Help with tabbing some songs
 

I've been messing around with some programs, stripping down FM songs to just the bass parts. I've been trying to tab out some songs by ear, but I just can't do it. If I put those stripped down, bass-only songs on The Ledge, would somebody be able to listen to them and help me and get these songs written out in tab?

Okay, just tried doing the intro to I Don't Want To know


G|-------------------------------|
D|----4-2--424----42--4----------|
A|-2-----------2--------2--------|
E|-------------------------------|

I'm not too sure about the second last note.

I will have a look at this soon, I play bass and I have reasonable ear for bass parts, BUT its 1:20 AM local time, not time to be trying anything LOL.

Here's what I have for the verses to IDWTK

G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|------4---2---------------------4---2---4----------------------|
A|--2-----------walking part--2----------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------| x1

G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|------4---2---------------------4---2---4----------------------|
A|-02-----------walking part--2----------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------| x3

I have yet to figure out the walking bass part.

This is what I've come up with so far;

Intro

G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|--------4--2--4-2-4-----4--2--4--------------------------------|
A|-----2---------------2-----------------------------------------|
E|--2--------------------------------2-----------------------------|




"I dont want to know"

G|----------------------4--2--4----------------------------------|
D|-----4--2--4---------------------------------------------------|
A|--2---------4------2-------------------------------------------|
E|-------------2-4----------------2------------------------------|




"Fi -na-ly baby"

G|----------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-------2--4-4----------------2--4-4----------------------------|
A|--2-2-------------------2-2------------------------------------|
E|--------------2-2-2-----------------2-2-2----------------------|

Sounds good to me! Thanks for that! :thumbsup: Seriously, I'm so excited. I've been looking EVERYWHERE for FM bass tabs. I never found anything for my favourites, like Sisters of the Moon, I'm So Afraid, etc. so I tried transcribing them myself... and failed. :o

As a bassist, Fleetwood Mac is definitely one of my favorite bands to play along to. I mean does it get any better than the tag that leads in to the guitar solo in "The Chain"? John is not a "showy" bassist but I think that the steady parts he contributed were really what made some of the Mac's big hits. Can you imagine "Dreams" minus that pulsing bass line? Ok I need to stop with the hero worship but who wouldn't want to be John McVie?

If anyone has the tab for "Sisters of the Moon" or "Sara" I would be much obliged if they would post it.:thumbsup:

I've seen two different Sara tabs. Haven't really played them, so I don't know how accurate they are.

-----------------------------------------------------|
-----------------------------------------------------|
-----------------------------------------------------|
----------5-7-77-77-77-2-3-33-33-3-5-55-55-5-7-------|
-3-33-33/5-------------------------------------5-7-3-|

And there's this one transcribed by a Finnish dude - AFAIK there are no FM songs called Jada; I'm guessing this is a translation error.

Do you guys ever look at the tabs of FM songs that have been published professionally over the years?

All of the ones I've seen only include guitar and/or piano.

I cant understand that jada one at all :D
doesnt seem to bear any similarity to sara.


i tend to make it up as i go along on sara. I would play on the verses:


"Drowning ..."..............."in the sea of love"..............."where everyone".............."would love to drown"

I've looked at several of the songs that have been transcribed professionally over the years. Usually they are just piano, guitar and vocal. It would be awesome if they would include the bass part though.

Thanks for the "Sara" tabs. I love that song. I sing it to my sister, Sarah, all the time and it annoys her to no end. I've always wanted my band to do it but we've never gotten around to it. Oh well, maybe someday....

I'd love to see one for I'm So Afraid, Sisters of the Moon, Oh Daddy.. and for pre-Rumours: The Ghost, Jewel Eyed Judy, Hypnotized... ah... :distress:

I have searched the world for a bass tab of Hypnotized! My friend and I were digging through some old records one day and put on Mystery to Me. When Hypnotized came on we were absolutely blown away. I download the MP3 and we must have listened to that 80 times that day. Good Times...:)

Hah, yeah, I'm trying to figure out what song it's supposed to be! :shrug:

Just finished playing some IDWTK; here's how I play the entire song:

Intro
G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|--------4--2--4-2-4-----4--2--4--------------------------------|
A|-----2---------------2-----------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------2-----------------------------|

Chorus
G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-----4--2--4----------4--2--4----------------------------------|
A|--2---------4------2-------------------------------------------|
E|-------------2-4---------------2-------------------------------|

And sometimes I change it to:

G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-----4--2--4----------4--2--4----------------------------------|
A|---2---------4------2------------------------------------------|
E|-0-------------2-4-------------2-------------------------------|

Verse/Finally baby...
G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-------2--4-4~---------------2--4-4----------------------------|
A|--2-2-------------------2-2------------------------------------|
E|--------------2-2-2-----------------2-2-2----------------------|

Outro
G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|--------4--2--4-2-4-----4--2--4--------------------------------|
A|-----2---------------2-----------------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------2---------------------------|

The guitar magazines -- Guitar, Guitar Player et al. -- have published guitar tablature for numerous Fleetwood Mac songs. Check out the back issues, especially issues published around THE DANCE (1997-98).

There's a musician's bass magazine, too. I think it's called BASS PLAYER. It might run bass tablature from time to time.

There are also about three folios of music published of FM songs with guitar tablature, & one of them (that I know about) has tablature & staff notation for every song on RUMOURS. It was published in 1992 or 1993. It's probably out of print now, but I bet you can find it on eBay. I own a copy of it & while I don't read tablature, the staff notation for the various keyboards is very accurate.

In fact, I just found some info from one of the Nicks Fix pages:
http://www.nicksfix.com/songbook.htm

Rumours - Fleetwood Mac, Off the Record (1992)

International Music Publications Limited
Southbend Road, Woodford Green, Essex IG8 8HN, England
order reference number - 18282

Thanks. I'll have to look into that. :cool:

No snobbery intended, becasue my bass playing is very amateurish.
But I think tabs are a last resort on bass,
first you should always just try to follow a song by listening, and playing EXACTLY what is on a record isnt always necessary anyway; all the pro players- they never do quite the same thign twice. Not even John McVie possibly the most no-nonsense guy I've ever seen on a stage.

Is it possible to figure out the bass part of a song by looking at piano sheet music (of the same song)?

I usually just look at the chord progression and play something that fits. I use guitar chords but I suppose you could use the piano part as well.

I don't know how well that works will bass, but I tried it out anyway with SOTM. Here's a very bare bones intro....

G
D
A
E 5555555555-0-111111111111-0-55555555555-0-11111111111

The chorus is kind of hard for me because there's sliding and little high notes everywhere.

I've figured out the rest of SOTM and now Walk a Thin Line, but I'll probably put those up here tomorrow as they're driving me nuts now. :laugh:

I just try to get a feel for key and chord progression that way. I'm not saying that it is the end-all-be-all to bass playing. I usually just try to imitate what I hear but still make it my own. I know I'm not John McVie so why should I have to play every note to perfection? If it works then it works. I don't know...that's just the way I look at it (which may sound totally ridiculous).

Here's Walk a Thin Line.

I've seen so many things that made me wonder
A --------------3---3--------
E --3---3-3---3-------1---1--

But sometimes it's hard to tell
A --------------3---3-------
E --3---3-3---3-------1-----

I said, "Take your time,"
A ----------------3---3-------------------3---3---
E --1-3---3-3---3-------1---1-3---3-3---3-------1-

But no one was listening
A ----------------3--------
E --1-3---3-3---3----------

I walk a thin line
A --3-------------------3---3----
E ----1---1-3---3-3---3-------1--

They told me that I never would recover
A ----------------3---3--------
E --1-3---3-3---3------1---1---

Still some say they knew me well
A --------------3---3-------
E --3---3-3---3-------1-----

I said, "Stay by my side,"
A ----------------3---3-------------------3---3---
E --1-3---3-3---3-------1---1-3---3-3---3-------1-

But no one said nothing
A ----------------3--------
E --1-3---3-3---3----------

I walk a thin line
A --3----------------------
E ----1---1-3---3-3---3----

(Instrumental)
A --3---3-3---3---------------5---5-5---5-----------------
E --------------3---3-3---3-----------------3---3-3---3---

A --5---5-5---5--------------5---5-5---5-----------------
E --------------3---3-3---3------------------------------

A ----------------5---5-5---
E --3---3-3---3-------------

And I said, "Please turn the tide,"
A -5-------------3---3-------------------3---3---
E ---3---3-3---3-------1---1-3---3-3---3-------1-

But no one said nothing
A ----------------3--------
E --1-3---3-3---3----------

I walk a thin line
A --3-------------------3---3-3---3--
E ----1---1-3---3-3---3--------------

(Instrumental)

And I said, "Fate takes time,"
A -5-------------3---3-------------------3---3---
E ---3---3-3---3-------1---1-3---3-3---3-------1-

But no one was listening
A ----------------3--------
E --1-3---3-3---3----------

I walk a thin line
A --3-------------------3------------
E ----1---1-3---3-3---3--------------

Isn't it more common for bassists to listen to the source recording (in a headset, for example) & then just copy it?

Thats what I usually do :shrug:

Here's how I play That's Enough For Me...

Intro

G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-----------------11111111----------33333333--------------------|
A|1111111111111111----------11111111-----------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------|

Verse

G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-----------------11111111----------33333333--------------------|
A|1111111111111111----------11111111----------11111111-----------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------| x2

Chorus ("Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, oh..)

G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-----------------11111111----------33333333--------------------|
A|1111111111111111----------11111111----------11111111-----------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------| x5

Verse

G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-----------------11111111-----------33333333-------------------|
A|1111111111111111----------11111111-----------11111111----------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------|

Outro

G|---------------------------------------------------------------|
D|33333333----------33333333-------------------------------------|
A|---------11111111----------11111111----------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------|