Having written two blogs about her favourite instrument, the bass guitar: one covering the top 10 bass intros and one about the top 10 bass solos, guest blogger Marlies has noticed that female bassists have been overlooked. In this blog, she seeks to level things off by presenting a list of top 10 songs driven by bass lines penned by some of the most iconic bassists of all time – who also happen to be female.

When you think of the harmonica, you immediately think blues or – at a stretch – you might think jazz. But you’re unlikely to think funk and soul. The truth is the. harmonica can lend its unique sound to pretty much any genre. To illustrate just how flexible the pocket-sized wonder is, guest blogger Marlies lines up 10 funk and soul classics that feature plenty of harmonica.

Sampling has been a part of the music-sphere since the eighties, where snippets of forgotten gems or stone-cold classics are spliced into new tracks. Whether it’s a snatched bit of the vocals, melody, bass line or drum beat, sampling has boosted the feel of some pretty big hits. Some purists see it as stealing, but our Guestblogger Marlies sees it as a smart and creative way of recycling fragments of music and even introducing old smashers to a new audience. Here, she presents the top 10 most sampled songs of all time and lines up her own sample-heavy favourites.

BB King, Janis Joplin, Rod Stewart, Tracy Chapman, Beck and Ed Sheeran all started their careers as busking street musicians. Guestblogger Marlies shares her top 10 list of street musicians from around the world. These musicians have just as much talent as the big names mentioned above, so expect to hear more from them soon!

As the foundation for any and all music, bass is the backbone of every song. But bass guitars are also one of the most exhilarating instruments to start off a song with. Guest-blogger Marlies is a bass aficionado and she’s kindly curated a top 10 of songs that have smashing bass intros.