Friday, June 19, 2009

Budgie's "Breadfan"

Have you heard about Budgie? Have you heard "Breadfan"? Of course the band has its own fan base, but it's pretty limited compared with huge acts like Metallica, the band that covered this awesome song. Chances are that you've heard Metallica's version but not the original one, so here's a video:



Budgie has been compared in some aspects with Rush, although they have notable musical differences. But both are power trios, in both bands the bassist is the lead singer and he has a high-pitched voice, plus at some point both bassists looked very similar. One of the things I like the most from Budgie is that, in my opinion, Burke Shelley's bass tone is the quintessential example of superb P-Bass tone within a rock context. Here's the bassline for this terrific tune:

Breadfan (Bassline)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Van Halen's "Everybody Wants Some!!"

Another TalkBass request. I was a huge Van Halen fan back in the day (still consider Eddie one of the biggest guitar geniuses ever) and, for some reason I can't recall, I was so disappointed with the band's third release "Women And Children First". So many years later I gave the album another listening and now I still ask myself what made me hate it so much. "Everybody Wants Some!!" is one of the coolest songs there, and here's the bassline:

Everybody Wants Some Bass Line)

Tears For Fears' "Sowing The Seeds Of Love"

Someone at TalkBass requested the bassline for this song and, since it's the TFF song I like the most (along with "Woman In Chains") and it's not so complicated, I took some time to transcribe it:

Sowing the Seeds of Love Bassline

First upload: Learning to use the blog

OK. Here's my first attempt at posting material to my blog: The bassline for The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". A pretty simple line that I've never liked. I mean, Mr. Bill Wyman or whoever devised this line should have tried better note choices, in my opinion. Usually I like to transcribe entire basslines note for note, but this one becomes very repetitive with very slight variations after returning to the Segno, So I decided to leave it that way. Anyway, you can have for sure that you'll find everything you need to know in order to play this famous song. Don't forget that the icon on the upper right corner of the Scribd document's options panel below will allow you to see the document full screen. Don't hesitate to ask if you need some clarification (BTW, "AMGA" are my initials). Enjoy!

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction Bass Line)

First post: Some generalities

Hey! After so much time of thinking about this, I've decided to create a blog. I'm still learning to use this thing. In the meantime, I can tell you that I want to share the transcriptions for bass I've created and of course, publish every new one as well.

Some of you may already know some things about me. I'm a bass guitar/double bass player who lives in Bucaramanga, Colombia. I love the double bass and I think I accomplished many things on that beautiful instrument thanks to my Polish master, Mr. Janusz Kopytko, who's like my dad to me. But my heart and soul are definitely closer to the bass guitar. It's the instrument I dedicate most of my efforts.

"Martín" is my middle name, not my last name as many people seem to think. "Gómez" is dad's last name and "Acevedo" is mom's maiden name. So, if someone is going to call me "Mr.", it should be "Mr. Gómez" instead of "Mr. Acevedo". Anyway, I prefer to be called simply "Alvaro" or "Alvaro Martín".

Many friends have asked me why I always post YouTube videos in English and why I'm subscribed to English language forums, being Spanish my native language. It's simple: There are lots more people worldwide who speak English. Besides, and in my opinion, learning English isn't a luxury but a necessity in the modern times. That's what have helped me to take the most advantage of the WWW.

That's all by now. Talk to you later!