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I'm Curtis Freeman and this is Metalworks Institute Bass Tips. We're going to talk about
learning a song inside and out. And just for simplicity's sake and for the length of this
video, we're going to use a really simple tune. This one's "Ain't No Sunshine", a Bill
Withers Classic and it's a great tune because it's called often on rock gigs, R&B, soul,
jazz gigs, blues gigs. So it's a very popular tune. What we want to do here is take this
example and add it to all your favorite tunes, popular tunes, songs that you play often.
You might be finding yourself bored with songs because you play them so much on a gig. This
is another way to approach them so that you get the most music out of the tune and your
band gets the most out of their bass player. So they're not staring off at a football game
on a tv somewhere when they should be playing this song. One way to do that is, we already
have the first part down, learn the bass line. Really focus on the groove. Listen how it's
locked in with the drummer. If you're not listening to a recording, listen how you lock
in with the drummer, if there is a drummer. Lock in with the other instruments. Listen
to the melody and how you play off of it. Here's a simple bass line that happens often
on "Ain't No Sunshine" in the key of A minor. I don't know if you know the song. "Ain't
no sunshine when she's gone" Excuse my singing. "It's so cold when she's away" It's a really
simple version. "Ain't no sunshine when she's gone" Oh, high note. "Always gone so long,
every time she goes away" You want to learn the melody on your bass. Why not? "It's so
cold when she's away" "She's always gone so long, every time she goes away" So learn the
melody on the bass. That'll really help you throughout the tune if we're just playing.
An idea is to play a call-and-answer off the vocalist. So if she sang "Ain't no sunshine
when she's gone" you can go. "It's so cold when she's away" and you play. Almost like
a guitar would do, right? That's great. Also, learn the chords to the song. How do we play
the (plays)? I'm not saying play chords while the song is going on, but if you know all
the changes... A lot of bass players are like "Oh, this is in the key of A" because the
first note and the most common note they play in the song is an A. It's actually in A minor,
so learn those chord tones, and learn what key you're in and learn all the scales that
go along with it. You'll really know the tune inside and out. So if someone calls on you
to solo, you can take some quotes from the melody, add some riffs and a bit of the bass
line, and the floor doesn't drop out of the tune. You're going to have like a... That's
the problem with a lot of bass solos is all the groove stops and then people aren't interested.
So if you're "bass solo!" That's incorporating everything. The notes, the chords, the melody.
Do that will all the tunes you like to play, do it with all the tunes you're playing often,
all the tunes you're bored with. That'll get the most out of the music and the most out
of you. I'm Curtis Freeman for Metalworks Institute Bass Tips. Thanks.