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Simplest Song You Just Can't Play?

#61
Art Araya said:
I always considered country bass lines to be very boring and simple. The first time I had to play one on an original song my band leader wrote, I struggled mightily. Hitting the notes was not the problem, the feel was the problem. How long to hold the notes, the right tone, etc... I had not listened to this genre before and had spent no time working on it. I had always assumed it was easy. It was MUCH more challenging than I had ever thought. It gave me a new appreciation and opened my eyes in regards to capturing the feel of a genre.
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I agree and was just telling an old band mate about this today. When I got into country I came from a classic rock/rock background and knowing what to play in a country song was not hard notes wise. The timing,phrasing,and feel as well as where I played on the beats and accents was a real learning experience and today at times..still is.
 
#63
True enough. For instance something like Folsom Prison. The manner in which you can hang the root and attack the fifth and back to the root can really add tension to the simple little ditty that it is. There is a lot of angst in the lyric and you can really convey that in the bass line. And lord is it fun to play tunes like that, simple as they are. And as always, it's not the notes you play that count, it's the spaces in between that make it sound good.
 
#65
Luckily I don't play it in my current band since I've done to death in countless other bands but "Wonderful Tonight" is that song for me. Its so slow and simple that I tended to space out at least once when we'd play that song and I'd randomly miss a change about 40% of the time. I used to have to concentrate way more than I felt I should have had to, just to make it through that one.
 
#69
96tbird said:
True enough. For instance something like Folsom Prison. The manner in which you can hang the root and attack the fifth and back to the root can really add tension to the simple little ditty that it is. There is a lot of angst in the lyric and you can really convey that in the bass line. And lord is it fun to play tunes like that, simple as they are. And as always, it's not the notes you play that count, it's the spaces in between that make it sound good.
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Good example. Easy song but like allot of country you have to play it with timing and feel. We bring the tempos up and down on it and add a stop or two in verses to mix it up.
 
#73
two fingers said:
... I'm probably the only fan on this forum of Arc Angels, a band he was in with Double Trouble and Doyle Bramhall. ...
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No you're not. I saw them live in a club once back when they toured their album. I walked up to Doyle to talk to him but I was so drunk I couldn't think of anything clever to say. So I just said "I really dig what ya'll are doing with Arc Angels" and he said "Thanks, man" and then I just wobbled away. Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton weren't socializing and Charlie Sexton was surrounded by wimmenz.
They killed and made it look easy like all good bands do.
 

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