Some of my favorite bass lines; Costello, Queen, and Rundgren

I suppose I should give some justification as to why I picked the songs that I did. Most of the Elvis Costello (Bruce Thomas) stuff perfectly exemplifies how a bass player should work with a drummer. You will notice that the bass follows the kick and avoids the snare, giving it a very catchy and hard-hitting feel.

I like You're My Best Friend because of its more complex arpeggios in contrast to the rest of the simpler instrumentation of the song.

Tic Tic Tic, while it isn't a very complicated line, is just a fun melody that extensively implements the root-5th-octave positions.

Last but not least, The Millionaire Waltz is one of the greatest examples of virtuosic bass playing in a pop song and, I think, interacts perfectly with the piano part for the song.

UPDATE: the video is back up after a tangle with the Warner Music Group over the legality of my use of "Oliver's Army". Since Radar, the label Armed Forces was released under in the UK (but not in the US), is now a subsidiary of WMG, they do ultimately hold the copyright to that song. That being said, the video is back on the condition that it is an educational video, so I will provide the following clarification/disclaimer;

The intent of this video is to demonstrate bass playing techniques and phrases that I acquired or learned by listening to these songs. Since I found limited resources elsewhere concerning these particular techniques or phrases, I created this video to help others who may be trying to learn the same things. The songs that were used were selected because they demonstrate good songwriting technique on the part of the bass player for that particular song.

TRIBUTE IS NOT THEFT

Original Description:
This is me playing a few of my favorite bass lines. As you may be able to tell, Elvis Costello and Bruce Thomas are pretty much the reason I ever started playing bass to begin with.
The songs are:
(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea- Elvis Costello
Pump It Up- Elvis Costello
Oliver's Army- Elvis Costello
You're My Best Friend- Queen
(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love and Understanding- Elvis Costello
Tic Tic Tic It Wears Off- Todd Rundgren
Millionaire Waltz- Queen

Sorry about the tuning on Millionaire Waltz, it was ok on everything else

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Bass
• Queen
• Costello
• Todd
• Rundgren
• Chelsea
• Pump
• It
• Up
• Oliver's
• Army
• Millionaire
• Waltz

[ijizz420]

nice playing, nice taste in music :) and nice bass man

thinking of getting a jagg myself :D wuts it like for u? only read bullshit reviews on it so im not sure wut its like =/

[bowserb61]

Its been really good so far. I don't use the active EQ part much, but the pickup switches and series/parallel switch are pretty darn useful for imitating the sounds of different basses. One of the best things was that it was set up absolutely perfectly right out of the box, even though mine was a factory second.

[Funkbone]

I'm a huge Bruce Thomas/Elvis fan. I've always had a hard time learning his lines from the recordings, because there's so much going on. Great job on the transcriptions! Any tips?

[bowserb61]

It is hard to hear what he is doing note for note, and I've actually found that some of his stuff I played here is not entirely correct. As with "learning" any musician, once you get a feel for his style and the tricks he uses to keep it busy sounding, it becomes easier to figure out his other things.

I know i said the same thing several months ago, but when I get the chance, I'd like to make updated videos of these individually, hopefully with the right notes this time.

[jflinn210]

Wow -- BIG Rundgren fan here, and I am AMAZED that you picked "Tic Tic Tic, It Wears Off!" Wise choice! But, how do you know the song? That's ALMOST one of Rundgren's most obscure tunes. For more obscurity, listen to his "A Wizard A True Star" disc. Sheer brilliance.

[bowserb61]

I've liked Rundgren since I was about 5 or 6, and A Wizard is one of my top 3 favorite albums to this day. I've always liked that song, even though it is just kind of a filler.

[joseutuado]

I Love Queen!

[dkgdbr]

horace panter of the specials ha some pretty amazing basslines. Nite Klub it my personal favourite

[MegaScreamingbanshee]

wow you're really good man. i love ur bass... i have a squier j bass... i love it :D

[PerfectCOD4]

Love your bass - I have a red jag myself, gets good comments all  day long and feels a dream. Nice playing too mate!

[SigandGibbs]

Great choices in Queen songs! really underrated bassist

[Stax63]

Well done son! Bruce Thomas is a Monster Bass Player and often overlooked for the more obvious player...Entwhistle and such! Thanks!

[vitamincity]

John Deacon is the god of the bass

[blackrockskid]

Very nice! As a teenager I taught myself bass by learning to play every Bruce Thomas bass line I could as well as Graham Maybe (Joe Jackson).

30 years later they're still some of my favorite bass lines!

Mike

[APenisWithLegs]

u write this songs?