Billy Sheehan Talks Rock Bass Technique & The Key to Creative Practice | EP97 | The SBL Podcast #97
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ต.ค. 2024
- Billy Sheehan Talks Rock Bass Technique & The Key to Creative Practice | EP97 | The SBL Podcast #97
Whether you know him best as part of Mr Big, Talas, The Winery Dogs or as the guy from David Lee Roth’s Eat 'Em and Smile, Billy Sheehan is one of the most recognisable rock bassists of his generation. In this special interview from Bass Space 2022, Billy talks us through the ins and outs of his rock roots, how he likes to plan his practice and how he developed his ferocious string bending skills.
In this episode you're going to learn:
How Billy maintains his three-finger technique.
The one piece of advice he would give to his younger self.
Why his practice routine has become way more focussed.
The inspiration behind his Yamaha Attitude Bass.
And much, much more!
[ - PODCAST - ]
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The incredible thing about this guy is that he’s been playing for 50+ years but still has the enthusiasm of a new player.
You nailed it!
It always amazes me how enthusiastic he is. After being a legend for so long, world tours, countless interviews, clinics and conversations, he's probably heard and said it all. But I can't think of anyone who seems to like talking about bass and music more than Billy!
Billy Sheehan deserves his own multi-part course on SBL Academy! Such a wealth of knowledge and experience, yet so gracious to teach anyone who’s willing to listen. Let’s make this happen SBL!
Not only is he a great bass player. Hes a great human. He actually responds to fans on his FB page. Ive met him twice. And had ZERO ego.
I live in São Paulo (Brazil) and i had the chance to meet Billy twice. He's my total bass hero and, just as a "bonus", he's the most sweet and nice guy ever!!! It's so good when you meet your heores and they are kind and really interested in meeting you!!! I had just a few minutes with him but i'll never forget these two occasions!!! More power to you, Billy!!!! Bless you!!!!
I hung out with Billy backstage one time in Australia and chatted with him over a glass of wine … Such a great guy - and an absolutely phenomenal bass player.
Halfway in and already the most important,informative, and inspirational video I’ve ever seen pertaining to the bass and music in general.
Ian. You are an amazing guy!!!!
I really love this man... He is so genuine and real... Not a rock star... a guy you feel like you could have a beer with and just listen to his stories
Billy is simply the greatest of all time. His knowledge is next to none!
I've met him a number of times and he is the most down to earth person ever! Mad respect for him.
Billy Sheehan was a huge inspiration to me when I started playing bass, and he seems like such an awesome person. I feel like every interview I've seen with him the host could just say "So, Billy...tell us about playing bass" and that's all it would take for him to talk for an hour and every second of it would be interesting, informative, and captivating.
Billy is incredibly talented and such a nice dude. I once talked back and forth with him on Facebook messenger. I followed his page and just sent him a message one day and he replied. Such a cool guy!
He replied me once at Instagram!!! How cool is this man, right?
I want to hear Billy on these country tracks and obscure genres 🤩
I saw Talas LIVE in a small club near Pittsburgh and it was such a blast! Mitch Perry was on guitar!
Billy is incredible. So humble for such a talented musician and just a really great guy. Met him in Glasgow *many* years ago at a bass clinic...couldn't have been more generous with his time. Great interview Ian, just love your enthusiasm for everything bass and could listen to you both all day. Thanks for sharing ;-)
As a bassist with my foundation and training on the double bass, I love all of the correlations between the technique on the double bass and the electric bass! In my mind, Billy is the Van Halen of bass guitar!!!
Yeah agree 💯 the Van Halen of bass guitar.....
I saw him in Talas after seeing him in Varney's Spotlight column. Yes, he did prove to be the EVH of bass! Amazing with Talas, DLR, Mr. Big, you name it!
I'll never forget the first time I heard "Elephant Gun", back in '86. I couldn't even air-bass to Sheehan's bass line lol. Thank you for the music, Billy!
sometimes i forget how good he is.. it takes about a second whenever i hear him speak or play and i remember it again
Billy GOAT 🐐 👍🏼👍🏼
Super interview! Great questions, and allowing Billy to answer in full without interrupting. I could listen to this all day long. Thanks so much for giving this to all of us! :)
We are so lucky to have had this man in our lives thank both of you He is spot on about the being one with the drummer, Love Love Love!
What a gracious Pro! Thanks Billy! 🤘
Billy Sheehan is super nice guy. I met him at Headliners in Madison, WI in 1983, I think. He was touring with Talas. I welcomed him to our state, he was very appreciative. Then maybe 10-years ago he did a Bass Clinic at Casio Music in New Berlin, WI. He was so fun and sincere in sharing his knowledge and experiences. You left there wanting to be a Bass Player!! Awesome guy!
I ended playing and studyin jazz, but Billy was a strong as fk influence for me, just as much as Jaco, that Colorado Bulldog intro, was a blast and ohh how awesome it was when I got me that Bump Ahead album, and whst a thrill it was to learn it... with that 3 finger technique... wow, cheers!
What a pleasant chat. I could stay listening for hours. I always ranked Billy Sheehan as one of the best bass player of all times, and now I can say he is also one of the nicest bass player too
SBL, Billy Sheehan, Ian... awesome man! what a great time to be a bass player.
Billy has always been my hero. Bless him❤
Wow. Been a fan for years and years but never heard the man just have a chat and share his knowledge. What a gem of a person. Thanks
Went to a clinic that Billy was giving, left all of us bass people wanting more!
Truly inspiring player and all round great guy.
Was blown away that Billy does indeed personally respond to his Facebook account and gives so much back to the bass community. No idea how he finds the time, but so pleased that he does!
Billy is just the man.
Thanks to SBL and Ian for making this interview happen...
Mr. Bill!! My first bass hero that continues to be one of my ultimate inspirator/motivators. That was absolutely wonderful!
😂 Oh my gosh! His tone lol! Thank you so much for sharing this. I love ya Billy!
What a badass interview of a badass bassist
Billy is a real gem in this world. Thanks for the great interview, Ian 🤙🏻🥂🤙🏻
What an amazing human is Billy Sheehan. So generous and inspirational. Such a great interview, Ian. Time to start working on 3 finger playing.
3 finger technique helps a ton if you have painful fingers!!!
What an absolute monster of a human being and a titan of the bass world. What a cool dude. I definitely ripped off some riffs from him in the early 90's from Bass Player magazine. Love those Attitude basses too. Huge fan.
What a great human being and bassplayer Billy is!
I have freakin loved Billy Sheehan since I first heard him on Mr Big when I was a wee nipper!!
Billy is a hoot!😂 What a lively gent for being 70!
Billy is a treasure.
I love him.
i think this man is a gift
Amazing interview, Very inspiring. Well, Done!
I saw Billy in 1991 (at First Ave, no less) and 1992 with Mr. Big, just before "To Be With You" broke. That band was insanely talented. I fell in love with the bass that year. Great Job Ian!!!
A most interesting interview with a great bassist! Thank you!
Damn, he's 70 years old and very modern-minded, he's in great shape, he looks great
Wonderful- thank you
One of my 1st Bass hero’s! I always wished he would make bass this in a 5 string!
Same here. I’m kinda curious why Billy and a few other legendary players like Gene Simmons, Duff, Geddy etc never gravitated to 5 string.
Everything you said about Billy Sheehan is spot on. Class act.
Billy’s the best. Cool nice guy. Rockstar through and through.
Love Billy! Such and interesting bass neck, I knew he had some odd/deep scalloped frets but I never noticed the frets. He has amazing technique, and is such a great person, very friendly and I've spoken to him on facebook msg a few times. Billy is the man!
Love ya Billy. And would Love another Niacin release!!!!
Love his virtuosity, bravura to anything and everything he plays.
Thank you for this. ❤
Wonderful interview 🎵🎶🎸🇬🇧
Priceless and inspiring. Thank you.
Like many of the best he played covers for years (the Beatles, Jaco and Talas) I reckon that is important. He is also such a sweet chap.
Billy's pickup configuration makes so much sense: the neck pickup to produce more low end, I wonder why no manufacturer (outside of Yamaha's Sheehan signature bass) makes that? We have bagillions of J-bass pickup configurations (P-bass-middle and bridge), but little to no neck/P-bass pickup configurations.
At his age i am happy that i can pick up a bass guitar! He is humble but not human! 😃🎯
Billy is a total legend.....Winery Dogs gig in London earlier this year was awesome
how freaking awesome is it that he's that good and nice guy .thanks billy love ya brother
I saw Billy with Paul Gilbert in Mr. Big in Denver in the early '90s. The singer injured his pipes in the last set and Billy and Paul stepped up and finished the show in great style, filling in pretty nicely on the vocals and taking a couple longer solos. Saved the show, total pros.
Thanks guys, great interview ! Billy really is a lovely guy aswell as a phenomenal talent !
A real down to earth bad ass Musician .....not just a Great bassplayer ....looking forward to "Winery dogs" concert in October (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Billy is the man! i wish i could like this video a thousand times
This was one of the most inspiring interviews!
What a legend.. Great interview Ian.. Well done..
I love this guy. What a great human being. Wonderful interview!
great talk thank you ;)
Ian 2; Billy 9 (or 10) ... I am talking about basses in the background 😊
Great interview by the way, thank you both
extraordinary human, a really great guy***
Excellent! Loved every minute of that
His side project Niacin is pretty amazing!
Ian's face at times during this interview 🤣 My man was battling with his inner "HNNNGGG!!!"
Wow love this interview , your both so humble
Mr. Scott Devine, could you guys ever do an interview with the sensei Steve Harris? That would be a dream lol. Thank you for all you guys do for bass.
incredible
Billy is amazing!!!❤ thanks sbl I would love to have his signature model… I just built my first signature inspired by him!
Winery dogs kicks ass
Righteous
I'm new at bass, started about a month ago and can't play right now due to pain for the past week in my right clavicle and right rotator cuff. IDK what's going on? I play a right handed bass btw. No pain in wrists or forearms
I don’t understand why more producers/engineers don’t split the bass signal in a dry/wet dual channel. I’ve always found that using one channel for the clean deep roundness of the bass, but I use a second unaffected, uncompressed track to dial in the “bite” of the note. I showed this trick to my co-writer and producer friend and we’ve used it ever since. Nowadays we just use my SansAmp RPM and set up two channels. That way we always have the DI track to clone and re-amp if needed, or if the dirty side just doesn’t vibe.
I played with a jazz drummer. I swear we had esp. We were so tight.
WOW! ...an amazing soul, and he can play a bit too!!!hahahahaha! I am a newbie to playing the bass, I write it like that cause I am a retired professional drummer of 40+ years, and have spent decades playing with bass players, but after over 20 surgeries, mostly on both feet and lower back (and one on each thumb...) I find it frustrating to play, so I bought a bass. Love the bass, hear every line no matter the genre. As a drummer my left (MF!!!) hand is my only barrier, and I am working daily on it.
Vinnie Colaiuta played several albums with Frank Zappa - including the great 'Joe's Garage'.
Ian, you didn't ask about those frets!
Who is the upright player with the three finger technique that he mentioned? The one he said played with Joe Pass.
Niels Henning Ørsted Pederson
On drums, playing with a metronome after 20 years of playing really screws me up, makes me think too much. I find it so much better to go by feel now, but I did use metronome in my first 2 years at times.
Is that a new model of ATT bass? With curly fret
True temperament bass ?
10's of thousand of hours for 50+ years and still going strong
billll-lyyyyyy sheeeeeeeer...
What is going on with the frets on that Attitude bass with no name on the headstock?
ANOTHER PROTOTYPE?!
Custom made with true temperament frets - he uses it for recording.
He does actually does answer on messenger. And it isn't simple yes or no answers either.
Shit Hot ,,,,,,,,THANKs......😎✔🎸
Does he got some sort of true temprament frets on his bass?
Not temperament but scalloped frets the true tempered ones are squiggly
Well, those aren't straight, Kane 😊
@@sambaManniom yeah. First I thought it was because of the camera or something but they’re definitely not straight.
Custom made with true temperament frets - he uses it for recording.
Not yamaha's logo on the head but it has de same shade, a kind of new yamaha's neck-fingerboard prototype?
Please make a interview with Ryan Martinie
THE LONG AWAITED
Ever listen to Niacin? The man is a monster, not just rock bass.
NO ONE plays like Billy Sheehan
He is just a complete player who literally eats and drinks bass and all it’s manifestations. I don’t think Dee Dee Ramone could have communicated at this level.