5 Prince Basslines (and how to play them)

[@ND-9]

I’ve been a Prince since 1980. This is the first time I really paid attention to the bass line from Sexy MF. Great tutorial bro 💜🤘🏿

[@aprilskutt974]

I have been a Prince fan for over 35 years. I am learning how to play Bass. Thank you for the video.

[@onesong2001]

Snap!

[@user-wd4vz3pd6w]

Bro…. You’re extremely funky just because you chose Prince to study. I subscribed to your channel because of that subject choice. You’re pretty rare bro. I just started 3 weeks ago. Thank you for this.

[@JimPaget]

Probably one of the best Prince tutorial videos that actually do justice to the real songs! Respect!!

[@rastaman1017]

I've watch a lot of video on how to play let's work and you play it almost like Brown Mark and he learned directly from Prince , the only difference is Brown uses dead notes throughout the song

[@jonathanchevallier7046]

I have to admit, I never listened Prince song. You made me want to have look into this funky basslines ! Thank you ;-)

[@roderickthomas3417]

Yo man! Prince is a beast! Eddie Van Halem and other famous rockers have all bowed down. Can’t nobody play the guitar or bass like Prince. I’m going to send you some links of live performances. Blow your mind away

[@stevenswisher4339]

​@Roderick Thomas easily one of the most overlooked guitarist to ever grace the stage

[@austindurham5736]

It's going to change your life, trust me.

[@klodinkediloni762]

​@@austindurham5736give me his funkiest basslines

[@Cormac-jd2kx]

You live under a rock??

[@marSLaZZ66]

One of my fav bass line is "What's my Name" on Crystal Ball.

[@dva88]

What a Beautiful and Demolishing Bass Sound !!!

[@kevinmorgan263]

Lady cab driver and irresistible is the funkiest basslines

[@michaelanderson5289]

Hey Huw, of all the bassists out there that I've heard play Prince basslines (not including his bassists), I think you're playing the grooves the most accurately. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice

[@axelthomas369]

I liked just because of the incrustation of Bernard Purdie man, that was legendary 😄 But hey... Prince bass lines, you can't go wrong with that ! Nice one 🎸🎸🎸

[@chucku00]

I like the tongue-in-cheek way you played "Kiss" iconic guitar riff at the beginning...

[@triplesod3760]

Bit late to this video, but it was great. I love the 90s stuff he did, especially with the NPG. Sonny T is amazing.

[@jeromeclemons9723]

I’m a newbie but I just brought that identical fender jazz bass home !!! Must be a sign😀😀😀

[@balanstaput4888]

Fantastic work man 😮

[@Mes799]

Nice one. Prince would play octaves with his thumb playing the low notes. This makes the vibrato on the high A much more effective for Stare

[@aaronj.brooks1977]

Thank you for sharing this was awesome I am a fan of Prince’s music he is a talented one man band that can do no wrong

[@GHopps96]

Great choices. I also love the baseline to Poplife. Very easy to play, however it really drives the feel of that song.

[@PapaPadde]

Nicely done, excellent choice of tracks - loving it!

[@cedricalbert8852]

Please more bass lines from prince , he was an insane genius on da bass gat!

[@Funkybassplayer]

Great video pal. My favorite bass line is from about that walk from album the Vault. Great 👋🏻

[@Funkybassplayer]

Sexy mf is my favorite of this video. Excellent chops mate. I envy you. It sounded you play that riff on that song. That good. 🙏🏻 I especially bought a fender 5 string p bass for riffs like this on that E string. I have difficulty playing with two fingers so close to the pickups where I put my thumb. I have my 5 string bass for a month now and it is really brutally cool. Especially that low B and C. So now I can try to play this riff also. Wish me luck. 😁😁😁 Bytheway all my basses have flats. 3 fenders so far and a cheap acoustic.

[@tonisiret5557]

Prince (& Larry) are the reason I picked up the bass. I'm also in the "Bald, Bearded Bass Players That Like Prince" Club. Excellent job Huw! Partyup & Uptown are also great.

[@HuwFoster]

I love that there’s so many bald, bearded bass players. Love those two tunes as well - Dirty Mind is such a raw, funky album.

[@tonisiret5557]

@@HuwFoster Well, I had a ponytail when I took up the bass, so it can't be that 😆 Love the playing man...👍

[@GaryBaker-r8z]

More Prince bass lines please, loved it.

[@JohnFuente-iu7ct]

WOW! I'M SO GLAD I FOUND YOUR CHANNEL!!!!!!!!!!!! I like to search for new websites to see how quickly I can learn different bass lines. The twist is that I play the bass line on tuba!!!! You teach bass lines so well that even with octaves, I get a good feel for how I should approach multiphonics on my horn. If you ever get to Atlanta, Georgia, USA... holler. Would love to host for the Jazz Festival or what have you. Really excellent work.

[@mAgoo9999]

That fender jazz tone is the nuts

[@lucarennabass]

Great Job! 👏 Prince was really a unique artist and musical genius! 💜And great choice among the hundreds of his great bass lines!! 💫🤩

[@johnwyattiv9592]

As long time Prince fan and bass player. FANTASTIC job.

[@HuwFoster]

Thanks so much!

[@tumbleweedtumbleweed]

I toured with a Prince tribute band for years and you’re spot on!!! 🤘🤩🤘

[@NelsonMontana1234]

Prince had the ability to play stuff that was groovy and slick and more impressive sounding than it actually is.

[@girmaybass68]

Beautiful SOLID bass lines!

[@funfanacyland1172]

You played let's work better than me 😢 dang I'm so glad the new generation have figured out what you need to do to bring real music back 😮

[@MrMarekbH]

Great stuff, mate! Thank you for this...love your playing and choices of bass & music ;) Always wanted to get Sexy M.F. line...so cool.

[@nodoor9132]

Huw, I just subbed and I hope you'll do more Prince in the future. Alphabet Street is my favorite bass line next to the Time 7779311. Thanks for the lesson.

[@connyberg5665]

Cool thing about Sexy mf; "mf" on the single is written as 'mf' in notesheets (meaning mezzo forte, which means the piece should be played in medium pace). And of course, the song Sexy mf is also in fact played in mf, so it actually says mf in the notesheet.

[@scottclark3139]

Some great choices

[@AstrosElectronicsLab]

Subbed! Glad you included "Sexy MF". That is a cool bassline, mostly syncopated. I think in the original recording, the bass has a little more of a run-up the E string during the chorus. Yours sounds like it's missing one note.

[@funfanacyland1172]

You did a great job love you fellow bassist 😢

[@jorggollub157]

You 're just wow!!!

[@zonamade3380]

Do Me, Baby is the song that really made me want to learn bass, it never crossed my mind until just couldn’t stop playing that song on repeat. Definitely going to come back and learn once I have the equipment, thank you. Btw, to the untrained ear, that song seems like the easiest to play bass to 😂

[@joelemerou3487]

Completely forgot how Let's Work bass was awesome! Very nice video 👍

[@AllanGildea]

Hi Huw, thanks so much for this!

[@ravbuddy]

Amazing vid thank you. Been following you since your early covers of Ain't No Stopping Us Now etc

[@roderickthomas3417]

Very good tutorial man. I got to subscribe. Thanks

[@samirbourramman2793]

Really slick playing. Regarding Stare I believe he did play it all the way through like he usually did being a James Brown fan. For instance the song "3 chains o'gold" were basically glued together by seperate pieces and played straight through in the studio. There is a great story about it in a 1994 interview, either in Q or Guitar World. I think Kravitz does that too, playing it all through. Just listen to "Life ain't never been better.." (2011), another Brown fan.

[@Cormac-jd2kx]

Sexy Dancer maxi single extended version is his funkiest track ever 😂

[@lagiapostolou3242]

cheers huw love it smf

[@MrLudal]

merci beaucoup!!!

[@robgarrott1985]

Fantastic vid !! Not sure if it’s legal, but I would pay money for those backing tracks!!

[@mooogg]

Great Stuff!! ;-)

[@Vanderkleyamp]

Good stuff!!

[@HuwFoster]

Thanks Marc!

[@leeroger1471]

you can that bass omg

[@drummero1drummer]

Nice job Huw! - enjoyed that, gunna give some of them ago! Heres an idea for another video?! I'm really into dropping the E string to D on a 4 string, so would be cool to hear your top 5 tunes that suit drop D!? lol

[@HuwFoster]

Oooh great idea! Glad my videos are helping you mate. I’ll have a think about some drop D bangers.

[@MultitrackCassetteFans]

Thank you!

[@dspiffy]

Guitar for Sexy MF is actually not traditional Chicken Grease-- he just strums the up and down strokes. Def Sonny T on bass.

[@BARTFUNKBASS]

Nice! There is a ghost note rather than a second B note in the "Let's Work" bassline. Check Brownmark's channel. Keep it Funky! 🤘🤘🤘

[@rodkrealtor]

Excellent job! Especially Stare. Do you take request? If so, Do Me Live 1982 Detroit concert version. And Facedown! I saw him play it live in concert in 1998 and said I must learn how to play the bass!

[@Minister_ronbrown]

These are great bass lines, and it is wonderful hearing t hem without the other lines playing. Thank you. I have always wanted to hear a clear version of the bass line in "Another Lover Hole in My Head" Brown Mark places it but it is slow nice. Anyone know where I can hear that one?

[@lee-fr8oo]

You need to do prince song call (everywhere) from the rainbow children album

[@timmyjohnson6770]

Did this boy just touch a bass with a pick!? Davey would be so upset

[@onesong2001]

Davey? I never saw Prince lay a pick on a bass.

[@timmyjohnson6770]

@@onesong2001 @davey504

[@onesong2001]

@Timmy Johnson I subscribe to Davey

[@mountain-roots]

"why did Prince play the bass in my face" Michael Jackson

[@leeroger1471]

Omg you can play that bass can u do the bass from prince song from rainbow children called everywhere the bass on this song like I never heard prince play before

[@VigorousVirgo]

1:35 He looks like if Michael Jackson and Rick James had a baby

[@patcom1013]

Sexy M.F. - Master Funkateer

[@ROCKNROLLFAN]

My uncle said that you picked some funky ones & he can tell that you've been listening to a lot of his stuff....

[@funfanacyland1172]

Real college students bringing back real music so they can easily make a living 😢

[@BarbieChaite]

I'm not even able to make the simple thumb technique...

[@trees_up]

This list is incomplete without 777-9311.

[@burtvladyslavov9181]

🧨🧨🧨

[@robmyers932]

Also, She's Always in My Hair and Anotherloverholeinyohead.

[@TheRealCoolieT]

I think for musicology you'll sometimes hear an F# below that B on the and of one and also and the F#BB at the end of the riff but it also sounds like a second bass track to me as that would be very hard to play. Also check out Rhonda's live version from the era, she adds a chromatic descending part in the first bar that is hella funky too (BBbA I think). That and John Blackwell's stellar drumming are in full effect here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGO8lX97fqZ_aqc

[@TheRealCoolieT]

Also I was a member of the NPG music club at the time and Prince did this cool contest where he made the stems available and people made up their own songs. I seem to remember that he even sent a few of those fan songs out to the club at the time, I need to see if I still have those.

[@TheRealCoolieT]

777-9311 is another epic Prince bass line even though it was The Time that put it out, it is clearly Prince and has the beginnings of the "Rumble" style that BrownMark perfected. He's doing a lot of Prince bass walkthroughs too. He breaks it down here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fX3TppyVm65mjJo&ab_channel=BrownMarkBrownMark

[@HuwFoster]

I love the band from the Musicology era. Rhonda and John are so funky. I would have loved to have included more basslines including 777-9311 but I just wanted to keep it to 5! As I said in the video, I’ll probably have to do another one….

[@TheRealCoolieT]

@@HuwFoster More Prince basslines can never be a bad thing, I do find it a bit ironic that two of his biggest hits, Kiss and When Doves Cry had the bass lines removed. I LOVE what both Rhonda and Larry Graham did with Kiss live though. Graham - kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZzVhWyrbNKmZ8U Rhonda - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hV6be2uPgrGEmc0 When my band played Kiss I kind of played a mix of the two.

[@HuwFoster]

Yes! I love Larry’s take on it in the Rave un2 gig

[@andyhbassman]

The Most Beautiful Girl In The World 🤞

[@Cormac-jd2kx]

Sexy MF bass played by Sonny T

[@LilyIglesias]

This is so strange. Prince doesn't have much songs with bass lines.

[@balanstaput4888]

😂😂😂

[@funfanacyland1172]

You guys need to talk to college students about why there parents paid all this money to have media to destroy their dreams😅