Archive for August 2010 - Page 8

Hal Leonard’s fast growing Play Along series now has a new entry with songs by the Police. The Police: Bass Play-Along Volume 20 features eight popular Police tunes and includes bass tab notation, lyrics and vocal melody. The CD included offers an enhanced version for Windows and Mac computers so you can adjust the tempo of the songs without changing...

In a show of ridiculous chops, Billy Sheehan melts faces with his shredding in this video.

The iconic rock band Hot Tuna has just signed a deal with Red House Records, which is home to many other blues and roots based artists including Guy Davis, Lynn Miles, and Garnet Rogers. Hot Tuna, which was formed in 1969 by Jefferson Airplane bassist Jack Casady and guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, have just finished up their tour schedule and are...

Here’s bassist Adam Nitti performing the solo from “Fritter Boy” in studio. The tune is from his album, Balance.

Current Guns N’ Roses and former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson recently made a trip to Haiti, and USA Today’s Pop Candy blog covered the trip with pictures. Stinson is there to help raise money and awareness for Haiti schools, including Timkatec. Stinson attended a graduation ceremony for the Port-au-Prince school, who educates students in mechanics, electricity, sewing and other forms...

Avenged Sevenfold recently released “Nightmare” (July 27th) and have since topped the Billboard charts. In an interview with MTV, bassist Johnny Christ shared his reaction. “I got the call from my manager last night. Unfortunately, Matt [Sanders, better known as M. Shadows] and Zack [a.k.a. Zacky Vengeance] were doing press in L.A., but me and Brian [a.k.a. Synyster Gates] went...

Prawn Song’s latest newsletter announced a plethora of Primus updates, including the free release of a four-track EP featuring takes of the band’s songs from a June 2010 rehearsal. The EP can be downloaded from the Primus website or by completing this form: The band also added a new tour blog to their website, which they will be updating every...

Here is a cool, spacey, and dramatic solo from Yes’ Chris Squire, from their 1991 Union Tour. The tune is “The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)”.

Hal Leonard’s Bass Play-Along series gets a new entry this month, with The 1970s: Bass Play-Along Volume 31. The book/CD combo includes the bass notation/tab, lyrics and vocal melody notation. The audio CD is playable in any standard player and enhanced for PC or Mac users, allowing players to adjust tempo without changing the pitch of the tune. The 1970s:...

Bass cab company Bergantino has just added a new enclosure to their AE series, the AE212. Weighing in at 55 pounds, the cab is an offshoot of the company’s AE112, but features 2- 12 inch neodymium woofers and a tweeter. It handles 600 watts rms, with a frequency response of 40Hz to 15kHz. Bergantino AE Series Cabinet Specs: 2 x...

By popular demand, I’ve been working on a new lesson series for beginning slap bass. This week, we’ll break down the basics. Part 1: Slap Bass Introduction This lesson covers basic thumb slapping, ghosted notes, muting, hammer-ons and plucking/popping: Next: we’ll build on these concepts with Part 2 – Building on the Basics.

Here’s a short but very entertaining video from bassist Adam Ben Ezra who performs on electric, upright and melodica in this piece he calls “At the Saloona”.