Today’s Lesson
Transcription Techniques – Part Three
I trust the resources provided in the previous two lessons on Transcription Techniques serve you well. This lesson will dig deeper. We will look at the process of working out the bass line to an actual song.
I am telling you exactly how I transcribe and this lesson will be “me thinking out loud”. I encourage you to use the information in your own unique way – whatever works for you. I have chosen James Brown’s studio-and-mostly-played-on-the-radio-and-TV-ads version of “I Got You (I Feel Good)” because
* Most bass players know the song and are required to play it at some time during their career.
* It has some “traps” and challenges not readily recognizable
* It should help improve your technique and groove
* It contains funky syncopation
* It aids musical concentration
Listening ONLY (no bass in hand)
First Pass (entire track)
The “I Feel Good” section (at the start) could be called the Chorus
Each chorus is a 12-bar blues form
After two choruses it goes to a Bridge with only sax and drums for four bars
I am calling the “When I hold you in my arms” section the Verse
The verse is eight bars long, begins on the IV-chord and completes another 12-bar cycle
Then:
Chorus
Instrumental Bridge
Verse
Chorus
Chorus
Two additional “So Good” bits with extended ending (tag) slowing down
Second Pass (still no bass in hand)
Beginning: “Wow” drum hit “I Feel Good” – The “Good” is the first beat of the 12-bar form
The horns match the bass from the second beat of the two-bar phrase to the first beat of the two-bar phrase
The bass rhythm is one quarter note and six consecutive eighth notes in the first bar
The rhythm in the second bar is quarter note, two eighths, eighth-note rest, eighth note, eighth-note rest, eighth note (making the second bar syncopated)
All instruments play unison hits with “So Good” at the end of every chorus
Guitar generally plays short stabs only on beat 4 of every second bar of the choruses
Bass drum plays some unison hits with sax during bridge and quarter-note rhythm on ride cymbal
Bass plays a type of descending walking bass line with two eighth-note hits per note during the verse
Guitar plays quarter notes during the verses
The end of each chorus (plus the tag) is an arpeggio with all instruments in unison
The final tag descends before the “Hey” and last chord
I suggest you now get a copy of the recording (I can’t provide one because of copyright) and compare your listening notes to mine. You may hear more than I did on the first two passes. If so, that’s great!
Next time I will “think out loud” again, showing you how I find the bass notes.
Until then, Bass of Luck!
Bass Lessons Online
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
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