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Gimme Three Steps

#22
Anybody play it AND sing it? I have, a few times. Sometime it's OK, sometimes it stinks. Caveat: I'm in a band with people who did not cut their teeth on Southern rock like I did. Although, for a interesting bass line, check out Moody Blues,"Story In Your Eyes". Just about wore out my CD player learning that one.
 
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#23
That was a fun one. I miss playing it. Thankfully when I was learning it I managed to find some sheet music so I didn't have too work hard to get it down. So much easier than by ear or going off (likely inaccurate) tab.
 
#24
My band just learned it this year.... and after hearing the song a Gazillion times, I never really focused on the bass. Then the day came for me to learn it. I was blown away by just how great the bass playing was. My drummer tried to play it from radio memory, and we sucked. When I got him to play it like the studio, the whole thing really came alive.
 
#26
4-stringB said:
Anybody play it AND sing it? I have, a few times. Sometime it's OK, sometimes it stinks. Caveat: I'm in a band with people who did not cut their teeth on Southern rock like I did. Although, for a interesting bass line, check out Moody Blues,"Story In Your Eyes". Just about wore out my CD player learning that one.
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As a singing bass player who can coordinate and perform some fairly complex parts simultaneously, I am impressed that you even try it and that you have some percentage of success. Man after my own heart, rock on.
 
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#29
That song is all about groove, and dare I say it...fills. I kind of loathe it exactly because it's kind of the Skynard Du Jour for many Classic Rock cover bands, but that also was the impetus for me to try and nail it should the moment ever arrive I was surrounded by people competent enough to do the same. That has pretty much never happened, and any bassist playing it correctly will more often than not sound like John freakin Entwistle behind a band that is faking it even a little.


Bottom line, I wouldn't stress. Chances are high that you'll wind up playing the song better as a bassist than the "guitarist" will as a guitarist. Same goes for every single Skynard song ever.
 
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#30
Kmonk said:
I actually don't find it very difficult to play. Picking out the notes might be a little challenging in the beginning but the physical aspects of playing the song are fairly simple.
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That was such a popular bar song in the 80's. We played it all the time and the crowd loved it. Usually a last set song as everyone was pumped up and dancing. The song is a good exercise in improvisation. Once you've mastered the lines stretch out a little on your own and try your own variety of fills. It's such a fun song for that! :thumbsup:
 
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#31
Bemo said:
So I answer a CL ad and get a playlist to learn for an audition and Gimme Three Steps is gently nestled in amongst the ZZ Top and Pat Benatar and Greg Kihn Band songs and all I can say is ...

Ed King is a Beast!

I mean, I'm a bit out of practice but after three days I still don't have it all the way down pat. Saturday I spent 6 hours on it! My fingers are about to fall off. I had no idea that lurking beneath the Rossington/Collins leads was such an intricate and melodic bass line. And the tempo is killer too! None of this root-V-repeat crap here! This line hass balls on balls, and then some. I'm a mediocre bassist and I may be in over my head on this one.

All hail the King!
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Great part. I remember buying the LP when it can out in '77. There is lot of outstanding bass work on it.
 
#34
The keys player/songwriter in my originals project just demo'd a "Skynard-esque" tune. Pretty good song. In studio I play all guitars and bass, so like Ed King, I can make some informed decisions about how to make guitar and bass interact, complement, counterpoint, unison, etc. We'll be in studio next month and giving this song the Ed King treatment, and I can only hope it turns out as good as "Gimme" without sounding like I ripped off "Gimme." Not as easy as it might seem.
 
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#36
After listening to Freebird for the millionth time, Skynard lost any kind of lustre they had on me. Until my dad band brought this song up. At first I just gave it a cursory once over, but soon realized that wasn't going to work. We're doing this song at a gig for the first time this weekend, I hope I'm at least 75% with it. :)

What a great song for bass players. Kinda renewed my interest in Skynard again.
 

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