Big Head Todd & The Monsters - Bittersweet - Bass Transcript
Bittersweet - Midnight Radio Version
Another Album that blew me away the first time I heard it. I think one of the reasons is that the songs were recorded and mixed live to 2-track so its got a "live in the studio" sound. Listen to the studio version released on their major record debut Sister Sweetly and you hear the difference.
There are mostly subtle variations in the bass line, with lots of sliding into notes (Which really can't be captured in midi format) The Verse and Chorus chord progressions are the same so Rob Squires (the bass player) starts the Chorus an octave higher than the verse. This is pretty common in songs that have a consistent chord progression through out the song.
Grateful Dead - New Speedway Boogie
New Speedway Boogie
What the heck another complete bass transcription of a Grateful Dead song. After completing the transcription, I probably should have done this is in 12/8 time. I prefer the triplet 4/4 because I find it easier to follow then 12/8. Which do you prefer. This was updated on 2/14/24
Grateful Dead, New Speedway Boogie, Bass Transcription , Bass Tab
Grateful Dead - Operator
Operator
One of the few Grateful Dead songs I'll transcribe note for note. In typical Phil fashion, lots of notes on the off beats.
If you learn the 1st (13 measures) and
2nd Verse (16 measures ) you pretty much have the song down.
Updated 2/14/24 - After listening again lots of tweaks
Grateful Dead, Operator, Bass Transcription , Bass Tab
Gov't Mule - Bad Little Doggie - Bass Transcription
Bad Little Doggie
Another great song off a great album. The song is transcribed in standard tuning, you will need to tune down 1/2 step to play along with the album. A driving 1/16 note rhythm (mostly Eb) propels the song allowing Warren to play a syncopated guitar riff on top. As usual any constructive feedback is greatly appreciated.
Gov't Mule - Lay Your Burden Down Bass Transcription
Lay Your Burden
I love Allen Woody's bass playing> It's aggressive and in your face, yet grooves. He was perfect for this jamming power trio. Expect to see more of his bass lines transcribed.
I did a lot of editing to make this as "readable" as possible. I may have made some mistakes while cleaning up. Please leave a comment if you find a mistake.
Gov't Mule - Thelonius Beck Bass Transcription
Explore Our Music
Another great Gov't Mule song off a great album. It took a while (and some help) to get all the time signatures correct. Main Theme is 12/8 but there are measures of 3/4 4/4 and 9/8 in the song.
Warren Haynes Band - This Life As We Know It - Bass Transcri
This Life As We Know It
On Warrens Haynes latest solo release, Kevin Scott (the newest Gov't Mule Bass player) holding down the bottom end. To me he combines the best of Allen Woody and Andy Hess (Woody's original replacement) Like his previous solo album 2011's Man in Motion, their is definitely more of an RnB feel than his work with Gov't Mule.
Medeski Martin & Wood - BubbleHouse - Bass Transcription
BubbleHouse
This is the 2nd song off of Shack-Man that I've transcribed. I love Chris Woods playing. Even when he goes out there, he's always grooving. The tempo of the song varies through-out the song. I did my best to capture the spirit of the tempo changes. As always constructive feedback is always welcome.
Medeski Martin & Wood - Night Marchers - Bass Transcription
Night Marchers
Night Marchers
Someone on Talkbass was looking for this song and since I hadn't listened to MM&W in a while I figured I'd blow the dust off of the album. I forgot how much I really like it, especially Chris Woods playing. He has chops for days but never lets them get in the way of the song. This and Bublehouse are 2 great examples.
So there are many reasons to transcribe music, it all depends on your goal. If you are trying to learn a song quickly, pick out the key areas and move on. If you are trying to improve your playing, spending time to learn the nuances and adding new ideas to your repertoire is also important.
In the Jam band world, what someone plays on the record vs. what they play live may be very different. Because of the effects he is using, I felt the need to look up some live videos and try to confirm what I though I heard him playing. Live he played the main ideas but some of the subtleties I was trying to pick up were different. In the end it was musical and that's all that matters. I'll repeat this a lot in my posts.
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Notes
Night Marchers
I had trouble in a few spots, if you hear something different please leave a comment, I'm always striving to improve the accuracy and efficiency of my transcriptions. On to the music....
There are a couple of main themes, if you nail them you have the song. If you get section A , B and E down you are good to go.
Section A should have been easy but running it through filters eliminated some of the chord tones. I heard this a couple of different ways. He plays R 3 5 chords on the bass, G Ab A. First time he plays it he doesn't really play the 5th on the A chord which sounded really cool to me (and wanted to hear it played that way through out the song, but he goes on to emphasize all 3 notes). I watched a few live videos, one he plays it an octave lower then the record the other sounds like just root notes with effects. Root 3rd seems to do the trick, especially if playing it clean.
Section E I had trouble with the first measure, on the live videos I couldn't hear anything like the the record, In each case he plays something cool sounding to transition from the F# ending of section B to the A note at the start of the 2nd measure of Section E.
moe - Nebraska - Bass Transcription
Nebraska
Another one of my favorite Jam Bands. They write great songs and definitely know how to play extended versions without getting boring. I think the bands secret weapon is percussionist Jim Loughlin. Here's a picture of his live set-up. They are also a taper friendly band so you can check out audience tapes of their live shows here. 10 of there most popular songs (with bass tabs) are available for purchase on line, so this is my 11th favorite moe. song :-)