Chords for Funky Disco Octave Bass Lines

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_ [Bb] Hi [Gb] again, Mark here from [Bb] talkingbass.net.
Over the last two [Gb] weeks, we've had a look at bass octaves, [D] the basic shapes, and how
[Dbm] we can use them as benchmarks for [Bb] working on aspects of our technique.
[E] This [Ebm] week, we'll have a quick look at [Bbm] some common disco bass octave patterns [Bb] that are
going to put your finger [Db] picking to the test.
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[Bbm] Okay, so let's have a look at a really common [Db] disco octave [C] bass pattern.
[Bb] The riff that we're eventually going to be [E] playing sounds like this.
Two, [Bb] three, four. _
_ _ [Db] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
[D] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [A] _ [Eb] So that was exactly the [Bbm] same bass line that we've looked at in the two previous lessons
that sounded like this.
_ _ [C] _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ _ _ But we've added those two little [Bb] double notes on the top.
So instead of an [Em] octave pattern sounding like [D] this, _ _ _ _ [A] it now sounds like [D] this. _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Eb] _ So first of all, let's just get those double notes under [E] our fingers.
So first of all, we [Dm] just want to fret [Em] a D octave.
So we're going [C] to take fifth fret [Em] A [Eb] string and then seventh fret [A] G [D] string, okay?
_ _ So that's our [Eb] octave pattern.
[D] And [Em] then the bass figure that [C] we're going to be playing has [D] this rhythm. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ So that's [Gb] basically eighth note [Bb] to sixteenth notes.
So we have that bum-diddy, bum-diddy, bum-diddy, bum-diddy kind of [Db] gallop feel, okay?
So [Dm] we're going to have one [D] low note on the_well,_we one note for the [Db] low octave, and then we play two notes on the [Bb] high octave. [D] Low, high, high, low, high, high, _ _ _ _ okay? [Bbm] So the important [Db] part of this is the [Bb] fingering with the finger-picking hand, okay? [E] So we're going to be playing [D] the low octave there. We're going to [Eb] be playing that with the [Gm] first finger of the finger-picking hand. So that's going to be the [D] index finger. And then for the two [Dm] little fast high ones [E] up there, we're going to be [Bb] playing one, [D] two. So index, middle, okay? So one, one, two, one, one, two, one, one, two, one, one, two, okay? [Gb] So you want to keep that going. You know, you don't want to be mixing it [G] up too much, [Eb] trying to stick rigidly to that. And the reason that that can [A] help really well with this kind of pattern is because as you build up [Eb] speed, when you come back from [Dm] the last of those two fast ones at the top, [C] you want to be coming back on your first finger for the low one. Because of the length of [Em] the two fingers, the index finger being usually [Bb] _ [A] shorter than the second, [Eb] you _ [Bb] want to be coming back on that. It's always [Eb] easier to come back onto the lower strings using the [E] first finger. So when we play it [D] like that, one, one, two, one, [A] we're coming back onto [Ab] that first finger, okay? So that's just the technique [F] of this out of the way, [Eb] okay? So you want to begin slowly and then just gradually build up speed. So let's start slow, two and three [D] and four _ _ _ and_okay? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [A] And then just build up [Ab] speed, two, three, [D] four. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ And a little quicker, one, two, three, four. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Okay? So start slow, [Bb] build up. So you can see that that can be a really good exercise for working on your finger picking speed [Db] and your [Eb] dexterity, you know, [Db] string skipping, [Bb] jumping from one string to another. And [Bbm] one tip that I would [Em] say is you want to keep your [Db] thumb on the E [A] string. Now, this might seem [Bb] really obvious to some people, but, you know, for others, you might be the kind that wants to be moving your thumb all [B] the time, which I do [C] do. I try to keep the thumb as close to the [Gm] action as possible and move the thumb from string to string as I move across. But for [D] octaves, _ _ _ you want to keep that thumb locked there. There's absolutely no point in moving the thumb from one string to another. So when you're playing these, _ _ _ _ just keep that thumb sat there on that E string. [A] So now we can add those double notes into the riff that we played [Ebm] last week. So the riff sounded [D] like this. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Okay? [E] So that's going to be D [D] octave there, _ fifth fret A string, seventh fret G string. Then we drop down to the B octave, [B] second fret A string, fourth fret G string. Then we move up a half step to the [C] C, third fret of the A string, fifth fret of the G string, and then up another fret to the [Db] C sharp, fourth fret A string, sixth fret G string. [Bb] And that's it, round [D] and round. D, [B] B, [C] C, [Db] C sharp, [D] D, [B] B, [C] C, [Db] C sharp, D. Okay? So that's the riff, [D] round and round. So now we just add [C] the double notes in there on [A] each of those octaves. So that's going to sound like this, [D] slowly. _ _ _ [B] _ _ [C] _ _ [Db] _ _ [D] _
_ [B] _ _ [C] _ _ [Db] _ _ [D] _
_ [B] _ _ [C] _ _ [Db] _ _ [D] _
[A] Okay? So just practice that [D] slowly, get [Bm] that position shift down [C] as you move down to [E] the B, _ practice it [Bb] slowly, and then you can build up speed. So [Ebm] eventually, you want to [Gb] be aiming for this kind of tempo, one, two, [D] three, four. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [B] _ _ _ [D] _ [Bbm] Okay? [A] So like I said, just begin [Gb] slowly, gradually build [Bb] up speed, [E] and try to concentrate on [Ab] accuracy, you know, in [Bb] your technique and your rhythm. And don't try going too [E] fast too soon, because if you do that, you'll start [Dm] making, you know, scuffing certain bits of the octaves, and it'll just [D] start to sound messy. Begin slowly, _ _ [B] _ _ and just gradually build up [Db] speed. Don't run before you can [C] walk. Now it's worth mentioning [Bb] that you don't need to [Ab] overdo these double [E] notes. Don't just keep playing them on every octave that you play. [Bb] It can be much more effective to just drop them in here and [Gm] there. So I might start with the basic riff, _ _ [Db] _ _ and then just start [Dbm] adding them in, you know, on odd [D] ones like this. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
[D] _ Okay? So it can [Dm] be much more effective to do it more like that, just adding them [B] in, as I say, just here [Db] and there. Okay. So those type of octave lines are really, really common in a lot of disco and funk songs. So practice [Bb] those round and round until you have that muscle [C] memory nailed for [Ebm] that kind of quick, [Fm] snappy, [Db] back and forth kind of action.