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help with "Salvation is Here" Bassline

sonicnuance

sonicnuance

Supporting Member
Commercial User
Aug 30, 2003
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California, USA
www.sonicnuance.com
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Engineer & Owner, Sonic Nuance Electronics
#1
I have been working on the bass solo for "Savation is Here" by Hillsong United.

This is a Praise and Worship song with one of the most difficult basslines to play fingerstyle I've *ever* come across. It is a fantastic warmup exercise.



Bass solo is toward the end of the song

I've been working on it off and on for two years and cannot play fingerstyle up to speed (but I can with a pick).

I think I'm at the point where I can play at 94bpm fingerstyle, but I need to get to 118bpm. I think I may be limited by a difficult fingering or not using some technique that may help.

I think it is doable as I can play 118bpm on a single note without too much difficulty.

I transcribed the bassline myself so it is possible that there is a mistake, but it sounds accurate enough to me. I just cannot play it fast. As this has been a goal of mine for a while I thought I'd send out an "S.O.S." to my TalkBass friends.

I'm playing with roundwounds and low/med action.

Any suggestions?


P.S. I've tried the "start slow and work your way up for two years" and it just isn't happening. Maybe this is a physical limitation of mine but I refuse to believe it just yet.
 
#4
Playing steady 16ths like that is purely a matter of practice. Don't feel discouraged, I've been playing bass for almost 20 years and only within the past couple of years began developing the stamina to play this way (thanks to Muse). It does come, but you do need to practice it fairly consistently. If by "on and off" you mean you try it, get tired, then don't try again for another week or two that won't help. Every day play the passage. Hell, multiple times in the day play it. It's the same as lifting weights, repetition is the key.

One thing that I have noticed is a lot of guys that play speedy licks like this often play near the bridge and use a light touch. I've begun resorting to that for my fast licks even though I'm a die-hard neck pickup player.
 
#5
bassic.science said:
Playing steady 16ths like that is purely a matter of practice. Don't feel discouraged, I've been playing bass for almost 20 years and only within the past couple of years began developing the stamina to play this way (thanks to Muse). It does come, but you do need to practice it fairly consistently. If by "on and off" you mean you try it, get tired, then don't try again for another week or two that won't help. Every day play the passage. Hell, multiple times in the day play it. It's the same as lifting weights, repetition is the key.

One thing that I have noticed is a lot of guys that play speedy licks like this often play near the bridge and use a light touch. I've begun resorting to that for my fast licks even though I'm a die-hard neck pickup player.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the strings are more "stable" near the bridge, they won't flop around on you as much when you're trying to spit out notes rapidly.
 
#7
mozarwasagenius said:
I have been working on the bass solo for "Savation is Here" by Hillsong United.

This is a Praise and Worship song with one of the most difficult basslines to play fingerstyle I've *ever* come across. It is a fantastic warmup exercise.



Bass solo is toward the end of the song

I've been working on it off and on for two years and cannot play fingerstyle up to speed (but I can with a pick).

I think I'm at the point where I can play at 94bpm fingerstyle, but I need to get to 118bpm. I think I may be limited by a difficult fingering or not using some technique that may help.

I think it is doable as I can play 118bpm on a single note without too much difficulty.

I transcribed the bassline myself so it is possible that there is a mistake, but it sounds accurate enough to me. I just cannot play it fast. As this has been a goal of mine for a while I thought I'd send out an "S.O.S." to my TalkBass friends.

I'm playing with roundwounds and low/med action.

Any suggestions?


P.S. I've tried the "start slow and work your way up for two years" and it just isn't happening. Maybe this is a physical limitation of mine but I refuse to believe it just yet.
Click to expand...


I had to learn that song for church. What position are you playing it in. I for the life of me can not play it halfway up the neck, but I can play it in first.
 
#8
I had to learn learn this song a couple years ago. In all honesty, I don't think I've ever played it 100% perfectly. But, I have figured out quite a few tricks to help me get close.

1. Memorize the line. I think the sheer speed of the line makes your brain kind of panic a bit when you're thinking of playing so fast, moving fast, etc. Make sure you know the left hand movements inside and out first of all.

2. Pay *close* attention to which fingers you're using on your right hand. This was huge for me when I finally figured it out. I have noticed that it's always easier for me to jump to a higher string using my middle finger, so I've gotten into the habit of knowing if I need to start each note sequence with my index or middle so that the first note of a jump to another string will be played with my middle finger. It's definitely not the same for everyone, but I think paying attention to tricks like this will help you immensely.

Best of luck man! It's a great song, and you'll be very happy you got it down someday! :)
 
#9
there are a few youtube videos showing how to play the line.
You shouldn't have too much of a problem really.
Just start slow and work up to speed.
 
#10
Here's the sheets/tabs for the bass solo, it's intense:

basssolo.jpg
 
#13
Not necessarily a *hard* song to learn on bass but it does require some endurance to keep pace, especially during the bridge/bass solo. Fun song to play, but I think that ta been cut from a lot of CCM churches BECAUSE it has a bass solo in it.

Slight derail, but what the heck is it with Christian music videography?!?! They can't seem to figure out who to focus on during instrumental bits and whoever directed that video didn't even seem to recognize the bass guitarist as part of the band, let alone when he was playing. I swear that video looks like an ADD crackhead directed its shot sequence!
 
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#14
Skygoneblue said:
2. Pay *close* attention to which fingers you're using on your right hand. This was huge for me when I finally figured it out. I have noticed that it's always easier for me to jump to a higher string using my middle finger, so I've gotten into the habit of knowing if I need to start each note sequence with my index or middle so that the first note of a jump to another string will be played with my middle finger. It's definitely not the same for everyone, but I think paying attention to tricks like this will help you immensely.
Click to expand...

This is what helped me get from about your current speed to 120bpm and more when the drummer speeds up. If you alternate pointer and middle fingers (1-2-1-2-1-2 etc.) and stick to that pattern it should clean things up. Get this slowly. I had to relearn, but it was worth it. The middle finger should land on all of the upward string changes if you stick to that pattern.
 
#15
Learned it (some what) and found that the song never flowed for us. So we changed to the Lincoln Brewster arrangement and just found the song presented for us much better. But,,,,different strokes. and, I also like Norm Stockton's groove on Lincoln's version
 

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