This piece was originally written to represent Rocco Prestia (Tower of Power) in Giants of Bass, a book which celebrated the contributions of 26 of the world’s most influential bass players. This is a very challenging piece to play as it is built around a series of bass grooves that consist of continuous sixteenth notes. These lines also feature a number of elements that are common to funk music (and the music of Tower of Power), such as the use of chord tones, the use of double chromatic approach notes and the use of syncopation. To closely mimic Rocco’s sound, the piece was recorded with a heavily muted bass tone, which was achieved on the recording using a device called the Bass Mute.
When learning this piece, you might find the following courses (all included in the monthly subscription cost) useful:
Don’t forget to hit the Download Resources button above to get the PDF transcription and audio files for this piece (available to subscribers only). The transcription is available with TAB and without, for those who wish to give their reading skills a workout.
This course is 58 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 piece, performed on a ’67 Fender Custom Shop Precision bass strung with Rotosound strings and equipped with a Bass Mute.
This video gives a brief overview of this piece and the technical challenges that it presents. It also offers some advice on finding the perfect tone for lines such as this.
This lesson will show you how to play the two-bar intro and the main bass groove from the A section. This lesson covers bars 1-10 in the transcription.
This section features the main melody and is underpinned by the groove established in the previous section, with some added fills. This lesson covers bars 11-18.
This section features another busy bass groove, this time played over a G7 chord. This lesson covers bars 19-22 in the accompanying transcription.
This section features the main groove again, but with some complex fills that head into the upper register of the instrument. This lesson covers bars 23-30.
This part of the track is a repeat of the line from the C section, ending with a unison line that transitions the track into the sax solo. This lesson covers bars 31-37.
This section is the sax solo, which is underpinned by a new bass groove, once again based on a continuous sixteenth note feel. This lesson covers bars 38-49.
The final section of the track is a development of the line from the C section. Here, it is modified to accommodate a four-bar chord sequence. This lesson covers bars 58-62.