My Musical Evolution – Part 270 Roach Days Revisited Expanding The Bass Set

By the time this photo was taken, I had just about completely stopped playing Heavy Metal songs on my bass. Occasionally, I’d thump out some Ratt or maybe some Iron Maiden but for the most part the goal was to be able to play songs that the girls were into.

Again, being only a mimic and not an acutal musician meant listening to the songs and playing along until I felt that I had copied it well enough. i even took to writing notes. I had a little composition book in which I would transcribe the music as I understood it.

I forgot to mention it earlier but back when we first started playing. Back when we were still playing metal. I recall the first song that we played with a drummer. It was The Prisoner by Iron Maiden. I don’t know why particularly. Chuck had set his drums up in the garage and was just messing around on them making sure that everything was in place. I think he might have played something that sounded like the opening drum part to The Prisioner. Anyway, we all joined in and played along and I recall the feeling of how cool it was that three people could be in sync in such a away with just the unspoken cues of the drum beat. That kind of timing doesn’t occur in many other situations.

So fast forward now back to the past but not as past as thart previous thought. Usually, when I start to learn a song on bass, it would begin as an accident. I’d be listening to music in the house, car or on the headphones when unexpectably, my mind would zero in on the bass line. I’d sit, listen and visualize then as soon as was possible, I’d get the bass out and try to replicate what I heard. In the case of a lot of pop songs that meant 4 or 5 basic riffs with little embelishments where they would change over. Of course it was the best when the whole thing was clear but it was almost as good if I could just communicate the essence. It seems so unlikely now given the way my leisure time is now consumed, but back then , without the distraction of the internet or actual career or wife or kids or DVR’s or mobile phones, I used to play my guitar for 5 to 9 hours a day nearly every day.

In those post metal days, this is a sample of what the set list was looking like.

Robert Palmer – I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On