his comment and considered what is most important about the song. I realized there were parts of the song that were key (no pun intended), signature to the song if you will that needed to be kept intact to ensure our cover was true enough to the original for people to recognize it, enjoy it and not say to themselves, "hey, wait a minute that's not right". I then was able to capture the signature lines, do my own thing in the areas that were a struggle for me and move forward. Nobody has ever told me that they didn't like what I was doing when we perform it, and the band likes the arrangement.

Now, I'm sure there are all sorts of counter-arguments to consider that are valid, but that single experience changed the way I approach cover songs. I now see my part as not replicating the original note for note, because that of course has already been done with the original. Rather, I see what we do is more of an "interpretation" if you will of the song as we hear it. Now, there are covers that we do that I swear I like our versions better than the original. Overall point to consider is not to get to wrapped up in replicating the song note for note. IMO Playing a cover note for note badly is far worse than playing your own interpretation well.

Just some thoughts to consider Rick, rock on my friend!

Rick Blanc · #14 10-14-2011, 06:41 AM

Yeah, I get what you're saying and I agree with you. Most of the songs we do we rearrange to make them "ours". We also tend to find popular songs everybody knows but do another artist's version of it. Like we do TAKE ME TO THE RIVER, everybody knows Talking Heads did that. But we do Eva Cassidy's version and then take some liberties with that. So I totally get what your saying and thanks for reminding me of it. I'm just worried that this particular song is gonna expose me as a bass fraud.

Rick Blanc · #15 10-15-2011, 05:59 PM

Making progress.

1958Bassman · #16 10-16-2011, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Blanc

Like we do TAKE ME TO THE RIVER, everybody knows Talking Heads did that. But we do Eva Cassidy's version and then take some liberties with that. So I totally get what your saying and thanks for reminding me of it. I'm just worried that this particular song is gonna expose me as a bass fraud.

What about Al Green's version?

LexD · #17 10-16-2011, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Blanc

Hey LexD, This looks really cool but I have a question or two. This one seems to be "download" only. If that's the case how do you play along with it on your ipod? Do you have to sit really close to it to get the visual while is plugged into the stereo? I have the iRig so I can play and not bug the whole famn damily but I guessing iRig and this video won't work together. So I guess my big question is how does this work for you on an iPod. On BTW I have the iPod Touch.

Thanks

Rick,
The video download also comes with a pdf songbook of the exercises and songs you can print out. I have the pdf and the very first song he covers is What is Hip. Not easy.

The video is delivered in standard mpeg mp4 format so any computer or media player can play the video.
I've found all the video's on youtube and I'm sure a creative user could even find the fingerstyle funk pdf songbook somewhere on the interwebs.

Personally, I found the video and songbook easily worth the $20 dollars asking price.

Running Time: 78 minutes
Includes Notation & TAB - PDF

Good luck!

Rick Blanc · #18 10-17-2011, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LexD

Rick,
The video download also comes with a pdf songbook of the exercises and songs you can print out. I have the pdf and the very first song he covers is What is Hip. Not easy.

The video is delivered in standard mpeg mp4 format so any computer or media player can play the video.
I've found all the video's on youtube and I'm sure a creative user could even find the fingerstyle funk pdf songbook somewhere on the interwebs.

Personally, I found the video and songbook easily worth the $20 dollars asking price.

Running Time: 78 minutes
Includes Notation & TAB - PDF

Good luck!

Thanks LexD. Good info.

Rick Blanc · #19 10-20-2011, 10:01 AM

Gonna practice it with the band tonight. Oy

Rick Blanc · #20 10-22-2011, 07:31 AM

Thanks very much for everyone's help and input. I was able to pull it off and some of the band commented that they better play it as good as me. :-)
I nearly died laughing.
Thanks again everybody