FOLLOW US ON:
0 Cart £0.00

Giants of Bass – Mark King

< BACK Subscribe Now Subscriber Login

'King for a Day' was written to represent Mark King’s bass work with Level 42, with a particular focus on the instrumental jazz-funk that the band played in the early eighties. The bass part features many common elements of his playing style, such as continuous sixteenth note-based slap grooves, fingerstyle funk lines, and the use of tenths to imply harmony. This track also includes a bass solo, which is an excellent demonstration of the way that Mark is able to combine both hands to create rhythmically complex lines.

For bassists who wish to learn the piece but require additional assistance with some of the techniques required, the following courses (all included in the monthly subscription cost) should prove useful:

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 is 42 MINUTES long and contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:

1. 'King for a Day'

This video is a full demonstration of 'King for a Day', performed on a Jaydee Supernatural bass strung with stainless steel Rotosound strings.

2. Course Overview

This video gives a brief overview of this advanced level study piece and the various technical challenges that it presents.

3. A Section

In this video we’ll be working through the A section, which features a continuous sixteenth note slap bass groove. This lesson covers bars 1-8 in the transcription.

4. C Section

This part of the track has a more active chord progression. On the bass, tenths are used to clearly outline the harmony. This lesson covers bars 13-22.

5. E Section

This section of the track is underpinned by a funky fingerstyle groove which once again makes use of tenths. This lesson covers bars 27-34 in the transcription.

6. F Section

This section features a simple slap bass groove based on some harmonic ideas that are often heard in Mark’s lines. This lesson covers bars 35-38.

7. H Section

This section is the breakdown. The bass plays just a single harmonic here, one that is manipulated in an unusual way. This lesson covers bars 49-56.

8. I Section

This section is the bass solo, which is another sixteenth note-based slap line. There are also some machine gun triplets to get to grips with. This lesson covers bars 57-64.

9. Tone

In this final video, I’ll be discussing Mark King’s tone and offering some advice on how you can achieve something similar.