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Can you play Sir Duke?

#21
I think if you can play this tune, in time, then you are in the top 5% of bass players. It's my goal to someday be able to do this, but I'm miles away.
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Hopefully not top depress you, but I think you'd not neccessarily be anywhere near the top 5% of bass players just because you could play this track!

Fantastic though aint it!

I must admit I cant play it - I have the notation for "the unison riff" at home, but I never got round to learning it - along with a zillion other songs I keep meaning to learn!!!

I'm confident I could play the song - it'd take me a while to get that unison riff tight enough to be right - I can hear that's a tricky one, but I'm sure I could get there eventually!

I must learn it - i've been meaning to for about a year now - along with the whole of the hotter than july album - only got through two tracks in the end.. but what good tracks!! master blaster, THAT IS A BEAUTY OF A B-LINE!!!! :)
 
#22
it would be cool if everyone posted mp3's of their rendition of the unison riff.

here's what i've got so far (mainly going by ear);
I'll have another go at it after I give the track another listen- the BGM transcription suggests starting the high register ascending bit on the E string, which makes reaching the high notes smoother, but this omits a lower note (E
flat IIRC) that's in the other transcription.
 
#23
I found the tab at basstabarchive.com, it seems pretty close, and I'm making progress! Maybe it's not as hard as I thought. But then again, I'm just playing the notes right now, I don't have it up to speed and grooving yet.

I'm really interested in seeing other tab/notation (it's been a long time since I've done notation!). It seems to me that it would be easier to play the unison riff higher up on the neck, but you still have to get down there for the F#, unless you're on a 5 string. For some reason, I've been playing my Fender Jazz 4 for the last 2 weeks, and the Cirrus has been sitting. Weird, huh? After singing the praises of the Cirrus for so long, now I'm really digging the Jazz.

Mark
 
#24
Originally posted by Howard K

Hopefully not top depress you, but I think you'd not neccessarily be anywhere near the top 5% of bass players just because you could play this track!
Click to expand...

I think you've severely underestimated the number of crappy bass players out there! :D

To qualify for top 5%, though, in my book you'd have to do more than just "play the right notes" -- it'd have to really groove.

I guess it depends on who counts as a real "bass player."

Whatever. Learn the tune -- it was my first real transcription, and it helped me a lot. Stevie's got some kickin' bass players backin' his stuff up. Check out some of the older Jamerson lines, too!
 
#28
Originally posted by The Mock Turtle Regulator
it would be cool if everyone posted mp3's of their rendition of the unison riff.

here's what i've got so far (mainly going by ear);
I'll have another go at it after I give the track another listen- the BGM transcription suggests starting the high register ascending bit on the E string, which makes reaching the high notes smoother, but this omits a lower note (E
flat IIRC) that's in the other transcription.
Click to expand...

Good effort MTR!

But I think you got a couple of the notes wrong...

Assuming you're doing it in the original key (B), you played:

B B D# C# C# G# F# D# F# G# B C# D D# F# G# B C# D D#...

Whereas the riff actually goes:

B B D# C# C# G# F# F# F# G# B C# D D# F# G# B C# D D#...

That part I've highlighted is the bit that's different. As far as octaves go, I can't remember exactly what the bass does on the original.

But, in that part I've highlighted - in the horns at least, that second F# is an octave lower, and the next part of the riff after that is in the same octave as the first part, whereas you continued on up, and played it an octave higher.
 
#29
Originally posted by The Mock Turtle Regulator
it would be cool if everyone posted mp3's of their rendition of the unison riff.

here's what i've got so far (mainly going by ear);
I'll have another go at it after I give the track another listen- the BGM transcription suggests starting the high register ascending bit on the E string, which makes reaching the high notes smoother, but this omits a lower note (E
flat IIRC) that's in the other transcription.
Click to expand...

Oh my, YOU ROCK! My hat is off to you! Thanks for the inspiration.

Mark
 
#30
Originally posted by moley

But, in that part I've highlighted - in the horns at least, that second F# is an octave lower, and the next part of the riff after that is in the same octave as the first part, whereas you continued on up, and played it an octave higher.
Click to expand...

give the original another listen- you can hear Nathan Watts plays it up to the 20th fret.
that's what makes it tricky- the extent of the range covered.
 
#32
Originally posted by MarkMcCombs


Oh my, YOU ROCK! My hat is off to you! Thanks for the inspiration.

Mark
Click to expand...

thanks.

if you could solo the bass track on the original you might be able to work out where on the neck Nathan Watts played each phrase judging from the tone.

a high c string would make it a lot easier.


as a joke I also had a go at it using a pick and distortion on my Warmoth P-clone, to imagine what it would be like if JJ Burnel (The Stranglers) played it:p
my pick technique needs some work to clean up string crossing and string muting.

I might have a go at some other parodies- eg. Pino Palladino plays Nice n' sleazy by The Stranglers:p :D
 
#34
Originally posted by The Mock Turtle Regulator
give the original another listen- you can hear Nathan Watts plays it up to the 20th fret.
that's what makes it tricky- the extent of the range covered.
Click to expand...

Most likely on a four string, which is all that's really needed.

My slant on learning this and stuff like this? Get it in your head first and the rest is much easier.

If you can sing the part in your head you'll be way ahead of the game when it comes to applying it to the fretboard. You'll "know" the right notes and the wrong notes. If you can't really "hear" the line then you need to work on that skill too. Unless it's a really bad mix you should be able to hear what the bassline is. In addition you should be able to hear everything that's going on in the song, makes it much easier to groove when you know what the intricacies of the arrangement are.

Granted this is a long way to go to basically say you need to practice:D. If you can't hear the line you need to practice on sharpening that skill. If you need to work up speed, practice will get you there. By experimenting (practicing;)) with hand positions you'll find the quicker way to get the job done. You'll also most likely notice the tonal variations between playing the same note in the same octave on different strings, which will definitely come in handy down the road.

But the first thing I'd personally do is learn to sing the line in my head. While you can indeed play it from tabs or even better yet (IMO) play it from standard notation, when it comes to grooving, listening is a huge part of it. Neither tabs nor standard notation are guaranteed to be correct. OTOH if you can hear what's really going on (not kind of... "really") this line is not that difficult and eventually it won't be for you either. Start slow and work up to speed.

Good luck.
 
#35
Originally posted by The Mock Turtle Regulator


give the original another listen- you can hear Nathan Watts plays it up to the 20th fret.
that's what makes it tricky- the extent of the range covered.
Click to expand...

Just had a listen - yup, you're right, he doesn't drop an octave like the horns do. I'm not convinced he plays a D# though :D
 

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