In the bass world there are riffs you always hear in the guitar store. Riffs you’ve heard a thousand times before. Riffs that make you cringe every time you hear them…
…except when you’re the one actually playing it.
Below is a video on the top 20 overplayed bass riffs. But when you listen to it as a collection of songs, you realize something.
It actually makes for a decent set list. Definitely not a perfect set, but from song to song things get changed up in a way that keeps it interesting. The songs chosen for this top 20 go all over the place. Pop, ’60s rock, ’80s rock, ’90s rock, 2000s rock, some metal songs and so on. There is genuine variety.
The more songs and song styles you know, the more well-rounded of a player you become.
Here is the video of the songs (it’s under 3 minutes because it’s just the riffs):
“This guy missed X song, Y song (and so on…)”
If there are other totally overplayed songs you feel the bassist should have included, post a comment what what you feel should have been there.
And remember, “overplayed” doesn’t mean “bad.” There’s a reason certain songs are played over and over again. It’s because people actually like them. 🙂
What staple songs would you include?
Psycho Killer – Talking Heads
Peaches – Stranglers
Moondance – Van Morrison
RHCP cover of Higher Ground was the first thing that came to mind 🙂
What purpose does the green fabric over the strings at the head stock serve?
Tears of a Clown
Most overplayed?
“I Want You Back”
“Love Games”
“Lopsy Lu”
“Teen Town”
All for good reason, i.e. different playing styles, varied tonal palette, reliable test of how facile the instrument is, or does it interact well with the player.
This all, of course, depends on whether the player has chops, and is really wringing the bass out or just mindless noodling by a bored kid who’s PlayStation is down.
1. Sweet Child O’ Mine (bassists and guitarists are guilty on that one)
2. Tom Sawyer (mostly feeble attempts at solo section…)
3. Killing In The Name (missing a couple notes and overdrive)
4. The Trooper (c’mon, no Steve Harris??? WTF?!?!?)
5. Sweet Emotion (you really shouldn’t look around to see who’s watching you, you’ll miss a note)
Those are 5 of many I play at the local music stores to impress (or annoy) my fellow musicians (drummers too….)
Iron Man
Cocaine
Smoke on the Water
Random slap crap
Usually all out of tune