Christmas music gotcha....

[Pilgrim]

My band has a mid-December gig and it's the first I've played with them in December.  My walking bass skills aren't that good, and I ran into a gotcha that I'm still working on.  You would think that most of the familiar Christmas tunes aren't tricky, but I found a surprise.

The old chestnut Rocking Around the Christmas Tree has a 16-measure "walking bass solo" and the key is G#, which is an unusual key for this band. That combination surprised me and has me on the defensive.  It will probably end up as a mix of one and two measure walks up and down but I'm working to extend them to something that
isn't too repetitive.

I hadn't played that tune before and didn't expect to run into a long bass solo, so I'm a bit behind on this one.  I have a practice with the band tomorrow and I'll need more work after that.

Here's one sample on YouTube:

[Dave W]

Interesting, I had never listened closely to the bass lines.

You can do it!

[Alanko]

I'm wondering if G# is the result of the studio cut bring sped up to give it a bit of an edge? Seems a random key for a song with a fairly banal structure. Not sure it would help the horn players out?

[Pilgrim]

I'm not sure why the band chose G#. There is no brass, just a 4-piece band. I may ask about that key today.

[uwe]

Who needs G#?! Tune your bass to Eb Ab Db Gb and you can play it in 'A' !!! Isn't that what Kiss did for most of their career because Stanley preferred to sing in E and A a halfstep down?

[Basvarken]

Lots of artist do/did that.
And as a result the band that I played in for 15 years also did that. Because we started out with covers of ZZTop, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Cry Of Love etc.
When we started (one by one) replacing the covers with originals we kept the half step down tuning.

[uwe]

Short scale basses and half-step downtuning?! My, what a sissy you are, don't like calluses on your fingers or what? 

I've been in half-step down bands too - for whatever reason I never really liked the feel of it. Admittedly though, that was at a time when I was only used to playing long (Kubicki Factor) and medium scale (Kramer XKB-10) basses. With my Rolling Stones tribute, I now even consciously recorded demos with a short scale bass (Les Paul Junior Tribute) which recorded great.

[Basvarken]

The short scale and the half step down is the reason why I ended up using 50-115 gauge strings on all my basses. Anything thinner felt like chewing gum to me.
After Superfloor I've played in several other bands that did not tune down half a step. And I more often used long scale than short scale with these bands.
But I stuck to the 50-115 gauge because I like the string tension and the tone.

[uwe]

I remember now, you use manly strings!

Short scale basses and half-step downtuning?! My, what a sissy you are, don't like calluses on your fingers or what? 

[Pilgrim]

We just shifted the key to G.  The original was in G#, and we all agreed it was both easy and less brain damage to drop it to G.  That also makes it easier for me to work out some good walking stuff. 

Now I just need to work out the number.  I'll get there. 

A small change can sometimes make life easier. (Even when you play short scale a lot, as I do...)

[uwe]

Me and my big mouth. I have not endeared myself to the manly community of hobbit players.

[westen44]

At least it isn't as bad as Denmark.  Some music stores put short scale basses in the children's section there. 

[morrow]

G# is a funny key. A harp player I know sometimes uses that key , and it generally feels a little strange. I usually have to walk through it.
I'm usually pretty relaxed , but in G# I'm suddenly really aware I'm in an odd key and find myself thinking more.