Bassist needs some help!

[Bassistkid123]

Hello this is my first post, I am playing fretless bass at my school talent show soon and I need some good songs for fretless bass that aren't too hard to play, thanks.

[bassman_al]

Mary Had a Little Lamb is not too hard.
:-)

How about the jazz ballad "Misty?" I like playing that melody on my fretless.

[Bassistkid123]

yeah um thanks but that would be too easy, cause right at the moment i am playing larry grahams version of phantom of the opera and some stuff from legend of zelda. thanks i will look that one up. :-)

[ShredderMaximus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mesr2siegRg

[Big chicken]

Hey You-Pink Floyd

[Snarf]

Rock and Roll McDonalds - Wesley Willis.

[pgullo64]

Every time you go away = Pino Palladino playing his fretless Music Man in the Paul Young hit.

Sledgehammer - Tony Levin on the Peter Gabriel hit

Lady In Red, - Pino again on the Chris DeBurgh (another hit with fretless)

[bassic.science]

Originally Posted by Bassistkid123

I need some good songs for fretless bass that aren't too hard to play, thanks.

Originally Posted by Bassistkid123

im working on finding a good tab or sheet music for portrait of tracy by jaco

If you think Portrait Of Tracy is going to be easy you are either overestimating your ability or underestimating the difficulty of the song.

[Muzoid]

Originally Posted by bassic.science

If you think Portrait Of Tracy is going to be easy you are either overestimating your ability or underestimating the difficulty of the song.

+1

Wait until he sees the tab/sheets. - hahaha

[Roy Vogt]

I recommend Ray Peterson's Jaco Pastorius Bass Method. The melody to Continuum is easy. The solo, not so much.
Of course, Primus is always in good taste.....

[Bassistkid123]

Originally Posted by Muzoid

+1

Wait until he sees the tab/sheets. - hahaha

but i never said portrait of Tracy was easy i just said i was working on that one i actually want to FIND some easy things to play, i know that song is not easy, but i am determined to someday play that one but i need easier stuff for now to play cause i don't have much more time.

[bassobrutto]

It is a bit hard for people to advise you on "easy" songs when you don't tell them your ability level. If you've got the chops to even think of handling Jaco's PoT, I would think most lines would be pretty "easy" for you.

But since this is a school talent show, and the audience presumably votes on the winner, I would advise you to choose something they know and like, not something obscure or unpopular. How it sounds is more important than how hard it is to play. And I would also advise you not to limit yourself by choosing something that was originally played on a fretless, especially if it is something you don't yet know. Choose something you already know well, something that will sound good on a fretless, even if it wasn't originally played on one. Something like "Something" by the Beatles, for example.

[Bassistkid123]

Yeah i guess im just like really nervous about playing in the talent show cause last year i was going to play with a friend and he was going to play drums and i play, and i gave him the songs to listen too and like two or three days before the talent show he told he me he wasnt going to do it anymore cause he didnt like the songs and then he played piano and won, and i guess now im just trying to learn something good cause i want to try and out play him. But i am not the brightest when it comes to forums and stuff.

[Bassistkid123]

Originally Posted by bassic.science

If you think Portrait Of Tracy is going to be easy you are either overestimating your ability or underestimating the difficulty of the song.

I dont think that song is easy, i have been practicing it for some time but i believe i will probably never be able to actually really play anything by jaco, that would be nice to know some of it though.

[bassic.science]

For what it's worth, I think you should just go into it looking to get some good playing experience, not necessarily with a chip on your shoulder or feeling like you've got something to prove. It'll be harder for you to enjoy yourself if you're just thinking about beating this guy.

That being said, I agree with bassobrutto; you don't necessarily want to pick something technically challenging, but crowd pleasing. That might be something like creatively arranging a Lady Gaga song, or it could be tapping out Stu Hamm's version of Linus and Lucy (although I don't know if this generation of teens know that song).

Good luck and have some fun with it.

[azureblue]

slow- try "Round Midnight" or "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat'
fast
Groovin High

[Iceman500]

If you're going to play solo you should learn the melody of a song rather than playing just the bassline.

Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloup Island" or Coltrane's "Impressions" can be fun to play.