Boogie Oogie Oogie
A Taste of Honey, 1978. Bass line by Janice-Marie Johnson, who also is the lead singer.
I love playing this bass line. It's not the hardest or the most complicated by any means, but it's a banger. From the intro with its shimmering chorus effect to the octave-jumping groove, it's so satisfying. When she sings "listen to my bass, yeah", the solo is minimally different from the groove, but the pops before the chorus? So fun!
Those pops did have me scratching my head for a bit. Three slurs in a row: F-G, Bb-C, and G#-A. Easy enough, but how to get from the C to the G#?
I like to play the first two in 8th position with 1-3, which leaves quite a jump to land on G# with 4, which then has to slide over to the A only one sixteenth later. Doable, but risky, and this being the end of the solo, I don't want to mess that up. Plus, they're pops, so they're extra loud: everyone will know.
My solution: play the second slur with just index, sliding instead of hammering on with the ring finger. That moves my hand from 8th to 10th position, and the G# right underneath my pinky; very neat. I'm sticking with 1-3 for the first slur, so I don't have to worry about getting my hand back in position for the Bb.
Can you tell I have a classical education? Studying classical guitar has a lot of this kind of stuff. I don't know if Janice-Marie ever worried about this, but it makes me happy that I feel secure that I can pull this off every time.
