‘Colibri’ is the opening track from Incognito’s 1992 album Tribes, Vibes and Scribes. This album – like many in the band’s catalogue – is a goldmine of excellent bass work. The bassline from this song was written and programmed by band member Richard Bull. Regardless, it’s a superb bass part and makes for a fantastic workout for your fingerstyle funk chops.
A transcription (with TAB and without) is available for this course. To download it, please visit the Free Stuff page.
This course contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:
In this video I’ll be playing through the song using a Mayones Viking bass.
In this video I’ll be giving an overview of the song and the challenges it presents, as well as offering some advice on choosing the right instrument and tone for a piece like this.
In this lesson we’ll be working through the intro of the track, which introduces the main groove. This line makes extensive use of chord tones and double chromatic approach notes and learning it will give you a lot of ideas for creating your own fingerstyle funk grooves.
This short lesson covers the breakdown section (at letter F in the transcription). This is a simple part of the track, using fragments of the main groove.
In this lesson we’ll be working through the interlude section (letter G in the transcription). This section features a completely new bassline, one that includes more chord tone-based lines, double chromatic approaches and double stop licks.
In this final lesson we’ll be covering the piano solo section. This is supported by the bassline that was found in the earlier interlude section, although it is now extended to sixteen bars. It’s crucial that you learn the line from the interlude before working on this part.