Friday, March 14, 2025

41 thoughts on “Lessons in Love – Bass Tutorial – Mark King – Slap bass lesson

  • Awesome Lesson brother. So clearly said every detail. And Awesome Playing man. ????????????????????????

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  • strings matter too. my brother gave me his music man bass and it was a lot easier than on my other

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  • In the 80s, I was almost purely a rock metal fan, but I was always in awe of this bass line (and song), as well as John Taylor's work in Duran Duran. Glad to see Geddy Lee with the Top 2 lines!

    Thanks for the lesson. As I said, always liked this song.

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  • Fabulous tutorial ???? I don't play the bass but I have always loved slapping. Mark said this song was very hard to play cos of the continuous slapping.

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  • Very nice to see this. I have been a guitarist for over 40 years and recently realised just how amazing bass is. Best bass line ever. Love it. Thanks for taking the trouble of making this.

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  • Mark King is the reason I wanted to learn bass, I soon found that his bass lines look and sound quite easy till you try and play them! Lol. Three years later I am still struggling with this line, specifically with ringing of other open strings whilst slapping. Great vid, thank???????? you.

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  • In my experience of practicing this, the patterns/shapes themselves are not difficult but the speed is a thing (and as you note, if you play it live without the synth bass, every note needs to be articulated which makes it more difficult) but especially the vocal lines sometimes just get me lost in the pattern because these vocal phrases are at such odd places within the 4 bar loop.

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  • Thanks for your didatic . I really had learned much . I have question. What kind bass effect's pedal is used in this single?

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  • Mark King says he based the chord sequence on Vera Lynn's We'll Meet Again. If you listen carefully you will see the similarity.

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  • The only difficult thing about this bass line is having the stamina in your arm to keep it up all the way through!!it could be made easier by thumbing and plucking but it completely loses all of its dynamics

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  • Mark King was completely crazy to play such a loaded slap bass line full of notes… If not played properly, this bass line could take to much place in the music and it will be a real mess… But in the name we have the word "king" isn't it ? When you hear the track with the bass played by Mark, it's very musical and very well executed. Very impressive and not everyone will keep the tempo all the way long till the end. Kudos to Level 42 for their career.

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  • There is also a synth bass on the track! Around the World Machine album in 1985 there seems to be synth bass doubling on the tracks, this also appears in RITF and Staring at the sun. Great band and incredible music. I've listening to Level 42 over 30 years now.

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  • Brilliant lesson… I’m trying to arrange this on acoustic guitar (yeah really lol!) and this is invaluable. Thank you for sharing!

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  • Excellent presentation of a class with diagrams !I would wish all teacher do the same. that's is really helpful specially for people who is starting with the bass.When I started we only had cassettes ! and no books in the market !Now look at all we can have ! !  Teachers like Daveys explaining all those wonderfull details ! God bless good teacher  like Davey !

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  • Awesomeness, Dude!!! Learned one of my all time favorites tonight bcuz of Your Time and Patience… Many Thanx!!! Peace

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  • This is an incredibly hard bass line to play, as you state in your video. I saw an interview with MK where he states that this is among one of the most difficult bass lines in his repertoire…..which is saying a lot, seeing as how he's the king (no pun intended) of intricate bass lines!

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  • Thank you very much indeed ! So much needed and it's amazing to see someone actually do it and for a change, do it WELL !!!

    Hat off to you sir …..

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  • happy new year mate…….I just checked ur part2 wthout drums…….I discovered earthquake n we supply. ….found ur tutorial on we slap but not earthquake. …..if u find time please lessons on earthquake. …….all da way from darjeeling india……

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  • The hand cramping problem you mention is one addressed in a upright jazz bass instruction video i watched. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvbNifnccis
    He talks about how the muscles act like a shock absorber and just using the motion of the finger to produce the note causes the muscles to tense. He shows how rolling the arm cushions and dissipates the stresses and allows for a fuller tone in the process! Well worth the watch, although i'm not sure just how transferable this is to a electric bass.
    All the best, Mark.

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  • Davey is your bass neck 1 and 3 quarters wide at the nut.
    My Fender is 1 and a half.
    Most excellent lesson.

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  • One of those songs where you tried and always gave up! Another of Mark King's to put under the belt alongside with Running In the Family. Thanks for putting it up!

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