‘The Wicked Vicar’ is an original composition that was written to represent virtuoso bassist Victor Wooten. It is representative of his work both as a solo artist, and as a member of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. The majority of this piece is based around a relatively simple chord progression over which slapped parts are played that gradually increase in complexity. Many of Victor’s techniques are utilised here, including double thumbing, open string hammer-ons, and the tapping technique.
For bassists who wish to learn the piece but require additional assistance with some of the techniques required, the following courses (all included in the monthly subscription cost) should prove useful:
Don’t forget to hit the Download Resources button above to get the PDF transcription and the audio files for this piece (available to subscribers only).
This course is 1 HOUR & 17 MINUTES long and contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:
This video is a full demonstration of ‘The Wicked Vicar', performed on a GB Guitars Rumour bass strung with stainless steel Rotosound strings.
This video gives a brief overview of this challenging track and its technical requirements. Advice is also given on achieving a suitable tone.
In this video you'll learn how to play the simple bass groove which is used throughout the A and B sections. This line can be found in bars 1-8 in the transcription.
This section adds some double popped embellishments to the line that was established in the previous two sections. This lesson covers bars 9-12.
This lesson covers the final bar of the D section, where the open string hammer-on technique sets up the following section. This lesson covers bars 13-17.
In this section, the established chord progression is outlined using open string hammer-on techniques. This lesson covers bars 18-23 in the transcription.
This section features a fingerstyle unison line that is played in the upper register of the instrument. This lesson covers bars 24-27 in the transcription.
This section is a chordal part that incorporates some tapped chords. This lesson covers bars 28-31 in the accompanying transcription.
This lesson covers the first part of the bass solo. This section of the solo features the palm muting technique and can be found in bars 32-35.
This lesson covers the second part of the bass solo, where the line that was introduced in the previous video is slapped. This video covers bars 36-43.
This video covers the third part of the bass solo, which is a fairly intense slapped section. This lesson covers bars 44-51 in the accompanying transcription.
This video covers the first double thumbing triplet section of the bass solo, which can be found in bars 52 and 53 of the transcription.
This video covers the final part of the solo, where the double thumbing technique is used to play through the main chord sequence. This covers bars 54-62.
In this video we'll be discussing the remaining parts of the track, which are repeats of earlier sections. This lesson covers bars 63-86.
This lesson covers Victor Wooten's tone and offers advice on how you can achieve something similar.