This track was written to represent virtuoso bassist Victor Wooten covering his work both as a solo artist, and as a member of bluegrass/fusion group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. As you might expect, it features some very advanced slap bass techniques. The majority of this piece is based around a relatively simple chord progression over which we will be playing slap lines that gradually increase in complexity. We’ll be employing many of Victor’s favourite techniques here, such as double thumbing and popping, open string hammer-ons, chordal lines, and the tapping technique.
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 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.
This video gives a brief overview of the course.
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 this video you'll learn how to play the C section, which adds some double popped embellishments to the established line. This can be found in bars 9-12.
In this video we'll be looking at the final bar of the D section, where the open string hammer-on technique is introduced in preparation for the following section.
In this video we'll be covering the E section, where the chord progression is outlined using open string hammer-on techniques. This section covers bars 18-23.
This video covers the fingerstyle unison line from the F section, which is bars 24-27.
In this video we'll be working through the chordal part at letter G, which is bars 28-31.
In this video we'll be covering the first part of the bass solo at letter H. This section of the solo features the palm muting technique and can be found in bars 32-35.
In this video we'll be working through the second part of the bass solo, where we begin slapping the line that was introduced in the previous video. This can be found in bars 36-43.
This video covers the third part of the bass solo, which is an intense slap line. This can be found in bars 44-51.
This video covers the first double thumbing triplet section of the bass solo, which is bars 52 and 53.
This video covers the final part of the bass solo, in which we'll be using the double thumbing triplet technique to play through the main chord progression of the track. 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 Victor Wooten's tone and offers advice on how you can achieve something similar.