@@damage0311 It's the other way around - the pieces before that were easier on bass because tapping, but the last one uses a specific bow technique on the violin that's just not available on bass and tapping with that speed that Charles just did is damn near inhuman
@@velkoivanov9155 as a (good) violinist and (not so good) bassist myself, I totally agree. The bow gives you a net advantage in speed, with good hand/wrist technique, it will bounce almost naturally across the strings very very rapidly, you just have to form the right chords and you're all set. That being said, that piece looks out of my reach anyways, there's much more to it than what I just said. That was insanely difficult to finger tap it and it shows as Charles just can't quite keep up in speed vs the violinist here. But you know what? The violinist was showing of a bit here, as I think that Charles's version was a tad cleaner. Go figure... 🤷🏻♂️🤣
@@gregoirepainchaud Charles version was definitely cleaner, but I do think it would be easier on bass than it is on violin. The frets give you a massive intonation advantage. I don’t think a bow gives an advantage in terms of overall speed either, the additional points of contact of having all 8 fingers tapping gives you much better economy of motion.
Truly awesome, my wife has now accepted the bass as a genuine musical instrument, which means I might be able to get it out of the office! It was the Paganini that finally convinced her!
One thing I want to point out with complete respect intended, is that in theory some of these pieces can be made EASIER on the bass. It is still incredibly difficult but Charles has an extra set of fingers to pick or tap on notes that might be a little hard to make shapes for with just his left hand. Frets also allow for less precise intonation to be landed while still producing the same note. The violin has a way smaller range of distance to create a half or whole step where there are no frets, meaning the slightest misplacement is represented with a sharp or flat note. Again, this is not to take away ANYTHING from the difficulty of the bass or Charles incredible talent, as a violinist of 14 years myself I just wanted to provide a little more insight as to why these pieces are considered the most difficult on the violin and not on the bass.
Yeah, he's not claiming he's better than any violin player: it was just a fun challenge, and it was nice hearing them in a different way from the usual. They're still incredibly challenging pieces that only someone with Charles' level of mastery of tapping on bass (a rare skill) could have executed so well.
The chaconne is difficult for reasons other than speed and tricky fingering. For a start it's 17 minutes long, it combines really intense passages with very delicate ones, lots of chording (on a fretless instrument that can literally only play two notes at once) and tons of emotion. Kudos on God Save The King though. I can also recommend Tartini's Devils Trill (with the Kreisler cadenza) and Ernst's Der Erlkonig as being pretty damn difficult.
Right, the problem on the violin with all that chording is not a problem on the bass. But here's the kicker: Those Are Not Chords! It's 4 voice polyphony. Charles should have played it with 4 legato lines. Can he do indpendent polyphonic lines on a bass? Now there's a challenge.
You know, I've seen you play some absolutely amazing stuff, and you get tongue in cheek about a song being hard, but then you nail it anyway. I'm curious if there are any pieces of music that really are your kryptonite. A song or movement you just haven't been able to figure out. Or that really made you rage, or tested your limits to the point where you're about to (or did) just give up. I'd really like to see a video where you talk about the hardest things you've overcome, or haven't overcome, in your bass playing.
@@CharlesBerthoud do a deconstruction of the piece and show which movements kicked your ass.. (probably the entire damn piece LOL) but seriously amazing talent my man!
I once watched a bass player use a delay pedal to play chords at one end of the fretboard, then improvised tune at the other over the chords he'd just played. Then of course the tune he'd just played repeated shortly after for him to play new chords against the tune he'd just played. As he developed the piece, the chords moved toward the other end of the fretboard while the tune moved the opposite way. As an improvised solo while the lead guitarist fixed his broken string, it was awesome, and that in a tiny working men's club venue in Birmingham, UK. I'd love to see what you could do with that idea.
well he just got better as you probably know, so I guess it worked! I really want to see a collab with Charles tbh, Charles is like a Ray Chen of bass after all
It seems to me that most of those violin pieces were hard because of all of the string crossing with the bow. It would be particularly interesting to see those same pieces played on the bass using only a pick.
the bass version of that piece is like less than 1/5 the difficulty, if you compare it to a violinist who just taps the notes he has to play, with his only 1 hand, is already like twice as hard as bass version because: its 1 hand not 2, you have to be accurate asf.
Yeah, also tapping is cheating and sounds lame. Anyway, all this stuff sounds horrible on bass, like it takes away all the magic. And the metal stuff it is ridicoulous
Дорогой Чарльз! Прости, что пишу по-русски; надеюсь, это не будет проблемой (ведь ты переводишь даже языки разных музыкальных инструментов). Ты невероятно талантлив, но - и это важнее - потрясающе трудолюбив! Спасибо тебе за чистоту твоих видео! Сколько в тебе достоинства! Да благословит тебя Бог!!!
I like how you go through this video as if there was some kind of mystery to it. You knew you were going to nail it, you knew before you uploaded bass God.
Ok the last one was really insane, I thought he was going to play it using classic sweeping technique, then he used tapping. I don't think there's something in this world he can't play. Really he has established new standards of bass playing.
To those commenting that the last violin piece was not pleasant to listen to : *Paganini's pieces were not written to sound beautiful* Paganini was an absolute God at the violin, to the point that people thought he got his virtuosity from a deal with the Devil. But he was a total show-off. He had Marfan Syndrome, which means that he had an exceptional flexibility in his hands and fingers. He composed things that only he was able to play (at that time, anyway), just to show how exceptional and awesome he was. Which is why he focused much more on technicality than musicality. The result is that his compositions are absolute hell. They are extremely difficult and it's very impressive to see someone managing to actually play them, it means countless years of practice and an exceptional talent. BUT... well, these pieces are usually not really pleasing to the hears. That's not what they were composed for. Even when the best, world-class soloists play them, it's more a display of technicality. You don't close your eyes, thinking "Hmm, that's beautiful..." like you would do with Tchaikovsky or Mahler. You just have your eyes, mouth, everything open, and wonder how on earth this person can move his/her fingers that fast, use his/her bow with so much precision, play so in tune, and switch effortlessly between totally awful hand positions. That being said, we can still thank Paganini because he was a very imaginative composer. The timbre of the violin was greatly expanded as a result of his works, he really left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. (And he still wrote a few pieces that are actually enjoyable to listen to. 😄)
no, its bad to listen to because on bass it sucks, its just tap notes the notes with 0 dynamics, and its easier too, its basically like if you remove the bow difficulty to a violinist, and remember the fact he is pressing all the notes with only 1 hand, not forgetting about difficulty of being in tune.
@@SToXC_. I think you misunderstood my comment. I was answering to the fact that it didn't sound amazing _on violin_ , the instrument it was written for. It doesn't help that, to me, there are much better recordings than the one showed in the video (but they're probably copyrighted), and that, out of the 6 minutes the piece lasts, the chosen extract isn't exactly the most beautiful part, melodically speaking... I dont know much about bass, but I'm pretty sure that this piece is extremely hard to play on it, just not for the same reasons that it is on violin. Charles is a very accomplished player, and yet he commented that it was one of the hardest piece he ever had to play on bass and that he had to practice a lot for this video. Paganini is obviously just hell for all instruments on earth ! 😅 Anyway, I'm not here to start a war and say that one instrument is better / easier than the other. As I said elsewhere in this comment section, as long as everybody finds what suits him/her among all the genres that exist today, everything is fine. As far as I'm concerned, I very much enjoyed the video, I love the concept of trying to play pieces from other instruments' repertoire. 😊
@@MissTwoSetEncyclopedia I never said bass is easier than violin, i said that THIS piece, containing EVERY SINGLE EXISTING thing you can do on violin at the same time + super fast notes, is a tons harder than played on electric bass, where everything's left is just fast notes, use a fretless acoustic bass, so that, like violinists, you have only 1 hand to press notes and with the other you "play" them, adding dynamics too, and Maybe it's not that much easier than violin. He is surely an amazing bass player, but first of all he is a youtuber, there are tons way more skilled bass players, just because he is a lot popular doesnt mean he is almost at the top. all he said and did in the video was for entertainment purposes only, he knows it better than you and me how fucking easy that piece on electric bass with 2 hands tapping was compared to playing it on violin.
@@SToXC_. Look, I read the comments you wrote in other threads. You seem to be in a crusade of some sort, and, in case you don't realize it, you sound really aggressive. I'm not interested in engaging in a debate with you, so I'm just gonna wish you a good day / night.
classical music is where the rage started, musically I mean! ^^ and I do love neo classical metal or so the genre is called. your are really good at the whole BASS thing! :D
Think of the brilliance like our guy here and countless others who now can play pieces unheard of at their ages and then add to it that they play it on different instruments... I let that sink in and begin to weird out. Bravo bravo bravissimo
Of course there is much more difficulty to playing those pieces on the violin because of its anatomy and the techniques you have to use to add specific properties to the sound. Regardless, Charles you played it perfectly on bass, a really amazing job
Charles playing some "Neo"Classical "Metal" is the best thing that happened to me this week. Bless you, kind man. EDIT : I was expecting the Erlkönig, but hearing God save the King is faitr enough, considering how tremendously insane this piece is. And I'm a former violonist x)
I am a violinist and play a little bit of bass (with a pick). I learnt it autodidactically and now my goal is to learn slap and tap. All my respect for you, Charles!
I’ve been around highly successful incredible musicians my entire life. With that being said you are very easily one of the most talented I have ever seen.
The tilting of the bow is what makes violin more difficult to play. Edit; After reading replies I realize that saying “more difficult” wasn’t accurate. I should have said that “ In my opinion, it is more difficult FOR ME to use a bow at those speeds and accuracy than to tap the same notes even with the two handed technique. Chuck is a boss.
@@angrytedtalks Never heard of them until Davie propped them up. I’m just a musician who understands the complexities of different instruments. However, yes, I am now a fan.
@@TetsuoKrampus I played violin as a child, TH-cam recommended TwoSet out of the blue, like Davie504. I like both channels, but Charles is a brilliant hybrid being classically trained and a virtuoso maestro on bass.
Every single instrument takes more than a lifetime to learn. Since no one has ever got to the end of learning any instrument it really can't be said which is more difficult.
Winter by Vivaldi was actually the melody used by my high school to announce the start and end of lectures. My friends used to play electroguitar and bass covers of classics. I tapped like as you reminded me of those days and the amazing performance as always.
Nothing “standard” about that! Holy hell! Find another bass player that can play this!! You’ll find multiple violinists that can play it, but not bass players!
You know what's really great, is when you watch a video, but you don't watch the last few seconds of it, so youtube recommends it to you a year later, and you have just as much fun watching it again as you did the first time. You're phenomenal, Charles, never change sir. :) Edit: Oh, if you're still looking for fun stuff to play that's hard, you should check out Bela Fleck's interpretation of Paganini's Moto Perpetuo. Fleck says in the liner notes that it's one of the most physically demanding pieces he's ever played, and for someone who plays the banjo, that's saying a lot. Really check it out!
That was insane. And you remembered all those notes and shapes to play. How long did it actually take you? I bet it was 40 hours. Much love to you and to TwoSet, i miss them. Get better soon Brett!
Any musician will figure it out in 20 mins or less. The arpeggios have the same paterns, the same with other things. You only need to figure the chords out, and the rest is easy
@@Akametsuki He's my favorite bass player, along with Alejandra from the Mexican band The warning. They're both better than Davie504, but apparently you didn't get my point. I don't have recent videos but you can watch my old ones. I teach music, I was helping you out. And yes I can do it in less than 20 mins, actually 5 or less if you have perfect pitch like the doo. There's a lot of musicians like that on Twitch
@@chewingpiano Nobody but you was comparing musicians. I was talking about this specific video with the Paganini piece. I wasnt asking for help, nor for you forcing your "knowledge" on me. Heck, my comment wasnt even directed at you. Still, if you can learn to play this in less than 5 minutes, good for you. I think you are the best you know at whatever it is you have formulated an opinion about. Cheers!
I play the chaconne on the violin a couple of times a week. It's been about a decade since I've been able to do the notes, and I still get new musical ideas about playing it almost every time I play it. Every chord and every melodic line could be interpreted ten different ways. The notation is incredibly precise, almost pedantic, and yet simultaneously completely open to interpretation. I don't know how Bach did it. The level of musical complexity the violin is expected to carry in this piece is above and beyond anything else that I know of in the violin repertoire. It might just be, "pound per pound", if you take into account the limitations of the instrument and what is being squeezed of of it, the most complex music ever written.
Bach's Chaconne is one of the best music ever written in human history :,) it is just majestic. I also recommend the arrangement for piano by Busoni :)
I guess God save the king is harder because of the construction of the violin, btw, i have to say i preffer your version, something hard that sounds pretty cool :)
I mean, some of Paganini's pieces are not so much music as extreme sports. That piece is near-impossibly difficult on both violin and on bass, though what exactly makes it so difficult is different between the instruments.
The thing is that Paganini's pieces were not written to sound beautiful. Paganini was an absolute God at the violin, to the point that people thought he got his virtuosity from a deal with the Devil. But he was a total show-off. He had Marfan Syndrome, which means that he had an exceptional flexibility in his hands and fingers. He composed things that only he was able to play (at that time, anyway), just to show how awesome he was. Which is why he focused much more on technicality than musicality. The result is that his compositions are absolute hell to play. They are extremely difficult and it's very impressive to see someone managing to actually play them, it means countless years of practice and an exceptional talent. BUT... well, these pieces are usually not really pleasing to the hears. That's not what they were composed for. Even when the best, world-class soloists play them, it's more a display of technicality. You don't close your eyes, thinking "Hmm, that's beautiful..." like you would do with Tchaikovsky or Mahler. You just have your eyes, mouth, everything open, and wonder how on earth this person can move his/her fingers that fast, play so in tune, and switch effortlessly between totally awful hand positions. That being said, we can still thank Paganini because he was a very imaginative composer. The timbre of the violin was greatly expanded as a result of his works, he really left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. (And he still wrote a few pieces that are actually enjoyable to listen to. 😄) (And yes, I copy pasted this commented, I was feeling lazy...)
At 0:27 I was amazed with the skills of the dude playing violin and jump at my seat when realize he also plays the piano very well. Very well done, sir.
Oh, and to not get you to think I’m a ‘lame fan boy’. As amazing as your playing is. You have the luxury of not having to do all the extremely difficult and manic bowing Paganini did himself and wrote into his pieces. The Devil’s Violinist is a movie everyone enjoying your musical ability should watch. The lead actor IS a real violinist and incredibly talented. Gives me and idea...in the movie he break all but the low G string (no pun intended LOL) and yet still plays the rest of his piece using that one string. How about giving that a listen and see if it’s a challenge worth your time?
Me: is a mediocre violinist Violin tacher: gives me Preludium and allegro to learn Preludium and allegro: gets featured as one of the hardest pieces Me: *cries*
@Guav Caesar Bartok... i saw my aunt who is a professional pianist practice some bartok (don't know the name) and it was crazy, crossed and upper hands at a speed that was... demonic. And she was practicing this for months....
do a video playing the hardest classical guitar pieces. I can provide a list! : Rodrigo's Toccata, Divertimento from Aquarelle by Sergio Assad, Zapateado by Rodrigo, Fugue from BWV 997 by Bach.
The most difficult thing about the Chaconne is finding the musicality in my opinion, because on its own it sounds like boring cardboard. I think your arrangement really emphasized the underlying potential of the Chaconne.
What do you want in upcoming videos?! 👇🏻
Some Victor Wooten would be awesome! also love your videos! Youre the best!
Full cover of "The Lesson" By Victor Wooten.
Idk buy a ukulele bass that would be cool
I want a longer version of the ultimate bassline in the Davie504 challenge. Please expand on that. It's epic.
A solo with every single note possible in it
As a bass player, damn all respect goes to Charles. This dude can do some unbelievable stuff on bass.
I wonder how this would sound like with A BIT MORE OVERDRIVE 😁
isn't the last piece easier to play on the bass than it is on the violin?
@@damage0311 It's the other way around - the pieces before that were easier on bass because tapping, but the last one uses a specific bow technique on the violin that's just not available on bass and tapping with that speed that Charles just did is damn near inhuman
@@velkoivanov9155 as a (good) violinist and (not so good) bassist myself, I totally agree. The bow gives you a net advantage in speed, with good hand/wrist technique, it will bounce almost naturally across the strings very very rapidly, you just have to form the right chords and you're all set. That being said, that piece looks out of my reach anyways, there's much more to it than what I just said. That was insanely difficult to finger tap it and it shows as Charles just can't quite keep up in speed vs the violinist here. But you know what? The violinist was showing of a bit here, as I think that Charles's version was a tad cleaner. Go figure... 🤷🏻♂️🤣
@@gregoirepainchaud Charles version was definitely cleaner, but I do think it would be easier on bass than it is on violin. The frets give you a massive intonation advantage. I don’t think a bow gives an advantage in terms of overall speed either, the additional points of contact of having all 8 fingers tapping gives you much better economy of motion.
Charles supporting Twoset while they are on break is so wholesome 🥺
It is the best thing ever
Spoiler Alert: Charles is the true Ling Ling.
Truly awesome, my wife has now accepted the bass as a genuine musical instrument, which means I might be able to get it out of the office! It was the Paganini that finally convinced her!
Bassists might not typically get the proper respect, but we do get the best women. Best wishes to you and your family!
But you gotta put piccolo strings on it and then..... is it really even a bass anymore?
@@rumpledxkn just look up Charles's solo he made for fiance with normal bass strings
I'm surprised your agreed to marry someone that doesn't believe its a 'real instrument'
@@oliverholland7236 something about it being more percussion than musical!
One thing I want to point out with complete respect intended, is that in theory some of these pieces can be made EASIER on the bass. It is still incredibly difficult but Charles has an extra set of fingers to pick or tap on notes that might be a little hard to make shapes for with just his left hand. Frets also allow for less precise intonation to be landed while still producing the same note. The violin has a way smaller range of distance to create a half or whole step where there are no frets, meaning the slightest misplacement is represented with a sharp or flat note. Again, this is not to take away ANYTHING from the difficulty of the bass or Charles incredible talent, as a violinist of 14 years myself I just wanted to provide a little more insight as to why these pieces are considered the most difficult on the violin and not on the bass.
Huh
of course its just an interpretation. Violin version is way harder
Yeah, he's not claiming he's better than any violin player: it was just a fun challenge, and it was nice hearing them in a different way from the usual. They're still incredibly challenging pieces that only someone with Charles' level of mastery of tapping on bass (a rare skill) could have executed so well.
But basstrings are a bit heavier…😎💙
The chaconne is difficult for reasons other than speed and tricky fingering. For a start it's 17 minutes long, it combines really intense passages with very delicate ones, lots of chording (on a fretless instrument that can literally only play two notes at once) and tons of emotion. Kudos on God Save The King though.
I can also recommend Tartini's Devils Trill (with the Kreisler cadenza) and Ernst's Der Erlkonig as being pretty damn difficult.
Yes for Erlkönig! It is very hard and intense.
Yes indeed. Totally agree. Not just notes
Devil's trill has some awkward intervals and the kreisler cadenza reminds me of caprice 6. Tapping makes the left awkwardness somewhat easier, though
Also, the bow requires control over the note for the whole time. (which allows more possibilities of expression)
Right, the problem on the violin with all that chording is not a problem on the bass. But here's the kicker: Those Are Not Chords! It's 4 voice polyphony. Charles should have played it with 4 legato lines. Can he do indpendent polyphonic lines on a bass? Now there's a challenge.
You know, I've seen you play some absolutely amazing stuff, and you get tongue in cheek about a song being hard, but then you nail it anyway. I'm curious if there are any pieces of music that really are your kryptonite. A song or movement you just haven't been able to figure out. Or that really made you rage, or tested your limits to the point where you're about to (or did) just give up.
I'd really like to see a video where you talk about the hardest things you've overcome, or haven't overcome, in your bass playing.
Seconded. This would be very cool to see/hear.
That could be fun. Funny you bring it up now actually because God Save The King did give me a very hard time before I finally got it 😂
@@CharlesBerthoud do a deconstruction of the piece and show which movements kicked your ass.. (probably the entire damn piece LOL) but seriously amazing talent my man!
Easy, Smoke in the water
@@CharlesBerthoud can you play We Will Rock You ?
I once watched a bass player use a delay pedal to play chords at one end of the fretboard, then improvised tune at the other over the chords he'd just played. Then of course the tune he'd just played repeated shortly after for him to play new chords against the tune he'd just played. As he developed the piece, the chords moved toward the other end of the fretboard while the tune moved the opposite way. As an improvised solo while the lead guitarist fixed his broken string, it was awesome, and that in a tiny working men's club venue in Birmingham, UK. I'd love to see what you could do with that idea.
upvote this crew. this is good.
As a violinist, this was pretty awesome seeing your take! Everyone should take a look that last song played on the violin it’s freaking insane
My reaction to the violin version: "I knew Paganini was a crazy ass sadist, but HOLY FUCK!"
😂
You tapped it… Im still happy to hear interpretations of the pieces. Thanks for giving it a go.
Let's hope Brett sees this and it makes him feel well again :)
let’s hope they notice Charles’ existence first :’)
@@ajchandra7735 oooo the burn
@@ricsouza5011 Lol it wasn’t meant to be a roast, but really though it will be interesting to see them collab.
well he just got better as you probably know, so I guess it worked! I really want to see a collab with Charles tbh, Charles is like a Ray Chen of bass after all
@@johjoh9270 Yes i saw that. I hope they reach out to eachother and collab. I believe they can create something really cool :)
Ling Ling will watch your career with much interest
Plot twist: Charles IS Ling Ling
Ling Ling? Paganini? A bass virtuoso craves not for those things.
U.V. S. True we need a bass equivalent to ling ling but charles is literally the best bass player on TH-cam lol
I thought of the Pikachu knockoff character from the show Drawn together lol
Ling Ling believes that playing hard things on violin will bring them grrrrrrls!!!!!
"I'm feeling pretty metal today"
-me, waking up in the morning
It seems to me that most of those violin pieces were hard because of all of the string crossing with the bow. It would be particularly interesting to see those same pieces played on the bass using only a pick.
the bass version of that piece is like less than 1/5 the difficulty, if you compare it to a violinist who just taps the notes he has to play, with his only 1 hand, is already like twice as hard as bass version because: its 1 hand not 2, you have to be accurate asf.
then you add all the bowing which makes it just superhuman level .
The difficulty is how u play the phrase, not just playing right notes.
Yeah, also tapping is cheating and sounds lame. Anyway, all this stuff sounds horrible on bass, like it takes away all the magic. And the metal stuff it is ridicoulous
This. Just because it’s insanely hard on violin doesn’t mean it’s that hard tapping it out on bass. But respect to Charles for even trying.
Are non-musicians even able to comprehend what this guy is doing here? This is outstanding, just on a completely different level. Thank you Charles!
3:34 hahahahhah, this is everything!
3:35
3:340.5
Ya did it. Now some of the hardest flute pieces.
Cassandras Dream song
Thats it. be prepared
Your welcome to the challenge
sincerely
lung lung
lol lung lung
*lunglung*
now that's celver. u got urself a faithful subscriber
Lunglung lolol
How lung did you wait to make that pun?
@@WASEE627 who nose lol
At some point, you'll just nail musical pieces of every instrument! Always a blast to tune in!
Thanks!
@@CharlesBerthoud My pleasure!
@@CharlesBerthoud play every instrument of a full orchestral piece all on bass XD
Дорогой Чарльз! Прости, что пишу по-русски; надеюсь, это не будет проблемой (ведь ты переводишь даже языки разных музыкальных инструментов). Ты невероятно талантлив, но - и это важнее - потрясающе трудолюбив! Спасибо тебе за чистоту твоих видео! Сколько в тебе достоинства! Да благословит тебя Бог!!!
Charles: Plays one of the most difficult pieces of music ever written
Also Charles: Ends it with a frickin' Power Chord
Lmaooo
that power chord actually sounds really really fantastic
Normally guitarists do those Power Chords right?
Love when you break out the six string, violin pieces to bass metal, a theme I always love to see in your videos great job charles!
Thanks!
Six string?
The crazy fast parts and the sound they brought out made me think of Tosin. Awesome work!
Charles- You are approaching ‘virtuoso’ capability! Keep going! - I love your open mindedness with disregard for musical genres! Well done!!
So much fun and joy. Thank you, and I wish for your world-wide success. .... and; the continuiaton of your uplifting musical ( and otherwise) humor.
I like how you go through this video as if there was some kind of mystery to it. You knew you were going to nail it, you knew before you uploaded bass God.
Ok the last one was really insane, I thought he was going to play it using classic sweeping technique, then he used tapping. I don't think there's something in this world he can't play. Really he has established new standards of bass playing.
To those commenting that the last violin piece was not pleasant to listen to :
*Paganini's pieces were not written to sound beautiful*
Paganini was an absolute God at the violin, to the point that people thought he got his virtuosity from a deal with the Devil.
But he was a total show-off. He had Marfan Syndrome, which means that he had an exceptional flexibility in his hands and fingers. He composed things that only he was able to play (at that time, anyway), just to show how exceptional and awesome he was. Which is why he focused much more on technicality than musicality.
The result is that his compositions are absolute hell. They are extremely difficult and it's very impressive to see someone managing to actually play them, it means countless years of practice and an exceptional talent.
BUT... well, these pieces are usually not really pleasing to the hears. That's not what they were composed for. Even when the best, world-class soloists play them, it's more a display of technicality. You don't close your eyes, thinking "Hmm, that's beautiful..." like you would do with Tchaikovsky or Mahler. You just have your eyes, mouth, everything open, and wonder how on earth this person can move his/her fingers that fast, use his/her bow with so much precision, play so in tune, and switch effortlessly between totally awful hand positions.
That being said, we can still thank Paganini because he was a very imaginative composer. The timbre of the violin was greatly expanded as a result of his works, he really left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique.
(And he still wrote a few pieces that are actually enjoyable to listen to. 😄)
no, its bad to listen to because on bass it sucks, its just tap notes the notes with 0 dynamics, and its easier too, its basically like if you remove the bow difficulty to a violinist, and remember the fact he is pressing all the notes with only 1 hand, not forgetting about difficulty of being in tune.
@@SToXC_.
I think you misunderstood my comment. I was answering to the fact that it didn't sound amazing _on violin_ , the instrument it was written for. It doesn't help that, to me, there are much better recordings than the one showed in the video (but they're probably copyrighted), and that, out of the 6 minutes the piece lasts, the chosen extract isn't exactly the most beautiful part, melodically speaking...
I dont know much about bass, but I'm pretty sure that this piece is extremely hard to play on it, just not for the same reasons that it is on violin. Charles is a very accomplished player, and yet he commented that it was one of the hardest piece he ever had to play on bass and that he had to practice a lot for this video.
Paganini is obviously just hell for all instruments on earth ! 😅
Anyway, I'm not here to start a war and say that one instrument is better / easier than the other. As I said elsewhere in this comment section, as long as everybody finds what suits him/her among all the genres that exist today, everything is fine.
As far as I'm concerned, I very much enjoyed the video, I love the concept of trying to play pieces from other instruments' repertoire. 😊
@@MissTwoSetEncyclopedia I never said bass is easier than violin, i said that THIS piece, containing EVERY SINGLE EXISTING thing you can do on violin at the same time + super fast notes, is a tons harder than played on electric bass, where everything's left is just fast notes, use a fretless acoustic bass, so that, like violinists, you have only 1 hand to press notes and with the other you "play" them, adding dynamics too, and Maybe it's not that much easier than violin.
He is surely an amazing bass player, but first of all he is a youtuber, there are tons way more skilled bass players, just because he is a lot popular doesnt mean he is almost at the top. all he said and did in the video was for entertainment purposes only, he knows it better than you and me how fucking easy that piece on electric bass with 2 hands tapping was compared to playing it on violin.
@@SToXC_.
Look, I read the comments you wrote in other threads. You seem to be in a crusade of some sort, and, in case you don't realize it, you sound really aggressive.
I'm not interested in engaging in a debate with you, so I'm just gonna wish you a good day / night.
@@MissTwoSetEncyclopedia typical bullshit ppl who cant hold an argument say, gg dude u op 400 iq
classical music is where the rage started, musically I mean! ^^
and I do love neo classical metal or so the genre is called.
your are really good at the whole BASS thing! :D
Think of the brilliance like our guy here and countless others who now can play pieces unheard of at their ages and then add to it that they play it on different instruments... I let that sink in and begin to weird out. Bravo bravo bravissimo
Nuts!!!!!!
Dude, when I saw the vid of you playing the Schecter 12, I flipped.
But, these violin pieces are on another level.
Thanks for rocking it!
Playing the Chaconne on bass is an instant sub. Would love to hear some of the variations from Paganiniana or maybe a bass version of Der Erlkönig.
Of course there is much more difficulty to playing those pieces on the violin because of its anatomy and the techniques you have to use to add specific properties to the sound. Regardless, Charles you played it perfectly on bass, a really amazing job
Honestly the way you played last piece was godly
I love how you always challenge yourself and constantly work on your technique.
Every one of your videos is just astonishing. Brilliant. You're the best
Charles playing some "Neo"Classical "Metal" is the best thing that happened to me this week. Bless you, kind man.
EDIT : I was expecting the Erlkönig, but hearing God save the King is faitr enough, considering how tremendously insane this piece is. And I'm a former violonist x)
I still wpjld like to hear the erlkönig!
What I've gathered from watching this video is, Paganini absolutely hated violinists and wanted to make them miserable.
Plot twist: He is the best violinist ever, he’s just faking it.
He is Ling Ling
@@Kbax3614 Pagalingling!
Plot twist: who the fuck are you to say that and who are you
At this point I wouldn't be surprised tbh.
When you wanted to play piano but your parents bought you a bass instead...
I have never seen or heard of a 6 string bass. That is radical! So are you Charles!
Wow Charles, you do not cease to amaze me.
I am a violinist and play a little bit of bass (with a pick). I learnt it autodidactically and now my goal is to learn slap and tap. All my respect for you, Charles!
Autodidactically !?
FFS, man. Never use a long word where a diminutive one will do.
When someone says winter is the hardest violin piece
do you mean when someone says summer is the hardest violin piece
It's because it's coming
I think it's safe to say master Charles is the greatest bassist I have ever witnessed.
Charles i got a bass for christmas and im learning to play now because of your videos!!! thank you so much!!!
Man, you are simply amazing! Your musical skill is beyond my ability to hear, much less comprehend, but I enjoy the challenge of listening.
Here's a challenge: you can tap with both hands on one bass; but can you tap on two basses with one hand on each simultaneously?
*Jason richardson wants to know your location*
lol.
Like Micheal Angelo ?
Yes, but on bass! Now that would be a sight to behold. Or on a double-necked bass.
Yes!!! Like Stanley Jordan!!!
I wouldn't mind more of that metal Bach chaconne, it's really beautiful :)
It’s that right hand bowing technique that really adds another layer of pain on violin..ptsd intensifies
Classical to metal is my all-time favorite. You nail it every time.
I’ve been around highly successful incredible musicians my entire life. With that being said you are very easily one of the most talented I have ever seen.
The tilting of the bow is what makes violin more difficult to play. Edit; After reading replies I realize that saying “more difficult” wasn’t accurate. I should have said that “ In my opinion, it is more difficult FOR ME to use a bow at those speeds and accuracy than to tap the same notes even with the two handed technique. Chuck is a boss.
Ahhh. A twoset fan...
@@angrytedtalks Never heard of them until Davie propped them up. I’m just a musician who understands the complexities of different instruments. However, yes, I am now a fan.
@@TetsuoKrampus I played violin as a child, TH-cam recommended TwoSet out of the blue, like Davie504. I like both channels, but Charles is a brilliant hybrid being classically trained and a virtuoso maestro on bass.
Every single instrument takes more than a lifetime to learn. Since no one has ever got to the end of learning any instrument it really can't be said which is more difficult.
@@angrytedtalks so did charles play the violin song correctly?
You know it's next level when the big man himself says "this might actually be impossible".
Charles: taps guy on shoulder
Guy: hums flight of the bumble bee
Первый раз услышал. Чарльз - красавчик. Успехов Вам в творчестве. Пока звучит такая музыка - жизнь не безнадёжна.
Winter by Vivaldi was actually the melody used by my high school to announce the start and end of lectures. My friends used to play electroguitar and bass covers of classics. I tapped like as you reminded me of those days and the amazing performance as always.
Paganini wasn't about speed, but expression. He was also competitive, but that's another story.
Most of these are hard for the violin because of the technique and instrument limitations. On bass it all sounds standard heavy metal stuff \m/
no, it's all sounds amazing
@@codenametohru3032 wdym, what makes a piece hard is 25% interpretation, 50% Technique, 25% notes.
Nothing “standard” about that!
Holy hell!
Find another bass player that can play this!!
You’ll find multiple violinists that can play it, but not bass players!
Bro all of this piece are million time easier on electric bass.
TwoSet: God Save The King
Charles: I have never heard of this song, this must be one of those new 'meme musics' I keep hearing about.
Haha
Probably he never heard God Save The King because he only heard God Save The Queen
You know what's really great, is when you watch a video, but you don't watch the last few seconds of it, so youtube recommends it to you a year later, and you have just as much fun watching it again as you did the first time.
You're phenomenal, Charles, never change sir. :)
Edit: Oh, if you're still looking for fun stuff to play that's hard, you should check out Bela Fleck's interpretation of Paganini's Moto Perpetuo. Fleck says in the liner notes that it's one of the most physically demanding pieces he's ever played, and for someone who plays the banjo, that's saying a lot.
Really check it out!
Omg is THAT why it does that?!
The sound of that 6string bass,,,,,divine,,,,,out of this world playstyle,,,,nice
That was insane. And you remembered all those notes and shapes to play. How long did it actually take you? I bet it was 40 hours. Much love to you and to TwoSet, i miss them. Get better soon Brett!
Any musician will figure it out in 20 mins or less. The arpeggios have the same paterns, the same with other things. You only need to figure the chords out, and the rest is easy
@@chewingpiano Then go do it! If you dont upload a video learning it in 20 minutes i will think you couldnt do it, screw Paganini, this is easy!
@@Akametsuki He's my favorite bass player, along with Alejandra from the Mexican band The warning. They're both better than Davie504, but apparently you didn't get my point. I don't have recent videos but you can watch my old ones. I teach music, I was helping you out. And yes I can do it in less than 20 mins, actually 5 or less if you have perfect pitch like the doo. There's a lot of musicians like that on Twitch
@@chewingpiano Nobody but you was comparing musicians. I was talking about this specific video with the Paganini piece. I wasnt asking for help, nor for you forcing your "knowledge" on me. Heck, my comment wasnt even directed at you. Still, if you can learn to play this in less than 5 minutes, good for you. I think you are the best you know at whatever it is you have formulated an opinion about. Cheers!
“You must study the Chaconne all your life, but you must not play it in public until you are 50, because it is very, very deep.”
The Chaconne is more than just the notes.
I play the chaconne on the violin a couple of times a week. It's been about a decade since I've been able to do the notes, and I still get new musical ideas about playing it almost every time I play it.
Every chord and every melodic line could be interpreted ten different ways. The notation is incredibly precise, almost pedantic, and yet simultaneously completely open to interpretation. I don't know how Bach did it.
The level of musical complexity the violin is expected to carry in this piece is above and beyond anything else that I know of in the violin repertoire. It might just be, "pound per pound", if you take into account the limitations of the instrument and what is being squeezed of of it, the most complex music ever written.
When he played it metal I screamed
Bach's Chaconne is one of the best music ever written in human history :,) it is just majestic. I also recommend the arrangement for piano by Busoni :)
first of all, that was awesome! secondly wow!! you played it perfectly man
" Classical Gas" by Mason Williams. A classic. .know you will do it justice.
that was some good shit
I guess God save the king is harder because of the construction of the violin, btw, i have to say i preffer your version, something hard that sounds pretty cool :)
It doesn't really sound good on the violin, much nicer on bass.
Yeah for sure, difficulty of instruments often doesn't translate perfectly!
I mean, some of Paganini's pieces are not so much music as extreme sports. That piece is near-impossibly difficult on both violin and on bass, though what exactly makes it so difficult is different between the instruments.
The thing is that Paganini's pieces were not written to sound beautiful.
Paganini was an absolute God at the violin, to the point that people thought he got his virtuosity from a deal with the Devil.
But he was a total show-off. He had Marfan Syndrome, which means that he had an exceptional flexibility in his hands and fingers. He composed things that only he was able to play (at that time, anyway), just to show how awesome he was. Which is why he focused much more on technicality than musicality.
The result is that his compositions are absolute hell to play. They are extremely difficult and it's very impressive to see someone managing to actually play them, it means countless years of practice and an exceptional talent.
BUT... well, these pieces are usually not really pleasing to the hears. That's not what they were composed for. Even when the best, world-class soloists play them, it's more a display of technicality. You don't close your eyes, thinking "Hmm, that's beautiful..." like you would do with Tchaikovsky or Mahler. You just have your eyes, mouth, everything open, and wonder how on earth this person can move his/her fingers that fast, play so in tune, and switch effortlessly between totally awful hand positions.
That being said, we can still thank Paganini because he was a very imaginative composer. The timbre of the violin was greatly expanded as a result of his works, he really left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique.
(And he still wrote a few pieces that are actually enjoyable to listen to. 😄)
(And yes, I copy pasted this commented, I was feeling lazy...)
@@MissTwoSetEncyclopedia which Sane person will not copy paste an essay tho.
Greetings from Canada, *Rings of Saturn has entered the chat*
Cmon smokes lets go
@@jimbles717 Frig off, Randy
I tow-da-sew I fu**ing I tow-da-sew
braap braap haahh
@@jimbles717 new season called jail
At 0:27 I was amazed with the skills of the dude playing violin and jump at my seat when realize he also plays the piano very well. Very well done, sir.
penso che tu sei uno dei bassisti più forti che io ho visto , grande!!!!!
Oh, and to not get you to think I’m a ‘lame fan boy’. As amazing as your playing is. You have the luxury of not having to do all the extremely difficult and manic bowing Paganini did himself and wrote into his pieces. The Devil’s Violinist is a movie everyone enjoying your musical ability should watch. The lead actor IS a real violinist and incredibly talented. Gives me and idea...in the movie he break all but the low G string (no pun intended LOL) and yet still plays the rest of his piece using that one string. How about giving that a listen and see if it’s a challenge worth your time?
We need a full cover of all the god save the king variations!
You're toying with us, Charles. You could make a cowbell song sound like Mozart on bass...😉
Such ability from all these musicians..really humbling to see.
OMG. You did THAT caprice? Amazing. You are genius level.
"Let's see if we can do a metal version of this section"
Uses clean sound
Davie: i'm gona play other instruments
Charls: i'm gona play the hardests pices of other instruments on bass
Honestly the bass version of god save the king sounded better than the clip on the violin, at least to my ear. It was super clean.
The bass version has no dynamics whatsoever, it's just notes after notes.
This is incredible! And the bass sounds so sparkly!
Challenge: play the hardest DRUM solo ever performed. On BASS, of course.
Me: is a mediocre violinist
Violin tacher: gives me Preludium and allegro to learn
Preludium and allegro: gets featured as one of the hardest pieces
Me: *cries*
@Guav Caesar Bartok... i saw my aunt who is a professional pianist practice some bartok (don't know the name) and it was crazy, crossed and upper hands at a speed that was... demonic. And she was practicing this for months....
then you realize preludium and allegro arent pieces, but just sections' nomenclatures for dpm....
Baroque sounds metal? No, my friend. Metal sounds baroque. That's why I like it.
how do you stay so relaxed playing thjat lightning fast .. its truly amazing
Oh wow! I love the sound of these classical pieces on a base!
do a video playing the hardest classical guitar pieces. I can provide a list! : Rodrigo's Toccata, Divertimento from Aquarelle by Sergio Assad, Zapateado by Rodrigo, Fugue from BWV 997 by Bach.
Okay, that sounds like Eddie Van Halen playing God Save the King/Queen.
the last song sounds like when I've fucked up a song but just keep playing and just roll with it anyway
You always make me smile!
Your playing looks so effortless!
I wonder what’s harder
God save the king or really really giant steps
EPICO!! (ooops, wrong channel.)
The most difficult thing about the Chaconne is finding the musicality in my opinion, because on its own it sounds like boring cardboard. I think your arrangement really emphasized the underlying potential of the Chaconne.
you're an absolutely incredible musician on your bass and love hearing you play. you could say you're a string Sensei.
Brilliant 👍😀 playing.. God bless you Charles
Question: When you tap, it is the amplifier that makes it sound good and loud, isn't it? Btw, I am jealous of your skills!
way better than that italian guy who never plays bass.....
Davie504 became a joke of himself who posts videos only for unfunny memes and to milk views & likes from his subs
Davie504: Okay imma make my next vid funnier than usual
The level of playing you've achieved, I don't actually think there is a piece of music that you can't play, I am convinced.
Ohhh man , I foo**ing love these bass metal variants, you maybe turn us into classics :D
lol he is going to take a nap for the rest of the day