Spirits in the Material World by The Police, bass line

[SHARPsUnite]

In looking at some of the live videos of the Police and Sting on here, I'm not sure that Sting is playing the 16th notes during the verse. When he sings, I think he's playing quarter notes, but in the verse sections when there isn't a vocal line over the 16th note section, he plays it as it sounds on the album. No worries, Sting's awesome and I love the Police. It's a tough line to play and sing simultaneously...

[jetershomie]

My favorite bass tune aside from "Ramble on" by Zep. Nicely done dude.

[MrMutron]

Sting used a neck pickup with the toned rolled down with a Felt pick. So the tone he gets is going to blend in the song a little better and not be so "Honkey".

[torturesofthedamned]

sick, son.

[winterbourne7]

Sting...underrated bass player? Not by me he's not. Beds too big, Driven to tears, Walking on the moon...classic bass lines.

[nootaramus]

sting doesn't play the eighth notes live and it sucks. your bass line is much better. of course playing bass and singing is pretty hard.

[pagani43]

The bass riff is one of the best I've heard!

[TheGriforobot]

great man!!

[simolui]

well done boy... great tune to practice wth the bass...

[sid77777]

just wondering wy you wouldnt play this with a plectrum...so much easier....ur right hand technique is way better than mine...but with this technique its very difficult to get it exactly right. id do this with a plectrum.

[subschool5]

@sid77777 thanks for your comment. i guess i'm just not the type to take the easy route. i would hate to have a specific thought on the instrument or want to play a certain line and just not be able to. i would rather practice so when i have something to say i can say it any way possible (fingers, pick, bow)

although if i thought it sounded better with a pick, perhaps if it needed more bite i wouldn't hesitate to do so

[dribsinep]

@sid77777 you don't use a pick with a Zon... Ever.

[Qequalshappiness]

This bass line is fun to play :). well done.

[chiyochan84]

thanks for posting this one-and for wearing pants man. :)

[thebooth]

very empirical. technically sound.. void of soul and as miles put it.. well.. forget what miles said. this kid has no funk in him at all. lol

[scumgod13]

So instead of tuning to a low B, You tune your bass as a guitar? I tried that with a five string I had, a Peavey Fury,I believe.

It didn't work for me but you seem to have to going on.

[scumgod13]

In the Early 90s I was in mostly Cover band.We made money playing the Frat Parties and Campus Bars, most stuff they wanted to hear was so boring we could have fallen asleep play, But we snuck in Some Police,This song,Sync II,Every Breath,Some Rush Tom Sawyer,red Barchetta,Closer Heart,Fly by Night,Rod Sewart,Stay with Me, Elton John

Sat Nigt's Fighting,Zeppelin-Alot- Other stuff was great music but most simple stuff,AC/DC,ZZ-Top,CCR,etc.

[scumgod13]

Great Job. You're right Sting is one of the most underated bassis especially considering he sang at the same time.I do that,it's tough.If you listen this Bass line is not right on with his Vox, meaning he must Seperate the two in his mind!

[rael3554]

if you listen he in the last tour he made with the police (it called "certifiable") he's very good to play the bass. and if you try to play the bass and sing in song like "hole in my life" or "when the world is running down" you understand how he's good...

[scumgod13]

I was agreeing with you. Like i said i play bass and sing, the only way i can pull it off is to basically play the same chords as the guitar which is sorta boring, it does have its place but I do wish I got to play mor variety.I like Bassist Brian Ritchie from the Violent Femmes a lot.

[Eltroim]

@scumgod13 Well make it unboring like sting. the bass line in message in a bottle for example are just the chords on the guitar, but what sting did was add diff rhythms for some parts using those same notes. You can come up with something like that. or smth.

[Aliendear]

Excellent.

[rexspe]

What makes sting truly underrated is that he played this stuff while singing.

[coolconfuzer]

that might be the smartest statement i have ever read on YouTube.

[Scuddi]

Well that and specifically the bass lines interact with the singing. I think bassists in general really dig a lot of The Police because the bass and vocals overlap so well its fun to listen to for someone who actually plays the instrument.

[Eltroim]

@rexspe he didnt play this line like on the record bcuz it was too fking hard, still he played stuff like driven to tears or hole in my life singing, sick stuff

[jwippel]

DAMN you're good. That is one of my all time favorite bass lines! Thanks for posting.

[drummer9986]

You're great!!! You like me as bass player. Why don't you come to play in my group? We're looking for a bass player. You're fantastic!! The bass line that you have played is very exellent.

[feckneejit]

great! when coming out of the 1st chours and the bridge, he breaks the right hand pattern in the 1st bar of the riff and doesn't play quite as many notes...

[reject3107]

One thing missing... use a pick!! Sounds so much better with those tight police riffs. Joined a police tribute band recently, had to re-adapt myself to playing with a pick after years of just finger style, but it is worth it for this band

[gregthefiddler]

No bollox, fingers is the only way...did you see sting use a pick on the last tour? no! use pick for bruce foxton lines!

[reject3107]

Fingers sound way too padded for the police, you need that metallic clunk. Havent seen the last tour. But hey, arguing on youtube doesnt get anyone anywhere... happy playing

[gregfiddles]

I actually agree using the pick is waaaay too metalic sounding, but it also takes a lot more technical ability to play with the fingers, select the bridge p/up and hear the punch - not an argument matey, an opinion just like yours..remember its an opinion..

[reject3107]

Dont get me wrong, the police is literally the only thing i use a pick for, spent about 8 years developing my finger style, then picked up the piece of plastic. Not entirely sure how to convince you that it sounds better. Guess youll have to come to a gig and find out!

[Arjozof]

but you can actually finger the strings in a Steve Harris style, which give them much needed metallic clang. Actually Sting did that on the last Police tour, with treble control up, of course.

[PartyFindsYOU]

I never did like EADGC tuning. I missed the low D and really tensed up the strings. You did very well, though.

[Shield1751]

Don't listen to these assholes..you are right on time.,..and in Key! I don't care how long you've been playing....You have the groove!! and with a 5 string at that!! Great !!!

[xXCheech24Xx]

wow this guy suck dick

[Shield1751]

Great playing, man. I'm diggin the riff @ 2:14!! Nice touch! It just goes to show you...there are many ways to play that bass line.... I start on the "C" (third fret-A string) and work down to "G" (3rd fret/E string) and then 'A" (5th fret E string) but on the change up @ "D' "E" and "F" on the on the 5th 7th and 8th fret of the "d' string...that allows me to slide back down to the "C". I like the sound transition of a slide here for some reason..its just me i guess.

[texasradio73]

how good is sting , and yourself !!

[Sambernardo]

nice going man! keep it up!

[LALANMOLINSAN]

amazing sound and left hand movements! will learn it soon thanx man!

[Langoliers1995]

That is great, that is fucking awesome mate!!!!

[tremayne3]

Great..Fantastic! Congratulations to you my man.

[mickeymoose76]

well played that man!!

[xXCheech24Xx]

wow this guy suck balls

[mickeymoose76]

shut up you arrogant twat, can you play the bass? I thought not!

[texasradio73]

i bet you have a small penis and your single ??

[xXCheech24Xx]

pomeruck has a way better version than this crap

[mickeymoose76]

your a twat

[hamptonstreet]

Sting is an underrated bass player, definitely! I love playing through police songs on bass, gotta love the bass solo in so lonely.

[seganti777]

I was just gonna say the bass line shapes that whole song

[mRtReMeLo]

Dude, you've got some great covers, this being my favorite. Why don't you try and tackle Rush? They're, IMO, the TOUGHEST band to cover. I've tried.... and failed...

[seganti777]

RUSH is sooooooooo underrated!

[andy350zdrifter]

rush arent really underrated for their talent maybe but im pretty sure most musicians have heard of rush

[andy350zdrifter]

sorry i shoudl have phrased it rush arent really overrated. for their talent i guess they are a lil. though most musicians rate rush highly

[divinoyogurt]

playing, off course :)

[divinoyogurt]

ok man, you're right. good playnig.

[dean6003]

great bass line mate,u rock big boy!!!!!!

[dean6003]

love it "r so called leaders speak"

[pab777]

great great song,nice strict 1st position left hand movement! Ilove the police and this album the most! but the 2nd side was very poor compered to the 1st side.i remember only "demolition man" as any worthy song from the 2nd side.

[spartaboy22]

any tabs for 4 stringed basses

[da5idblacksun]

Awesome! You can see your deep understand of groove in how your body and hands move.

Like the conservation of movement of your left hand too.

[subschool5]

Haha, my dad isn't THAT hip. :P

[playdrums]

Best bass cover of this song on youtube. Most of the others seem to hear the main bass line differently and play it a half a beat slow from the beginning. Hard to explain but you probably know what I'm talking about. Anyway, nice job and SWEET Zon.

[treezy8769]

nah its not hard to explain, its cause the the keyboard is on the off beat during the verse and switches during the chorus

[TuSabesEarl]

Pretty good. I should put this song up myself. The Police rules. Nice 5-string btw...

[subschool5]

put it up brotha

[TuSabesEarl]

I'll put the song up in a few days. What type of bass do you use?

[tesanus]

This was just what I was hoping for, Sting doesn't seem to like to be seen playing in a lot of the original videos. Wanted to see what this song actually looked like being played, and am amazed (as a know-nothing when it comes to music) how little obvious movement there is in such a sound. Great job, will be looking at others you post for sure.

[bassist118]

Good apart from the slight timing issues.

[subschool5]

some of that had to do with speaker latency

[myklem]

Man, you are so good you make me want to put my bass in the garbage. You rock my friend. You should be playing professionally if you are not already.

[subschool5]

very nice of you to say! what kind of bass do you play ?

[kalisteboat]

Please don't do that, you will regret it !

Try to play it slowlier.

This line is very easy to play.

All the difficulty is in the groove :

Alternate ghost notes and full strong notes.

So take your instrument back and you will play it in 2 weeks ;-)

[RE3V3R]

wow Subschool is that you again? Pure madness my freind, you really rox!

I just watched you do head over heels again, the tech diff. of this one really shows us your skillz tho, *bowdown*

[subschool5]

thanks, *bows back*

[theclinger]

Five string... Nice bass!

[subschool5]

yes it is :)

[queen1977]

great bass line well performed. is it ok to tune a 5-string bass to EADGC as far as the neck tension? can it be done on any 5 string bass? thanks.

[subschool5]

Completely fine on the neck no matter what kind of bass, remember 6-strings are strung up this way with an additional low string. I will never have any neck problems with this bass in particular because it's made of a graphite composite. Most 5-strings can be strung up this way as long as your nut grooves are not to wide which would create unwanted buzz.

[tinjamie]

You're so good! You should be a professional poker player or something!

[subschool5]

Thank you ! Sting was my first teacher when I lived near him in England.

Siiiike.

[jwippel]

Wow, that's really cool. If you haven't yet, I highly recommend reading Stings memior "Broken Music". Not only is Sting an incredable music artist, he's also a very gifted writer. But then again, he was a black and yellow stripped sweter wearing english teacher! That's where his moniker comes from, according to his book. For real tho, his book is extremely well-written and very hard to put down.

[toml71]

That was awesome. I liek your technique.

[gene921]

Yeah, can be frustrating. Your technique is nice, though. Good positioning, and you're not trying too hard. The more you play it, the more you'll lean back and just feel it. The Tao of Bass Playing ... :)

Good luck!

[gene921]

Pretty good. You've got the notes right, but need to lock into the pocket more. (It might just be the latency of where your speakers are relative to where you're standing vs. the recording mic that WE'RE hearing.)

Very nice bass ... great sound.

[subschool5]

I know exactly what you are saying, it is a latency issue from my speakers that is subtle yet annoying. It makes it sound like I'm a hair ahead of what I should be.