This is Part 1 of the 8th lesson of my virtual dvd series on how to play the bass for beginners. This lesson looks at the bass line to Message in a Bottle.

Video Transcription

Hi! It is Paul Wolfe from How-To-Play-Bass.com. This is the eighth lesson of my virtual DVD on how to play the bass for beginners. Before we get started, I want to recommend that you head over to my website you will find at How-To-Play-Bass.com. It is How-To-Play-Bass.com and sign up for the free use. It is free, features articles, real life based, lets you learn and play another cool stuff. Okay, in today's lesson, we are going to carry on where we left of half the Do Not Look Back in Anger and we are going to learn another tune. I will pick "Message in a Bottle" by the Police as our third tune to learn. I really like this tune. There is also a PDF on my website of How-To-Play-Bass.com that gives additional details including notation and tab and everything you need to know about playing Message in the Bottle. Okay, the first section of Message in the Bottle we are going to look at is the verse. Now, this is quite strike forward. It is just going to interesting rhythm to wrap your head around. I will play through it first and then we will talk through it. Okay, now if you are listening closely, you will notice the very four notes in that section or just talk through those and then we will come to the rhythm. The first one is C sharp which is play to the 4th fret of the A string. We move down to A which is play at the 5th fret of the E sting. We go to B which is the 2nd fret of the A string. Then down to the F sharp 2nd fret of the E string. Now, the rhythm – one way as I remember it when I was learning it back in the day was on the C sharp on the B, there is always a short eight note proceeding the notes and the A and the F sharp are just held notes. So, playing through it like this that should make sense. Now, the easiest way to pick that rhythm up is to actually put the Message in the Bottle CD on and play along to it and try and match what they are doing. You have got something like a task cam bass strainer. If you have not, I heartily recommend that you get one. They are fabulous pieces of equipment and they cost not very much. You can basically loop from a point starting just before a verse so just after it and just play over and over until you have got that rhythm absolutely nailed. Okay, the next part of the song we are going to look at is the chorus. I will play it through first and then we will look at it. Okay, what you have got there is you have got two separate two bar patterns which are repeated. The first one is repeated twice and the second on is repeated three times. Now, the first one starts on A which is the 5th fret of the E string and you play that for a bass so play it eight times. And you go up to D which is the 5th fret of the A string. You play that three times and then you go up to E which is the 7th fret of the A string and you have got a little syncopation. What that means is a little push so that it anticipates the chord change. So, instead of it playing like this, what they have done is this. If you listen closely to the original, you will pick that up. That two bar pattern sounds like this. And then from there, you go to F sharp which is the 4th fret of the D string and you play that seven times and then the last note of that bar, you go up and grab the A which is of the 7th fret of the D string. So that sounds like this and then down to D and you basically do the same. You play seven notes of the D and then to the A. Okay, so that two bar pattern looks like this. I will play it a couple of times. Okay, that is very straightforward. Check the PDF that will help you out with the fingerings, etcetera, etcetera.