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VLV bass line?


TraceOddity

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Don't know, if it's helpful to you, but if you google a bit for the VLV Mastertrack, you'll find the original VLV divided into several parts. One part is the bassline, so it should be easy to find out what is played originally there :)

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Honestly, it's sounds overly simplistic. I know hey do a lot of things that appear simple on the surface but are actually more complex than people realize. But this bass line is very straight forward from what i see. The song is in the key of G#major and the same progression of bass notes remains the same throughout the verses and chorus. It's

 

C#/D#/A#/F I always respected the melody and lyrics but this isn't one of my favorite coldplay works so i never really learned it inside and out. the f definitely sounds like a minor, but as a bassist that might not be particularly important. any of these notes should work in a base line for viva. G#/A#/C/C#/D#/F/G probably favoring the sharps and the F note. hope that's helpful

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try this for the chorus. G#/D#/A#/F. let me know what you think. you can aways just use different octaves of these notes if it sounds too monotonous. Guy definitely plays a deeper D# note than G#, but its appears he just alternates octaves for each measure instead of something more complicated

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Yeah, I'm sorry, I wrote down an A# in the verse. that tab is right. should have just picked up the guitar. it is most definitely, C#/D#/G#/F for the verse. wouldn't things be simpler if we just used sharps instead of flats and sharps? haha. i saw Ab, which is a G#, and wrote A#. Anyways...good luck. Go with that tab. i'm playing what the tab says and it says C#/D#/G#/F all the way through and that sounds fine when played. Feel free to get a little creative with notes in the scale of G# Major. If it sounds good and it's not spec for spec from the album track, even better. Have fun. Cheers

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:) ok, well i wish you luck. a bassist with questions about when to play or switch notes might have me shaking in my boots but i'm sure you will have fun. Don't panic and maybe one or two others are possibly the only songs i can think of off the top of my head that use a standard tuning in a coldplay song when guitar is involved. I have the E-A-D-G-B-Eb tuning saved as "the coldplay tuning" in my little book cause that is the sound of yellow, shiver, swallowed in the sea, white shawdows and probably a few others...it gets a lot of use they make it sound great. (Yellow and Shiver use E-A-B-G-B-Eb) but i don't see why it's a must. take care :)

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Don't waste your time on the tabs, they're everything but correct.

 

From studying the official recordings your simply not going to find the exact way it should be played.

 

I, bass player, have been studying the bass of the song for a while (especially the live versions) and I can assure you, that it's not as simple as things like tabs will show you.

 

I found out that Guy doesn't just play the roots, he also is part of the orchestral part (especially in the beginning).

He's using effects to let his bass sound like a dark, deep organ and plays some of the cello sounding parts in the beginning.

He goes from A# to G (I'm not sure anymore about the notes, been a while) and it gets louder and louder.

 

In the chorus he still uses some effects, but not all of them.

Make sure to play in this tuning: Eb - A - D - G

The first note you play is a C# (4th fret on the A string) followed by a Eb (open Eb string)

Then play a G# (5th fret on the E string) followed by a F# (2nd fret on E string)

 

I tabbed the main chorus riff out a little bit:

 

Viva La Vida Bass (Chorus)

Tempo = 140

 

--|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|

 

G |----------------------------|----------------------------|

D |----------------------------|----------------------------|

A |--4-----4-----4-----4-------|----------------------------|

Eb|-----------------------0----|-----0-----0--0-----0-------|

 

 

--|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|

 

G |----------------------------|----------------------------|

D |----------------------------|----------------------------|

A |----------------------------|----------------------------|

Eb|--5-----5-----5--5--5--2----|-----2-----2--2-----2-------|

 

 

--|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|

 

G |----------------------------|----------------------------|

D |----------------------------|----------------------------|

A |--4-----4-----4-----4-------|----------------------------|

Eb|-----------------------0----|-----0-----0--0-----0-------|

 

 

--|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|

 

G |----------------------------|----------------------------|

D |----------------------------|----------------------------|

A |----------------------------|----------------------------|

Eb|--5-----5-----5-----5--2----|-----2-----2--2-----2-------|

 

 

--|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|

 

G |----------------------------|----------------------------|

D |----------------------------|----------------------------|

A |--4-----4-----4-----4--6----|-----6-----6--6-------------|

Eb|----------------------------|--------------------7-------|

 

 

--|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|

 

G |----------------------------|----------------------------|

D |----------------------------|----------------------------|

A |--3-----3-----3-----3--8----|-----8-----8--8-----8-------|

Eb|----------------------------|----------------------------|

 

 

--|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|

 

G |----------------------------|----------------------------|

D |----------------------------|----------------------------|

A |--4-----4-----4-----4-------|----------------------------|

Eb|-----------------------0----|-----0-----0--0-----0-------|

 

 

--|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----|--1--&--2--&--3--&--4--&----||

 

G |----------------------------|----------------------------||

D |----------------------------|----------------------------||

A |----------------------------|----------------------------||

Eb|--5-----5-----5-----5--2----|-----2-----2--2-----2-------||

 

I hope it helps! :)

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