The Geddy Lee Path To Better Bass Technique (inc. YYZ - Tabs and Tutorial)

[@MattyPhipps91]

What the hell is 'zee'?

[@talkingbasslessons]

You misheard. It’s why why Sea. The tune is about the anguish of Timothy McCormack, a lobster fisherman who capsized in the Bering straits. For three days he held on to a piece of driftwood. Dehydrated. Hungry. Tired. And then on that third day, another wicked storm arose from the West. At the apex of nature’s ferocity, Timothy gripped his fist, held his arm aloft and screamed “Why, Why, Sea”. As luck would have it, a modelling agency based in Kodiak was shooting an advertisement featuring three nude strippers on jet skis. They needed stormy weather for a dramatic shot. At the very point that Timothy had lost all hope, the strippers arrived, scooped him up and away they rode. Neil Peart read about this incredible story on a toilet wall in a delightful little town called Grimsby in the North of England and so Why Why Sea was born. There’s a rare recording featuring vocals but it’s crap.

[@caryd67]

@@talkingbasslessonsthat was amazing. Now I feel bad that I’m going to leave a slightly negative comment about this video…. I apologize in advance. But here goes… your finger technique is too perfect to accurately play Geddy’s stuff. Ged himself admitted that his right hand was shit. That’s precisely what made his feel so perfect. Have you ever heard a James Jamerson cover done with more than one finger? It sounds wrong. Too smooth. If you have a high degree of technique on the bass and you play anything from JJ with more than one finger, then you’re doing it wrong. You’ll sound too smooth and refined. Same with Geddy. His musical mind was and still is wild, but he plays rough. He lost a fingernail and it grew back thick; he turned it into a new technique and started that “flicking” thing that he never did for the previous 40 years. I believe that was also partially inspired by Les Claypool

[@patrickfitzgerald2861]

That's "zed" for all you Canucks.

[@talkingbasslessons]

@@caryd67 Cheers. I'll be sure to play worse in future!

[@caryd67]

@@talkingbasslessons again, I apologize. It was a weird observation. Should have kept it to myself. ✌🏻

[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

I can remember jamming with Geddy in the late 60's and he already had killer technique and his timing was always in the pocket. I would say it was more like he got more and more creative every year.

[@austinfrise6966]

My grandfather suspended him from his high school for smoking weed

[@Paul_Lenard_Ewing]

@@Missile_Command My bass player new Geddy better than me. In 71 we both headed to London UK to join the the Prog Rock band Tallis. We played and sold out all the same clubs that all the big names in Brit started in. At one point we were booked to open for Rush. Over half the audience were Tallis fans. Geddy was shocked when he seen his ol" buddy my bass player opening for him. I met many big name Brits. Because the guys that started in the clubs came out to see the new bands coming up. Those I did not meet I saw in the audience while onstage. Some guys were supportive like Keith Moon, Steve Howe and someone who surprised me, Ronnie Wood. Elton Johns accountant new all the money people and helped find us management people. Many unfortunately were crooks. This isn't the place to educate you on the business' side of Rock. We were really big with the people but one needs international business corp to finance tours and recordings. Long story.

[@davidtaylor4975]

So he was 15 or 16 then?

[@Guitarplayer724]

@@davidtaylor4975 In 71, he would of been 18.

[@omg_wtf]

There's not many songs where my right hand is the weak link, but this is one of them. It's a beast.

[@talkingbasslessons]

The problem won’t be speed. Everyone’s fingers can flick around at the same speed. The problem is always going to be co-ordination and technique. That’s solved at a slower speed. As I mention in the lesson, you can use a riff like this to practice tracking your fingering in the right hand. Consistency in practice is key.

[@gibaseis]

GEDDY LEE RULES!!!!!!

[@adityatyagi4009]

Congratulations on 10 years of Talking Bass! Great lesson as usual. Some other useful ideas: 1) Play these 2 beats over and over. They are the first 2 beats of the second measure on repeat. beat 1: A, A, F#, A beat 2: F#, F, E, C# 2) Work up the speed of the entire riff to 150 bpm. This will make the actual song tempo (~141 bpm) much easier to play.

[@johncook9983]

Thank you for the (reminder) refresher to slow it down and focus on the micro-movements. “Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.”, Quoted from a senior combat firearms instructor loooong ago.

[@user-yh3rm6yq2b]

It's actually Why Why Zed - as Canadians pronounce Z in the same way the Brits do... it's only listening to lots of Americans describe the track that made me think otherwise for years... thanks for this... only picked up the bass a couple of years ago so I'm going to move from obsessing over John Taylor's bass lines to Geddy Lee... YYZ seems like a suitably tough starting point...

[@Stixxyyyy]

Thanks, Alex Lifeson!

[@quicksilver-vv768]

Underrated comment😂

[@robertjirwinhypnotherapy1419]

@talkingbasslessons thanks for this - YYZ has perplexed me ever since 1981!

[@DestinyPowers-rz4lf]

your really amazing Mark. im learning bass. have a long way to go. .. but I will get there. ty for videos

[@Mohawk763]

You can't go wrong with learning from this channel!

[@rodoherty1]

Any chance of a video on the yyz bass solos? They have eluded me for years!

[@markdavis4754]

This is one of the best lessons you can learn for technique . I just started to do this but with a 3 finger picking technique.

[@DestinyPowers-rz4lf]

Geddy Lee is awesome

[@andycanona]

Thanks for doing this lesson 👍🏻🙏🏻

[@stephenstetler3324]

Great lesson! Up close, I saw Geddy rakes, and when I try it myself it's hard to keep it flowing like he does because I'm breaking up the momentum of 16th fingering.

[@paultraynorbsc627]

Thanks for Sharing 🎵🎶🎸

[@achillesmatters5993]

Great lesson!

[@TehDFC]

THanks for the vid Mark-been enjoying your increased youtube acitivity-been watching a lot more-keep it up.

[@flynbil]

Happy 10th! Proud to be a part of it!!

[@jwynn1812]

Geddy is King!! ❤❤

[@mikeedmonds7929]

Great lesson Mark. Thank you.

[@davidbalan6571]

The Geedy Lee Path techniques I liked that's I want to from Geedy to my abilities and skills how to played slapped bass techniques .

[@Truebluemagoo]

Very Nicely done!!! 🎸😎👍

[@cossie118bmk]

hi im strugling going from the E string to the G string any easy tips ... thanks

[@kahwigulum]

it's why-why-zed because canada

[@timothydukeman7619]

I must be hearing things... when I revisited this awhile back, I'm hearing (second bar): AAF#AF#EC#CB_ C#_F# In essence, playing the three consecutive notes together on the D string (first bar), then on the A string (second bar)... if that makes sense. 😂

[@patrickblay7684]

Great lesson Mark. I would like to know which region of Britain you ate from to be able to identify your accent ? Thank’s for you teaching

[@talkingbasslessons]

Lesson Material: www.talkingbass.net/how-to-build-your-chops-like-geddy-lee-with-yyz/

[@bloopagaloota3961]

Kind of off topic, but what kind of bass is that?

[@petersnowden1332]

Hi Mark, great lesson as usual. I was looking into your online courses, and was wondering, if I pay for a course do I have access for life? Or is it time limited?

[@petersnowden1332]

@talkingbasslessons ^

[@talkingbasslessons]

Hi Peter. Yes. You get lifetime access. No time limit

[@davidreichert9392]

British man naming a Canadian song... still says Zee

[@talkingbasslessons]

I Americanise pretty much everything for the channel because 90% of the views come from there. And for the record I would normally not call a quarter note a quarter note. In the regular universe it’s known as a crotchet.

[@davidreichert9392]

@@talkingbasslessons Fair play. However you may pronounce things, your lessons are top rate.

[@MattyPhipps91]

@@davidreichert9392 mispronounce*

[@mkwaterstone]

Do I hear a chorus?

[@patrickblay7684]

You are Sorry for the mistake, I come from France

[@jiujitsubassist]

Now, to do it at full speed with one finger like Geddy...

[@rodoherty1]

Are there any videos showing this? I often see Geddy playing with one finger but surely he plays this (and other lines) with two (or more) fingers?

[@talkingbasslessons]

Geddy doesn’t play lines like this with one finger. That’s a misunderstanding of the technique. He only started using flutter picking in the 90s for a specific purpose. If you’re interested in it I have a lesson devoted to it here on YT

[@rodoherty1]

@@talkingbasslessons Thanks for clarifying, Mark. I found that hard to believe.

[@mr.potatol1743]

I think I’m getting arthritis

[@RobertWadlow292]

I hope this criticism is received well as your content is always excellent, but the white background is a bit glaring on the eyes, especially watching at night time

[@omg_wtf]

I have an amazing hack for this. It's called the brightness control.

[@NFlight]

Kinda freaky how you resemble Alex...

[@talkingbasslessons]

He’s my dad

[@RICK_BASS]

this has been done over and over abd the best is not here

[@maliwilliams7262]

Seriously???🤥🤥😮‍💨😮‍💨🧐