Musicians - what songs do you practice along with?

Cafe Society
1

I play mostly bass, and I have a bunch of songs that are my standby “practice” songs to play along with:

You Oughta Know by Alanis Morisette (Flea plays the bass line on that song, which is one big reason why it’s so awesome.) I try to duplicate the original line pretty much verbatim, but throw in a little improvised runs.

One Of These Nights by the Eagles. I love the little bass intro at the beginning of this song with the high notes, low note and then slide up to the high notes again. (If you’ve heard it you know what I mean.) After that, I try to improvise a little and do my own thing.

Something by the Beatles. Like all of Paul McCartney’s basslines I love practicing along with this one, although I’m still not 100% on it - my goal is to be able to replicate the original bassline note for note.

Swimmers by Broken Social Scene - like most of BSS’s songs this one has a pretty melodic, active bassline (really more like a second lead line than a bassline.) I try to improvise a lot on this one.

Life Less Ordinary by Carbon Leaf - this song is kind of corny and mainstream-y but it does have a great bass part and it’s a good exercise for finger speed that’s not too demanding.

Help Me by Joni Mitchell. The original line was played by Wilton Felder of The Crusaders (he was actually the saxophone player in that band, but he plays bass on Mitchell’s Court and Spark.) This is another song that I’m not 100% on because it has some hard chord changes and I’m not much of a theory guy (though I’m gradually trying to become one.) But it is a great song.

Almost all songs by The Sea and Cake. Their songs tend to be relatively simplistic, though layered and very instrumentally interesting, so they’re all wide open for bass experimentation.

Incidentally, the band that I’m in plays lo-fi Midwestern psychedelic rock (like My Morning Jacket or Grizzly Bear) - about the farthest thing possible from all the songs I’ve listed. But when I practice, I play a lot of mainstream stuff just for the hell of it because it helps me with technique and lets me experiment with improvisation and adding my own stuff.

What are your favorite practice songs?

2

It really depends on the songs my band is working on. I have to pick up new material a lot. Right now we are working on:

  • Vertigo by U2
  • Love is the Drug by Roxy Music
  • Basketcase by Green Day
  • I Want You to Want Me - Cheap Trick (I play Rick Nielsen’s part)
  • Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum (I play the trademark farty fuzz riff)

I like having to learn a variety of songs that require a mix of rock techniques - muffed, agressive rock chugging rhythms all the way to open leads.

But in terms of a song I can’t let go of, right now it is Girlfriend by Matthew Sweet - I figured out a way to play it Keef Richards’ style in open G - incredibly fun and rockin’…