Mick Karn bass lesson - Gentlemen Take Polaroids

[@groovejet77]

Makes me realise how effortlessly talented Mick Karn was.

[@mindhead2005]

Incredible and underrated

[@douglasmclaughlin4173]

Great band.(and other collaborations with the other band members, too)

[@vincenzollamas]

THANK YOU, AGAIN!!!! about 30 years now i have wanted to learn/figure out this bass line, and thanks to you, i now have learned the whole thing!

[@mindhead2005]

Ah that’s brilliant, thank you!

[@bobgallagher8185]

It’s so good to have you back, especially doing these Mick Karn bass lines. You have been sorely missed; welcome back

[@mindhead2005]

Ah thank you, Bob. Good to BE back! Any requests?

[@bobgallagher8185]

@@mindhead2005 Ooooo, if you’re taking requests then it has to be European Son from me. Ta!

[@mindhead2005]

@@bobgallagher8185 one of my favourites! Ill get on it

[@bobgallagher8185]

@@mindhead2005 Top man!

[@IronBhoy]

Brilliant. My fingers are in tatters 😂 …played more in the last couple of weeks than I have in the last ten years. Really enjoy these tutorials. 👍👏

[@mindhead2005]

That means a lot to me, thank you Haven’t done one on a while, I must get back to it

[@IronBhoy]

@@mindhead2005 Please do . One of my first efforts at Japan and MK was Life in Tokyo which was probably wrong in a number of ways. Watching your tutorials has taught me Karn worked in another dimension so I’d love to see your take on it. Btw, the missus loves your accent. Homesick or somit? 😁☘️👍

[@mindhead2005]

@@IronBhoy even if you’re on holiday, hearing a familiar accent is a nice thing :) Tell her hi from me, please, but say “howya!” 😄 Life In Tokyo next so. I’ll do the later one, as MK redid the bass for it, and he was happier with that newer bass line.

[@IronBhoy]

@@mindhead2005 She just said “grand” …. Does that mean I owe ye how much ? 😂 Seriously appreciate your tutorials, so much rubbish on YT but I am a pig in shoite here. 👍👏👏👏

[@mindhead2005]

@@IronBhoy “grand” 😄😄😄 Deadly! Brilliant to see someone getting what they’re for. People can be…odd… about it, one learns to grow a slightly thicker skin :)

[@stevenmacdonald2205]

There is always interest in Mick’s bass. Well done with excellent delivery keep posting due to there being plenty Japan tracks to deconstruct. Thank you.

[@mindhead2005]

Thank you for the encouragement, Stephen, it means a lot to me I’d appreciate if you could spread the word and I’m working through requests if there’s anything you think would be useful to people Thank you once again Mick

[@stevenmacdonald2205]

I also watch a lad from Japan tsubatch. Doesn’t say much or explain anything but he is good. Need to listen with headphones as compression on here is awful. You’re value is the way you deliver the explanation. 👌👍🏻

[@mindhead2005]

@@stevenmacdonald2205 thanks so much I did feel there was nobody doing that, and what with MK being outside the box most of the time, people were assuming the notes were played in the usual positions when they rarely were That has been the real joy of it for me, because getting deep into that part of it has made me appreciate and respect him even more than I already did

[@mindhead2005]

@@stevenmacdonald2205 oh I know the tsunatch guy, plays with a pick a lot of the time? He clearly has a love and respect for the music Great stuff

[@mikeneylon1843]

Great insight into Karns sublime bass playing skills.. well done to you for explaining this 👌👌

[@mindhead2005]

Glad it was of use to you, Mike. Thanks for the encouragement

[@vincenzollamas]

thanks for making this. this song - the "live" version from Oil you are playing along with here - is one of my fave songs by anyone ever (not to mention Mick's perfectly timed crab walk during this song - if someone could explain how THAT was done, would be amazing!) i have figured out tons of his bass lines by ear over the years, but whenever i have tried to figure out this one, i just get lost for some reason. it's melodic, yet so seemingly abstract.

[@mindhead2005]

Thank you Vincenzo! He was so very unique and brilliant.

[@Toby_the_Glen]

finally you back!!!!! Thank you for the video. Please, do more!!!!!

[@mindhead2005]

Good to BE back !!

[@miklosromaninvsky3436]

Thanks man. Nice lesson.

[@mindhead2005]

Thanks for that!! :)

[@kieronseamons3466]

Just fantastic ❤

[@mindhead2005]

Thanks Kieron

[@Magiinemagiine]

Amazing.. Mick Karn plays bass on the song Sleep on my Baby by Akiko Yano, would love to see you cover that one!

[@mindhead2005]

Thank you, you are very kind. i will have a listen and try ;)

[@Magiinemagiine]

@@mindhead2005 sweet!!

[@douglasmclaughlin4173]

Mick Karn : of my favourite players and bands, playing music I like. Not as much of a musician myself, but I love the good stuff. What a band, and the subsequent music. Japan was l is still great

[@mindhead2005]

Thanks for commenting. They’re still incredibly underrated.

[@PeterWilliams-ek2bh]

Can you teach the Mick Karn shuffle too?

[@mindhead2005]

lol! That’s on the list, but the long earring is part of it, and I haven’t got one

[@PeterWilliams-ek2bh]

I need a fretless bass, any recommendations for a starter? I presume you are using rounds and not flats?

[@soundcanvas1450]

@@PeterWilliams-ek2bh Mick Karn used a WAL bass with rounds .Nowadays I'd reccomend a F-bass with Elixir round strings.

[@mindhead2005]

@ there are flats on this bass, yes. Depends on your budget. At the cheaper end, the Harley Benton jb40 is unreal value and feels better to me than the squier VM one. Up a fair bit and you have something like what I’m using here, fender Mexican jazz. My Peavey is my current favourite and these can be gotten cheap when they come up. Ibanez are great too.

[@bargeanimal]

I was wonderin where me bass was gone to hahahahaha. She's sounding nice. Lovely playing brother

[@mindhead2005]

Lol She’s retired again, got carpal tunnel and it was aggravating it 😄😄😄 Check out me latest video Ibanez SR375

[@soundcanvas1450]

Nice A great song to do would be 'Night in the park' by Masami Tsuchiya. Mick Karn & Percy Jones's bass playing on that track is beautiful.

[@mindhead2005]

I’ll get a listen. Some super names there! Thank you

[@leszek8460]

Thank you for that video! What do you think about Karn's E slaps? Quite unique visually :D

[@mindhead2005]

Absolutely! I think he was a hugely visual player. Lots of his position choices can be explained by the idea that he might have wanted to travel the length of the board, instead of choosing the same notes closer to where he already was. One thing, though, about his E slaps was that it didn't require him to shift his forearm upwards into that classic slap position. Perhaps that meant he could return to fingerstyle quicker? I don't know. I've not seen any video of him slapping in the usual fashion. But you CANNOT miss him doing it the way he does, WHEN he does! :) Great observation, thank you

[@kellywesley8379]

What flange pedal are you using and settings; sounds great.

[@mindhead2005]

Thanks Kelly On this one, I’m using an old zoom 506 with the flange set at the lowest level (1) It’s a great pedal that’s often overlooked because it’s SO cheap! :)

[@juancitoperez2856]

Michael Stipe playing Japan?

[@mindhead2005]

Busted! It was always a sideline The Irish accent was a disguise 😂

[@bassatnight]

Great breakdown, what effects are you using?

[@mindhead2005]

Its just a slight touch of flanger. I actually couldn't get it subtle enough on this old multi fx unit, but i have a helix i I I haven't gotten stuck into yet

[@mindhead2005]

Thank you

[@mckgarth]

Are you using chorus ?

[@mindhead2005]

No, not on this one Mick used a flanger on GTP live - to my ears anyway - so I added a touch of flanger

[@rickb.4168]

I see frets on your bass?

[@mindhead2005]

They’re just markers

[@rickb.4168]

Hammering down on the fret, on his fret less bass.

[@mindhead2005]

Hi Richard Thanks for watching. My bass has fret MARKERS, not actual frets. In guitar and bass "fret" refers to both the metal piece that sticks out of the fingerboard and the actual space between them. I could, probably more correctly, refer to where my fingers are as "positions", but "fret" is the common usage. I do have a unlined fretless bass (see my Visions Of China video) but for the purposes of breaking down these lines for a viewer, it helps if they can see the lines. I'd actually prefer it had the dot markers on the face of the board to help further, too, but this one doesn't . Mick Karn' s three most famous basses had both the lines and the dots, if you watch any of his videos. He said in interview that they helped him when he was learning and writing his basslines, but he would then practise til he didn't need to look anymore :) Hope that explains it.