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L.O.V.E. Transcription/Video

/ Jonathan Proud / 1 Comment
L.O.V.E.

This song first came to my attention in the advert for Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle perfume starring Keira Knightley. That probing melodic bass part made my ears prick up and I had to know who played it. A bit of internet research later and I found it was none other than one of my favourite players of all time, Mr Raphael Saadiq (who also produced the album the track is from).

The song moves through 3 keys (G Ab and A) so i hope you’ve been keeping up with your reading! It’s got a swung 16th/Semiquaver feel and Raphael plays it with his characteristic laid back intensity, “always keep the bass moving”.

Not much more to say on this one, I’m mostly playing standard major scale shapes (2nd finger on root) or box shapes based around the root or fifth of the chord. Everyone I’ve seen plays it differently so have fun figuring out the best way for you, or watch the video and use my fingerings 🙂

This was recorded on my 50s reissue Fender Precision bass strung with Ernie Ball Slinky Flatwounds with a ’62 reissue pickup and a foam mute under the strings at the bridge. I recorded direct into my mbox2 into Logic and added a little compression and an eq bump at 200hz  and 1340hz.

Click here to download PDF transcription

 

 

 

Girlfriend Transcription/Video

/ Jonathan Proud / 1 Comment
Girlfriend

This is one of Michael Jackson’s lesser hits from the ‘Off The Wall’ album. It was originally written by Paul McCartney for Michael but ended up being recorded by Wings instead. When Quincy Jones was approached to record it for Michael he had no idea it was originally written for him.

It features a great and well developed bass line by the late Louis Johnson. The line is mostly based on pentatonic and and box shape patterns but it’s the rhythmic aspect and development that makes this one interesting.

It’s in the key of E major and mainly stays within key excluding the D9 chord in bars 19, 33, and 61.

For the line in bar 2, 10 etc I play use a standard pentatonic shape starting on the open E string then slide from the F# (D string 4th fret) onto the G# ending in 4th position)

The penatonic riff in bar 4 is repeated at the end of verse phrases throughout. I would grab the high G#  on the G string (1st Fret) and then play this in 2nd position (first finger on the second fret).

Almost everything else in the song in based around the box shape or basic octaves. Take your time and make sure you have the semi-quaver rhythms nailed and try not to rush.

This was recorded on my 50s reissue Fender Precision bass with ’62 reissue pickups. I recorded direct into my mbox2 into logic and added a little compression and an eq bump at 200hz.

Click here to download PDF transcription

 

Trippin’ Transcription/Video

/ Jonathan Proud / Leave a comment

Trippin’

I’ve been a huge fan of Raphael Saadiq’s playing since I heard this Lucy Pearl track around 2006/7. It’s the bass line that just keeps going! I’ve always fancied learning it properly so thought I’d do a transcription/video while I was doing it.

First up, 4 string players, tune your E string down to D. 5 stringers, you’re all good to go. The whole song is based around a 2 octave D minor pentatonic bass lick. Start in 5th position, assuming you’re using the 1,2,4 fingering method, with your 4th finger on the D on the 7th fret of the G string. If you play both the Ab and G with your 4th finger you end up in 3rd position. Shift to 2nd postion to get the F and E on the lowest (D) string. 5 String players, you’re working with a basic minor pentatonic shape rooted on the D (3rd fret) of your B string.

While the bassline itself isn’t technically difficult, copping Raphael’s feel can be a challenge. He’s playing around with the time, sometimes ahead of the beat and sometimes right behind. Listen to the phrasing in the first bar of the lick, the 2nd semiquaver is ahead of the beat then the whole thing settles to slightly behind in the second bar. The whole thing’s played fairly staccato which requires good right hand muting and relaxed but precise plucking. Try some foam under your bridge to dampen the strings slightly. The general vibe is chilled out intensity. Keep those semiquavers consistent but behind the beat! I still have some work to do to really nail the groove on this one. Keep practising.

This was recorded on my 2000 American Std Jazz Bass into a sansamp BDDI (with plenty of drive) into Logic Pro X via my mbox 2. I added a little compression and bumped the EQ at around 200hz and 2khz.

I hope you enjoy playing through this tune.

Click here to download PDF transcription

 

You’re My Best Friend Transcription/Video

/ Jonathan Proud / Leave a comment

You’re My Best Friend

I recently bought Queen’s Greatest Hits 1+2 on CD for the car. The first thing that struck me was John Deacon’s inventive and lyrical bass lines. So much so that I decided to learn a few of them. Queen bass transcriptions are few and far between online and are usually pretty inaccurate so I decided to do my own. This is note for note as played on the record (including John’s cheeky overdub at bar 78).

The bass part is triplet heavy, so much so that it could be written in 12/8. However I feel the general groove is more a 4/4 with a little swing. A noteworthy feature of this line is that it doesn’t require the use of the E string, at all! John was of the few players that could play right up the neck and still have a full round bottom end. It’s worth listening carefully to the drums in this tune as a lot of the bass fills are locked right in with drums. The song’s in C so all that Cmajor pentatonic practise will pay off. Also, have fun reading the ledger lines in the chorus!

I recorded this on my Epiphone Jack Casady signature bass (with the pickup set to 250hz) straight into Logic Pro X via my Mbox 2 (No DI). I added a little compression and a EQ boost around 150hz and 1khz.

Click here to download PDF transcription

 

Breaking News

/ Jonathan Proud / Leave a comment

Breaking News

This track was recorded in January 2015 as part of a Peculiar Disco Moves EP. I took a DI out of my Sansamp and mic’d up my SVT rig (Ampeg SVT CL and SVT 4×10 classic). I did it in one take with an extra run through just for safety (in case of audio glitches or unwanted noise). Once again pre-production makes everything easier, you should always go into the studio knowing exactly what you need to play.

The song’s in Db major but has some chromatic harmony and borrowed chords. There’s nothing too fancy in this one bass-wise, I mostly stay down the bottom of the neck and hold down the root and as always use chromatic and diatonic approach notes and runs to keep the track bouncing along.

In verse 1 there’s a bass counter melody to the main vocal that then walks down a major pentatonic scale to the root. Before each ‘in the news’ section I superimpose an Ab over an Ebm chord to lead nicely back to the tonic (Db). Using the 5th of the next chord as an approach note to it is a standard bassist technique and is a great way to create some forward momentum harmonically speaking. The ‘in the news’ section has two chords (Db – Ebm) per bar with an ascending root note. The bass essentially plays a up Db major scale with added #4 (G) and b7 (B). This leads to some interesting chords (Db/G or Gb9#11 (no3rd) being one). The chorus has a pseudo latin/bossa nova feel with each root note being anticipated a quaver before leading up to Bbm arpeggio that follows the phrasing of the vocal.

This version was recorded on the same bass (now with a jazz bass neck) through my sansamp then into Logic Pro X via my Mbox 2. I added a little compression and a slight a EQ bump at around 3-5k. I hope you enjoy the video and transcription, if you like the song check out http://peculiardiscomoves.com/ for more info on the band.

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