Bass & Drum Charts - UPDATED

Fun times!

Libster

Oh ps, I just found this vid of me playing What Is Hip live at The Basement in Sydney Aus. My fingers are still recovering.

Update:I just uploaded heaps of new shit to that folder. A pretty random collection - some classics like "Time Warp", "River Deep Mountain High" & "Somebody To Love". There's also newer stuff like "Sex On Fire". Some motown stuff too. The basslines section is made of win :-) Loads of classic basslines. You can't call yourself a bass player until you can play "My Sharona" , "Superstition" and "Can't Touch This". (BTW that section doesn't really reflect my personal tastes - it's just what I get paid to do. I'll do anything for a buck).

If you go here you will find some pure gold. I stuck this stuff in a folder after much harassment from a couple of folks. It's a collection of heaps of bass & drum charts that I've done for various events (a lot from the site, but more). Lots of classic songs amongst others - it's a random collection. Really, I should receive some sort of humanitarian award for giving you lot access to that for free. I'll just have to settle for good karma I suppose.

As far as the site goes, I don't really maintain it any more - I just upload new basslines really. I don't do new lessons. If anyone else wants to add any, or any transcriptions or whatnot, just fire me off an email. Sorry about the look of the site - it's really old & I haven't got time to make it look slick.

By the way, if you're working on a song from the Basslines section and I haven't uploaded an mp3 for it, you can see most of the idols vids for those songs on the official site..(I don't upload the original versions of the song here cause that would be naughty.

CYA

PS thanks so much to those who have donated to the site - it's not necessary but much appreciated.

As usual, the form and key might be different to the original version. Some have a similar form, but most are only 90sec versions, although they should still have the 'good bits' in them.. Also, please try to forgive me for the silly little messages I leave Mark on some of the charts. On the top left of some of the charts you'll find the word "Pick" or "Fretless" or something like that enclosed in a box, Obviously that means that you should use a pick/plectrum or a fretless bass. I started enclosing this message in a box because Mark got very jealous that I did it for the guitar players (ie to describe their sounds) but not him.

New Stuff

• "Beautiful Day".
• "And I'm Telling You". From that movie with Jennifer Hudson.
• "Cant Touch This" - That MC Hammer thing.
• "Feelin' Alright" - the Joe Cocker song
• "How Do I Live" - Tricia Yearwood? (How Do I Spell Her Name?)
• "I Wanna Know What Love Is" - Foreigner
• "Let Her Cry" - Hootie and the Whatsits.
• "Mr Jones" - Counting Crows
• "Running"
• "The Letter" - another Joe Cocker number
• "Think" - Aretha
• "Thriller" - MJ
• "Total Eclipse of the Heart" - Bonnie Tyler. I think this was my favourite ever song to arrange.
• "Unwell" - Matchbox 20
• "Vogue" - Madonna
• "What's Love Got To Do With It" - Tina Turner
• "When Will I Be Loved" - Linda Ronstadt
• "Will You Be There" - MJ

In other random, off-topic news, I'd just like to inform the bass playing fraternity that I've recently begun watching the Discovery Channel show The Deadliest Catch. It is made of win and I think every bass player needs to watch it. OK, I'm off to catch me some king crabs. Catch you next time.

ps. Keep those donations coming thick and fast! I can't keep up with them. So far I've had the sum total of $2 donated to the site in the last 3 years. I was so shocked to get it I actually thought it was a bill! Oh well. Why pay for something that you can get for free, hey?

The first bunch below were all recorded for an Australian endeavour call the TDP (Talent Development Project - see the news thing below), that identifies talented performers and points them in the right direction by helping them develop their craft & their songs & performance skills etc. It's had amazing success actually. There are TDP 'graduates' that are currently enjoying big success in the UK, Nashville, on Broadway etc, not to mention heaps of them are household names in Aus these days.

Anyway, I help them with their original songs & write the parts & produce them & play bass for them etc. There are a couple of covers there, like the classic "Superstition", which is pretty faithful to the original but nowhere near as nasty unfortunately. (I take no responsibility for the fusion guitar bits. Not my idea). This boy wanted it to sound like the original, so it does, but I always think that's a bad idea. It's fun to play songs authentically and it's really good practice, but there's just no artistic merit in trying to replicate something in the studio that's already been recorded. It's like forging a painting. If you're gonna record a cover of a song, you should 're-invent' it like the new Battlestar Galactica.

TDP new stuff

• "Superstition" - very close to the Stevie version
• "Praise You - Heroes" - a medley of Praise You by Fatboy Slim and We Can Be Heroes by David Bowie. Fun to play.
• "You Are Loved" - like the Josh Whatsit version
• "Hum" - TDP original
• "What If I Break Her Heart" TDP Original
• "Soul Vacation" TDP Original
• "Plain Tree Street" - TDP Original
• "Every Little Breath" - TDP Original

Random Idol Charts

• "Together Again" - Janet Jackson. I love this one.
• "I'll Be (the greatest love of your life" - A good read
• "If You're Not In If For Love" - Country - Shania Twain
• "Red Neck Woman" - Country
• "Feeling Good" - the Nina Simone version is AMAZING (but this is just a typical Idol rip-off chart/mp3
• "Mind's Eye" - Wolfmother. Relatively simple , and yet massive rock song. Easy read. It's a bit like a Door's song, in my humble opinion.
• "Over My Head" - The Fray. Another rock song - harder than "Mind's Eye".

As always, I taken no responsibility for the (sometimes atrocious) singing on the Idol tracks. The band is always cool though. The girl who sings "Together Again", Jessica Mauboy, is going to be awesome in a few years (once she sorts out a few minor pitch issues and gets some more performance chops). She's only about 16 I believe, so she's got plenty of time. She's got a great vibe & tone of gold. Oh look out - I found it on YouTube. You can see my stalker - Ulpia the harp lady. As far as vids go, you can find performances of all the Idol charts on YouTube if you care - just type the song name and the name of the singer (it should be on the chart)..

In case you are curious what a full score, with all the parts looks like, here's the score for "Together Again". (There's a couple of pages missing so it can't be pinched).

As far as the TDP originals go, the mp3s are all rough mixes or demo quality, but they should do you if you want to compare the charts to the recordings, which is probably a sensible idea. "Hum" is a kind of white trash country song that I really like. "What If" is a really nice country ballad, with me playing fretless for a change. "Plain Tree" is also fretless, unsual in that it's a kind of groovy feel for a fretless. I'm glad that I didn't have to sight read "Plain Tree" (I wrote the parts to this lot of songs) .I might have been in a spot of bother otherwise, as it looks kinda tricky on paper. It could have been embarrassing.There's a random fusion section in the middle of that one - what was I smoking that day? "Soul Vacation" is, I think, a really great song, but there's NO BASS IN THE MIX. I almost spontaneously combusted when I heard it. (Note to self, always attend final mix sessions). Oh well, the bass chart is there, so you can have a look and try to work out what the song should have sounded like if the engineer had bothered to UNMUTE THE BASS!

All I can remember about "Every Little Breath" was that it was recorded in about 2 minutes, that it's a sort of country groove jammy thing, that the playing is rough as guts and loose as all hell, but that it was heaps of fun at the time. It is by Molly, one of the McClymont Sisters, who are doing ridiculously well for themselves these days. Cows! (Just kidding).

Hey sorry if I don't always play exactly what's on the charts, but then I never promised that I would. I usually just play whatever pops into my head at the time, unless I'm getting paid shitloads not to. Seriously though, most charts are pretty close to the records aside from the odd fill here and there. I play on the TDP tracks and Mark Costa plays on the Aus Idol ones. He's a bad Mo Fo. He never stuffs up. Although I did notice a bit of a clanger this morning in "I'll Be". :-) I'm gonna be in big trouble if he reads this.

Read below for lots more new stuff...

CYA

Libster

Oh and in other news I've become tragically addicted to Battlestar Galactica - not the campy old one, the unbelievably good, cerebral new one. I'm not real big on TV shows (except for Kath and Kim), but this one is amazing. It's really gritty and intense with phenomenal acting. Not for the kiddies though. It's pretty dark. They call it "The West Wing In Space" but it's more than that. You can get the DVDs off ebay pretty cheap :-) I really must get out more.

On To Bass Stuff

I'm currently dumping some new charts and recordings into the Basslines folder (click on the links bar to find everything). It's all alphabetical.

Song I've added:

• "Ooh Child" (sort of Destiny's Child version)
• "Seasons of Love" from Rent
• "Nothing Compares 2 U"
• "Music of the Night"
• "How Sweet It Is"
• "Hold" - Angus Stone
• "Shackles"

There's a fair bit of other new stuff in the Basslines folder like "I Will Survive", "Long Train Running" and "When You Were Young", "Morning Glory" etc. You'll also find quite a few real classics there that every pop bass player needs to play at some point, like "Billy Jean", "My Sharona", "Love Shack", "Mickey" etc.

I did most of the arrangements/charts on the above list for Aus Idol 2007, although "Seasons of Love" didn't actually get played, cause the contestant got the flick. I used to get a bit frustrated when that happened and my work went to waste, but now I'm like "suck eggs guys, you still have to pay me and you ain't getting no discount" :-)

The first two have really nice soulful, Motown-ish lines and they are for pretty advanced players I guess. Both are for 5-string. These days I just assume the player is gonna have a 5-string at the gig when I'm doing charts, even if it's not going to be me or someone I know. It really needs to be a standard piece of your arsenal if you're doing pro gigs. It's just not the same without those low notes.

"Seasons" only has a dodgy brothers. midi file 'cause it was never performed. "Ooh Child" has a recording from the show - the Rhodes was way down in the mix which pissed me off no end, but the band played it great. Come to think of it, the whole mix is kinda crap. Whenever I saw that singer, I just wanted to bitchslap her, but you'd have to see her in person to understand why. Oh hold that thought - I just found this performance on YouTube so you can see what I mean. Big voice but FAKE. I don't think she thinks about or understands a word of what she sings - no life experience and no subtlety. That may sound harsh but you've gotta empathize with the stuff you're singing/playing and also not get too big for your boots as a youngster. A little humility is a healthy thing if you wanna improve. Great song though.

"Nothing Compares" and "Music" are much easier. "Nothing" is a mix of the Sinead O'Connor version and the Prince version. The Prince version, featuring Rosie Gaines is PHENOMENAL so make sure you check it out.There is a live version that is even BETTER than phenomenal. It is Prince's song after all, so I would expect nothing less. The version I did for Idol came out OK, although I wanted Mark to play the sixteenth note fills even but he chose to swing them, cause the song has a lazy 16th feel. I just heard it different in my head, but that's life in the big city.

Mark Costa is a legend in these parts BTW. He plays on all the Idol stuff that is in the Basslines folder. He played "Ooh Child" fantastically, and I almost fell off my chair when he played the really high bit. It was my biggest bass kick of the season 'cause I thought he would leave it out - it's very hard to read. He's a much better reader than me. Sometimes at the Idol rehearsals I want to commit acts of violence upon him cause it's really sickening to see someone nail a Motown chart first time.

I just dumped in "Music of the Night" cause it's different - I don't think there's anything much else there that's orchestral. Lots of tempo changes. It turned out pretty well really considering I did it the night before :-0. The harp player liked it. She loves me. Whenever I do harp parts for her I feel I need to get a restraining order against her cause she constantly wants to talk about my harp parts. (Just quietly, I don't have a frakking clue how to write properly for harp but she hasn't noticed yet thankfully). I almost had heart failure the first time this arrangement was rehearsed. I think I ran to the toilet to vomit. Thankfully though, there was nothing wrong with it except that no-one was listening or following the conductor, resulting in about 3 versions of the song being performed simultaneously. And there I was having a panic attack from thinking I'd frakked up big time.

"How Sweet It Is" was for the NSW Talent Development Project (2007) and it's me on bass for a change :-) It's basically a rip-off of the Buble version. Great fun to play. It was also fun to try to get it to work for 3 horns rather than, like, 20. When all else fails, just change everything and do what you feel like. That's my motto. Hey I played a wrong note when I recorded it - bet you can't find it. It's just a little sucker. The session that day was also memorable for the fact I had a fight with my friend Dave"Hatchy" Hatch, the drummer - our first and only fight in 15 years. Ooh I was shitty - there was smoke coming out of my skull for about 3 tracks straight. He wanted to play the ending of a song with a different feel than I wanted, but I won that one, cause I was THE BOSS that day after all. Bloody drummers.

The TDP have a website with more of my stuff & recordings of me playing, in case you care. I produced and arranged and played bass on the stuff in the Music Downloads section. I like this one best.. It's called "Hold" by Angus Stone, who's since become a rapidly rising star in the UK along with his big sis. He is breathtakingly hot, although I think his recent facial hair look has to go. It's a sweet little reggae number. (Hey BTW, the TDP finds way better local talent that Idol ever has).

There is a chart and mp3 for "Hold" in the Basslines folder but I have a feeling that I pretty much played my own thing on that one, so the chart mightn't be very accurate.. I usually just play whatever I feel like at the time when I'm the bass player, but if I write a part for someone else, I turn into a precious cow ;-)

Hey, getting back to "Seasons of Love", I actually played bass a bit in Rent when it came to Australia. It was cool cause I think it was the only time that my parents came to specifically hear me play, and the band was on the stage and really featured in the show, and it was a great play for a bass player. The only other time dad came to something specifically of mine was a rock gig, when he had to rescue me cause I had a big car crash on the way to it. During the gig the guitarist nudged me to look over at Dad, who was sound asleep. Mum keeps threatening to some to a Temple of Groove gig at The Basement but I think she'd really hate it. I obviously didn't get the pop music gene from my parents.

I've got lots more stuff here that I might put up on the site. I'm just looking at my Sibelius stuff at the mo, then I might look at some Finale stuff, of which I have a truck load. I might dig out some audio stuff too.

If anyone has anything that they think maybe of benefit to someone else and want to add to the site, just send me a line. I don't really have the time to write lessons & stuff too much these days. Too busy with my private Battlestar festival.

Well, take it easy & have fun in the new year. No drinking and driving. Speaking of driving, I have to be careful for a little while - I don't have many points left on my license. Not that I drink & drive - I hardly even drink. But I do tend to have a bit of a lead foot. It's my car's fault. It just runs too well.

CYA

Libster

Nothing majorly interesting to report. I'm busy doing arrangements for Aus Idol 2007 at the moment.

I've added some more bass arrangements/transcriptions to the Basslines section. There are are stack of goodies there if you can't find anything to play.

Take it easy,

Libster

I actually have a perminent reminder of James Brown - what I like to think of as my "James Brown Knee". My knee has never been the same since the night I went to see JB at the Sydney Entertainment Centre a few years ago and tripped on scaffolding on the way back to my car. Now, whenever I climb stairs, I think of James Brown.

Anyway, season's greetings.

Lib

Take it easy.

Libster

Anyway, this week the Q&A section has kicked off in earnest and my pal Mark has imparted some profound words of wisdom. Well done Markus - it took a bit of coaching to get him clicking the right buttons, but all is now well.

We've just had another major contributer to the site - Paul Warren has offered to upload some 'jam tracks' or playalongs for all you upstarts out there to practice along to. If you head to the Basslines menu, you'll see a submenu drop down - click Jam Tracks and you'll be headed in the right direction. You could also just click this I suppose.

Oh and I almost forgot to add, I've been regularly dropping new stuff in the Basslines folder. I stumbled across some old classics a few days ago - My Sharona, Billie Jean, Love Shack, Mickey etc - &I thought some people might get some enjoyment out of them. You've got to know the classics!

Oh and this one is practically worthy of it's own news announcement - I uploaded a new lesson for the first time in about 7 years. Woohoo! Well it was a bit of a cheater, but I'm sure some folks will find my remarkable insights extremely valuable. I found a walking bass line on one of my computers to Autumn Leaves, so I added a few profound words of wisdom of my own and uploaded it.

Many thanks again to Paul and Mark for their efforts. Sterling job fellas!

Well, I'm outta here. I'm just going off to watch Kill Bill Vol 1 for about the 10th time. You've gotta love that girly surfer band from Tokyo.

The word on the street is that my nephew is learning the "Texan Shuffle", so I decided to add a bit of spice to the occasion and upload a couple of play-along files for it, include bass, drums and some keys. There are 2 versions - one slow, and one regular.

go to the Texan Shuffle page