THE HOW TO PLAY BASS MONTHLY EZINE - DECEMBER
Welcome to the free how to play bass monthly ezine for December. In
this month’s issue we’re going to have a song tutorial for I Feel Good by
James Brown.
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 have been erratic this year. 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
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
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Youtube:
Superstition - Stevie Ray Vaughan
He’s The Greatest Dancer - Sister Sledge
Stormy Monday - The Allman Brothers
Soul To Squeeze - The Red Hot Chili Peppers
Life In The Fast Lane - The Eagles
Rain - The Beatles
Black Magic Woman - Santana
Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag - James Brown
Highway To Hell - AC:DC
Higher Ground - Red Hot Chili Peppers
It’s A Man’s, Man’s World - James Brown
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.
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. In fact THIS tutorial will go into the working
bass line section of the First Bass And Beyond site. (See full list at back)
So things are changing. I’ll keep you posted as the updates roll out.
3 | Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine | December 2013 | how-to-play-bass.com
HOW TO PLAY THE BASSLINE TO I FEEL GOOD by JAMES BROWN
December’s free How To Play Bass
monthly ezine looks at the bass
line to I Feel Good by James Brown.
This is a pretty easy line - and it’s a
good one to pick up and learn because it’s fun to play and certainly
here in the UK it’s a song that a lot
of bands play. (For extra credit you
should transpose it to different
keys as I’ve played it in D, in C, in G
AND F!)
OK here’s the verse section of I Feel Good:
4 | Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine | December 2013 | how-to-play-bass.com
You play the verse a couple of times, then there’s a 4 bar break when you
get the horn riff and then you come in with the bridge (under the lyric:
“When I Hold You....In My Arms...)
The only section left to add in is the ending. I’ve put the first 4 bars
within start and end repeat signs - when you are playing this live sometimes this 4 bars can go on a few times before you get the fina ending:
5 | Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine | December 2013 | how-to-play-bass.com
You’ll notice the notation “rit” and the dotted line afterwards. This is a
musical term - rit is an abbreviation of ‘ritardando” and means to slow
down. If you listen to the original recording you’ll get a sense of what to
do.
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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
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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.
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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. Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison
11. Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd
12.Sultans Of Swing by Dire Straits
13.La Grange by ZZ Top
14. Johnny B Goode by Chuck Berry
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
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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.
10 | Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine | December 2013 | 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
11 | Free How To Play Bass Monthly Ezine | December 2013 | how-to-play-bass.com