Paul's Bass Transcriptions
  • Home
  • Bass Transcriptions
    • Alternative Country-Rock
    • Alternative-Indie Rock 1
    • Alternative-Indie Rock 2
    • Blues
    • Blues 2
    • Classic Rock
    • Classic Rock 2
    • Jam Band
    • New Wave
    • Miscellaneous
    • Soul / Funk / R&B
    • Soul Jazz
    • Mike Bloomfield...
    • John Hiatt
    • Larkin Poe
    • Los Lobos
    • Matisyahu
    • The Band
    • The Drawbars
    • The Tragically Hip
    • Richard Thompson
    • Tom Waits
    • Uncle Tupelo Wilco Son V
  • Become a Member
    • Membership Levels
  • PDF Copies / Commissions
  • About this Website
    • Contact Me
  • My Old Blog
    • paulsbasstranscriptions
    • Songs still on old Blog
  • More
    • Home
    • Bass Transcriptions
      • Alternative Country-Rock
      • Alternative-Indie Rock 1
      • Alternative-Indie Rock 2
      • Blues
      • Blues 2
      • Classic Rock
      • Classic Rock 2
      • Jam Band
      • New Wave
      • Miscellaneous
      • Soul / Funk / R&B
      • Soul Jazz
      • Mike Bloomfield...
      • John Hiatt
      • Larkin Poe
      • Los Lobos
      • Matisyahu
      • The Band
      • The Drawbars
      • The Tragically Hip
      • Richard Thompson
      • Tom Waits
      • Uncle Tupelo Wilco Son V
    • Become a Member
      • Membership Levels
    • PDF Copies / Commissions
    • About this Website
      • Contact Me
    • My Old Blog
      • paulsbasstranscriptions
      • Songs still on old Blog
Paul's Bass Transcriptions
  • Home
  • Bass Transcriptions
    • Alternative Country-Rock
    • Alternative-Indie Rock 1
    • Alternative-Indie Rock 2
    • Blues
    • Blues 2
    • Classic Rock
    • Classic Rock 2
    • Jam Band
    • New Wave
    • Miscellaneous
    • Soul / Funk / R&B
    • Soul Jazz
    • Mike Bloomfield...
    • John Hiatt
    • Larkin Poe
    • Los Lobos
    • Matisyahu
    • The Band
    • The Drawbars
    • The Tragically Hip
    • Richard Thompson
    • Tom Waits
    • Uncle Tupelo Wilco Son V
  • Become a Member
    • Membership Levels
  • PDF Copies / Commissions
  • About this Website
    • Contact Me
  • My Old Blog
    • paulsbasstranscriptions
    • Songs still on old Blog

Alternative / Indie Rock 2

Matthew Sweet - Divine InterventionThe DB's - JudyThe Minutemen - D' s Car Jam / Anxious MofoThe Replacements - Bastards of Young The Replacments - I Will DareThe Smith's - Reel Around the FountainThe Smiths - The Queen is DeadThe Smiths - Vicar in a TuTuJill Sobule - I Kissed a GirlDwight Twilley Band - I'm On FireThe Velvet Underground - Rock and RollSuzanne Vega - Blood Makes Noise

Matthew Sweet - Divine Intervention - Bass Transcription

Divine Intervention

Matthew Sweet hit it out of the park on his third release.  Great songs with 2 of my favorite guitar players,  Richard Lloyd of Television and Robert Quine. Richard takes the lead on this one.  Also a shout out to  Francois who reviewed this transcription for me.  I usually prefer not to use staccato markings if I think the note duration is correct.  i.e. I prefer a 1/16 note If I think the intention is a 1/16 note, and not a staccato 1/8 note.  However in this case the finally results were  really tough to read so I listened to him and updated the score.  If you want to see the original, send me an email and I'll send you a link to the original unlisted version on YouTube.


View Transcription on YouTube
Want to Purchase a PDF of this transcription?

The DB's - Judy - Bass Transcription

Judy

This was a request from a supporting member.  I was working on the transcription using a VHS copy of the music video.  Then I discovered it had been remastered and included as bonus material as part of the 40th anniversary release of there debut.  Much better results.   This song has a very interesting bass line.  It's worth a few minutes to listen and follow along with the transcription.


 

View Complete Transcription on YouTube
Want a PDF copy? Consider becoming a Supporting Member.

The Minutemen - D's Car Jam / Anxious Mofo - Bass Transcri

D's Car Jam / Anxious Mofo

This is one of those albums you need to listen to before you die.  In my opinion, the Minutemen took the punk DIY ethos one step further, with no limitations on music styles.  They even cover Steely Dan on this album.   Mike Watt is the Phil Lesh of the Punk Scene.  Like Phil he plays counter melody's creating innovative and unique bass lines.  

View Complete Transcription on YouTube
Want a PDF copy? Consider becoming a Supporting Member.

The Replacements - Bastards of Young - Bass Transcription

Bastards of Young

This was a requested song.  Can't go wrong with a Replacements song

View Transcription on YouTube
Want a PDF copy? Consider becoming a Supporting Member.

The Replacements - I Will Dare - Bass Transcription

I Will Dare

I love the Replacements.  One thing I've  noticed about that the bass tabs and bass cover videos for this song ,  they all seem to play the guitar part an octave lower. For this song  I used Transcribe! filtered for bass only frequencies and bump the song up an octave.   It made it  easier to clearly hear the bass line.  

View Transcription on YouTube
Want a PDF copy? Consider becoming a Supporting Member.

The Smith's - Reel Around the Fountain - Bass Transcription

Reel Around the Fountain

If I had to pick my favorite Smiths song I think this is it.

RIP Andy Rourke. 

View Transcription on Youtube
The Smith's - Reel Around the Fountain - Bass Transcription with Bass Tabs
Want a PDF? - Become a Member

The Smiths - Vicar in a TuTu Bass Transcription

Vicar in a TuTu

12 bar progression (8 bars of I  then 2 bars of vi, 1 bar of V,  1 bar of IV) The notes in the bass line over the I chord (E) are consistent, however he changes the timing of the notes on the and of 1 and on 2.  This   keeps the 8 bars of E interesting. 

View Transcription on YouTube
The Smiths - Vicar in a Tutu - Bass Transcription with Bass Tab
Want to Purchase a PDF of this transcription?

Jill Sobule - I kissed a girl - Bass Transcriptions Radio

I Kissed a Girl

Jill Sobule passed away recently in a house fire.  She has been on the cutting edge of inclusivity in music as well as using social media to advance her career.  As here colleagues posted tributes its clear she was an "artists" artist.  I hadn't heard this song in while, first though was this a well crafted bass line.   For those working on improving reading I've included the complete transcription in standard notation.  The YouTube video includes both Standard and Tab

View Complete transcription on YouTube
Want to Purchase a PDF of this transcription?

Dwight Twilley Band - I'm on Fire - Bass Transcriptions

I'm On Fire

A power pop master-piece.  The single was released in 1974 becoming a top- 20 hit, but due to label issues and other bad luck the album release was delayed 18 months.   Unfortunately the album didn't sell very well   He had a second song "Girls" chart in 1984 . Unfortunately he passed away in October of 2023

View Complete Transcription on YouTube
Want a PDF copy? Consider becoming a Supporting Member.

The Velvet Underground - Rock and Roll- Bass Transcriptions

Rock and Roll

 I wasn't sure what category this song belonged in.,  They are not,in my opinion, classic rock so I guess they are the original indie rock band. This was their first album on Atlantic, where they were asked to  "avoid sex and drugs in song and instead focus on making an album loaded  with hits"  Someday I'll transcribe the Rock n Roll Animal version but  for now you 'll have to settle for this version. Nothing difficult about  this song, there are some chromatic note runs from chord to chord.  If  your not already familiar with them they should be added to your  repertoire.  F to C there's a 1 3rd b4th b5  in there verse and the  chorus its 7 R 2 from F to C 

View Complete Transcription on YouTube
Want a PDF copy? Consider becoming a Supporting Member.

Suzanne Vega - Blood Makes Noise - Bass Transcription

Blood Makes Noise

99.9 F° (1992) is part of a great trilogy of albums produced by Mitchel Froom.  Los Lobs Kiko (1992) and Richard Thompson's Rumor and Sigh (1991) round out the trio. Add the great Bruce Thomas (Elvis Costello) on bass and you get folk songs with an edgy sound.   There are a number of slides on this song you'll need to listen to get the exact feel (it definitely doesn't translate to the musescore play along)

View Transcription on YouTube
Want a PDF copy? Consider becoming a Supporting Member.

Copyright © 2025 Paul's Bass Transcriptions - All Rights Reserved.

Powered by

This website uses cookies.

We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.

DeclineAccept