Flight of the Bumblebee on PSG?

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 6 Jun 2005 11:38 am

Has anyone ever recorded this or even played it? I have been listening to Debashish Bhattacharya's latest album "Calcutta Slide Guitar" and it occurred to me that there's no real reason not to play "Bumblebee" besides lethargy and wimpiness. I did a search for it and found this thread: http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum5/HTML/005109.html
- wherein Herb Steiner even tells you what pedal to use to do it. I already have the sheet music for it in the "Classical Fake Book Vol. 2" so it seems like it could be an interesting summer project if I can order coffee beans in the 55 gallon drum.

Rick Schmidt · Post by **Rick Schmidt** » 6 Jun 2005 12:15 pm

After youre done with the "Bumble Bee", you'll be ready for Tico Tico and Dizzy Fingers next.

I bet John McGann probably already transcribed it.

Roger Rettig · Post by **Roger Rettig** » 6 Jun 2005 12:21 pm

Listen to Terry Crisp playing on the Ricky Skaggs album, 'Love's Gonna Get You' - they do a version of 'Raisin' The Dickens', and Terry does a few bars of 'Bumble Bee' as part of his solo.

he manages it rather well.....

RR

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 6 Jun 2005 1:31 pm

Funny you should mention that; I just started working on it last week, after listening to my son play it at 144 bpm on alto sax (and these are all 16th notes!) It's gonna take some time but even trying it is great for one's technique.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 6 Jun 2005 1:53 pm

J.C. - what recorded version are you listening to? I worked out the basic pattern with a flatpick on electric guitar, but I sure can't pick anything like that with fingerpicks (yet?). The liner notes of Bhattacharya's album mentions his "three-finger technique", and I think it must be T-I-T-M-T-I-T-M. It sure doesn't sound like triplets, but those Indians can play 10's and 7's and stuff as easy as 3's and 4's. For sure T-M-T-M or T-I-T-I wears my hand out just trying.

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 6 Jun 2005 2:01 pm

Dave, I'm not listening to anybody's recorded version yet. I'm just reading the sheet music and trying to find reasonable places to play the lines without getting all tied up in knots. You're right about the right hand fingering: it's a puppy's-mother!

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 6 Jun 2005 2:01 pm

Back in the early 1970's, when I was in college, I played percussion in the band and orchestra. One of our tuba players, who was about 5'5", weighed about 90 lbs. soakin' wet, and had about a 28" waist, could play Flight of the Bumblebee flawlessly...on a huge tuba no less.

(Sorry for the topic drift. This topic just jarred an old memory loose.)

Lee

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 6 Jun 2005 2:40 pm

Oh, yeah, well, sure, on a tuba. Anybody could play it on a tuba...

Rick Schmidt · Post by **Rick Schmidt** » 6 Jun 2005 3:36 pm

I still think one of the hardest things to do on a steel is to play long, fast chromatic lines and not sound like a cartoon.

jim milewski · Post by **jim milewski** » 6 Jun 2005 5:04 pm

anyone hear Martin Mull do dueling tubas?

John Steele (deceased) · Post by **John Steele (deceased)** » 6 Jun 2005 5:17 pm

I'm almost positive BE quoted "bumblebee" during one of his explosive exchanges with Danny Gatton on the Redneck Jazz Explosion live album.
-John

KENNY KRUPNICK · Post by **KENNY KRUPNICK** » 6 Jun 2005 7:17 pm

I'm a Tuba player. I have the recording of the Canadian Brass, with Charles Dallenbach playing,"Flight Of The Tuba Bee".

Steve Robinson · Post by **Steve Robinson** » 6 Jun 2005 7:32 pm

Hey, did somebody mention TUBA?
I can play that, way better than steel, in fact. Actually, I pretty much gave it up in college when I realized the tuba wasn't quite the babe magnet I had hoped for. Being ever so socially ept (opposite of inept?), I took up the ... b&*jo. Man, some folks just don't get it, huh?!

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 6 Jun 2005 7:42 pm

Steve, somewhere along the line, you got a piece of bad advice...

Travis Bernhardt · Post by **Travis Bernhardt** » 6 Jun 2005 10:10 pm

I've tried this. I got the sheet music off the internet somewhere and I made it through the first couple of pages before I sort of abandoned it. I keep meaning to go back and try it again--I will, some day...

The good news is that it's in sort of in A, so you've got a lot of open strings to use near the nut. If I get inspired I can try to post my take on how to play the first page or so, but the basic idea is that you take major advantage of the "chromatic" strings and all your basic E9 changes that affect those top four strings (except string one, which doesn't need changing, as I recall). There are no fancy pedal moves, it's all about activating the right pedal or lever to enable the proper hammer-ons for each section. No "real time" pedal moves required (which is intentional, since I wanted to avoid slides wherever possible).

The way I worked it out, until you get to the part where the notes start higher than the high A on your third string you can basically play it all with only one one-fret slide per section--and that slide is appropriate for the way the song is phrased. It's actually kind of amazing how well it works.

Once you get past the first couple of pages, though, the melody line moves into territory where you have to play it out of a closed position. This is where I started to bog down. It's still doable, but to get the phrasing right is a major headache.

As for the initial descending chromatic run, the way I worked it out was to start at the twenty-fourth fret and end at the open position, descending using strings two and four. The way the melody works, descending and rising on the way down, you'll only need to make a few two fret jumps--everything else will be a one fret jump. You'll also need to be able to play a double hit on string four followed by a double hit on string two. You could use a slide, but it wrecks the phrasing. I alternate:

<pre>

F# -------------------------
D# -------23-22-------21-20-
G# -------------------------
E -24-23-------22-21-------
T I M I T I M I

</pre>

This way works for me, since it allows me to make the long, long descending run without, say, a huge twelve fret jump somewhere in the middle.

Maybe this'll inspire me to bring the steel out of its case and set it up again--I haven't played it in over a couple of months, now.

At any rate, this song is, thanks to the key it's in, surprisingly playable on pedal steel (until you get to the stuff where you've got to play out of a closed position). To play it slow, anyways...

If anybody gets it up to speed, please record it and post it!

-Travis

P.S. If anyone wants more specific instructions on how to play this tune, I can get more specific and post some suggestions in tab form, but it'll take some work...[This message was edited by Travis Bernhardt on 06 June 2005 at 11:13 PM.]

Jim Cohen · Post by **Jim Cohen** » 7 Jun 2005 3:53 am

Interesting post, Travis. I've been working it up on C6, where it also lays nicely on the open strings with hammer on's on strings 1, 2 and 3. Wonder if it'll be any easier on C6 when I get a few pages in, as you indicated. Probably not...

Wally Davis · Post by **Wally Davis** » 7 Jun 2005 4:35 am

Wally Murphy played this many years ago. If I'm not mistaken, he also had it on an album that he released at least 25 years ago called "Flying Fingers". I'm not sure if it is still even available. You might try Scotty's Music to see if it is.

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 7 Jun 2005 5:42 am

All I can say is this... God Bless ANYONE who can play that piece on a steel guitar!!.. You are a great player and my hat is off to you. bob

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 7 Jun 2005 7:27 am

There is a piano version of this called Bumblebee Boogie. I used to try to play it on piano, but never quite got it all down. I may still have the sheet music in my piano bench. It is much more interesting than the standard classical version. It starts with a rumbling eighth note bass boogie line, then the right hand comes in with the 16th notes. There's a lot of syncopation with jazz chords thrown in throughout. It's definitely the version you should try, Jimbeaux. You'll need a good keyboard player to do the bass boogie stuff. I'll look for my copy.

David Mason · Post by **David Mason** » 7 Jun 2005 9:34 am

I started laughing when I was reading these posts, because I went to bed last night thinking that there was no good reason not to play the whole thing up and down on just the 4th string (in C6th tuning), or switch to the 3rd string when it hits Eb.

I only have the 36-bar excerpt found in the Classical Fake Book, but it's the juicy bit - in Am, it's the lick descending chromatically from E to C, then F, E, D#, then E to C chromatically down and back up. There's a few hiccups (down to B) then the whole thing repeats a 4th higher. I usually play a high G, so I retuned it to D and I sort of see the idea, but it seems like more trouble than it's worth to change strings? You just have to play the whole thing over again up a 4th, and then the high note's a Bb.

I'm influenced by the Indian guys who'll play whole scales and arpeggios fiendishly fast on a single string using a light bar, but the biggest jump ever is from an A to a repeated D and in the Eb section a whole-step pedal between C# and Eb. I got it (sloppily) up to 110 so far - it seems like the only issues are picking stamina and mental stamina (AKA "memory"), which are not the same thing at all. I couldn't find a free download for the whole thing, if there's a source for it who takes Paypal or somebody who can send me a copy of a violin or piano transcription please let me know. I had this thing squared away on six-string many years back, but it drifted away somewhere (as these things do) and I'm trying to break the habit of having to learn everything on guitar before I can even start it up on steel.[This message was edited by David Mason on 07 June 2005 at 10:42 AM.]

Bobbe Seymour · Post by **Bobbe Seymour** » 7 Jun 2005 12:30 pm

Why don't I play it? Well, the chord progression is about as exciting as the melody of "One Note Samba".

Sort of a song where speed says nothing.
If you want to be fast, get up and run around the block, it will do you more good.

I'd just as soon hear the "Theme from Deliverence".

If Lloyd Green recorded it, it would still suck, could you imagine Lloyd recording that song? I can't. He has waaaaaaay to much taste.
It's not even a song, it's an exercise in noise, hey, dance to this song! Song? Not really. See how fast you can play your scales, then listen to some nice steel guitar music.

Just my opinion, and I'm entitled to it.
Ha! [This message was edited by BobbeSeymour on 07 June 2005 at 03:52 PM.][This message was edited by BobbeSeymour on 07 June 2005 at 03:53 PM.]

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 7 Jun 2005 2:31 pm

Bobbe - Everyone's entitled to your opinion!

Lee

John McGann · Post by **John McGann** » 7 Jun 2005 2:36 pm

I believe Mr. Buddy Emmons plays a piece of it on the Great Stream solo on the '77 ISGC record...As it (Great Stream) is a Pat Martino tune; you heard Pat quote it (Bee) more than once on his '70's records.

Rick- I haven't transcribed it, I have to save something for next week

------------------
http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff. Joaquin Murphey transcription book, Rhythm Tuneup DVD and more...

[This message was edited by John McGann on 07 June 2005 at 03:36 PM.]

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 7 Jun 2005 6:17 pm

David...please give me some (song title) examples of this "light-speed" playing by Bhattacharya that you keep referring to. I've already listened to about 15 of his songs, and I still don't "get" whatever it is that impresses you so much.

I figure there must be something really great that I'm just...missing?

Travis Bernhardt · Post by **Travis Bernhardt** » 7 Jun 2005 6:39 pm

I was thinking about this and I just remembered one of the other technical hurdles. The parts where you've got to repeatedly play two notes at once really really fast are something I couldn't quite figure out a convincing way to play. You can "fake" it and just do a tremolo picking kind of thing, which sounds better than you'd think; you can try to just use your index and thumb, say, and do repeated hits, which works great until you try to play it up to speed, at which point you realize that it's a dead end; you can try "strumming" both strings at once back and forth with your thumbpick, which produces the speed you'll need, but sounds terrible (when I do it, anyways); you can try something unorthodox.

For me, the unorthodox technique that I decided worked best was to pick forwards and backwards with both my thumb and index finger. The thumb plays the lower string by alternating back and forth, like a flatpick, and the index finger plays the higher string using the same technique. Amazingly, with a little care your index finger fingerpick won't go flying off.

Curious to hear how others have solved this problem.

-Travis