Victor Wooten ’s FUNKIEST Bass Line (that you’ve NEVER heard)
Музыка
Has anything funkier been written than Victor Wooten’s ‘Pretty Little Lady Groove’? Okay maybe, but just barely, right? Either way, in this video we’re delving deep into this bass line from Victor’s “Super Bass Solo Technique” video from 1994.
Brace yourselves for a masterclass in double thumb slap bass, as we break down how to get you started in the technique, and where it can lead you. Plus, grab your FREE PDF workbook, complete with bass tabs and notation.
🔥 Download your PDF Workbook → sbl.link/45cJDW8
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Video Breakdown:
00:00 - Introduction
00:16 - The VHS (Victor Wooten - Super Bass Solo Technique)
00:51 - Pretty Little Lady Groove
01:32 - The BEST Victor Tone?
01:57 - The Tremolo
02:11 - Get Your FREE Workbook!
02:33 - Pluck Vs. Thumb
03:27 - The Breakdown (Part 1)
04:17 - Top Tip for Locking it Down! 🔒
04:53 - Up Thumb VS Down Thumb
06:37 - The Victor Train 🚂
06:16 - The Breakdown (Part 2)
09:37 - The Left Hand Slap Technique
10:07 - The Breakdown (Part 3)
11:24 - Summary
===
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Пікірлер: 271
Victor truly is the bassist's bassist. The gift that keeps on giving, and is a great person. Can never get enough of him
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Absolutely dude, what a guy!
@spacedaddy5517
10 ай бұрын
He's like a unicorn.
Love that you guys are talking about your relative comfortability with different techniques. You rarely see bassists as strong as yourselves talking about your preferred techniques, what's harder than the other, etc.
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Hey, we're all about keeping it real and relatable! 🎸🎵 Sharing our experiences helps us all grow as bassists. Keep on groovin' and embracing those techniques that resonate with you. We're in this together!
@MikeNevill3
11 ай бұрын
That's true..
Bass Day 98 was my intro to Victor Wooten. Every bass player I knew made it a point to watch that VHS. It was amazing!
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Absolute 🔥
@Mecherle
11 ай бұрын
Awesome! My intro was Bela Fleck opening for Dave Matthews Band. I was juuuust starting to learn bass. I go there to see Dave, see this banjo band come out to open, and thought: "Ugh... can we get on with the real show!" Then Vic proceeds to blow my mind for 45 minutes and comes back out to play #41 with DMB! Wild stuff!
Man, you guys both rock, but I gotta say, Ian's whole approach to demonstrating and then providing feedback while Scott is playing something is just so supportive and positive. Would love to take lessons from that dude.
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Hey Mike, you rock too! Thanks for watching dude, so great to hear you're a fan of the approach! 🙌🏻🧡🔥
Dude. The tone on that WAL is unbeatable. So solid. Yeah. Wow. Best bass ever. I am owning one. Oh yes. Oh yess.
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Such a BEAST!
@fidellhenderson8087
10 ай бұрын
I actually didn't know what brand it was but the sound is thick it'z got the F bass beat by far..
@madhatter7862
9 ай бұрын
Agreed like it more than the F bass and I want an F bass!
Honestly... at this point, lessons and content aside... I just love seeing these 2 hang out together.
It’s also worth pointing out some basses are easier than others. String spacing is everything
As soon as I saw the title I thought to myself "I wonder if it's that line from that old video I saw in 1998 and haven't gotten the groove out of my head since!" Holy crap! I can't wait to download the PDF.
Hi Scott, I've been watching you for several years, never had any issues with past information/lessons etc. But ,I do believe the two of you complement each other and go to a different level when you are together. Much more engaging, entertaining and more realistic between the teacher and student scenario.
You guys work so well together! Loads of fun watching you guys geek out and groove together :)
The first time I'd seen a whammy bar on a bass (also a Kahler) was on a yellow Guild 'Pilot' Jerry Peek was playing during a gig with the Steve Morse Band in '83, 11 years before Victor's VHS was released 😀
Love the tone of the Fbass, but holy cow, the Wal has the perfect balance of sweet and meat! Ian's Antiqua Jazz bass is the business, but I'm primed for his nascent Wal era.
@IanMartinAllison
11 ай бұрын
I had just picked up this Wal in London like a day before. It’s so great. Surprisingly great actually.
Thank you Scott and Ian for your constant lessons and for bringing new groovy basslines to my ears that I have never even known about before. I credit you (or blame you) for giving me the idea of pulling the frets from my Jazz neck like Jaco and installing a whammy bar on my bass like Victor. Better yet, I will build my own bass and install a fretless neck with fret position markers and look up a whammy bar to install on it as well. Be blessed, sirs!
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Hey Andrew! 🎸🎶 We're thrilled to inspire your bass journey and creative ideas. Your plans for that unique custom bass sound amazing! 🙌🏻🧡🔥
After watching you two double thumbing with your fingers curled up I was very interested to see Victor doing it with his fingers extended. That's the way I play and, having learned from you two, I thought I was doing it wrong. As you two have said many times, 'do what works for you'.
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Absolutely right, everyone has their own unique approach and comfort zone when it comes to playing bass. It's all about finding what feels natural and allows you to create your own signature groove. Keep on playing your way! 🎸🎶
I've been obsessed with Vic's Pretty Little Lady Groove since I stumbled on it on youtube in like 2006, 2007.
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
SO Awesome! 🙌🏻🧡🔥
Ian is a beast 🔥
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
🧡🧡🧡
Great just watching you two interact, then the sound WOW. Mind blowing!!!
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
So great to hear dude! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Great vid! That groove has been haunting, and eluding, me for a long, long time. I can't wait to grab my bass and get to work on it!
@IanMartinAllison
11 ай бұрын
Get after it Rom!
you two are the real mvp, thanks for making bass accessible to us
Victor wooten was the guy i first heard about back in high school (2014) that got me to save up and buy my own bass a few years later. Loved it and haven't touched another instrument since. 😂 still got a bit of practice to do before i can slap like him though 🇯🇲
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
That's so awesome dude! Don't worry, I think we all strive to get even close to Victor's slap chops! 🥩
Thanks, fellas. Great content. Special bonus: that Wal tone is top notch.
Okay, here I am again commenting... you guys are bringing back all my early bass influences! Back in the day (like six years after this video was released), the Wooten Brothers played live every Wednesday night at a little bar in Nashville called 3rd and Lindsley... for a $4 cover!!! We went there every Wednesday for about three years... Victor almost never made it, because he was big time (Bela Fleck, solo career, etc), but Regi and Rudi were always there. Joe was there if he wasn't on the road with Steve Miller. And, almost as infrequently as Vic, Roy (Future Man) would show up and sit in on kit! Other monster bassists like John Billings, Keith Horne, Paul Chapman were always playing with them, and they'd do stuff just like this video along with 70's funk staples (Brick House, Skin Tight, Mister Magic, etc) at double the BPM and then solo over those tunes! Also, thump off's every Wednesday - Regi vs. whatever bassist was on that night! Wild stuff... this brings back memories. I, too, had this VHS! 😎
It‘s great fun to watch you guys having even more great fun!! 🤩 What a groove!
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Thanks for checking out the video dude!
This is great Scott, to see you two in a lesson-style session, and to see how you learn yourself. Awesome
Another good one ! Thanks guys, love you
Caras, vocês são demais! Não perco um vídeo há anos. Com a chegada do Ian fiquei mais fã ainda (como se fosse possível). Parabéns dupla dinâmica!!! Saudações do Brasil.
Dayuum!! You guys are killing it! This is so groovy. 🤘🤘
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
🕺🕺🕺
The reason why Scott and Ian (and I!) think this is Vic's best recorded groove is because it *screams* of 80s R&B, music that means a lot to us folks ...born before 1990 haha.
Is it weird that I keep watching your channel and checking out your lessons... as a guitar player? Learning some sick solo lines and funky grooves, aaaaand now I'm looking at basses on reverb
Not going to lie...that sounds sooooo good on that Wal!!!
OMG 🤯 !!! I've also been fantasizing about this track since the first time I heard it 15 years ago 🤣 !!!
You guys are awesome 👍👍
Bro when I was finally allowed on the computer as a kid, I stumbled upon all these vids and studied em like my life depended on it. Used to jam to the whole Super Bass Solo Technique, Modern Electric Bass, Flea Master Sessions, all that stuff all the time.
you guys are awesome..really dig the breakdown of yall showing us how to do this..Victor Wooten is a Bass God..that said I can never read music..I learn by ear and visual movement, yet this up and down thumb technique is hard...im still trying to master slap and im fairly decent just gotta keep at it. thanks again guys! yall becoming legends!
This one’s gonna be a frustrating, fun, pain in the ass 😂 Thanks for putting this one together, guys!
You guys are amazing. Scott, that F bass in your hands.....whew! You and Etienne Mbappe just make those basses sing. They sure don't sound like that in my hands....wah! Very fun video - thank you!
You really need to do a mark king show! Get him on podcast or breakdown of his style
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
We would love to make that happen! 🙌🏻🧡🔥
@stuartanguish5111
11 ай бұрын
@@devinebass pull a few strings! Would be brill if you got mark and level42s drummer to do a talk through
This is great! I remember listening to that groove on Victor’s “Yin & Yang” album, such a cool song!
I just want to take a moment to say not only is this a kickass video, but it's VERY kickass that dude on the right is wearing a Marvelous 3 T-shirt under his jacket! Gonna have to dive deeper into the channel now, but I'm intrigued!
This is some sick stuff! I love it!!
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Yes dude! 🧡
I’m gonna agree with Scott on Vic’s sound. This was definitely the top of it. I had this video in the late 90s, and I pretty much went for a hybrid slap sound between him and Marcus. One of the best slap tones ever. It’s pretty much perfect.
I love that you guys can play, and are still fans. I am fas of you guys. 👍🏽💯👊🏽
Hello Twins! The sound of you two playing together is like a super-chorus pedal. And then when you go in different directions - wow! It does make me think that (if no-one's done it yet) that a chorus pedal with an ability to adjust the tone of the chorus line would be great. It reminds me that I thought of something like this before - putting the two outs of a chorus pedal through quite different amps. Does anyone do this?
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Hey there! 🎸🎶 Loving the analogy - we're all about creating unique vibes. And hey, experimenting with chorus and amps can lead to some seriously cool sounds. Keep rockin' those creative ideas! 🙌🏻🧡🔥
You guys are Awesome!
Victor Wooten is the GOAT
Fantastic video! Brings my double thump technique to a new level! Thank you guys!
@devinebass
10 ай бұрын
So great to hear dude! 🙌🏻🧡🔥
Amazing, great video guys. I concur, his tone back then was the best. I have the same VHS from back in the day. As always Victor's sound, feel and articulation is untouchable. You can play note by note the same thing but it won't sound as good, not even close. Same with all the greats, go check some pianist play transcriptions of Chick Corea, it looses half of the "power", same thing here is HOW you play more than WHAT you play!
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Absolutely nailed it! 🎸🎶 Victor's timeless magic is all in the touch, feel, and groove he brings to every note. Keep rockin' your unique style dude! 🙌🏻
I really enjoy this video format
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
So great to hear Ben, more to come!
Scott and Ian !! i really love the totally open and honest approach to Your Videos. heartwarming and absolutely motivating. and, Yes as much as i love Victor Wooten ( do You know his great book ?) i wouldvreally love if he'd still have rhat great tone from Your clip. . . . Yours. N.B. / Vienna
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Hey there! 🎸🎶 Thanks for the kind words - we're all about that open and motivating vibe. Victor Wooten's got that magic touch, and hey, it's all about the journey of evolving tones. Keep on groovin' and inspiring the bass love from Vienna!
Be Kind - Rewind! Awesome stuff! Thanks!!!
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
Thank you for calling this one out! It's his best groove to me too. It's tighter than hotel sheets! Sooo good. I completely agree on the tone and everything. It's so damn thick and deep sounding. I want more sounding like this track.
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Tighter than hotel sheets, LOVE THAT!
@jessefaltus6095
11 ай бұрын
@@devinebass haha yus! Can ya'll include the link the vid on KZread in your description? Reckon lotta people wanna watch it.
I remember trying to learn Victor’s technique after watching ‘ You Can’t Hold No Groove’ on the ‘Bass Day 98’ tape around 2003 and I gave up. I finally got it after months of practice😅
It's awesome to see Scott's slap skills increasing in the videos over the last months!
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
The dynamic duo is back
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
🧡🧡🧡
Completely agree about Victor's tone. His tone in the earlier days is way better. These days it sounds a little dry and kind of mid-focused.
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
You've got a great ear for tone dynamics! 🎸🎶 Victor's earlier days had that magic, no doubt. It's all about the evolution, and we're here for the groovy journey! 🙌🏻🧡🔥
@jessewilson3142
11 ай бұрын
Pre-Hartke?@@devinebass
Once again you guy's funkomotoided me!
+1 for pulling out the VHS tape!!!
Wow 🔥🔥
I can almost play this now but I need to keep practicing this, like Scott i did that down thumb thing so much.
That Wal is incredible 🤤
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
A beauty right?
I still have that on VHS, but my case is solid black, not clear. I love the channel. We’re the same age and it’s cool knowing that we all found the same stuff at the same time and are STILL into it all these years later!
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Hey, that's awesome - the VHS memories live on! 🎸🎶 It's a true testament to the timeless impact of music 🙌🏻🧡🔥
@Ultra_Lowcrian
28 күн бұрын
@@devinebassI got to see Victor and the Wooten Brothers last night in Tulsa, OK. I took that VHS case with me and got him to sign it. Meeting him was kind of like when Ralphie meets Santa in A Christmas Story and asks for a football instead of the BB gun. I could have asked him anything, but I didn’t want to take too much of his time. I told him I asked my folx for a Flea video for my bday 30 years ago and the guy at the store told them, “if your kid is into bass, he needs to check out THIS guy instead” and sold them that video.
PS.: beeing a clasically trained bassist i really love Your 2 bass approach. reminds me of a classical double bass section kinda. ( im old enough to have heard the Commodores live, playing with two drummers simultaneously !! itt was awesome !! Catty on !!
I had that and fleas tapes. Classic!
I’m glad that around 6:10 Scott had the same reaction as me “Keep that shit going that’s nasty” That part alone is just fantastic to listen to
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
💯💯💯
this is soooo groovy!
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
🕺🕺🕺
love you guys!
I remember Victor comparing his thumb to a guitar pick. A lot of Modern R&B/Gospel guys have incorporated that thump technique too especially for Minneapolis/Prince influenced funk which is the vibe Vic is going for in the “Pretty little lady” groove.
Got the that video cassette. Was my first wooten bassline learned. YES!
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
So sick right?!
As you were talking about the Victor Train thing around 6:10, I couldn't help hearing those up-thumb ghost notes on the offbeats and thinking of Bernard Purdie's trademark ghost notes on the snare. Same kind of vibe, giving the groove that driving momentum.
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Absolutely, you've got a keen ear! 🎸🎵 Those ghost notes, whether on the bass or snare, bring that funk! 🙌🏻🧡🔥
Still have it! I'm barely 42 and found this in 99. One of those things that "still trying this"
I agree about back then being "the best tone" he's ever had. It seems to me that it was the combination of his vintage '83 Fodera and Ampeg amps. Nowadays he's using the newer Fodera basses and Hartke amps which, as much as I love Hartke, just aren't in the same ballpark tone-wise like he had back in the 90's.
This groove changed my life in 1993! OMG
I have the VHS too ! Since it was made !
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Yes dude!
A lot can be learned from you two...however, your devices/tools are top notch - Wall & F bass
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Hey there! 🎸🎶 Thanks a bunch for the shoutout. Our trusty tools like Wal & F bass definitely add some magic to the mix however we firmly believe that you can get the double thumb thumpin' on any bass! It's all about the technique dude! 🙌🏻
100% agree that this was the peak of his tone. It went downhill after this, and is now (for me) sometimes painfully disappointing even though I still love the lines he’s playing.
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Absolutely get where you're coming from! 🎸🎵 Victor Wooten's peak tone is legendary, and we all groove to his lines. 🔥
"Nothing attained without effort can ever be fully appreciated."
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Love that!
I would gladly take a notation for his solo!
I was never a huge fan pf Victor's tone. But, killer technique & grooves.
I'm not much a Victor fan, or of double-thumbing TBH, but that is a dope-ass bassline and now I might have to actually learn the damn technique. SCREW YOU GUYS!! 😁
Dang that was fun , glad it wasent tape or I'd burn a hole through it trying to learn it! 😅 THANK YOU!
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
🤣🤣🤣 So true dude!
Nice
That Panerai is pretty funky too, Scott.
Damn, its so positive!)
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
🧡🧡🧡
Damn, Ian's Bass tone is sooo satisfying!
@devinebass
10 ай бұрын
🧡🧡🧡
This song pretty little lady and victors jam are vics best songs ever
Still one of my favourite Wooten performances. That solo too! Love it
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
So awesome right?!
I have this VHS! However, mine is a third or 4th generation copy, but that didn't stop me driving my parents nuts with repeated viewing =^)
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Yes dude!
Nice Wal bass !!
Ian needs credit for being the most positive musician I have ever seen. He not only slaps the bass, he slaps anything because excitement !. Come closer Scott, slap !. I think the bass is worth learning here because this song funks and if you can do it that rocks. Ian has the actual technique for Wooten and that's like really good slap technique, that has a big impact for him right there. I wish I could do that, would be very useful for slapping, there's a good thing you can learn to level up instantly. Victor cover band, okay sure let's go !. I have still never seen a Stanley Clarke cover band !. There's still plenty of good tricks you can learn from guys like this, for sure we all can. But forever when I see someone do this trick, I will think Victor Wooten, it does not matter if it's Charles or like Ian or Derrick or whoever it is. It's the same if it's a total Larry technique, or Flea or whoever it is, Claypool. I guess that means I'm just old, probably deaf and jealous, oh well !. I try to be careful about what I copy from other people, subconsciously I guess. I still look at finger tapping as being a Eddie Van Halen thing, If I am being honest, even though he wouldn't take credit. So every time I see this, guess who I think of ?. Now, there's literally thousands of guitarists and even bassists who sound like Eddie Van Halen, to me. I still like appreciate the music, but I wonder if they know who they sound like or what. I'm not sure how far you can go with something like that, some can pull it off but it lacks the fundamentals for bass. Metal based guitar all sounds like Eddie Van Halen to me after a while, caused me to look into other kinds of music for a while because some of this is kind of one dimensional really, if all you do is tapping and shredding.. I still enjoy some heavy music every now and then, I'd rather be grooving though, like Ray Charles.
That Wal ❣️
I had the all-star bass VHS with Larry Graham, Verdeen White and a bunch of other bass guys back when I was younger. I wore that tape out, along with the Flea instructional video. Starlicks Master Sessions! I just went and found mine.
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Those VHS tapes were true gems of bass education! It's amazing how those classic lessons continue to inspire and shape bass players' journeys. Keep on grooving and learning!
This song was in my youtube feed 3 months ago, so I actually did hear it before this video 😅 That pesky algorithm.
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
Sounds like the algorithm did a good thing here! 🙌🏻
Hi, you two real fucking good players ;), how have you adjusted your bass sound to make it come across so percussive? This is already important for this type of slap technique!
Learn it Know it Love it
@devinebass
11 ай бұрын
🧡🧡🧡
Seems like Tim Commerford of RATM lifted part of that lick for the intro to Take The Power Back.
Completely agreed on the tone. I love the rear pickup for soloing, and some finger style grooves, but for slap it sounds bad to my ears. I'm not sure why he made that change, but if I had to guess, I think it probably cuts better through the mix for his sessions, so it might have been more of a functional need than a matter of preference - this is just speculation though.
Great episode. But why does nobody mention Victor's string gauge: 35 - 95, which is very very light. On 45 - 105 the double thumbing ist much more challenging. Just listen to Marcus, who has a totally different double thumbing approach.
@IanMartinAllison
11 ай бұрын
Great shout!
Scott is a fast learner 😅(or a good pretender). Best lesson about the upstroke thumb. You two bass doctors are the represent chrisis team there is. Now I have to isolate myself into a room with a bass and practice till I make it! Can not go on anymore with this shame of having a one-way thumb. I agree 100% about his tone, have been thinking a lot of the resson WHY mr bass god Wooten changed the tone to the worse. Sounds like he nowadays uses only the bridge pickup, or if the pickups are out of phase or smth. What can it be doctor?
that thumb tech hurts so much at first haha but worth it to learn
VW's original Fodera definitely does have a different tone. Neck pickup moved back towards the bridge on his later basses.