Bass Transcription – Eddie Gomez Bass Solo on Bill Evans’ We Will Meet Again by Lucas Pickford…

The solo begins at 0:52 seconds into the tune and Evans sets up the time (3/4) and the tempo during the two bars before Gomez begins his perfectly crafted solo. Because Eddie plays in the very high register of the bass I’ve chosen (as I often do) to write the solo in Treble Clef as to avoid having to use excessive ledger lines in Bass Clef. If you have a fretless you may enjoy playing this solo on it.

No matter what you bass you play this solo on it will teach you volumes about how to really make melodies during your solo and not just playing your best licks as fast as possible.

This solo is a master class in economy and the use of space. And of course you should pay close attention to the chord scales and the specific notes Eddie chooses to play over the different chord types. Like at the end of bar #3 where Gomez chooses to emphasize the natural 13th ( a D note) over an Fmin6/9. Also pay attention to the fast triplet arpeggios Eddie plays. He uses them when he wants to “climb” higher on the fingerboard. In the 6th bar of the 2nd chorus Gomez plays an amazingly fast arpeggio over the G7(alt) hitting a high F which is really up there on an acoustic bass. That lick is hard to play period! So there you go. If you take the time to really mine this solo for all its valuable melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic information, you are sure to end up will a very large pile of musical gold.