‘Wake Me Up Before You Go Go’ was a huge hit for UK pop band Wham! when it was released in May 1984. Like many eighties pop songs, it has a great bassline, in this case supplied by Detroit-born low-ender Deon Estus. Featuring up-tempo Motown grooves, slapped fills and slippery, legato bass runs, there’s a lot here to get your teeth into.
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.
This course is 51 MINUTES long and contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:
This video is a play-through of the song, performed on a 1966 Fender Jazz bass strung with stainless steel Rotosound strings.
This video provides an overview of the track and the challenges it presents. It also offers advice on finding a suitable tone for the piece.
This lesson covers the famous intro section of the song. This quick tempo is established here, but the bass part is very simple to play.
This lesson covers the bassline from the first verse. This is a Motown-inspired line played over a simple chord sequence, which is repeated.
This video covers the first bridge. This part contains more chord changes and some tasty bass fills that are great fun to play.
This lesson demonstrates the first chorus and the post-chorus section, the latter of which features some very inventive bass work from Deon.
This lesson covers the second verse and bridge sections, which are similar to the earlier parts, albeit with alternative fills and variations.
This lesson covers the second chorus and post-chorus. The post-Chorus section features some more creative bass work to get your teeth into.
This video will show you how to play the middle 8 of the song, which features some triplet figures and accented popped notes.
This lesson covers the third bridge. The bassline during this part of the song feels very improvisational and contains decorations such as shakes and vibrato.
This final video covers the re-intro and final chorus sections. As these parts are largely repeats, we’ll be looking at the fills that are worth studying.