"That Thing You Do" -- a Movie About a Fictional Rock Band in 1964

Danelectro Bass Guitar

Yesterday I watched the Tom Hanks film "That Thing You Do," about a fictional rock band in Pittsburgh in 1964.  This band calls themselves the "Oneders" (pronounced "wonders") but everyone thinks the name is pronounced "the Oh-Needers."  Cute.

The drummer, Guy Patterson, is the chief protagonist.  He is asked to sit in for the Oh-Needers regular drummer (who has broken an arm) at a talent competition.  The band plays their own composition, "That Thing You Do."  It's supposed to be a ballad but drummer Guy speeds up the beat considerably, making it an up-tempo tune, over the objections of the band leader Jimmy.  The song is an instant hit and the band wins the talent contest.

After playing in a local pizza parlor and making an amateurish record of "That Thing You Do," the band is discovered by a talent scout and are on their way to fame and glory.  They trade in their cheap Silvertone guitars and Danelectro bass guitar for better instruments.  I liked the portrayal of the instruments, and found them to be historically accurate for the time period.  Lead guitar player Lenny upgrades to a Fender Jazzmaster guitar, and the bass player trades his Danelectro for a Fender Jazz Bass, which was identical to my first bass, a 1960 Fender Jazz Bass in three color sunburst, complete with chrome tailpiece and string cover.

The only sour note in this accurate depiction was Jimmy's 12-string, '63 Rickenbacker guitar, identical to that played by George Harrison of the Beatles.  There is no 12 string sound in any of the songs, and the instrument seems out of place in what is essentially a bubblegum band -- toothless music targeted for pubescent schoolgirls.  (When I think of Rickenbacker, I think of the earthy blues of Creedence Clearwater or the British Rock of the Beatles, or the psychedelic rock of the Jefferson Airplane.)

Other things about the movie bugged me.

Fender Jazz Bass, 1960

Young people are shown with small portable radios with white earphones, similar to those used today for iPhones.  Portable radios and even earphones were in use back then, but were rarely (if ever) seen on the street.  No one in the band has long hair, though by 1964 every male teenager in the country was busily growing it out to emulate the Beatles.

Jimmy, the guitar player, comes closest to an authentic 60's hairstyle.  He resembles Dave Clark of the Dave Clark Five, also popular around that time period.  Indeed, in one shot of the band, they are wearing white turtlenecks under black suits, making them look very much like the Dave Clark Five.

Blacks depicted in the film were politically correct to an absurd level, portraying them as beings of light rather than real human beings with faults and frailties.  They include Lamarr, the head bellhop of the Los Angeles hotel where the band stays.  Lamarr is Mr. Effervescence, nicer than pie, positive-thinking-on-steroids, and matchmaker to Guy and Faye (the band's only groupie).  He is too nice to be real.

Likewise for Del Paxton, the piano player of a jazz band and musical hero to Guy, who finally meets his hero in an L.A. club called "the Blue Spot."  Del is also super positive, upbeat and offers sagacious advice to Guy, some of which is memorable, like never depending on a band, because "bands come and go," and you have to keep playing with whomever you can.  I like the Del character, but again, he is almost too nice to be real.  Now if he smoked cigars, had a few tattoos, maybe an earring, knocked back a few more whiskeys and swore a little, I could believe he's real.  The characterization was too saccharine for me.

Other blacks included a female singing group reminiscent of the Supremes, highly coiffed, dressed in pastel colors and looking pretty, but singing tunes even too cheesy for the early 1960's.  In one scene they are singing "When you're holding my hand, you're holding my heart," followed by hand claps.  I had a brief mental image of a doctor holding a beating heart during surgery as I suppressed a brief wave of nausea.  C'mon!  The Sixties were never that corny.

In the end, of course, the band is dissolved by the same forces that destroy many popular bands:  egos, the desire to play some other genre of music other than the one that made them famous, differing goals and visions, personal jealousies and annoyances.

Del Paxton had that right:  you can't depend on a band, so play when you can, with whom you can.  If you're good enough, you'll always have opportunities to play and perform.

Useful Chart for Major Scales (aka the Ionian Mode) and Key Signatures

Here's a chart I made in Excel of all the major scales (which are also called "the Ionian Mode"). You may find the chart helpful in learning your major scales and notes therein.  When you play each scale, say the note you are playing and it will help you learn notes in the major keys.

Another use for the chart should be to recognize your key signatures that are found on sheet music.  Up near the clef (be it treble clef or bass clef) in the uppler left hand corner of the music staff, you will generally see a number of flat symbols (b) or sharp symbols (#).  These signify the key in which the music is played.  No sharps or flats means Key of C; 1 flat is Key of F, 2 flats, Key of Bb, and so on.


For example, if there are two sharps indicated in the Key Signature, what key are we in?  Consult the column on the far right of the graphic.  Yep, we are in the Key of D.  In the rightmost column we see that the two sharps in the Key of D are F# and C#.

You can see in the chart which notes are sharp or flat for any of the twelve keys.

Here's another graphic on Key Signatures. I found this on the web at this location.  This graphic shows also the minor key associated with the major key.  (I'll explain later.)

Note that C major key is the same as A minor key.  Here's why:  the notes in the C major scale are
C D E F G A B

The notes in the A minor scale are:
A B C D E F G

The Key of C and the Key of A minor have the same notes and are therefore harmonic equivalents of each other.  Here's another example, chosen at random:

The A minor scale above is the Aeolian mode of the C major scale.  It has a distinct minor sound to it.  To play the Aeolian mode, just take the usual major scale and flat the 3rd, the 6th and the 7th notes of the major scale.

Notice the 3rd note in the A minor scale is a C.  "A major" chord is A C# E (the 1, 3 and 5 of the 7 note scale).  A C E is "A minor" chord -- the 3rd is always flatted in a minor chord, and C# becomes C.

The notes in the F major scale are F G A Bb C D E;
The notes in the corresponding minor scale of D minor are D E F G A Bb C.
Same notes, played in a different order.  The first is sounds like the first scale we learned in grade school:  Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do. The second has a spooky minor sound to it.

To find the minor equivalent of any major scale, go to the sixth note (or degree) of the major scale.  The sixth note will name the minor equivalent.  For example, in C scale, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, we see that A is the sixth note in C scale.  Therefore, A minor is the harmonic equivalent of C major.

Zen and the Art of Playing Bass

Finally, finally, finally, I am making a serious effort to raise myself from the ranks of amateur bass players to professional bass players.

I have a long way to go.  But I have learned, thanks to a bass teacher named Dale Titus, that it can be done with patience and repetition.

Oh, the learning regimen is fairly traditional:  learn scales, learn modes, learn arpeggios.  Absorb scale theory and how it relates to chords and keys.  Learn every inch of the neck.

However, a lot of successful bass playing (or playing any instrument) is great execution.  Getting your fingers on the right fret at the right time, without string rattle or buzz, plucking those strings accurately and quickly -- those skills are hard to attain.  You attain them by playing exercises (Titus calls them "chop builders") slowly at first, concentrating on a good sound.  You then slowly increase the speed of playing those chops until you can do it quickly as well as accurately.

So much of learning an instrument is developing the muscle memory to play it well and right.  Break it into its various parts and learn each part well, taking as much time as you need to do it.  Keep at it on a daily basis.  If you learn one small thing each day, your knowledge and skill will accumulate faster than you think.

I think this principle works for mastering just about any skill or body of knowledge.   It's like the old but useful analogy of the snowball rolling downhill.

My New Practice Routine for Bass Guitar

In order to have an effective practice routine, you need to know (1) what to practice and (2) how to practice it, and (3) the sequential order of concepts to learn.

Dale Titus's site has helped me tremendously in that regard.  (See sidebar for link.)

My new Rickenbacker bass has provided the motivation.  I didn't realize it when I was playing my little Fender Mustang bass, that the instrument you play is very important.  The Mustang is a fine little bass, but seems like a toy compared to my serious Rickenbacker.  In any case, getting the Rickenbacker was a shot in the arm.   For the past four days I have had a thorough, effective and gratifying practice, learning the modes, learning new and interesting ways to play scales, expanding my knowledge of music theory.  In the process, my fingering skill and my ear have both improved, and my knowledge of the neck, though good, has also improved.

Here are my practice goals for the next month or so:

1.  To play any scale, triad, arpeggio, mode or run without looking at the neck, and to play them with expert fingering, not muffing or rattling a string on a fret.

2.  To know every note in all 12 keys, both major and minor, by heart.

3.  To know every note in all 12 major and minor triads, by heart.

A Road Map to Learning Bass

I have been struggling with the question for years.  What things do you need to learn to become a competent bass player?  I think I have a pretty good idea now.  First off, it's great if you have a good series of instructional videos that demonstrate the concepts herein.  I use the Bass Lessons and Tips of Dale Titus, the best series of instructions I have found yet (and they're free).  Dale has numerous videos on both music theory and bass technique, and they follow a logical sequence so that each builds on the one before. Each video is only a few minutes long and easy to watch. See a list of his videos here.  I will refer to them in this post.

Here are the steps.

1.  Learn the four strings, from top to bottom:  E, A, D, G.  Learn to tune your bass to these notes.  I suggest using an inexpensive digital tuner, which you can buy in any music store.  If you try to do it with an untrained ear, you are liable to break a string.  Your bass must be in tune before you try to learn anything.

2.  Learn how to name the notes on each string, moving from an open string to the first fret, second fret and so on.  See the simple chart on the bottom of this page.   Know what a half step is and what a whole step is.  Play each string from open to the 12th fret, naming the notes as you go.  If it helps, sit down and draw the neck and the frets on a piece of paper and then name each note on each string.

3.  Learn to play the major scales.  I suggest learning them in "Circle of 4ths Order," even if you don't have a clue as to what the Circle of 4ths is. (I'll explain later.)  Consult the chart linked above.  Learn to play each scale by memory; listen to the sounds of the notes, and say the notes out loud as you play them.  (Watch Dale's videos here, here and here.) This will train your ear and also make you learn the bass neck.  All bass runs, riffs and chords are made up of elements of the scales; learning the scales is like learning the alphabet.  You can't write novels without learning the alphabet.  You can't be a competent musician without learning the scales.  Note:  If you're a beginner, don't worry about playing the scales in a fancy way -- just play them up and back down again.  Once you learn the simple basics, you can expand from there, e.g. by playing the scales in thirds as Dale demonstrates in the videos.

Start with the C scale.  Play it carefully, making each note clear, without string rattle.  If you're new to bass, your fingertips may hurt a bit.  Don't worry, they will soon toughen up -- it's part of the process.  Play the scale forward and then backward, i.e. C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C, C-B-A-G-F-E-D-C.  It will sound like "do mi re fa sol la ti do, do ti la sol fa mi re do."  (Remember when we learned that in third grade?)

After a week or so, you should be able to play all of the scales.  Most of them are quite repetitive, you simply shift your start position to a different fret and play the same motions.

4.  Learn to play the major triads, or chords.  When playing bass with a band, you are actually playing chords, or parts of the scale.  You don't play the entire scale, generally you just play three notes when playing major chords (from the major scale):  you play the 1st (or root) note, the 3rd note, and the 5th note.  Look at the chart of major scales.  What are the notes in C major chord?  They are C, E and G (1, 3 & 5).  What are the chords in, say Bb (B Flat) major chord?  Consult the chart.  They are Bb, Db and F (B flat, D flat and F).  See this video on how to play major triads.  It is quite instructive.

5.  Learn to play the natural minor scales.  The minor scales are much like the major scales, except that the 3rd note and the 7th note are flatted.  That means they are played one fret back from where they are played on the major scale.  The sound of the scale is different so listen carefully and memorize the sound.

6.  Learn to play the minor triads, or minor chords.  A simple rule to remember is that a minor chord is just a major chord with a flatted third.  So if C, E & G are C major chord, C minor chord would be C, Eb and G.  (The "b" stands for flat).  Remember, to flat a note you just move back one fret.  If E is played on fret 7 of the A string (2nd string from the top), then Eb is played on fret 6.  See this video on how to play minor triads.

7.  Learn to play the Major Pentatonic Scale and the Minor Pentatonic Scale.  These are short and easy to learn, but they further train the ear and provide the basis for some bass lines you will use later.  Practicing them also helps develop your fingering skill.

8.  Learn the Modes.  Modes are the major scales played in a different sequence.  The different sequences produce very different sounds and further train the ear, increase knowledge of your neck, and provide the grist for bass grooves and bass lines you will learn later on (generally, ones you create yourself).

Dale Titus covers all of the modes.  Consult his link for a listing of all his videos.  I will provide charts for each mode, to give you a visual reference and perhaps make it easier for you to learn them.

The modes are these:

• Ionian Mode -- Just the major scale, no difference.
• Dorian Mode -- The major scale, but you start on the 2 and play up to the octave and back again.  For example, C major scale is C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C, and the Dorian mode of that scale is D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D. 
• Phrygian Mode -- Major scale, but start with the 3rd, e.g. for C scale this would be E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E and back down again.
• Lydian Mode -- Major scale, start and end with the 4th (F, for C Scale).
• Myxolidian Mode -- Major scale but start and end with the 5th note in the scale, which is G for C scale.
• Aeolian Mode -- Start with the 6th note in the scale, which is A for C scale.
• Locrian Mode -- Start with the 7th note in the scale, which is B for C scale

9.  Learn higher triads or chords, as follows:

• Diminished Triads
• Augmented Triads
• Major 7 Arpeggios (arpeggios are just chords, played one note at a time)
• Minor 7 Arpeggios
• Dominant 7 Arpeggios
• Minor 7 (Bb) Arpeggios
• Tritone Substitutions  (different chords sometimes have the same notes as other chords, played in different sequences.  Tritones allow you to substitute one chord for the other to create dissonant bass sounds -- great for jazz and improvization).

10.  Learning to Apply All of the Above!  The whole idea is to be able to play bass well, and these elements of knowledge will help get you there.

11.  Other Things to Learn:  Fingering and plucking techniques, slapping, harmonics, playing technique.  See Dale Titus's site for a whole list of these.

Don't get discouraged or be impatient.  If everyone could be a great bass player, it wouldn't be any fun.  Add to your knowledge and skill a bit at a time.  Imagine where you will be a month, three months, or a year from now!  Don't worry about learning the higher skills until you have mastered the basic ones.  (If Step 9 scares you, ignore it until you are ready.)

For questions, you can leave a comment or email me at stogiechomper "at" gmail.com.

UPDATE:  Dale Titus has left Dana B Goods where his great lessons are linked.  He is now teaching private bass lessons from his home in Folsom, California.  His website is here.  You can contact him through his website.

Lovin' My Ric! Bassists Who Play Rickenbackers

Wikipedia has a list of professional bassists who play Rickenbackers.  For some reason, my name was left off the list.  Probably an oversight, so I added my name to the bottom of the list.  Here it is:

Bassists

• Gaye Advert of The Adverts
• Martin Eric Ain of Celtic Frost
• André 3000 of Outkast
• Matt Asti of MGMT
• Chris Baio of Vampire Weekend
• Lou Barlow of Dinosaur Jr
• Guy Berryman of Coldplay
• Cliff Burton of Metallica
• Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath
• Johnny Christ of Avenged Sevenfold
• Al Cisneros of Sleep and Om
• Les Claypool of Primus
• Alan Davey^[5] of Hawkwind, Gunslinger and Pre-Med
• John Deacon of Queen
• Joey DeMaio of Manowar
• Steve DiGiorgio of bands such as Sadus, Dark Hall & Testament
• Dave Dreiwitz of Ween
• John Entwistle of The Who
• Bruce Foxton of The Jam
• Nikolai Fraiture of the Strokes
• Maurice Gibb of The Bee Gees
• Martin "Youth" Glover of Killing Joke
• Roger Glover of Deep Purple
• Martin Gordon of Sparks and Jet
• Graham Gouldman of 10cc
• Bob Hardy of Franz Ferdinand
• Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple
• Peter Hook of Joy Division and New Order
• Rick James
• Tony James of Generation X
• Eric Judy of Modest Mouse
• Jesse F. Keeler of Death From Above 1979
• Steve Kille of Dead Meadow
• Jack Lawrence of The Raconteurs
• Geddy Lee of Rush
• Russell Leetch^[6] of Editors
• Lemmy of Motörhead
• Brent Liles of Social Distortion and Agent Orange
• Jenny Lee Lindberg of Warpaint
• Philip Lynott of Thin Lizzy
• Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols
• Paul McCartney of The Beatles & Wings
• Dave Meros of Spock's Beard
• Mike Mills of R.E.M.
• Gary "Mani" Mounfield of Primal Scream & ex-The Stone Roses
• Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age
• Jerry Only of The Misfits
• Prescott Niles of The Knack
• Ian Peres of Wolfmother
• Tracy Pew of The Birthday Party
• Steve Priest of Sweet
• Peter Quaife of The Kinks
• Scott Reeder of Kyuss
• Michael Rutherford of Genesis
• Timothy B Schmit of The Eagles
• Chris Squire of Yes
• Kira Roessler of Black Flag and Dos
• Chris Ross of Wolfmother
• Troy Sanders of Mastodon
• Paul Simonon of The Clash
• Tommy Stinson of The Replacements
• Mark Stoermer of The Killers
• Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear
• John Taylor of Duran Duran
• Fred Turner of Bachman–Turner Overdrive
• Roger Waters of Pink Floyd
• Kieren Webster of The View
• Josephine Wiggs of The Breeders
• Nicky Wire of Manic Street Preachers
• Christopher Wolstenholme of Muse
• Allen Woody of Gov't Mule and The Allman Brothers Band
• Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones
• Buddy Zabala of The Eraserheads and The Dawn
• Stogie Chomper of the Dead Cigar Butts

My New Rickenbacker 4003 Bass

My son Stogie Jr. delivered my new red Rickenbacker 4003 yesterday afternoon, and a gorgeous work of art it truly is.  Paul McCartney has two of these and lots of professional musicians use the Rickenbacker.  I have time off from work so plan to spend a lot of time practicing.

This bass left the factory only a month ago.  It's brand new.  Stogie Jr. bought it on E-Bay at a nice discount.  These babies aren't cheap.  The neck has these mother-of-pearl inlays (see the triangular shapes) that really help navigate the neck.  Thanks son!

Here's a video of Paul McCartney playing his blonde ("Mapleglo") finished Rickenbacker.  His is a 4001 model, identical except for the pearl inlays on the neck (mine is better!).

My New Rickenbacker Bass Guitar

Paul McCartney's Left Handed Rickenbacker Bass

My oldest son, Stogie Jr, claims he has bought me a present:  a brand new, Rickenbacker bass guitar in "Fire-Glo" finish (a beautiful, cherry red color).  I love Rickenbackers, as my father (who was in the music business) sold them for years, and in fact sold two to the Creedence Clearwater Revival (back when they were still calling themselves "the Golliwogs.")  One of those was a Rickenbacker bass like the one I am going to get, also in Fire-Glo.  I even helped my brother "Bro" adjust the neck on that bass while Stu Cook, the new bass owner, and Tom Fogerty (John's younger brother) stood by watching.

Paul McCartney owns the same bass, which he sometimes plays instead of his familiar Hofner bass.  Paul was given his left-handed version by the head of Rickenbacker when the Beatles first came to New York in 1964.

With these bad economic times, I had given up hope of ever owning one myself, but my son wants to do something for his old man before the latter croaks, so he bought a brand new Rickenbacker 4003 bass off of E-Bay that he plans to give to me.  That is, unless he falls in love with it himself and decides to keep it, at which point I will take him out of the will (just kidding).

If you so desire, you can see a demonstration of the options of the Rickenbacker 4003 here.

Tax Season All Over But the Shouting: Back to BASS-ics

How unfortunate that work had to interfere with my bass playing.  There ought to be a law.

By the end of this month, however, I will be home where I plan to kiss and hug my bass, say sweet nothings to it, and then take it down from its stand and play that baby!  Slap those strings!  Pluck 'em!  Twang, twang, boom, boom!  Yeaaaaaah Baybeee!

Busy Season for a Bassist?

My other gig, besides being a bassist, is being a CPA.  I am now in the busy season and busier than I have been in three years.  I am making only about a fourth of what I made before the great recession hit, but I'll take it, as one-fourth a loaf is better than none.  Also, I enjoy being busy, solving problems and helping people.

Since I am working out of town five days out of the week and doing taxes on weekends, my bass practice is on hiatus until late April.

Anyway, that's the reason for my light non-existent posting since late December.