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James Taylor – ‘How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)’

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This song was recorded by James Taylor back in 1975 for his Gorilla album. A cover of the Marvin Gaye hit, Taylor’s version features a simple but highly effective bass part from session legend Leland Sklar. Sklar, who has spent much of his career holding down the low end for Taylor (and many others), performed the line on a highly modified Fender Precision bass.

This song is in the key of G major and is played with a swing feel resulting in many triplet figures. Lee’s bassline is at all times supportive, but with simple and effective melodic fills poking through where appropriate.

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. 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 is 44 MINUTES long and contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:

1. ‘How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)’

This video is a demonstration of the song, performed on 1972 Fender Jazz bass strung with old Rotosound string for a warm, vintage tone.

2. Intro Chorus

This video will show you how to play the opening chorus section of the song. The basic components of the bassline will be examined in detail here.

3. 1st Verse

This lesson covers the first verse, which is built on a simple four-bar chord progression. The bassline here is chord tone-based, with lots of interesting connecting figures.

4. 1st Bridge

This lesson will demonstrate the first bridge section. The bass continues in the same manner here, using chord tones to fully support the harmony.

5. 1st Chorus

This lesson covers the first chorus section. This is based on the line that was established during the intro chorus, but of courses there are some variations to consider.

6. 2nd Verse

This lesson covers the second verse. At this point, Lee begins to develop the already established bassline, adding subtle but effective embellishments.

7. 2nd Bridge

This video covers the second bridge section, which once again features some subtle developments in the established bass part.

8. 2nd Chorus

This lesson covers the second chorus section, which is predominantly based on material that was covered in earlier lessons.

9. Sax Solo

Lee begins to develop the bass part significantly here, adding in many triplet-based lines which draw heavily on chord tones, scale tones and chromatic passing notes.

10. 3rd Bridge

This lesson covers the third and final bridge section. This is played in much the same way as the earlier bridge sections, with only minor variations.

11. Final Chorus

This final video of this course covers the final chorus. Lee plays some fantastic melodic fills here, making this section one of the highlights of the track.