Week 10: "Wake Me Up When September Ends", "On and On"

As a thrifty shopper and a lover of good rock music, I was so pleased by the free video of Green Day’s live performance of “When I Come Around” on last week’s iTunes free music roster. This week, I found to my delight 15 popular Green Day tracks on sale for 69 cents apiece. Therefore I felt like it would be more than appropriate to dedicate this week’s video to Green Day by playing their famous song, “Wake Me Up When September Ends” (Tab credits go to Luiz Manzano on Ultimate-Guitar.com).

What I love about this tune is that it has a healthy mix between light guitar strums and soft vocals with heavy riffs and a pulsating rhythm section. For the first time in this series I accomplished a one-take and I was confident in a quick and painless process. However, much of the song had no bass part so I thought I might utilize what I have learned about video editing and using visuals with music to add some pictures for your viewing pleasure; so, after the editing it took me about 4 or five hours (so much for quick and painless). 

Feel free to watch it all, but I come in at the 1:45 mark

Freebies

I want to start by apologizing that a couple weeks ago (Week 8) featured a free video called “From the Cover of Darkness” by The Strokes came out late in the week so I picked it up after posting. To make up for it I’m going to post it below, so please check it out; it deserves some serious play and I have been listening to it constantly.

Finally, I’m going to leave you with a song that has caught my eye that you can still pickup for zero dollars and zero cents. Mac Miller is a white rapper who recently released what looks to be his debut album earlier this week. The track in question is “On and On”, and although this is not a technical term, I have to say that I love his flow in this song. I can really only use a word like ‘flow’ for this genre, so if you don’t know what it means, I can only describe it as the inflection and pace with which he raps (closest I can come to capturing it).

So check it out; it will only cost you a few minutes to give it a listen.

OH, and here's that song by The Strokes

Week 9: "Amazing Grace", "Beautiful Girl"

I love to play the bass, but I cannot stress it enough when I say that I am merely a beginner. That being said, I was planning to post a blog that showcased a true expert bassist. Coincidentally, the artist I have in mind performed at Penn State earlier this week. Therefore, I will pay homage to one of my favorite bassists, Victor Wooten. In this video, Wooten puts his own spin on the gospel standard, “Amazing Grace”. He begins by using a technique (more like a quality of the electric bass) called Natural Harmonics. If it seems like he is barely pressing the strings while making the high notes, it’s actually because the natural harmonics are played by placing your finger on certain parts of the strings without actually pressing them to the neck of this bass (how you would otherwise play a normal note). The vibrations cause the high-pitched tone you here in the beginning, end, and intermittently within the performance. When he begins to pick up the tempo, he actually plays natural harmonics and normal notes simultaneously, almost making it almost sound like two instruments are playing at once. On top of that, I love the way he has so much control over the neck of the bass; you can tell it by the fact that he barely needs to move his fingers in order to get from one note to the to the other. It’s inspiring to see people performing at the peak level to motivate me to improve my own skills.

Free Songs of the Week

This week’s installment of freebies was surely a treat; so much that I am already enjoying a couple of the offers after owning them for less than 12 hours. Indie Spotlight of the week “Beautiful Girl” by William Fitzsimmons is one track that I have been listening to over and over again. It has quickly established itself as one of the most soothing songs in my 1,500+ song library.  I love how the calming vocals, piano, and bass melt into a relaxing ensemble; this is definitely a must-download. If that was not enough, Green Day is also giving out a free video of their classing song “When I Come Around” being performed live in Tokyo.

Week 8: "99 Luftballons", "Slow Lights"

I found myself trapped in my room one snow day during my high school years during an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to avoid shoveling snow. However, before I got down to chores I had to get a song unstuck from my head. That song was 99 Luftballons by Nena and the method for getting it dislodged was by listening to it as much as possible. In fact, I thought I’d do myself one better and teach it to myself on the bass.

The big difference between my effort to learn 99 luftballons and other songs that I have covered is that the other songs were picked up from tabs. I haven’t exactly clarified what tabs are exactly; they are basically a shorthand layout of how a song is played on the bass (there are also tabs for guitar and drums) based on the location on the instrument each note is played. It is an easy way to learn a song without having to go through the actual music notation.

So, instead of running to the cheat sheet, I decided to listen to the song and replicate the bassline by ear. Since the bassline was quite repetitive (and infectious in an over-the-top eighties way) it was no chore whatsoever to learn.

Free Song of the Week

I was pleased to see a shiny new free music page on iTunes this week with a much more convenient format this time around. Also, I found that iTunes added a St. Patrick’s Day song as the Discovery Download. However, my joy dissipated when I actually listened to the songs. There was no standout favorite for me this time around; but that doesn’t mean these songs aren’t worth a listen.

“Slow Lights” by Alternative act Sin Fang is the Indie Spotlight this week. I may not have been floored by the song by first listen, but I think it will grow on me. I enjoy the pulsating drum beats and the less emphasized instrumentals. However, the vocals drone on for the entire 4 minutes and 54 seconds without much variation. Again, this is only a first opinion and the song may have potential in future listens; besides, it’s free, so why not give it a shot?

Week 7: "3's & 7's", "The Beat Goes On"

Guitar solos have become almost a necessity in rock music, and even drum solos are not a complete rarity. It may just be me, but it seems like a bass solo is too hard to find in contemporary rock music. Therefore, I was enthusiastic to tackle an upbeat, bass-driven song such as “3’s & 7’s” by Queens of the Stoneage. Best of all, it has a bass solo! Albeit, the solo is less than 10 seconds, not long by any standards. Nonetheless, it is still worth learning based on the relative rarity of bass solos across the board.

3’s and 7’s is an entertaining song that exudes energy in almost every aspect; from the squealing guitar bursts, to the rapid drum hits, to the pulsating bass. It is a great song to work out to because the beat pushes forward at a rapid pace while holding a steady beat. All instruments play together as one and have this track driving on all cylinders. Simultaneously, the hook is catchy enough to have you humming along after the first listen; it is the kind of song that demands a good listening.

The most rewarding part of figuring this song out was remembering how lost I was when I first saw the tab by “oaxacamexy” on ultimate-guitar.com a year ago. I attempted to play it, but I simply did not have the quickness in my left hand to maintain the bassline throughout the song. Although I did not have a ton of time to prepare this time around, I put together a decent product without too much agony. It is always a rewarding to tackle the objectives you used to find impossible.

Free Song of the Week

I was pleasantly surprised that this week’s free song of the week lineup included a song by Beady Eye, a song comprised of some former members of the British band Oasis (famous for songs like “Wonderwall” and “Champagne Supernova”). The track is called “The Beat Goes On” and it is styled in a noticeably sixties fashion; I’d even say it is beatlesque in its arrangement. It’s something you should at the very least give a chance since I think it will be getting plenty of plays on my iPod.