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Gene Genie

Mike North

Mike North

Guest
Oct 16, 2015
20
4
Cheshire, England
#1
Hello Gents (and ladies xxx)

I have an issue! Having been asked to join a Bowie Tribute band I am faltering on my third song in!! A simple one, Gene Genie.
The main Riff on the Verse is it is it E-E-E-G-A-G or is it E-E-E-G#-A-G#
Any help on this matter would be great!

Hahaha soooo embarrassed. I mean both sound right BUT I think it's the two semitone one from G-A-G sounds rougher.

And by the way

Isn't Trevor Boulder a flippin ace bassist!


Love and hugs guys

Mike
 
#2
Have no idea what the original music had. I take for granted the song is in either the key of A or E and as the notes in the E and the A scale have the G#, I'd go that way. But you never know for sure what the original song writer had unless you buy the original sheet music.

And as I have mentioned many times my ear is made of tin so I'll be of no help listening. My money is on G#, I think that is what your ear is telling you also. Go with that and if you do not get any fish eyes from the guys you know you guessed right.

E Major scale = E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#, E
A major scale = A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G#, A

Added --- G# is correct for the key this song is in, if the bass did it in G and the guitar did it in G#; the guitar is correct, join him.
 
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#3
That's weird. I was sure it's G#, and that's what the guitar plays. But the bass appears to be playing G naturals. Some of them muffled, but some quite clearly. Wonder if that's intentional... The G naturals get progressively more unclear as the song goes on, as if the bassist realized they were off.

If I had to play this song I would just see what the guitarist does (most likely G#'s) and join that.
 
#7
natobasso said:
Nah, guitar's not playing a G# at all. (I gotta take a stand on this one. :) )
Click to expand...
On the video you linked, which was the same that I already listened to, the guitar play's G#'s loud and clear. Especially audible before the vocals set in but still after that. Besides that blues harp and vocals also use G#. There's really no doubt about that.
 
#8
I think the tension is great, and this happened a lot in the 70s in other songs, the bassist would use Mixolydian (flat 7) instead of the major seven either because they didn't know better, force of habit, or conscious choice for a bluesier sound.

In fact listen around 3:07 and you'll hear a massive bass flub/clunker they left in the recording, but the whole song is so cool it really doesn't matter.

Listening again, crud, it might even be flat 7 going up and major 7 going down. Wish we could ask David himself...
 
#10
The cover video is blocked for my country, but I'm listening at half speed using transcribe and it really is loud and clear.
The bass plays G natural up and down. At the start the guitar plays G# up and down. When the singing starts the guitar part is less clear, but I can make out the G#'s most of the time.

Whether it sounds good or not is a matter of taste I suppose. To my ears it sounds awful (but I don't like the stones either).
 
#13
HandsFree said:
I would just see what the guitarist does (most likely G#'s) and join that.
Click to expand...


I hear two guitar lines.
One guitar plays the chord/s (power chords) E and A without "touching" G or G#.
Here is a short clip of that guitar line at a slow tempo.
https://www.talkbass.com/attachment...6/?temp_hash=32d65942cf0bf8f1b4c9de4729492cf7

Here is a second guitar line playing, kind of, single notes.
That guitar plays G#.
https://www.talkbass.com/attachment...7/?temp_hash=32d65942cf0bf8f1b4c9de4729492cf7
 

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#14
Whousedtoplay said:
Could, please, show the spot where the guitar player plays G# with E?
Click to expand...
Not sure how you want me to show it.
If you listen to the video in post #4 it's there.
For instance 0:04 to 0:11, you hear two guitars. One plays three beats of E with a distorted sound. Then you hear another clean(er) guitar playing G#-A-G# (that's the notes, not the chords).

edit: oh right, that's what you said too. So what's the question then?
 
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#15

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#16
Whousedtoplay said:
The bass player is playing G. It's the Blues where we have Major/Minor 3rd's mixed and doing just fine.
...
And the bass player is not OFF. He plays what's expecting from the bass guitar in Blues.
Click to expand...
Don't agree with you there. Major and minor thirds only mix when the major third is de lowest, or when there's only a 2nd between (or prime if you will).
The other way round you get the minor 9 which is generally only acceptable if the lowest note is the root. Where here you have a minor 9/aug 8 between the minor 3 (G) and major 3 (G#). That is certainly not common in blues or jazz.

In this case either the bass or the guitar is not playing what's expected.
 
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#17
HandsFree said:
Don't agree with you there. Major and minor thirds only mix when the major third is de lowest, or when there's only a 2nd between (or prime if you will).
The other way round you get the minor 9 which is generally only acceptable if the lowest note is the root. Where here you have a minor 9/aug 8 between the minor 3 (G) and major 3 (G#). That is certainly not common in blues or jazz.

In this case either the bass or the guitar is not playing what's expected.
Click to expand...

Let's wait for somebody else to comment on it.
 

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