Archive for 2016 - Page 50

Q: I know how to outline chords but how do you play them so they don’t sound mechanical or like an exercise? Any particular patterns that you like when approaching a chord? Thanks bud for all of your hard work! A: I’ve written quite a bit about playing arpeggios and inversions through changes (using the Real Book or iReal Pro...

Nathan Navarro is back with another brilliant bass video, and this time he’s playing along with a run-through of World 1-1 from the original Super Mario Brothers. The bassist dials in a retro video game tone before playing the music. He even plays the right sound effects for when Mario jumps, spits fire, gets the super star, and even landing...

Original Booker T. & the M.G.’s bassist Lewie Steinberg has passed away after a battle with cancer. He was 82 years old. Steinberg was born in 1933 in Memphis, Tennessee. While many people associate Donald “Duck” Dunn with the M.G.’s, Steinberg was the group’s first bassist and recorded on the first two albums: Green Onions and Soul Dressing. He was...

Meet Ben Titus, a multi-instrumentalist who calls himself a bassist first, and who keeps busy with a variety of music-related gigs. Ben in this week’s No Treble reader in the spotlight. Here’s his story… Bio: I’m a born and raised Virginia native who is a recent transplant to the Mid-West. Music has alternately been my salvation and my greatest frustration,...

I’ve been wanting to do some Gospel episodes but wasn’t sure where I wanted to start until now. The first song that we’ll look art is the post-Civil War spiritual, “Oh Freedom”. In particular, I’m going to show you some ideas on how to “hear the changes” , an extended Gospel-style turnaround and how you might approach this song if...

“Hot Fun in the Summertime” is the perfect song for the season, and “I Want To Take You Higher” is a bass masterpiece. Larry Graham throws it down in this medley of the two songs. The mix on this clip is a little wonky, but luckily the bass is turned up nice and high.

Bassist Nik West (Prince, Dave Stewart) has released a new EP, Say Somethin. The EP features another female rock powerhouse alongside West — Australian singer/songwriter and guitarist Orianthi – on the tune “My Relationship.” The version of the record available via SoundCloud kicks off with West’s cover of AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” and the rest of the album promises classic...

Just like with music, great bass designs often come from the inspiration of other basses. That’s the case with our featured bass this week: the Nichols Guitar Company’s Seas of Cheese Bass. As the name suggests, the model is inspired by the famous Carl Thompson basses used by Primus’s Les Claypool. “The design was inspired by Les Claypool and some...

If you play the bass long enough you’ll hear someone talking about making a “resonant” sound. When we are searching for a resonant sound we are attempting to create an unrestricted sound, one with some “depth,” where the strings and the bass itself both vibrate freely. Obviously, some basses vibrate more easily than others. These tend to be the more...

The first video we shared by bassist Antonin Rubatat and drummer Romain Chenard was a big hit. Here’s another from their “Hungry Beats” series – “Vol. 3”.

The six albums metal’s Dio released from 1983 through 1993 have been compiled as the box set, A Decade of Dio: 1983-1993. During that decade, the band, fronted by former Black Sabbath/Rainbow singer, the late Ronnie James Dio, featured several bassists: founding bassist Jimmy Bain (Rainbow), who died in January of this year, as well as Teddy Cook, and toward...

Happy Sunday. Time to celebrate another week from the world of bass. Here are the top 10 No Treble reader favorites for the week of July 16-22, 2016. Thanks for reading, watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Cody Wright and Andy Irvine: Funky Bass Jam Cody Wright joined Andy Irvine for this bass jam on Andy’s The Daily Funk Club. Cody...