Mike Bloomfield and...: Bass Transcriptions

This is another one of my favorite albums.  The great Harvey Brooks  plays bass on this one.  For those interested here's some of his recording credits.    His playing is supportive yet interesting.  If you play the same basic  pattern throughout  a blues progression, this will be an eye opener.   Take your time working through the verses and your blues bass playing  and vocabulary will greatly improve.   

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The great Harvey Brooks gives a master class on how to play over a simple chord progression,  His playing is supportive her clearly outlines the chord changes for the soloist.  He plays a highly syncopated line, rarely repeating himself. A simple progression like this could easily get boring for the listener.  By varying the rhythm as well as note choices, Harvey keeps it interesting for the listener. 

This is the 2nd transcription I've done off of the first Paul Butterfield Blues Band Album.  A straight forward cover of a Little Walter song, Jerome Arnold keeps things interesting.  This a good song to learn if your looking to improve your blues bass skills.  There is enough variation to keep things interesting but he never gets in the way of the singer or the soloists.

I've always been a big Mike Bloomfield fan.  This song is pretty straight forward from a bass perspective.  What I found interesting is that the bass line in measure 4 (Changing from the I chord to the IV Chord) varies each time thru the progression.