Beginner double bass songs?

Mastiff

Mastiff

Senior Member
I've been putting a ton of time into my double bass practice and my technique has gotten way better in the last 3-4 months. I have a range of different practice exercises and things I've been working on, but I have very little practice using this stuff within a musical context. The issue is that unlike "normal" rock, where you can start out with some AC/DC or Tom Petty or something, much of the double bass music is either super fast or otherwise very complex. Can anyone recommend some songs I can use to get a foothold into using double bass within a musical context without being overwhelmed? I'm not a beginner in general FWIW, just with the double bass.

One thing I have been doing a little is playing over basic rock songs and improvising my own double bass patterns, but that doesn't help me absorb the vocabulary of double bass as it is actually applied.
 
MrInsanePolack

MrInsanePolack

Platinum Member
Overkill - the whole Years of Decay album

Obituary - Dying

Six Feet Under - the whole Haunted album

If you want a challenge to work on for a while, look into Painkiller by Judas Priest.
 
MrInsanePolack

MrInsanePolack

Platinum Member
Woolwich said:
Define "while" please MrInsanePolack :giggle:

That has given me a thought though, Take On All The World also by Judas Priest.
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Depends on the person. Maybe a month, maybe a year. I didnt mean the whole album, just the song.

Painkiller is a great double bass song because it's all over the place. Once you can get through it, you are well on your way to being able to play just about anything double bass.
 
Mastiff

Mastiff

Senior Member
I've never paid a lot of attention to Judas Priest outside of their hits. Painkiller is much more technical than I gave the band credit for. Did their drummers change over the years (off to wiki to check it out)?
 
J-W

J-W

Well-known member
Mastiff said:
I've never paid a lot of attention to Judas Priest outside of their hits. Painkiller is much more technical than I gave the band credit for. Did their drummers change over the years (off to wiki to check it out)?
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Scott Travis. One of my early influences back when he was in Racer X. Coincidently, the singer for Racer X is also one of my drumming influences when he played drums in Badlands.
 
bud7h4

bud7h4

Silver Member
J-W said:
Scott Travis. One of my early influences back when he was in Racer X. Coincidently, the singer for Racer X is also one of my drumming influences when he played drums in Badlands.
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I was going to suggest Racer X. They had a ton of double bass that was not crazy fast or terribly complex. The vocals are so loud in the mix though, it's hard for me to enjoy it.
 
MrInsanePolack

MrInsanePolack

Platinum Member
Mastiff, obviously you are going to get a lot of answers that are metal. Do you have a metal threshold? Anything you prefer? Anything you would rather stay away from? I probably should have asked this first.
 
PaisteGuy

PaisteGuy

Well-known member
I would also suggest Listening to Greg Bissonette on David Lee Roth’s Skyscraper album.
 
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Mastiff

Mastiff

Senior Member
MrInsanePolack said:
Mastiff, obviously you are going to get a lot of answers that are metal. Do you have a metal threshold? Anything you prefer? Anything you would rather stay away from? I probably should have asked this first.
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I'm in a tough spot because the stuff I'm inspired by is mostly prog metal and instrumental prog metal, which is still way out of my capability. I like the use of double bass in Tool and Primus. I do enjoy some straight ahead metal, but I get put off by overly harsh vocals, or silly (to me) death focused lyrics, though I can learn to ignore it. And everything is more fun when drumming along, as opposed to just listening...

I listen to older style metal like Metallica or Iron Maiden regularly.
 
Mastiff

Mastiff

Senior Member
PaisteGuy said:
Lars in the early days managed to pull off some Medium Tempo double bass, on songs like Fight Fire with Fire, Disposable Hero’s, the last part of Fade to Black. Those are easily playable.
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Yeah, I'll go back to that stuff and look for songs to try. Master of Puppets has some easy double bass at the end, plus some double bass 32nds in the main groove sections.
 
iCe

iCe

Senior Member
Maybe the tempo is a tad too high, but Motherhead - Overkill is a nice workout! Steady 16th notes on double bass the entire song! Great exercise as well. When i play double bass like that, the double bass becomes my metronome and i focus playing other stuff in time on that.
Painkiller is a nice suggestion as well! The intro can be difficult if you're just starting out, but the rest of the song is nice 8th notes and i think 16th note triplets in the chorus part which can be very confusing haha (correct me if i'm wrong). I learned playing triplets from the Dream Theater song 'Take The Time'. Can be weird if you start that out, but helps developing indepence.

Oh and Volbeat - Sad Man's Tongue is great as well!
 
M

mrjones

Well-known member
Down with a sickness .disturbed ' search it on youtube there is a guy that shows you how to play it .search down with a sickness drum cover i was plAying it in no time
 
bud7h4

bud7h4

Silver Member
Dream Theater - Pull me Under
I would also suggest playing the doubles during the chorus with your weak foot, for practice' sake.

Five Finger Death Punch - American Capitalist
Five Finger Death Punch - Wicked Ways
Five Finger Death Punch - Bulletproof
Five Finger Death Punch - Hard to See
Plenty more from this band ^ Double bass practice gold mine right here, mostly between 150 and about 200 BPM.
 
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MrInsanePolack

MrInsanePolack

Platinum Member
I wanna suggest some Slayer, but you are either gonna get hyper fast feet or massive fills. Maybe Skeletons of Society or Mandatory Suicide would be okay.

Slayer was goal achieving music when I was learning songs. Lots of speed, lots of sections, huge ass complicated fills.
 
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