Dec 19 2008
Bass Workout - Phantom of the Opera
When I was a kid, I loved Iron Maiden because they rocked hard and had evil looking album covers. When I got a little older and understood music, I loved them because they rocked hard, had evil looking album covers, and had amazing musicianship. Sure, you’ve got the dual lead guitars and Bruce Dickinson’s soaring almost operatic vocals, but the one thing that really stands out is Steve Harris’ bass playing. Most 80’s metal was all about the guitar and the front man, and most bassists would just thump along on the root of the power chord and put way low in the mix. But Iron Maiden’s main songwriter was their bass player, and he wrote some fast and intricate music.
So when I need to give my fingers a serious workout, one of the songs I like to attempt is Phantom of the Opera from their self titled first album. It’s not all over the neck, but there are a whole lot of 4 fret stretches and pinky hammer-ons, and it’s really fast. I’ve been trying this one for months and while I can play some parts of it, I still can’t put it all together or play along with the album. Here’s a youtube clip of the album version without any video distractions and here’s the tab . Have fun with this one.
