The "Superstition" Bass Line and Mastering Note Length /// Scott’s Bass Lessons
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- Lesson Overview:
Around 3 months ago I released a program called "The Groove Formula"... it was an 8 week long intensive course in which we were focusing on rhythm and groove, and how to really take your bass playing to the next level by focusing on some of the fundamental building blocks you must have in place to really be a great bass player.
Long story short, it was the most popular course I've ever released. Almost a thousand bass players enrolled, and the feedback was phenomenal.
The crazy bit is - the feedback was so good, that many of the students who enrolled within the Groove Formula program started to ask me to add this course into the Academy course library as they found it was such a game changer for their bass playing - it needed to be in there.
Initially I hesitated - but then I began to listen more and more...
So without further a do... I'm over the moon to announce that I've decided to add the full 8 week long Groove Formula program into the Academy course library... in fact, it was added yesterday!
So now when you become an Academy member you get full access to the course library, the weekly live seminars, the lesson workbooks, the play-along library and everything else in there... but now, you also get full access to the groove formula program too!
When I first released the Groove Formula it was $147 to enroll - but now you get it thrown in as part of your Academy membership.
In fact, this lesson is taken directly from the course... I'm discussing "note length", the importance of it, and also giving you some great exercises you can start using immediately to start getting your groove chops together...
As always, see you in the shed...
Scott :)
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Drummer here. I love watching your channel as part of what I call my 360 when learning a new song with my band. I don't research my part until I know the history of the song, what it's really about, then watch a tutorial for each instrument. Only then do I focus on the drum part. Works for me. Anyway, thank you for covering such an important topic. Note length isn't flashy or attention grabbing, so is often overlooked by players. Those who put the effort in however, really do stand out as far more 'on it', classier players. It's funny how musicians of any specific instrument often get distracted by traits that are valued by their fellow musicians, whereas musicians who play other instruments and audiences often value things that just aren't as exciting. Those who don't overlook the fundamentals however, usually get the gig, leaving many players scratching their heads saying, 'how come they chose him/her, they just played it boring and simple...?'
I love when Scott makes jokes and he always apologizes for his bad humor. And that in itself makes it good humor to me.
God bless you for being such a genuinely helpful human being
Just when I'm about to start bobbing my head to the signature riff
Scott: "So I'm just gonna stop it there"
Tightly controlled dynamics and note lengths are the heart of groove.
Cheers Scott, I've learnt such a lot from your good self. It's like being taught by a mate. Excellent tuition, many thanks.
Hey Scott! Been watching you for a while. I'm a 30 yr player and it very refreshing even for me to review the basics. Sometimes I forget why I play things the way I do. Thank you so much, your students are in good hands!
+Richard Gray Ahhh my pleasure Richard! Keep grooving man :)
Very cool lesson Scott! I've heard countless bass players that don't understand note length and how it changes the whole feel of the song from being funky or just uneventful, no groove at all. Thanks.
Scott, I have to say with every lesson I watch, I start to like the idea of getting a bass more and more! You're gonna get me to splurge all my savings on this...
+Pashow I use a second hand basic Ibanez and it's excellent. It cost me £76 with a soft case and a course to go along. Seller intended to start playing but something got in the way or it didn't happen. New it costs about the double, It's a phenomenal instrument to play on.
+Pashow Ha ha... glad I'm convincing you! :)
+Pashow Hey man I bought a bass at a pawn shop for $80 and only had to get new strings and new tuning pegs. It came to $170 in the long run but it's still worth $400 new. You don't have to pay a lot for a good bass. I've played a short scale fender bronco and that bass has a good tone for a kids bass.
+Pashow Same here. I bought used Squier Jazz Bass, after seeing this beautiful Scott's bass I couldn't resist.
Playing nice bass line makes me much more smiled than playing guitar. Lines from RATM or Stevie are incredibly funny to play!
+Kyle Wise I hear ya. I found a fender p bass special at a pawn in kansas. not a scratch. perfect set up. 300 bucks w case. I feel bad for the person who had to pawn it lol
Quite a timely video. My band is adding Superstition to our set. Thanks for this :)
+Mark Adams No worries Mark, enjoy :)
Thank You Scott.
this is an excellent video for timing. ty scott :-)
Ever since you first spoke about the left hand muting i really got into it.
I think it fits really well here, even less of a note, more rythm... kind of
+pr000n000bie Ahhhh I love the left hand muting! Tricky at first but once you get into it it's super fun!
"Got too adventurous and now my blue pen died- now it won't be able to fulfill its blue pen destiny" haha I finally joined the Academy after 2 years lurking. He never fails to makes me laugh while learning, even on my roughest days. Love how he can groove, even on one note.
gotta love Scott, inspiring!!!
The superstition bass line was played by Stevie Wonder on a moog bass sythesizer, but of course you can play the same groove on bass guitar
Ther is a bass player In live shows...
Michael Arnold
Yes with a string bass overdub, orignal studio version
Michael Arnold Nate Watts on live bass
Ray Parker Jr; lead guitar
Wasn't there a clavinet somewhere in there too ?
Good stuff...I tell beginners that knowing when to stop a note is just as important as when to start it. Depending on the song, I will start notes just slightly before so the sound getting to the audience is coordinated. It will sound as if I'm playing right on the beat. I love slightly delayed starts for certain songs, or a quick gliss up to the note. Ya gotta have a feel drummer to respond to. The old shuffle beats ...very cool places you can push and pull. Occasionally I will try some thirds or offbeat syncopation to confuse my bandmates😎
Nice marketing ploy, with the teaser and all. I got the trial, was wanting to get back into it, maybe even back to a band and, gigging again. But in that few days I had it, I had the chance to watch one video. Which told me my life is too busy right now to benefit vs cost of a full membership.
Once again: both simple and powerfull. Well played, sir!
+David Zarebski Boom! Thanks David :)
It was nice with some playing & teaching. Good for people where rhythm doesn't come first hand. Bassists not feeling it tend to play a bit behind as a coping technique and it doesn't work well. If everyone waits for everyone else it's not grooving.
+rawstarmusic Cheers again man!
Great Lesson.!This is the kind of explanations that make me come back to Scott because there is really meat in the issue.Understand basic concepts is always the best way to follow great lessons with value.Detailed graphics help a lot. ( does not matter the color of the marker.... please make donations ! )
I appreciate your time, effort and approach to sharing your talents and encouragement.
First item: tuning and register
Something I hope you could please include: You are playing low E note on a 4-string bass in standard concert tuning, which incidentally sounds nice and substantial. How do you adjust to play this in Stevie's original key of E flat and not have it result in a thinned-out sound? I am not necessarily endorsing use of 5-string instrument, 'D'-tuning or octave-dividing device, but what is a good alternate method of dealing with it?
Second item: playing in the 'pocket' - this concept may seem advanced, but the sooner players take this into consideration the more proficient their playing will sound
- some performers play: on top of the beat, ahead, or on the back.
To sound tight as a rhythm section you need to be aware of this and decide where you are going to play - on or around the beat. Some aggressive thrash players are way up front; some Reggae players are laid back, dance bands usually want to be on the beat. Signature sound of some Rhythm&Blues of Wilson Pickett and Booker T. and The MG's was how Don (Duck) Dunn played slightly behind the bass drum so you hear the bass drum head slap followed by a tone.
How you pluck your strings is important since there can be a lag from when you move the string to when the sound speaks. Also, pay attention to differing reaction from a thumb slap or a fingertip. Coordinate so you can get your ax to arrive 'in time'.
This video is the unwitting precursor to the Groove Trainer 😉
🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Woah, that teaser at the end, well done! ;)
+foodforthegods Lol ;)
Great lesson Scott. The older I get---and the longer I play---the simpler my lines become. And then of course there's creating S P A C E to improve the tension and groove. It has taken me forever to get here.
+Chris Wenkle +1 Chris... "space" is so underused! Keep grooving man :)
masterfully explained!
I like how you ended the lesson..."a simple bass line like...". Note length. #huge. Thanks for this.
+enanoaL Ha - cheers man! :)
Thanks. I'm just thought it was qtr notes for much of the song. I had no idea about the nuance of the note length.
One song that came to mind during this lesson on note durations for bass was Daft Punk - Around the World.
Great detail-oriented lesson.
+Cody Dang Cheers Cody :)
PEN MURDERER !! lol.... Seriously tho..... Your lessons rock !! I'm learning a BUNCH from you !!
Another great minimal bass track to listen to is "Footsteps In The Dark" by the Isley Brothers and that is played by an actual bass player on an actual bass guitar.
Very good lesson and excellent practice exercises. I wish Scott used regular music notation. A dotted half and quarter note rest would be so much easier to read. A lot of us were in band in school. Learning bass for the first time, but we can read music.
It helps a lot to have a good metronome that subdivides the beat. You can learn to feel the ands easier. I've been practicing Scott's exercise. I'm slowly improving.
Lol cover all basses! Lol you knew it was a pun too. Great video man
The one his using in Superstition is the one where you play to the offbeat. Another very good exsample of a great groove on the downbeat is Dire Straits Money For Nothing, and here you acutally play it as a whole quater note and it still grooves :)
+Funkmaster K Yes man!
yay what did i win? :D
+Funkmaster K More groove! ;)
Dammit i was hoping for a free bass or something ;) kidding
New subscriber here and this channel has been a great find. Catch me up to speed anyone, why does he don the glove?
THANK YOU!!
At 4:50 he said that he is going to play all "whole notes" but what he really means is quarter notes. In 4/4 time a whole note is worth 4 beats or the whole measure and a quarter note is worth 1 beat or a quarter of the measure.
He’s British: they don’t call them quarter notes over there - they’re either crotchets or “whole notes”
It's funny how so many players play the notes tenuto by default when reading from sheet. It's not musical or even proper :) My childhood trumpet teacher was great, and told me how each note should be like a bouncing ball hitting the floor and back. Sharp attack as ball hits the floor, natural diminuendo as the ball rises up and clear ending like grabbed in hand. The end is a finite measure away from full length and in "a grid", like 1/4 actually sounds like 1/8, and 1/2 sounds like 1/4 etc so the ends are in rhythm.
Actually it depends on the style of music you're playing. Breath and space in Renaissance, Baroque, and modern brass is different. Same for bass.
Great lesson, as always! Super important stuff! BTW, "the bass player" on "Superstition" is Stevie himself, isn't it? On a MiniMoog...?
I read it was an ARP, but you are right that there is no bass guitar in Superstition!
Although performed live there’d be a bass player… the videos get taken down periodically, so I won’t link you to a specific one, but search for and then check out Stevie Wonder and his band jamming out “Superstition” on Sesame Street in 1972 - simply a jaw-dropping performance (and proof the 1970s were the best decade to grow up in!) with a truly inspiring bass performance. Some pretty great fashion, too!!
How about the difference between the monster double bass line on the Everly Brothers “Lucille” using single notes on the riff- compared to the typical English/Merseybeat/Saw her standing There -use of double notes on the riff- attempting to get extra funky and infact achieving the opposite?
I'm now attacking one of my ultimate goals, fast 16-note triplets. I drum with my fingertips on the body below the G-string. Then on the string identical. To make a sound I have to pull upwards and that's harder. Any point of views?
Hi Scott, I love your channel. Thanks for all of your great lessons and musical wisdom. A side question: what kind of drum machine are you using in your videos? It seems like a drum machine would be a great practice tool, but I don't even know where to start with them.
Toontrack ez drummer is great, but there’s also plenty of drum loops around the web that you can download for free
if I pay can I see the red or green pen marks?
Are all these supposed to be for a song in the same time signature and song tempo?
The blue pen says, 'What are we going to 'Shake-a-make?' For those of us old enough to remember that, lol. :-)
R.I.P. Blue Pen, Rest in spaghetti, never forgetti
(great lesson, keep it up)
I wait invane 17 minutes hooping soon or late this guy shows the line of this song... Maiby he does'nt know... Just crazy
Is that a fender jazz bass your playing?
Why is the video not available to watch? :(
Unfortunately, I don't have access to your video in Germany. Why?
Cissy Strut... gees I've not even had a drink!! I was meant to be drawing the comparison with 'Cissy Strut' and Paul Simon's 'Afterlife' ... which was, on my computer, the forerunner to this video... is there an echo here, d'you think?
That's Good
I feel like I'm back in grade school... "Teacher! Teacher! We can't see your marker on the white board! Can you use a different color pleeeaassssse?" Lol, but seriously though.
My teacher used chalk..we all breathed in the dust and a great many of my schoolmates have died from 'white lung'...I can't stand millennials.
Could the guitar at the beginning be played on slap bass? I always thought it was bass, but apparently I was wrong.
+Buge It's a keyboard, a Hohner D6 Clavinet. It got real strings in so it's built like an electric guitar but in the shape of a keyboard. You should be able to slap that.
***** Oooh. Thanks!
Buge Yeah, slap it
I think it would sound good, if not exactly the same, on a slap.
[Obligitory *slappa da bass, mon*]
noob question Scott....I'm a forum member, where do I find your YT content in the forum to save flipping between? :)
+PhantomUAV ....sorry its been a long day...I get it now
+PhantomUAV Hit the "lesson library" on the top of the site, you'll find them all there :)
Quiet as it's kept, note length and touch (dynamics) is the "groove and pocket"
Didn't he do a video like this featuring Jackson 5's _I Want You Back?_
These three things might not make you a pro bass/guitar player: 1. Left hand muting, 2. Playing notes of proper length, 3. Accent on the backbeat. However, without these skills you will never become even a moderately good amateur. I know many guitarists and bassists who totally ignore these three holy commandments or even become aggressive if you mention it to them ;P
So why do you wear the glove? Just kidding! yet another great video :-)
The progression speed on this video seems to be perfect for people who only play bass. The rest of us are bored out of our minds.
Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" is similar to Robin Trower's "I'm Gonna Be More Suspicious".
Don't know about the bass parts, tho!
Is it me or is Paul Simon's 'Afterlife' a tip of the hat in this direction?
How do you get a smooth sound without string noise
as much as I need and wanted to hear more clearly, a mobile phone's (my 70 USD phone) brings nothing but the high end of the drummer's cymbals.
Whats a shed?
Well O.K. Dude! NOTE DURATION absolutely goeth the other way too. I teach music too, most of my grommets want to be “LEAD GUITARISTS” with the vixens fawning all over them, the dope is free, Rolls-Royces and Gulfstreams ONLY, plz. Oddly, many of them are the offspring of people I used to play with in some context. Ain't a one got Gulfstreams or Rolls?. Trying to teach your OWN kid is, well; ahem. My own self, past few years I've mostly been playing 10-string non-pedal steel guitar; Because, my arms, particularly the portside one, are kinda fried. (Non-pedal and non-COUNTRY steel).
There's like NO Miles Davis tune that can't be played on steel!~ it still SUCKS, 12 degrees of suckitude but that ain't the song's fault; nor is it the steel's fault. WAAAH!!! I need my lucky socks. I still do the rare backup giggidude for singer/songwritery types. And over the decades I've been PAID to play bass mostly. Henceforth the note duration lecture.
If you want ONE-STOP KILL POWER, the best, easy, blatentest song is “Already Gone” by them Beagles guys. Mebbe the EAGLES? (I admit, I got massively, monstrously. Uhhh, INTERGALACTICALLY burnt out on the Eagles...)
When we were just li'l grommets frying our minds out on 1st-Edition YES, the first edition Mahavishnu, Dixie Dregs etc, we agreed that the epitome of ennui would be playing Eagles songs in a Holiday Inn. Hmm. Guess what?!? AIEEEEEEEE!!!!
Regardless, what's SO-OO teachable within that song - the guitar players play the same semi-muted careful chords all along, at least to the very end. However, when you get to the “alllll-read-y gone”, listen - the song achieves liftoff because4 the bass player starts to swing on full-value notes. Early on it's a very staccato, kinda reggae bass part. But when Schmidt hits the chorus he LETS the notes RIDE on out. Don de'Drum-Monkey Henley spruces up the beat a bit, but it's absolutely the bass that pushes into and out of a straight quarter->STRAIGHT- EIGHT's to A DOTTED EIGHTSY swing time. It's insanely simple, but at least 90% of casual listeners can't explain or teach the part. ONLY YOUR BASS PLAYER KNOWS FOR SURE..... heh heh.
I can only read the black marker! Excellent lesson otherwise!
Ga ding dung doo
I'm thinking Chicken Strut ... not superstitious!
Stevie cut this with the Moog Bass Synth....
..and?
@@joycesanders4898 The line was not cut with a bass, don't be a moron!
Scott ought to be using markers that are at least as fat as his bass tone.
ditch the green marker.. cant see it
+Sauly Betesh Ha - that's what I thought! It turns out I wasn't doing it properly... instead of shaking it, you have to "pump it"... live and learn, lol! ;)
+Scott's Bass Lessons As long as you know whatever the hell pumping a marker means, great! Also, this reminds me a lesson I came across where Anthony Wellington (working with Victor Wooten) works with the rhythm yardstick as well. Do you have any other lessons where you break down the measure on the white board?
It's not an E NOTE. It is an E FLAT. THE SONG IS IN E FLAT. LIKE D SHARP. A HALF STEP DOWN . ........ HELLO MUSIC.
It’s an e flat for the love of god
Can't hear you playing.
too much talking, go to the lesson please !!
Why does this jabroni play with a glove on his fret hand?
Allergy issues.
Focal dystonia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_dystonia th-cam.com/video/wOVGrGBeqiI/w-d-xo.html
WTH? 17 minutes of simplistic nothing, and you never actually played the bass line at all? What am I missing?
Dude I skipped through minute segments and never heard anything that’s like superstition you’re just playing the same note wtf?
worst video about lessons... I spend time with you...
Dull, dull. Can't even heat the guitar when you do bother to play