‘About Damn Time’ is a song from Lizzo’s fourth album, Special. Featuring an inventive bass part that is dominant in the mix, the song was a worldwide hit when it was released as a single in April 2022. The bassline on this song was performed by producer/bassist/singer/songwriter Eric Burton Frederic (under the name Ricky Reed), who also co-wrote it.
This song is in the key of Eb minor. Due to the nature of the line, you will be required to detune each string by a half step: Eb, Ab, Db, Gb.
When learning this piece, you might find the following courses (all included in the monthly subscription cost) useful:
A transcription (with TAB and without) is available for this course. To download it, please visit the Free Stuff page.
This course is 33 MINUTES long and contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:
This video is a demonstration of the song performed on a 1966 Fender Jazz Bass strung with new stainless steel Rotosound strings.
This video contains an overview of the song and the challenges it presents, as well as offering some advice on choosing the right instrument and tone for a piece like this.
This video will demonstrate how to play the bass groove from the intro. It also covers the first verse, which reuses parts of this line.
This lesson covers the bridge sections, during which the slap technique is used. The bridge is played twice during the song, with a variation in the second iteration.
This lesson covers the chorus of the song, which reuses the bass groove from the intro, along with some additional material.
This video covers the second verse of the song. This is based on the first verse, but with a few added fills that are important to include in your performance.
This lesson covers the breakdown section, which features some simple but effective bass fills based on the minor pentatonic scale.
In this final video we’ll be working through the song’s outro section. The majority of the line here is based on material from earlier sections.