Introduction:
Weekend Bass Riff - Flea Special. Flea, bassist for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers is renowned as one of todays leading bassists. He doesn’t just play the roots of the guitar he plays his own funk licks which really add to the song. For this special I’ll be covering licks from 'Other Side’, 'Under The Bridge’ and 'Give It Away’. So without further ado here’s the low down on 'Other Side’
Audio & Tab:
Other Side:
The bass-riff I’ve chosen from this track is when the guitar cuts out leaving just the drums and bass and flea executes a funky bass riff which complements the drum track, or should I say is complemented by the drum track. The lick begins with a basic E-E-D-E-E but on the second measure a A-E-F# fill is added to carry the riff to the 3rd measure where the same rhythm is played but this time G-C-C-C-C, another fill is then added to the 4th measure which occupies the whole bar, this fill goes: G-F#-D-F#-G-F#-D. Here’s the tab :
Q E E Q E E Q E E E E E Q Q E Q E
G----------------------|------------------------|----------------------|
D----------------------|------------------------|----------------------|
A------7----5--7-------|----7----5--7--0--------|-------3----3--3----3-|
E-0-----------------0--|------------------0--2--|--3-------------------|
E E E E E E E E
-------------------------||
----5--4--0--4--5--4--0--||
-------------------------||
-------------------------||
Click here to get a midi file of the tab above.
Under The Bridge:
I chose another funk melody from this track but this one is of a higher-pitched and could easily be played as a guitar riff. This time the riff is from the D Minor scale and complements the songs movement and progression, like the riff I chose from other side this riff also has a great fill at the end. The lick begins A-E-A-C with a small fill of A-G-A then the melody repeats as G-D-G-A# then the fill comes as G-A-C-A-G using sixteenth notes and sliding notes, I love the feel of this fill as it fits in with everything else so well. Here’s the tab :
E E E Q E E E E E E E. S S E S E
G||-----9--------------------|-----7-------------5-------|
D||--7-----7--10----7--5--7--|--5-----5--8---5/7----7-5--|
A||--------------------------|---------------------------|
E||--------------------------|---------------------------|
Click here to get a midi file of the tab above.
Give It Away:
This funk-rock classic is outrageous and just generally…funky so its only natural it has a great bass line supplied by flea that will have you racing up and down the fret board from the twelth fret area down to the third fret. Yet again this bass riff has a marvellous fill (would I have it any other way !?) and is incredible fun to play. The lick starts A-D-E-A then (as usual) has a smaller fill which goes X-C-A-C, the A-D-E-A section is then repeat. This is followed by a great fill down on the e and a strings which goes E-G-A-C-A-G. Here’s the transcription :
E S S S E S E S E E S S S E S S S S S E
G--------------12/-------------|--------------12----------------|
D------x-12/14-----------------|--------12/14-------------------|
A--0----------------x-3---0-3--|--0---x----------------0-3h0----|
E------------------------------|-------------------0-3-------3--|
Click here to get a midi file of the tab above.
Fleas Gear:
Flea plays his signature basses manufactured by Modulus, he uses GHS Boomers (.45 - .105) Fleas pedal board has Electro-Harmonix Q-Tron, an MXR Micro Amp and a Boss ODB-3 Bass Overdrive and for amplifiers he uses Gallien-Krueger RB Heads which run to Gallien-Krueger 1x15 enclosure cabinets. I hope you enjoyed this Flea Special.
And those who prefer six strings to four, may check out Part 9 of UG Weekend Riff series. This week you get one of those real metal riffs: F--king Hostile by Pantera!
) oh well... gj with what there is there, except for a few little tiny errors.
