jordan.brooks's blog

This is an example of afrobeat bass playing.  I played along to the song "Everything Scatter" by Fela Kuti (the founder of this Nigerian style of music).  I panned my bass all the way left so it can be heard clearly.

Like Cuban music, afrobeat rhythms are structured around the clave.  This song has a 3:2 clave.

In afrobeat, the bass and guitars play repeated phrases continuously for long periods of time, sometimes the entire song, with no fills or variations.  In this way, a grooving and hypnotic foundation is laid in order for the long-form songs to unfold.  It is everyone's job to keep solid time with a great feel.  Focus and cosistency are key.

Try playing along without fills or variations in the part.  Listen to how the bass part fits with the other parts:  shekere, stick, drums, guitars, vocals, horns.  Record yourself and listen back.

This song sounds easy but is more difficult to play than it seems (at least for me).  The feeling of the rhythm is swung to varying degrees.  Many drum machines are equipped with a feature that allows you to program in the swing percentage, varying from a straight feel to a triplet feel with different percentages in between.  In this song, Danger Mouse utilizes these different feels stacked on top of each other to make up a rhythmically diverse beat.  The swing feeling is most pronounced in the bass drum, and least pronounced in the drum fills (snare and toms) that sometimes occur at the middle or the end of the 4 bar phrase; these fills are played with a near straight feel.

Sing rhythms along with the song and try to feel the subtle differences between the bass drum and the guitars and the snare/tom fills.  Listen how the different feels flow with the lyrics.  Try playing bass lines that are swung and try playing lines that are straight.  See how each feel with the lyrics and the beat.

Jay-Z - Moment of Clarity