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Duran Duran – Rio

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The eighties were an exciting and varied time musically and were notable for the rise of synthesisers and drum machines in popular music. Although the decade is often associated with flamboyant haircuts, New Romantic attire and lots of makeup, many great bassists were also able to make an impression during this time. Among them were session legends Pino Palladino and Deon Estus, Level 42 frontman Mark King, and Duran Duran’s John Taylor.

‘Rio’ was the fourth and final single taken from the band’s 1982 album of the same name. It was originally released in the UK in November 1982 and was a Top 10 hit in the singles charts, reaching number 9. It was released worldwide in March 1983 and became a global hit after American audiences had picked up on another single release, ‘Hungry Like the Wolf’.

‘Rio’ is an uptempo pop song with an insistent, driving bassline that is one of bassist John Taylor’s finest recorded lines.

Be sure to hit the Download Resources button above in order to download the PDF transcription for this piece (available to subscribers only). The transcription is available WITH TAB and WITHOUT. Please note that a backing track is NOT included with this course. The track used in the play-along can be purchased from www.karaoke-version.co.uk.

This course contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:

1. ‘Rio’ Play-Through

This video is a demonstration of the bassline for this song, performed on a 1966 Fender Jazz bass, strung with new Rotosound stainless steel strings, gauges 40-60-80-100.

2. Intro and Verse Sections

In this lesson I’ll be taking you through the bassline that John plays during the Intro and Verse sections. This is a fast-paced, aggressive fingerstyle line that’s difficult to play… but great fun. This lesson covers bars 1-20.

3. Chorus

In this lesson I’ll be demonstrating the line from the Chorus sections. This video covers bars 21.28.

4. Middle 8 and Sax Solo Sections

This lesson covers the Middle 8 and Sax Solo sections. John plays a much simpler part for the first part of this section, opting for a root note-based line that also uses double chromatic approach notes and ghost notes. The latter half of the sax solo features an energetic line that is similar to the Verse bassline. This lesson covers bars 29-52.