Alternative / Indie Rock 1

What can I say another mid 80's debut album that I love.  Nothing flashy (what would you expect from a T-Bone Burnett produced album).  This song has a simple chord progression but the bass provides a counter melody to the song. It's definitely worth checking out a great example of a supportive bass line that is not just playing the roots.

In a pre-internet era, imagine walking by a newsstand and seeing the premier issue of Guitar for the Practicing Musician.  At one point it was the best selling music magazine before going out of business in 1999.   Since this is a guitar riff based song.  I included it for the first  verse so you can here the bass in context with the guitar.  After the  first verse I include just chords so you can hear the bass clearly. I'm hoping this makes it easier to learn the song. 

A pretty straight forward cover of a Buck Owens tune.  A couple of things to listen for.  During the triplet rhythm, he typically plays the 2nd note really short, shorter than the mp3 sounds.  Also during the triplet rhythm her varies the note duration's.  The leading note is generally held for a whole note of the triplet, however a few times it's played short or long.  On the trailing note of the triplet besides playing it really short, sometimes it's just left out.  These are all nuances that really make a difference in nailing a simple song like this.

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What can I say I'm a big Cake fan.  Even if you are not, I highly recommend reading / watching the transcription at least once.  The bass players in Cake craft interesting and melodic bass lines over pretty straight forward chord progressions.  This song is no exception. Listen to what you can do with just the Octave, lower 5th and flat 7 as well as varying the note duration's.  Watch for the staccato markings

A  three chord song based around a I IV V  progression ( there is a I IMaj7 I7 progression at the beginning of the verse so technically a 5 chord song).  But like most Cake songs there is a  great bass line, in this case built around an 8 4 b5 5 R 8 pattern.  

As I've made very clear, I'm a huge fan of Cake.  This eclectic collection of covers is a must listen.   If you haven't heard there version of War Pigs yet please check it out now.   This song is technically a cover also here's s snippet of original spoken word version.  I really like how the bass player handles the Em7 to A progression.

Like the band Cake , Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker (Both fronted by David Lowery) have bass players that craft great melodic bass lines.  In this song which repeats a 4 measure chord progression through the entire song  Victor Krummenacher bass line adds all the "harmonic interest"   He sticks to Root 3rd 5th and octave for the most part.  What I really like about it is the call and response nature of  his bass line.  after the 1st 4 bars he goes up an octave, varying his note choice, but keeping the rhythmic pulse relatively the same.   

One of the technological advances I find my self using all the time is Shazam.  I was watching My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman and I hear this song with a hypnotic repeating guitar riff.  Quickly grabbing my phone , I activate SHAZAM and it's Marinade by Dope Lemon.   I forgot I had transcribed this.  One update I made, is if you look at measure 9, I changed beat 3 and 4 from 1/8 notes to staccato 1/4 notes.  It seems to me to be much easier to read.  This is another song that's a good reading exercise, it has enough variation to keep you on your toes.

This is another album that just blew me away the first time I heard.  I miss what I call the  "Angry Franti"  This song has three main parts.  I've added some of the guitar parts so you can hear the bass in context 

Another example of band that resonated with me the first time I heard them.  There are lots of great transcriptions available.  This is their latest release and no transcriptions yet so here we go.  It's a pretty straight forward song.   There are 5 sections to this song.  Watch Section D which is only 3 measures and Section E which repeats a 7 measure pattern.  

As I mentioned early I really like this band and there are a lot of great transcriptions available.  This is from their latest release. and a pretty straight forward song.   Section A doesn't have a repeatable pattern that I can make out.  If you hear one please let me know.  Also There are some unique (to me anyway) chord voicings that I hear.  If I have some free time I  may add them in the future. 

This album was my introduction to Khruangbin (pronounced KRUNGbin).  I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but it's mine. :-)  I want to thank the YouTube Channel Guitar Strategies  for sharing his guitar transcription with me.  If you haven't checked them out yet, your missing out on Laura Lee Ochaoa's  interesting and melody driven bass lines.  I've included the chord names so you can see the harmonic context for note choices.  From a notation persepective, I did try to limit the number of 1/16 note rests. I like to see clear down beats, in some cases combining 2 1/16 note rests into an 1/8 note rest would"blur" the down beats.  If you're a great sight-reader I'd be curious on how you would notate it.  (look at measure 7 as an example) 

Flashback  to 1991 and WXRT in Chicago.  Great Power-Pop band.

I had posted a partial transcription of this song on my original blog.  Upon further review I made some improvements.  

Being a big fan of late 70's New Wave, I'm a sucker for melodic bass lines.  Here's a pretty good but not difficult one.  For the most part by adding one extra note creates a very melodic line.  In the verse Over the A chord he plays Root 2nd and 6th's,  Over the D chord Root and 2nd and the B chord Root and b7.   The non-chord tones add all the melody.  Since they are all major chords the chord tones are R 3rd and 5th.  

Thought I'd try something different, since the video includes the tab I posted the notation version for anyone that wants to practice site reading.  There are subtle variations, so even though its not to difficult you need to pay attention.  The tabs and notation are always always available for supporting members