about THE Bass TAB
White Wedding has a very prominent bassline throughout the whole song. Similar to many songs of the day, it’s got a driving 8th note bass line that mirrors the guitar on the hook of the song. Since the bass line was so prominent, there weren’t many spots I had questions about when I first tabbed it out.
I usually refer to this as my first pass through the tab. A first pass is usually about 90-95% complete with the tab. I mark any questions I have, leave notes to myself, and could generally use it to teach myself how to play the song. In order to bring that to 100%, I have to do some research, which usually consists of looking up videos of the song being played live.
As I started to research the song, I found the isolated bass track. This song had its master used in the game series “Guitar Hero” and so the isolated track I found came from there. This is common to find for the popular songs the series used.
This cleared up my note choices for me in the couple spots I had questions about. If I didn’t find it, it wouldn’t have been a big deal though. The questions I had were all rhythm based, not pitch based. Nothing outside of common variations that could be played, but still trying to get accurate to the original studio recording.
It was also very difficult to find video of the original bassist playing the song. I couldn’t find anything on YouTube. Finding video of the original bassist would help me know what kind of bass/tone to use and what positioning to play the song in. Billy idol had many bassists with him among the years.
Phil Feit was the original bassist, but wasn’t with Idol Long. Steve Webster replaced him from 1983-1985, who was then replaces by Kenny Aaronson from 1986-1987, who was then replaced by Phil Soussan from 88-90, who was then replaced by Larry Seymour 1990-96, replaced by Sasha Krivtsov in 2000, who was then replaced by Stephen McGrath who’s been with Idol since 2001.
I did manage to find Phil’s Instagram with a video of him playing the song. This was really helpful for the positioning of the song, since there are about 3 different positions to play this in.
Why choose “White Wedding”?
White wedding wasn’t a Patreon request, but it did have the support of my viewers. I polled the YouTube channel with an 85% “Yes” vote to cover this song. The reason I do these polls is to see if it’s worth it to cover or not. This is a song that I wanted to do, but if no-one wanted me to do it, then it really wouldn’t be worth it. I could just learn it to play for myself if I wanted at that point.
Polling on YouTube like this is a way I can engage you (the viewer) and get some feedback. Many times that I ask for it, I don’t get it, but polls are a quick simple way that’s effective. It’s a simple click (or tap) and most people are willing to do that. Answering them is a huge help for me
There could be other covers of the song, you may already know how to play it, it could be easy enough to figure out, or you may just not be interested in playing it. For any number of reasons you might click “no”, each of them valid. Since so many people chose “yes”, that tells me that there’s a need for this song to be covered that I can fill.
RESEARCH
Below are links and comments about them to what I found that helped me tab out this song.
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CcdfELVPXFm/?igsh=MWE1M3d1d2dvdmZ4ZQ%3D%3D
After spending a lot of time looking around, I found this Instagram video of Phil Playing it after finding everything else. Biggest difference between this video and the original studio line is that on a lot of the chord changes he holds the first note as a quarter note. I tend to want to do that myself when playing the song. Glad to know that it’s not just in my head xD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3WYQ41PPF0
Isolated bass track, from Guitar Hero.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR4oUMv38qw
(not White Wedding, but shows Phil Feit)
Phil Feit using a Pick and a Jazz Bass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jgtWzy-dPE
(1983 1984 Mtv New Years Eve Live)
Steve Webster on bass here already. I couldn’t find any videos with Phil Feit on
https://www.gregggerson.com/Greggpages/GG-Idol_Ritz.html
Phil with a jazz bass
https://www.instagram.com/p/zxkdaLgXrJ/
A picture of Phil with a Jazz Bass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYJgFcCzauE
Interview showing Phil with a jazz bass (american bandstand 1982)
Additional THOUGHTS
I’ve incorporated a lot of this information into this Behind the Bass video. My Behind the Bass series is a great way to learn more about these songs that I do. I’ve incorporated demonstrations in there, clips of Phil playing, and more!
If you love to hear my voice, check it out along with all of the other Behind the bass videos that I’ve done here.
Where can I get bass tabs for “White Wedding”?
You can find links to the play along (YouTube) and Interactive/Downloadable tabs here for “White Wedding” and my other covers.
https://samboatmusic.com/bass-tabs/ is a resource for you to find the tabs you need quickly and easily.
It’s a searchable and Sortable table with information and links for my songs. It has the artist, song title, tuning, links to the YouTube video, Bass ONLY Video, blog posts, and printable tabs. As my catalog grows, it’ll be updated to stay current and as useful as possible for you.
Is that all?
Yup! If you enjoy this type of content, you can find more Blogs Here.
Please let me know if you like what I’m doing by commenting on the YouTube video, or even sharing it with others.
Be sure to check out the rest of SamboatMusic.com for more content!
