Happy New Year and welcome to the January 2026 update for The Bass Diaries.
These posts are a monthly update around the 1st of each month, aimed at being open and transparent about what’s happening with the website, the music, and the community behind it.
And January is always a special month here — because today marks 13 years of The Bass Diaries!
🎸 13 Years of The Bass Diaries
Back in January 2013, I was determined to launch a bass project.
The plan was to start on New Year’s Day… but life had other ideas. I was on call on New Year’s Eve and ended up being dragged into a work incident in the middle of the night. So instead of recording, I spent most of 1st January 2013 recovering.
On 2nd January 2013, I finally sat down, picked up the bass, and recorded and uploaded a cover of Metallica’s Enter Sandman.
That upload was the beginning of The Bass Diaries — 13 years ago today.
Over the years, this project has evolved and paused and restarted more times than I can count. Life, work, family, and other commitments have pulled me away at times, but The Bass Diaries has always been something I could come back to. A place to just enjoy the bass, learn songs I love, share them with others… and, eventually, even make a bit of money from it — which is always a nice bonus.
Most importantly, it’s been a constant reminder of why I fell in love with the bass in the first place.
📄 Sheet Music Published – December Summary
Despite the busy end-of-year period, December was a strong month for new material:
- 15 songs published
- 12 different artists covered
A quick heads-up going forward:
New transcriptions may be a little slower over the coming weeks. I’m currently working on a non–The Bass Diaries (but still music-related!) project, as I’ll be performing at my sister’s wedding in July. There’s a fair bit of prep involved, but once that’s locked in, things will settle back into a more regular flow.
💷 Sales Update
December saw:
- 5 sheet music sales
- Across 3 different countries
🏆 Most popular piece:
“Bad Moon Rising” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
A special milestone this month too:
Since signing up to the ArrangeMe Pro membership at the end of November, we had our first-ever in-store physical sale — in Canada.
Seeing something I’ve transcribed being picked up in a physical music store is a huge moment, and I’m really excited to see what else might be purchased in stores throughout 2026.
Support your local music store! Your help is needed now more than ever with the rise of online retailers and I’ve seen long running businesses in the UK closing down/on the brink of closing down because it’s becoming harder and harder to compete sadly.
👥Join the Community
If learning more songs is one of your New Year’s resolutions, make sure you’re not doing it alone.
The Bass Diaries Discord is where:
- You can request new songs
- Hang out with other bass players
- Share progress, questions, and wins
- Help shape what gets transcribed next
Join here: The Bass Diaries on Discord
This will be a great little community space I hope to grow more this year, and I’d love to have you there.
🔮 Looking Ahead to January
January will focus on:
- Finalising performance pieces for my sister’s wedding
- Laying foundations for more content (transcriptions, video content & more!)
And, of course, continuing to build something that’s fun, sustainable, and rooted in a genuine love for bass playing.
Thank you to everyone who’s supported The Bass Diaries over the past 13 years — whether you’ve been here since the early YouTube days or found the site last week. Here’s to many more songs ahead 🎶
Keep on keeping on!
Pearce
