Easy Motown Bass Lines - James Jamerson For Beginners
It’s not long before you pick up the bass and realize it’s time to learn some Motown bass lines. After all, they are some of the grooviest bass parts in all of pop music. That’s all thanks to James Jamerson, the longstanding bass player in The Funk Brothers, the studio band at Motown. His iconic bass parts defined the sound of the label and catapulted artists like The Four Tops, Martha and The Vandellas, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, and Gladys Knight to the top of the charts.
Sophisticated Bass Lines In Pop
While the electric bass was a relatively new instrument in the early 1960s, Jamerson quickly elevated the style and sophistication of the instrument. He established a new blueprint for what you could play and how much a bass line could define a song.
Bassists across the pond such as Paul McCartney and Jack Bruce took note of Jamerson’s style and realized how liberating the instrument could be in a pop or rock setting.
The beauty of Jamerson’s compositional style comes from his background as a jazz musician. He approached the instrument with the harmonic understanding of a jazz heavyweight and knew how to infuse simple chord progressions with clever movements, chromaticism, and voice leading.
Rhythmically, he was a master of subdivision and syncopation–the ability to apply complex rhythms and variation without taking away from the groove. His use of dead notes and string raking made his bass lines sound agile and effortless, even though he played some seriously complex figures.
Getting That Jamerson Bass Tone
Sounding like James Jamerson is no easy feat, but there are a few essential things that can get you close. His tone was thumpy and clear, warm and buttery. They often recorded him playing through an Ampeg B-15, so it sounds quite different compared to modern recordings that use active basses, clear-sounding DI boxes, and other pre-amps and effects.
It’s easiest to achieve his tone with a Fender Precision bass (or an equivalent style instrument) and a set of flatwound strings. Flatwound strings allow for the attack to be well-defined but without as many high frequencies or string noise as you’re likely to get with roundwound strings. Learn More about Flatwound VS. Roundwound Strings.
While bass tone is very much “in the hands” of the player, you can approach playing with a traditional finger-style technique, or you can try palm muting and playing with the thumb to get an even darker, woodier sound. This technique works great for simple bass lines without a lot of speed.
One of my favorite examples of his tone is the intro to “My Girl” by The Temptations. Check out this video to see how you can palm mute to get that iconic sound.
Easy Motown Bass Line: Ain’t Too Proud To Beg
While many of Jamerson’s bass lines can be complex and slightly intimidating, there are still plenty available for the beginner to intermediate player. I would advise starting with something that has little variation.
Jamerson was notorious for not playing the same thing twice, so records such as “What’s Going On” and some of the later Motown songs will have a lot of improvised ideas and, therefore, little repetition. Going with a medium-tempo song that has a clear and repetitive bass line is ideal. Lucky for us, some of Motown’s biggest hits happen to feature this kind of groove.
One of my favorite Jamerson bass lines for beginners is “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” by The Temptations. It’s a must-know song for playing in a cover band that performs at weddings or corporate events and it’s simply just a fun song to play. It’s in the key of C, stays mostly in one position on the fretboard, and can be played with either all fretted notes or with some open strings.
Check out the lesson below to learn the bass line!
The Motown Shuffle: How Sweet It Is
Another easy Motown bass line is “How Sweet It Is” by Marvin Gaye. It integrates various musical concepts: descending triads, the blues box pattern, and the adjacent string toggle move, where you quickly bounce between two strings but stay on the same fret.
This is great practice for playing a shuffle rhythm and for working out your plucking hand. It’s quick and brisk, so you’ll want to use both your index and middle finger to get a bouncy shuffle feel. If you’re used to just using one finger, that might not cut it (though Jamerson was also well known for playing this way and for using his index finger as “the hook”).
And finally, it’s the perfect song to have in your repertoire. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve played this song during cake-cutting ceremonies at weddings. Check out this video to learn the basics of this groove.
Conclusion
If you want to learn more Jamerson bass lines, I highly recommend checking out the book (and the movie) titled “Standing In The Shadows Of Motown.” It’s a must-have for any bass player and features tons of Jamerson lines noted out. And, if you want extra practice with the shuffle feel or blues box patterns, please check out my 12 Bar Blues Survival Pack.