THE HOW TO PLAY BASS MONTHLY EZINE - MARCH 2014 Welcome to the free how to play bass monthly ezine for March, 2014. In this month s issue we re going to have the second part of a two part tutorial looking at Paul McCartney s bass line to the classic Beatles tune Dear Prudence. Although I ve done the transcribing and put everything together for this issue of the free ezine - and for the next issue too - the video for both of the parts of Dear Prudence will be taught by guest teacher Gordon Clayton. Updates To The How To Play Bass Website Before we go onto the song tutorial I just want to take a moment to tell you about upcoming changes to the how to play bass website: 1. Firstly the website is being redeveloped/redesigned at the moment. I m not sure when the new layout will roll out...but it will be in the next couple of months hopefully. 2. Those of you who ve subscribed for longer than a few months will notice that the monthly ezines were erratic in 2013. That s something I m rectifying and from now on they will be regular. Every month there will be a new song tutorial and the previous months song tutorial will disappear into the archive of First Bass And Beyond. 3. Those of you who ve visited the website recently may notice that it hasn t been updated with new songs recently. That s partly because of the redesign that s ongoing. And partly because of a change of policy. For most of 2013 I ve been filming two video tutorials a week to tie in with my weekly magazine First Bass And Beyond. And I ve been posting versions of those tutorials on youtube and on the How To Play Bass website. I have nearly 300 videos on YouTube and have decided that although the 2 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2013 how-to-play-bass.com
two video tutorials a week schedule will continue, I won t post many of these tutorials to Youtube anymore. Perhaps it will be one a month plus the free song tutorial like this one. 4. This policy is already under way - here are videos that subscribers of First Bass And Beyond have had access to that weren t uploaded to Youtube: Blame It On The Boogie (the Jackson) Money (Pink Floyd) Lovely Day (Bill Withers) Celebration (Kool And The Gang) Everybody Needs Somebody (The Blues Brothers) Oh What A Night (Franki Valli) Pride And Joy (Stevie Ray Vaughan) C Mon Everybody (Eddie Cochrane) Tutti Frutti (Little Richard) Great Balls Of Fire (Jerry Lee Lewis) I Predict A Riot (The Kaiser Chiefs) Have You Ever Seen The Rain (Creedence Clearwater Revival) Johnny B Goode (Chuck Berry) Smile Like You Mean It (The Killers) Somebody Told Me (The Killers) 5. Upcoming tutorials will be focused on songs that are commonly played by gigging bands. That will range from soul and R&B classics to rock and rock blues tunes. Songs that will be featured in tutorials over the next few weeks include Feeling Alright (Joe Cocker), Happy (Pharell Williams), I Knew You Were Trouble (Taylor Swift), 1999 (Prince), Whipping Post (The Allman Brothers), more Beatles and so on. 6. I ve added a new section to First Bass And Beyond called Working Basslines. That section features complete tutorials for songs that bands commonly play - these tutorials feature streaming and downloadable videos, notation in PDF and tab, instruction on creating individual sections in Band In A Box to isolate and practice (which includes necessary chords and keys and tempo information) and also bass less backing tracks to play along with. 3 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2013 how-to-play-bass.com
7. Over the next few months I m going to serialise a book I wrote - called LEARN SONGS NOT SCALES - that details the background to why I don t think bass players should learn scales by rote. (Note bass players DO need to understand scales and how they are formed...but we don t need to practice them by rote. It will all be spelled out over the next few months!) In this issue we re going to analyze sections of eight different bass lines to see what s going on in them - and to show you how you don t need to practice scales! So things are changing. I ll keep you posted as the updates roll out. 4 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2013 how-to-play-bass.com
DEAR PRUDENCE PART 1 by THE BEATLES - bass by PAUL McCART- NEY In February s tutorial we started looking at Dear Prudence by The Beatles. And we got about 2/3rds of the way through the track. In Part 2 of the two part tutorial we re going to finish up the tutorial with the remaining third of the song that we ve got to cover. As I said in the introduction, the video portion of the tutorial will be taken by guest instructor Gordon Clayton. Here s the remaining sections to cover: 5 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com
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LEARN SONGS NOT SCALES! 3 Analysis of Random Bass Lines (part 1) This month we re going to look at 16 bar samples from 8 songs that I ve transcribed - and I chose these 8 songs pretty randomly, they cover different players and different styles of music. Next week there will be 8 more 16 bar samples with analyses to see what s going on in the lines. A Note About Terminology If you ve never encountered any of my bass line analysis before, the analysis is done underneath the notes, between the notation and tab staffs. Like in this example: The numbers represent the following: r= root note 5= fifth of the scale 6 = sixth of the scale b3 = flat 3rd of the scale b7 = flat 7th of the scale ch = chromatic sl = slash chord bass note And so on. When we ve looked at these 16 examples over the next two columns - which covers 256 bars of bass playing - then we ll summarize what we ve learned. Here s the first analysis - it s 16 bars of Layla: 7 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com
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Analysis 2 - She Caught The Katy 9 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com
Analysis 3 - The Chicken (James Brown) 10 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com
Analysis 4 - Silly Love Songs 11 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com
Analysis 5 - For Once In My Life 12 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com
Analysis 6 - Start Me Up 13 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com
Analysis 7 - Fantasy 14 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com
Analysis 8 - You Oughta Know 15 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com
We ll pick this up again next week with 8 more random songs chosen and 16 bar sections analyzed in this fashion. Then we ll summarize what we ve seen. 16 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com
FIRST BASS AND BEYOND - THE ULTIMATE SONG RESOURCE FOR BEGINNER AND INTERMEDIATE BASS PLAYERS If you ve read this far it shows that you re interested in detailed song tutorials for bass. How would you like to get access to over 200 song tutorials over the next year for less than a dollar a tutorial? Well First Bass And Beyond gives you that... Here s how it works. First Bass And Beyond is based on a magazine model and I publish a PDF like this one every Friday at 5pm GMT. Each magazine includes two song tutorials in the PDF that are complemented with video tutorials and MP3s as well. I publish 50 issues a year - so that s 100 song tutorials over the next year. Additionally there is a section of the website called Working Bass Lines - and new members will get a new song every week in that section of the website. That takes you up to 150 song tutorials in the next year. (See list at the end of this PDF) When you join you get access to the archive of the free How To Play Bass monthly ezine - there are currently 35 videos in that archive. That s 185 song tutorials. (These 35 tutorials are all immediately available - and to see what songs are available, see the list at the end of the PDF) When you join you also get access to the Bass For Beginners course which currently includes another 35 song tutorials - that makes 220 song tutorials. (And these 35 tutorials are available immediately). Plus if you subscribe as an annual member you get 10 back issues of the magazine as a bonus - that could potentially add another 20 song tutorials to your song tutorial library! There s more in the magazine too - a main transcription every week that is usually more advanced and doesn t have video to go with. Plus there s 17 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com
a theory column for bass players taught from the perspective of the bass player s role in a band playing songs. And there s currently a column deconstructing the playing of Rocco Prestia of Tower Of Power. When this column has finished I ll move on and deconstruct Tommy Shannon s bass playing. And so on. All this costs either $57 for a quarter or $187 for a year. The full details are here: http://www.how-to-play-bass.com/first-bass-and-beyond.html Contact If you ve got any other questions don t hesitate to email me via the contact form on the website. Have a great month, and enjoy. Paul PS - there are lists of what songs are featured in the Archive and what songs are featured in the Working Bass Line Section to follow. 18 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com
LIST OF SONGS INCLUDED IN THE WORKING BASS LINES SECTION OF THE FIRST BASS AND BEYOND WEBSITE When I decided on creating this section of the First Bass And Beyond website I polled the current subscribers who are currently in gigging bands and asked for them to post their set lists. The following list of songs is pooled from these set lists - and bear in mind that although the bulk of those who responded live and gig in the US, I also had responses from the UK, Australia and other countries. This section WILL be expanded to 100 songs in the future - and undoubtedly there will be more classic rock, more classic R&B, more Motown, a heap of blues songs and more! PLEASE NOTE: when you join FB&B these songs appear on a weekly basis...starting with Midnight Hour. 1. Midnight Hour by Wilson Pickett 2. Brown Sugar by The Rolling Stones 3. Proud Mary by Creedence Clearwater Revival 4. Jumping Jack Flash by The Rolling Stones 5. Superstition by Stevie Wonder 6. Play That Funky Music b7 Wild Cherry 7. I Feel Good by James Brown 8. Cocaine by Eric Clapton 9. Respect by Aretha Franklin 10. Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd 11.Sultans Of Swing by Dire Straits 12.La Grange by ZZ Top 13. Johnny B Goode by Chuck Berry 154. Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison 15. We Are Young by Fun 16. Light My Fire by The Doors 17. Who ll Stop The Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival 18. Gimme Some Loving by The Blues Brothers 19. September by Earth Wind and Fire 20. Twist and Shout by The Beatles 21. Good Times by Chic 19 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com
22. Mustang Sally by The Commitments 23. Pride And Joy by Stevie Ray Vaughan 24. I Wish by Stevie Wonder 25. Long Train Running by The Doobie Brothers 26.Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix 27. Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones 28. I Saw Her Standing There by The Beatles 29. Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams 30. Lost In Music by Sister Sledge 31.Soul Man by Sam And Dave 32. Suspicious Minds by Elvis 33.Back In The USSR by The Beatles 34.Carwash by Rose Royce 35. Le Freak by Chic 36. Stand By Me by Ben E King 37. Pinball Wizard by The Who 38. Billie Jean by Michael Jackson 39. Honky Tonk Woman by The Rolling Stones 40. Hey Joe by Jimi Hendrix 41. Forget You by Ceelo Green 42. Locked Out Of Heaven by Bruno Mars 43. Let s Stick Together by Roxy Music 44. Stuck In The Middle With You by Stealer s Wheel 45. Brick House by The Commodores 46. Great Balls Of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis 47. Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 48. Smooth by Santana 49.Roadhouse Blues by The Doors 50. Black Magic Woman by Santana Note: Tutorials for some of these songs can be found on my YouTube channel. The working basslines section has a fuller tutorial with tab and notation, has bass less backing tracks to practice with, and also has a tutorial section on programming the different sections of the tune with Band In A Box so that you can isolate sections giving you problems. 20 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com
LIST OF SONGS INCLUDED IN THE ARCHIVE SECTION OF THE FIRST BASS AND BEYOND WEBSITE A Love Of Their Own by The Average White Band After Midnight by Eric Clapton All The Small Things by Blink 182 Alright Now by Free Band Of Gold by Freda Payne 7 Nation Army by The White Stripes Sunshine Of Your Love by Cream Green Onions by Booker T Behind A Painted Smile by The Isley Brothers Black Dog by Led Zeppelin Crossroads by Cream Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding Don t Stand So Close to me by The Police Factory Of Faith by The Red Hot Chili Peppers Get Lucky by Daft Punk Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac Grapevine by Marvin Gaye Hey Soul Sister by Train I Fought The Law by The Clash I Wish by Stevie Wonder Layla by Derek and The Dominos London Calling by The Clash Man On The Moon by REM Respect by Aretha Franklin Rock The Casbah by The Clash Sex On Fire by The Kings of Leon Signed Sealed Delivered by Stevie Wonder Stir It Up by Bob Marley Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams Superstition by Stevie Wonder Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd The One I Love by REM Valerie by Amy Winehouse When You Were Young by The Killers 21 Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine March 2014 how-to-play-bass.com