Loving the simple stuff

[inanimate_carb]

• What are your favorite simple songs to play?

All of ‘em. "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" and "My Girl" this week, but this will change next week. I got into playing to play and be around others that like to play too. I’m not a gear collector, I’m in this for musical reasons.

• Do you have any tricks or tips for loving to play those songs?

Play in the moment, play for the music that's actually happening - not the music you think is happening, enjoy how well a good song works, and have gratitude for the place you occupy onstage. Many people would LOVE to be up there but can’t be for a million reasons.

• Can you play Eminem's Lose Yourself without straying on a single note?

Yes. Eminem’s bassist (if there is one) has to as well. It’s his job, and guys that try to get jiggy with that stuff at that high level end up getting canned. Happens so often that you can set your watch by it.

• What's the most hated song that you love playing most?

“What I like About You”, I think.

• Do you enjoy seeing other bass busy up simple bass lines?

Hell no. Makes the bass player and the entire rest of the band look and sound like immature idiots. It’s easy to think you’re being clever, but you’re not. Every hit tune that ends up being a bar band staple was discussed, arranged, written, re-written, and had to pass muster through many sets of professional-level ears before it ever made it to a position of release to a buying public. Little improvement, if any, is needed. If there was need for musical modification, a weekend player who spends more time writing code and dodging calls and emails all week than studying and playing bass probably isn’t the guy to do it.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Lots of peeps are postin lots of threads lately on tunes they hate playing. I get it, and I believe we all have the right to play whatever makes us happy. If money, however, is the proverbial carrot at the end of our bass playing stick, then I think we'll be happiest if we learn to LOVE everything we play. I committed to this about a year ago, and I must in my best humble brag state that it's going exceptionally well. I thought it might be a good idea to kick this topic around for others who have committed or would like to one day commit to...

​

Loving the simple stuff!

Some things to consider, but write whatever you want:

• What are your favorite simple songs to play?
• Do you have any tricks or tips for loving to play those songs?
• Can you play Eminem's Lose Yourself without straying on a single note?
• What's the most hated song that you love playing most?
• Do you enjoy seeing other bass busy up simple bass lines?

I'll chime in later. Have to get to my day job.

I’ve been playing this cover for nearly 20 years and the fans would probably hang us if we didn’t play it at shows. It’s tough to practice having played it so many times but the crowd response is always great so I don’t mind playing it at gigs. I just focus more on the crowds enjoyment when we play it.

This we recorded while were in the studio for our last album

Heres a much older version of us playing it around 2004


As you can see it’s changed over the years.

 

[Spidey2112]

Simple is the only thing I'm capable of.

I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit...

... you possess an outstanding ability to recognize greatness in the field of simple, sophomoric humor...

... always a plus, in my book!

 

[onosson]

I sit in with a Soul group occasionally. One of the mainstays in their set list is Higher and Higher by Jackie Wilson. Three-note bass line, one chord for the entire song. Couldn't be simpler. But it's got a great groove (live it's more up-tempo than the recorded version), and the horn players and vocalist in the band are on the money. It's one of the highlights of the set for me, even though it is 100% repetition on the bass.

 

[electracoyote]

I can totally agree with this, with one caveat: It has to be performed well. I can't stand performing a song that been over-simplified by a hack who is too lazy, untalented or both, to learn the song.

It's a valid an interesting point.

As has been said here on TB many times, and it holds true in my experience, a lot of the standard cover songs that musicians complain about playing, they never even listened and bothered to learn the intricacies of the lines. They're mailing it in based on the chord progression (and sometimes they even hack that up) and re-writing the parts because they either lack the ear, skill, or have a pre-disposed bias against the song. Some of the usual suspects on the "most hated cover songs" list are generally hacked to death when they actually offer otherwise interesting and challenging lines. And yes, there is a challenge to even simple concepts like groove, elegance, and restraint.

Quick example: "Sweet Home Alabama." I think I'm one of three guys in town who I've heard play that bass line as recorded. Most dumb it down or re-write it in a depressingly inferior and un-musical fashion. To play it as-recorded takes a little doing.

 

[wysiwyg248]

• What are your favorite simple songs to play? Jimmy Ate World: The middle, The Knack: My Sharona, The Cult: She Sells Sanctuary. etc.

• Do you have any tricks or tips for loving to play those songs? Learning to love what you like is easy, anyone can do it. Learn to challenge yourself and love what you don't like. That will pave the path to get to a gig or sessions and approach stuff in a completely different way. Other players will note that and you will be called more often. This country was established on this.... "Give me your poor, give me your hungry"

• Can you play Eminem's Lose Yourself without straying on a single note? Yes, needs good concentration as I tend to start thinking about other stuff near the end.

• What's the most hated song that you love playing most? Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo, I always hate this song name but is so challenging that I love to play it. This cover does it justice

• Do you enjoy seeing other bass busy up simple bass lines? No, the KISS principle is always applicable. Keep the busy stuff for the songs that need it.

 

[Alfonso Alba]

I started playing only 8 or 9 months ago. Started with some really easy stuff like some Beastie Boys and Nirvana stuff, then progressed into some of the easier Radiohead stuff. I started taking lessons in January with a jazz bassist. He's a very good teacher but wants me to improvise walking basslines over blues progressions, which is quite hard for me. I can learn a walking bassline and play it over and over, and I can barely improvise over a scale, but improvising while keeping in mind the structure of the progression is just too much for me.

So yeah, I love playing the easy stuff. Just enjoying the song without having to think about 100s of things at a time. Plus, even though I don't dislike jazz, it's not my thing. I do look forward to playing more difficult stuff, though.

 

[packhowitzer]

 

[JTE]

• What are your favorite simple songs to play? "My Girl", "I'll Take You There", "Ball of Confusion", "Evil Ways", and lots of classic country stuff
• Do you have any tricks or tips for loving to play those songs?- I've shared this before, but when I started I played country, and gigged for years and years with several bands. Members come and go, different gigs with different players, etc. Pretty much any night I knew I'd paly "Good Hearted Woman". It's got no rhythmic activity, and it's a total of seven notes IF you do the key change. I hated it. Despised it. Dreaded it. Then I decided I could either hate those three minutes of each gig or try to enjoy it. So, I started using it as the song to work on basics. How do I connect with THIS drummer tonight? What's the exact right length to hold each note on the verse vs. the chorus? How do I place the time with THIS singer and THIS guitar player? It became my favorite because of all those nuances.
• Can you play Eminem's Lose Yourself without straying on a single note? I don't know, as I don't pay attention at all to Eminem
• What's the most hated song that you love playing most? I dunno- I like playing stuff that clicks with the people paying the band. I don't want to play bass for myself and my friends in the basement, I want to get out and play gigs. Once you put your hand out for money, that totally colors your position as an "artist". I don't despise "Mustang Sally", "Brown Eyed Girl", et. al. I do hate playing Skynyrd but that's because I find their songs to be generally pretty lame. But I've played a lot of 'em over the last 40 years.
• Do you enjoy seeing other bass busy up simple bass lines? Sure. I NEVER deign to confuse "arrangement" and/or "recording" with "song". And just because the hit record you know about has a simple bass line, doesn't mean that's the only way to play the song. Lots of times the bassline on the record is what worked for that drummer, keyboard player, singer, producer, phase of the moon, etc. Change the tempo, the key, and the parts might need to change. Unless you lovingly regurgitate the exact recording (in which case you might as well just get a DJ and play recordings), everything may be subject to change.

 

[lbbc]

We just learned 7 new (to us) songs tonight and all relatively simple. I Got The Music In Me, Life in the Fast Lane, Gimme Some Lovin, Free Ride, Tequila Sunrise, Margaritaville and Me and Bobby MeGee. We'll be playing them this weekend. Love simple stuff that comes together quickly

 

[Fat Freddy]

What's the most hated song that you love playing most?

Mustang Sally.....It has so much messaroundabality....

 

[MrLenny1]

Gotta play the gig Don't mind the simple tunes but
sure does get boring. Patrons eat it up though.
The poopie we do for a gig.

 

[Skerrvydog]

"Jean Genie" is one that i get to play often with a current band. So simple a song but never gets old. There's still room for inventiveness in playing even when sticking to the original recording.
Sometimes replicating all the little idiosyncrasies of an original recording is a fun challenge in itself, like how the bass player almost forgot to repeat the chorus the second time round on this one, or the little syncopation right before the first vocals come in (which my drummer claims no other bassist he's played with except me actually bothered to pick up on and play, so now we really play it up)
simple songs allow me the opportunity to focus on what made the SONG a hit in the first place, and challenges me to get to that place immediately with heart and soul.

 

[pigpen1]

Lots of peeps are postin lots of threads lately on tunes they hate playing. I get it, and I believe we all have the right to play whatever makes us happy. If money, however, is the proverbial carrot at the end of our bass playing stick, then I think we'll be happiest if we learn to LOVE everything we play. I committed to this about a year ago, and I must in my best humble brag state that it's going exceptionally well. I thought it might be a good idea to kick this topic around for others who have committed or would like to one day commit to...

​

Loving the simple stuff!

Some things to consider, but write whatever you want:

• What are your favorite simple songs to play?
• Do you have any tricks or tips for loving to play those songs?
• Can you play Eminem's Lose Yourself without straying on a single note?
• What's the most hated song that you love playing most?
• Do you enjoy seeing other bass busy up simple bass lines?

I'll chime in later. Have to get to my day job.

• What are your favorite simple songs to play? Too many. Complexity has nothing to do with enjoyment, for me.
• Do you have any tricks or tips for loving to play those songs? If people want to hear them, I'd play them. Simple as that.
• Can you play Eminem's Lose Yourself without straying on a single note? Probably, however I can't belive anyone wants to hear this, ever again, at this point. Eminem is as relevant as Jnco jeans at this point.
• What's the most hated song that you love playing most? Anything the crowd wants
• Do you enjoy seeing other bass busy up simple bass lines? Nope, not really.

 

[bumperbass]

ZZ Top has some cool tunes with simple basslines that are real fun to play.

I agree, but they bury and muddy up Dusty's bass so bad on some songs, I can't tell exactly what he's playing that's so simple to begin with.

 

[bumperbass]

1) I have railed on this subject 'til I'm blue in the face here. So, short version, I agree.

They added "Spooky" (bar none the WORST song EVER played in a bar and only enjoyed by 60 year old guys in bleech white New Balance sneakers) and "Cat Scratch Fever" (eyes rolling out the back of my head)

You sir, have nerves of steel-reinforced steel.

 

[brett adams]

canned heat - on the road again
pink floyd - one of these days
spoon - i turn my camera on
shellac - end of radio

 

[electracoyote]

I don't know much about Eminem, but here's a simple song that I had no idea it would go over in our shows:


And yes, our guitarist plays the solo that badly...

Wow, blast from the past, great song. I had almost forgotten about that one.

I am intrigued by the mysterious appearance of the original line-up of 10cc in the video...hmmm.

 

[Groove Doctor]

In my humble (yet highly accurate) opinion™, the songs most musicians hate playing are songs that have been covered badly so often, that most only consider them as bad covers.

Exactly!

It’s funny but I always used to make jokes about Mustang Sally until one day an old bluesman gently grabbed my lapel and said “Hey kid!” (I had just turned 60 at the time, but he was in his mid 80s so I guess he had earned the right to call me a “kid.) He said before I wrnt around “crabbing” a Wilson Pickett song like that, maybe I should first go and closely listen to the original recording. Because he said he’d bet money that I was like most wiseasses who had never played that song right even once. He told me go and really listen to it and then see if I felt the same way about it afterwards.

So now suitably chastised, I went and did. And he was right. It’s a cool little song. And I was playing it wrong. And the way I was playing it was what sucked - not the song itself.

Late life lesson learned. Thank you old blues guy!

+1,000,000. Ed Friedland looked at this in one of his blogs. He admitted he'd been playing it wrong for decades. What a great guy!!

Play in the moment, play for the music that's actually happening - not the music you think is happening, enjoy how well a good song works, and have gratitude for the place you occupy onstage. Many people would LOVE to be up there but can’t be for a million reasons.

That's a great point... thanks man!

....a lot of the standard cover songs that musicians complain about playing, they never even listened and bothered to learn the intricacies of the lines. They're mailing it in based on the chord progression (and sometimes they even hack that up) and re-writing the parts because they either lack the ear, skill, or have a pre-disposed bias against the song. Some of the usual suspects on the "most hated cover songs" list are generally hacked to death when they actually offer otherwise interesting and challenging lines. And yes, there is a challenge to even simple concepts like groove, elegance, and restraint.

Quick example: "Sweet Home Alabama." I think I'm one of three guys in town who I've heard play that bass line as recorded. Most dumb it down or re-write it in a depressingly inferior and un-musical fashion. To play it as-recorded takes a little doing.

So many play it soooo sloppy it hurts to listen to it.... I can understand why they have learned to hate it. The guys I've played that with were top notch and the crowds go apes##t for it.

 

[pcake]

• What are your favorite simple songs to play?

my favorite simple song to play is def leppard's hysteria - i didn't particularly care for the song, but one morning maybe 8 months ago it suddenly came into my head that i wanted to play along with it. i grabbed a bass and it was fun and super easy. now i've grown to enjoy playing it.

robert plant's 29 palms. i love the song - for me, it's magical - and i love to play it even though it's very simple.

some more easy ones i love to play include -
ac/dc's have a drink on me
b-52's love shack
the black keys' gold on the ceiling
zz top's a fool for your stockings
creedence clearwater - down on the corner

• Do you have any tricks or tips for loving to play those songs?

i love to play, and after some shoulder damage, i had to retrain my muscles, and i was just so darned grateful i could play at all. but even before that, i love to play and i love music. when i was in my early twenties there were probably a few songs i didn't want to sing, but i'm over that now.

• What's the most hated song that you love playing most?

dunno. i could learn to play mustang sally, then come back and post that in this thread

• Do you enjoy seeing other bass busy up simple bass lines?

depends on the tune. some songs are nice with the spice, others are best with the bass player laying out the foundation. and, of course, it depends on whether the notes and timing work with the song.