How To Play Bass to I Can't Stand Up

Hi, in this video lesson I'll just quickly like to talk through the parts for the intro, the verse, the chorus and the bridge for the great tune I Can't Stand Up for Falling down. This is the Elvis Costello version with the very great, very underrated Bruce Thomas playing the bass line. [Demonstration] Okay, the intro is a four bar section. I'll play it trough the metronome set slowly then we will talk through the notes— [Demonstration] Okay, so it's fairly straight forward two bar pattern. Let’s repeat it a couple of times. The tune is in C— [Demonstration] So that’s the first part. The notes, we've got a C-G and A. C is played at the 3rd fret of the A string— [Demonstration] G played at 3rd fret of the E string— [Demonstration] A, you can either play the open A string or the 5th fret of the E string— [Demonstration] So you got C— [Demonstration] C— [Demonstration] G— [Demonstration] A— [Demonstration] C— [Demonstration] C— [Demonstration] That’s sustained the G— [Demonstration] G— [Demonstration] A— [Demonstration] C— [Demonstration] C— [Demonstration] G— [Demonstration] And that’s kind of the rhythm. If you hear or listen to the original, you'll pick the rhythm up as well— [Demonstration] Okay, I'm going to split the verse section into eight bar pattern. Here is the first eight bar pattern— [Demonstration] Okay so the metro off. Okay, so the first two bars very similar to what we've already played— [Demonstration] That’s identical to what I've already played. Then the next two bars is called switches to an A minor chord— [Demonstration] That’s the pattern. The notes are A— [Demonstration] Which is 5th fret of the E string— [Demonstration] And open E— [Demonstration] F# of the 2nd fret of the E string— [Demonstration] Back to A— [Demonstration] Then open E— [Demonstration] Twice— [Demonstration] G— [Demonstration] A— [Demonstration] A— [Demonstration] G— [Demonstration] So the whole pattern is— [Demonstration] Okay, then there is a nice shift up to an F chord— [Demonstration] So those notes are F— [Demonstration] We should play in the 3rd fret of D string— [Demonstration] F again— [Demonstration] C— [Demonstration] 3rd fret of the A string— [Demonstration] D— [Demonstration] 5th fret of the A string— [Demonstration] Back to F which is sustained— [Demonstration] Back down to C— [Demonstration] Twice— [Demonstration] D— [Demonstration] Two on the F— [Demonstration] Back to C— [Demonstration] And that Cs then uses a low dominant approach note to the next chord which is G— [Demonstration] So those notes are G 5th fret of the D string— [Demonstration] G again— [Demonstration] Open D string— [Demonstration] E at the 2nd fret— [Demonstration] Two notes on the G note again, 2nd one is sustained and back to the open D— [Demonstration] Then E— [Demonstration] Two on the G— [Demonstration] And back to the E— [Demonstration] So that whole eight bar pattern— [Demonstration] Okay, so that’s the first part of the first eight bars of the verse. The next eighth bar is kind of like the pre-chorus. It goes like this— [Demonstration] Okay, obviously your rhythm, much more eighth note orientated rhythm. First bar, mainly C— [Demonstration] And I set the last two notes on D— [Demonstration] 5th fret of the A string— [Demonstration] D# 6th fret of the A string, slide up to E 7th fret— [Demonstration] Play that then down to the octave of the E— [Demonstration] So those first two notes are quarter notes and then you’ve got four eighth notes. So— [Demonstration] And you’ve got bar of A— [Demonstration] And they’re all A apart from the very last eighth note. I am playing again 5th fret of the E string or you could play the open A string— [Demonstration] And then that passing note down to the F chord which should be the next bar is a G the 3rd fret of the E string. The last bar of the first four bars— [Demonstration] So you got F 1st fret of the E string— [Demonstration] Open A— [Demonstration] A# 1st fret of the A string— [Demonstration] B 2nd fret of the A string— [Demonstration] Now note— [Demonstration] That my hand is fretting that note, the A# with the first finger, the first finger is sliding up to fret the B note and sliding up for the next note to the bar which is C so that we've got the reach there to do the patterns that are needed. Now the 2nd four bars of the pre-chorus are identical except instead of the 2nd bar where it goes— [Demonstration] The first time through the 2nd time through plays exactly the same notes but instead of those notes being quarter notes, they’re now eighth notes. So, the first bar is identical at C— [Demonstration] And then the lead up to the E and then you’ve got— [Demonstration] Then the eight bars— [Demonstration] And the F bars are the same— [Demonstration] Then you're at the chorus. So, play through that slowly. Get the notes down, it probably sounds harder than it actually is. Once you’ve played through it really slowly a few times, you'll start to get the hang of that. That takes us then to the chorus.