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Which one do you think's the hardest? I'd probably say making a living... hardly anywhere accepts exposure coin 😢
Agreed! Thanks and safety to ya friend!!
Getting paid, listening to bass on your phone. This sums up the whole thing 😂✌
Sell the few exposure coins you have, and buy GameStop!! :/ it's, like, a meme stock, so, like, it's good. :/
as someone who made their living in bar bands through most of the 2000's, I definitely agree
I laughed out loud a few times during this video despite a good case of tonsillitis - nice one (mumble mumble….) :) One you missed is: Playing lots of notes vs. Grooving! The first time I heard you played Victor Wooten’s “Can’t Hold No Groove” on 25. July…. _that_ is a benchmark for groove. Sorry, superfans but…. I respect VW but he’s never made me smile like that. That _grooved_ !
What people think is hard: Everything in this video. What actually is hard: Everything in this video.
for real
@6061 when is your full 6061 bass ready?
Yes thank you!
Imagine how hard it is to please the 59 people that gave a thumbs down?? SO tragic to live such a life..
I did not expect to see you commenting over here. Hope the finger has completely healed.
I'm never quite sure whether Charles' videos motivate me to keep getting better or make me wanna throw my bass out of the window.
Yes, they do.
I have stopped looking at genius players that way. Simply respect them for their talent. And don't strive to be that good. Just be good at what I want to play and achieve. And I'm actually having my first ever bass lesson tomorrow. Because I want more from my technique, but not to learn to be great.
same hepl im cryeing
@@winstonhawke7065 Actually a really good take on it, thanks dude. Winton.
@@MayonnaiseSyrup winton
"Playing with an out-of-time drummer". I can say that I've always been blessed to play with great drummers. My favorite was a guy named Kit. When we got in the groove, it was like we were one person playing one instrument... it was amazing. Then there is my other favorite drummer, named Tim... I once knocked over his snare drum with my tuba. I'm not sure he ever forgave me for that. It was a very nice snare drum.
Was friends with the drummer of our church band. Sadly the only drummer in our church.... He was a very self insecure person. If you had him alone, he was extremely good. But when he had to play with the band, let alone in sunday service, he often went out of step and wrestled to change to the rhythm of the other players which brought them out of step. Guess he never understood that HE played the instrument others act upon!
my favourite guy was someone with tuba named Tom, but once he knocked over my snare drum. i never forgave him for that. edit. it was a very nice snare drum.
@@jamz9756 How did this comment not get any likes yet?
A drummer named Kit haha like a singer called Mike.
@@svenjansen2134 A pianist named Key.
hardest thing for any instrument: Simple line...slow tempo..with a metronome..while recording. WHY
I think all the space between the notes gives you too much time to zone out, overthink, doubt yourself etc.
I think for me the issue is the isolation when recording, I can hear every little twang and pop and buzz, and every mistake seems to be amplified by 1000, so I get deep in my head looking for that "perfect" track...have deleted so many tracks because of that
Because at slow tempi you hear a 3% variation in how long you think a beat is, while it's not that clear when you play faster. There's also so much stuff between 120 and 140 BPM, that you tend to play less at slower tempi and that makes you want to rush. You know you've spent too much time thinking about polymeters when you think "a quarter note at 100BPM? That's just 5 tied sextuplets at 120!" and that actually helps...
Because you're thinking too much instead of playing. It happens to the best. That's why there are so many stories about engineers getting great takes when the artists were warming up or didn't know they were being recorded.
Almost perfect but got fret buzz on one note: REDO!!
I swear everything i know about playing goes flying out the window when i'm recording.
This is so true! Always think i suck after listening to my recordings.
It's true 🤣and the only remedy I know is to just do hundreds of recordings until you're not nervous anymore. And even after that, it still feels different than practising by yourself
@@CharlesBerthoud Which is why the discerning engineer _always_ runs a room mic to a 2-track - and _never_ abuses the masters to keep the trust of the players :)
It's so true that it's saddening, lol. I'd learn a hard part and play it perfectly in time until I'd start recording
My recordings are almost always 50 % of what I want.
The “Jaco only needed four strings” comment though 😂
It's funny because it's true.
"Jamerson only needed one finger!"
Mark Sandman only needed two.
It’s like saying “Neil only needed one stick
I never thought I'd get to hear "Arabesque No. 1" on bass. I'd die to listen to you improvise on it.
I’m glad I’m not the only one that noticed. Arabesque is one of my favorite classical pieces. So beautiful 💚
It always remembers me of the sea.
@@TheAskald When I played it, for a change, I had the picture of two ballerinas having a showdown alongside each other in mind.
It always makes me uneasy to listen to Debussy, not because he wasn't a superb composer, but because it always remind me that according to French teachings, he's the first guy in the world to have undergone colostomy because of a cancer, making him live 3 last miserable years.
@@tnyamaneko6093 I didn't know about it. It sounds terrible enough on its own. He must have had a superb will power to compose right to the end of his life.
I think what actually is hard is to pick up a bass after you see a real pro play. That requires some strength!
Truuuuuueee
Like me after watching this video
It's like wielding Mjolnir
I hear ya, I screwed up my left hand and awaiting surgery so I can't play right now, and after watching this guy I realized I never could "play" before I just made slightly rhythmic noise
Either that, or it can motivate you to be like them and start training even more. Nothing between.
What people think is hard: The Dance of Eternity What is actually hard: always being asked if you have heard of flea and hearing “slappa da bass” jokes and not shooting yourself
I almost put in some slappa da bass jokes but they didn't quite make the cut 🤣
@@CharlesBerthoud good thing you didn’t, otherwise you’d have a lot of deaths on your conscience
Fr listening to non musicians confidently discuss music makes me wanna melon ball my eyes
Not a bass player but not shooting myself is very hard
You wanna get some Neil Peart all up in ya?
I laughed pretty hard at the "Easy bass lines but you're recording" because one of the first songs that I learned all the way through is "Another One Bites the Dust". I use Rocksmith and a screen recorder, and I always mess up while recording it. 100% spot on! I'm not up to the level of the other things that you have mentioned, but I trust that they are accurate because they make total sense.
Ok it's official...you're just showing off now: Not just your bass playing skills but your video production, comedic timing, EVERYTHING!!🤣🤣 Favorite video so far!! Keep up the great work in EVERYTHING you continue to do!!👏🏼👏🏼
Lol, agreed. Bass playing 10/10 Comedy and nailing literally everything in this video, also 10/10.
That jazz part from 1:10 is absolutely mesmerizing. I'm always amazed whenever I hear such fluid continuous movement like that
kzhead.info/sun/oLyxotuoj6tvnIU/bejne.html if you didn't already listen to his version of Smells Like Teen Spirit
Honestly I'm more impressed with that kind of playing instead of tapping
0:54 the most beautiful 10 seconds of music I’ve ever heard
it is his original song called highland dream, on youtube and spotify
@@superfuzzball thank you
If you like it, you may appreciate "Jon Gomm - Passionflower" too (I know isn't bass, but that's it).
@@federico42111 great song ty
As a bassist who (unlike Charles) is actually human, I can say literally all of this is hard
yeah you're right
You're one of the most skilled bassists I've ever heard, for real.
01:21 - That's the first fundamental truth for any instrument! And the second one is: your best take would be the one which you pressed play instead record!
SO TRUE !!!!!
Do you mean 1:29?
Double-stops are pretty tricky. I taught myself the "Pink Panther" back when I pretended to play bass and I did the opening bit with 2-note "chords", sliding them to get the same gliding sound the real song had. It was fun, sounded great, but was definitely a trick to learn. Also, keeping a steady time when the feel of a song changes. Both "The Entertainer" and "Dixie" tripped me up because I'd hit the more energetic bits of the songs and start ramping up the tempo.
we need a full version of the changing tuning while playing bit because it honestly slaps
I believe it is Highland Dream from Charles' original album, Fable.
That moment you hear the metronome when you hit record, you become a beginner at every instrument and just can't do it. Love this its so real!
I'm so bad rythmically, it's when I hit record and the metronome starts that I notice that I can't play that song I've reharsed thousands of times... without metronome.
1:48 Funny thing. I both play the piano and the bass. I can easily read notation while playing the piano, but for the bass it's straight up hard for me and I do prefer tabs.
i am literally like that
I can read bass notation, but I prefer it in bass clef, without transposition, so that the open A is in the lowest space on the staff.
I played cello and read in standard notation, but for guitar and bass it's so much harder
1:29 I remember having to play 8ths instead of 16ths while recording a fast tempo bassline I played with ease live almost every weekend just because of red light syndrome. That session still lives rent free in my head.
This got to be one the most incredible things i've seen in a while. Dude, you freaking ROCK! Outstanding playing!!
I love "the out of time drummer" 😂😂
Hey loopy grandma~
@@jaeyounglee5410 Sup!
The Le Fay brothers should be paying you. I bought one of their instruments because of your content. It’s a brilliant bass by the way, so thanks for the nudge in the right direction. Love the channel. Keep it up!
I wish I had the money for a LeFay but yeah I agree, I never heard of them until I watched Charles. They look and sound phenomenal.
Charles, I've discovered your channel recently, and as a bass player I'm so impressed by your talent and your love for bass. There is a song I'd love to hear you play called Scarified by Paul Gilbert. Some of the guitar parts are heavily influenced by classical music, and only you could do it justice. PLEASE play this song at some point! Either way keep up the great work and keep inspiring people like me to keep pushing their abilities forward.
Fuzz Universe is another that Charles could compliment with his bass
the changing tuning in the little riff you had there was probably the most beautiful thing i’ve ever heard
What people think is hard: YO PLAY SEINFELD Actually hard: Having to play Seinfeld again...
I have a friend who is a Grammy nominated world class violinist and I always ask her to play The Devil Went Down to Georgia lol
@@yuna9044 wtf
What people thinks it is hard: getting a great bass tone. What is really hard: have the bass player to get new strings.
For good reason. I've had drug habits and collectable card game habits cheaper than my bass string budget.
@@Starky_3D 6 string sets costs are killing me 😢
Old strings are fine, you just have to play different stuff. 😂
you guys are buying strings instead of boiling them?
@@BugDcBass boiling them is the best
Love the content you produce dude. Also your skill is pretty inspiring!
Wow! You are incredibly good! You’re better than a huge percentage of the most famous bassists out there. Keep going!
Hey man, you always amaze in every technique. Always appreciate the talented work!
01:59 hahaha yep, tapping melody and a bass line at the same time is difficult, but making a living playing bass is just another level xd
I'm so glad you're on KZhead man. Love all of your videos :)
This was hilarious, but also on point. Nice playing. You've been putting in the time and effort and it shows. Keep doing it right.
Let's be real... none of this is hard for Charles haha
and all of them are hard for me 😭
@@doodoopoo *the rest of us
I was just waiting for Davey504 to pop up and scoff that none of those things are hard. Even though they are.
eating bass strings?
@@saddocatto9245 I bet he could do it
I literally said out loud "what is actually hard, moonlight sonata 3rd movement" when you were playing the 1st. So happy to be validated
3:08 reminded me of the anecdote where James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich first heard Cliff Burton play. Apparently he was playing (an early version of) what would later become "Anesthesia (Pulling Teeth)" and they were counting the strings to confirm he was playing bass and not guitar. Imagine if he was on a 6 string bass! How different could metal history would be if they thought that was a guitar and moved on to someone else!
Glad it was 4-string for that reason.
Your comedic timing. And production always gets better, this is one which fees extra tight and wel edited
Hi Charles! I'd love to hear a full version of Arabesque - one of my favourites and I bet you'd knock the full version out of the park on the bass. Please! :D
I could seriously listen to you play your classical arrangements all day
Just when I think I can't be any more amazed by you you amaze me. Changing tuning while you're playing seriously? Wow
The changing tuning ones is so pretty!!! I'd love to hear a full version of that for real!
0:44 Is it in 13/8 time? That's pretty cool actually. Could fit really well in a relaxed chill out kind of video game.
this man is an amazing musician...his playing is seamless and beautiful...im a guitarist and i only wish i could play this good!!!! hats off old chap!
Damn, Arabesque n°1 on bass sounds so smooth, great job!
This is a really excellent idea for videos! And I enjoy all your styles of playing.
People asking questions while you're playing bass was like a jam session You're channel is amazing!
Dude, the Beethoven segment was perfect. I was like "Ha, wouldn't it be great if the 3rd Movement would be the actually hard one..." And, there it was. 🤘😊
I will genuinely watch any number of videos where you improvise over Giant Steps.
I always watch Charles's videos and this one is funnier than most but I'd like to see him stretch out on something like Giant Steps without it just being a ten second cutaway. Charles the Entertainer sometimes gets in the way of Charles the Musician.
Superb video, great editing, humor and a fine ending. Nice.
EPIC VIDEO! Awesome chops and humor!
On piano (as a medium skill player) I find that doing triplets on one hand and an entirely different rythm on the other is fairly hard. I can't imagine it's any easier when tapping on bass.
we're going to need that baked bass strings recipe btw :D
Your change tuning is awesome always love those videos.
Every video you make is interesting, amusing and astonishing. Thanks
In all seriousness.. you are the most talented bassist I've ever seen. Like the Yngwie Malmsteen of bass guitar
This is now my favorite video from you of all time! I’m retired now grudgingly, but I went through the same positives and negatives you showed here but those ran between 1977 through 2013. Oh, and minus anything by Victor Wooten. You left one thing out though about hard or not playing. You left out playing while slow dancing with a woman from the audience. You have her fit between you and the bass (facing or away), and play the bass line of the song the band is playing, or solo like you do. That was always met with positive applause and a few eye rolls. I made certain the girl was single and not with anyone there. LOL. I’m certain you COULD do that with your fiancé if you and her chose, but I’m just pointing out one you left out of this list. I owned a reasonably successful recording studio and would cringe when the drummer had no clue about keeping time. I learned never to use click tracks because so few would ever be able to play with them. Plus, no computers in my days. You had big balls to physically splice multitrack tape. My own recordings I’d try it. Getting paid to record…nope! NO WAY! LOL. PS….. I love your LeFay basses with four drop tuners. You make THE BEST use of those I’ve ever seen or heard! You should get a special award just for doing that bit of incredible hand eye, & timing coordination!! I looked them up years ago when I first saw you play. I’ve still have an original 1978 Rickenbacker 4001 in black with white. I loved that bass from McCartney to Squire to Lee. I even used to use the damper no one else knew what it was or what it was for. LOL. Many moons later I fell in love with the Tobias Killer B basses in all three available 4-5-6 string versions with different body woods. In my time only Jaco and Stanley Clarke were known as incredible jazz bassists. But I had the three I’ve mentioned plus players like Billy Sheehan back when he was still in his own band in Buffalo, NY, and others in the rock style. Sorry for the ramble, but I’m watching the video again as a type this. Bravo Charles!! I hope the KZhead viewers appreciate all you do with editing for the 6-string part and the truly high quality recordings you make. Will you ever do another collab with the Higher Love guy??? And YES, making money playing music has always been very tough. I had to get my name out by word of mouth and thousands of auditions over my time. I also found out in the video world, attractive, skilled women have a much higher success rate than most men. Sexism in reverse. I’ve never liked double standards for anything, but I think that just because attractive females can play half as good and get ten times the views stinks. My eta on this point was a ton better. Unless photos were on the album cover, or you saw them in concert…all you needed to do was listen and let the music fill you and let your ‘gut’ decide what you liked or didn’t. But then along came MTV and ruined everything for live music in the USA followed by the idiotic drinking change from 18 to 21. Gotta stop rambling. Sorry. But music has always been my passion and in my life since age 4 and I’m nearing age 61! Ugh!!
This was such a wonderful compilation of bass flexes. You’re the man, man!
pfioufffffff Taping melody and bassline at the same time sounds so awesome i had trouble watching the rest of the video as i was comming back to it every 12 secs
1:21 your slap style is really inspiring, I hope we will get a tutorial video one day to learn how to slap this amazing riff !
Charles eats bass strings for breakfast! But I'm disappointed 😞 they weren't raw. Also, as someone that's a math afficionado, I loved the Pi/8 time signature. That would make anyone's head explode!
π
Are you even a musician if you can't play in π/8?
@@Helena-gk4ui I wanted to use that but was too lazy to find it on my keyboard.
@@CharlesBerthoud Just an average, humble appreciator of musical talent.
@@mlpreiss ok but can you play ah fuck no no no i won't say it
as an amateur hobbyist bassist and drummer who recently bombed an easy bass line in my first recording session after going straight from recording on my phone to the studio, I really felt an incredible amount of pain relating to several of these
Thank you, this was wonderful! You are spectacular!
0:59 oh man I love this, I hope you once record a track full with these nice sounds
He actually did: search for "BASS Solo In MEDIEVAL Tuning (Highland Dream)".
Just curious and I know you probably have used many different brands over your learning processes, but what kind of strings do you use? Do you have a personal preference for specific tasks? When I played semi-pro, I used Roto Sounds on a Rick 4001 stereo through 2 Peavy Mk4's with 2 of the18-10 cabs one on each side of the drummer. I loved the Roto Sounds because I could take them off and boil them in water with a little salt and extend the life of the strings well beyond their normal life. Although The Rotos were not the easiest strings to play on, they had an incredibly crisp and clean sound with a lot of punch. Being stainless steel they had a great life on the road. I think you are probably one of the best bassist I have ever seen anywhere and I truly believe that you are as good as anyone out there and that includes Wooten, Pastorius, Sheehan, Flea and others. Cmon man talk some tech from your point of view.
This is kind of a selfish comment. Well, the "Cmon man talk some tech from your point of view" is. You may think that putting out some tech-centric videos that would garner much less attention and far fewer views than Charles' normal videos would be harmless, and you'd be wrong. That sort of thing can kill channels, or at minimum do significant damage, and it's definitely not a trivial thing for content creators. You think he hasn't thought about these things? He's done a few gear-oriented videos before and guess what, they haven't done particularly well. If he enjoyed making that kind of content and thought he could do it while continuing to grow his channel, he'd do it. Encouraging him to make a certain kind of video is fine, or saying that you'd enjoy it. I guess I just take issue with the "c'mon man, do this for me" pressuring-sort-of-tone at the end of your comment.
your excellent technique and your sensible approach towards the music played makes it always a pleaure to listen to you. Not to forget your sense of humour !!
Very entertaining. Deserve more subs but looking forward to more videos. Keep it up!
This is obviously great ability from very young bass guitar players. As an old guy who can still remember the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show (live), I can attest to the great accomplishments in the technical way young people now play. When I was in a garage band back in 1965, all we had were a few cheap electric guitars and some "Magnatone" amplifiers. The amps even had "reverb" and "vibrato" built into them. Yeah, we were on the cutting edge of technology back in 1965. We were as good as you guys are, "relatively speaking". In reality we sucked. But after watching all of this "virtuosity" I'm still waiting to hear the genius of music created by the likes of Carol King, the Beach Boys and of course the Beatles. All I'm hearing is technically fantastic guitar playing. Much better than we ever could have dreamt possible back in the day. But as the old saying goes, "Where's the beef?"
Great video and great add; thought of Jay Foreman and his enjoyable plugs
Great video Charles. Very funny, thought provoking and great playing as ever
That piece you were playing in nonstandard tuning was lovely!
I was stoked to see you playing Highland Dream again, such a gorgeous piece
more!!!! love your technics
Great playing man
Love you Charles!
This gave me a good laugh. Thank you so much for this great video!
The Slap part at 1:22 is so good that i could hear a 10 hour version of it and still would smash the replay button
Fantastic Charles!
great content! Subscribed
Great bass demonstration with comedic brilliance!
Damn good video Charles!
Classic video, thanks 😊
Great man !
Now THAT is a good way to integrate a sponsorship. Creative, funny to watch, and it doesn't screw up the flow of the video. Well done!
Man, I'm so glad even pros are nervous when recording! xD
These are some hilarious thoughts I'm glad you made this one
Best vid yet !!
You are now officially my favorite bass player. And I know (of) a lot of fabulous players!
This video has officially made me want to learn how to play the bass. Thank you a lot!!! I'm going to save money in order to buy my first bass guitar and see how it goes from there. Can't wait 😊
Thank you! Loved the video... couldn't stop thinking about a full Clair de Lune version on bass. 😀
you have always inspired me to play more bass.
Ahhhhhhhh I love how he gets so into it and smiles at you.
A full song with this please 0:53 .... it was beautiful
Monsieur, you are AWESOME!
cool video! loved how the dialogue in part eleven kinda matched the rhythm of the bass
THIS IS FREAKING HILARIOUS!!!! Oh, and by the way, dude.....you rock!!!!!
thumbs up for being still creative after all this time!
You could make a video on how hard it is not to go into blues when soloing? I loved this one. Even as a pianist, this is relatable!
Your sense of humour (humor -- Brit) makes the example to your detractors! So, from Portland, Oregon (Or-uh-gyn) on the Left coast of the States, sandwiched (pun intended) somewhere over the rainbow of LA and at the Pot 'O Gold in Canada, oh Canduude. Rooting for you. (routing?) NHG, I seem to remember the banjo came from Africa, dawdled in Scotland, and produced blue grass in Appalatch--ee-uh.
"Easy bass lines but you're recording" = can relate somehow