How Sledgehammer Changed the History of Bass FOREVER

[@fredquevillon3727]

Levin was from the universe with sausage fingers.

[@EricMorello]

Ah, Funk fingers, Jazz hands' lesser known cousin.

[@RRickenbacker]

Hey that's funny.

[@mattsun71]

Back in 2000 about i think i was studio bassist playing only hitsong covers and soundalikes. Sledgehammer came along and I then emailed Tony Levin through his management to ask about exactly this. Can you imagine the thrill i got when he personally wrote me back? Giving me all these secrets.. So nice of him

[@alvadrive82]

That's awesome

[@gmansi]

@@alvadrive82 Yes!! Awesome!

[@grizelda4526]

Seriously, there’s not much in this world cooler than Tony Levin. For learning how to swing with a pick Carol Kaye is a master!

[@johnnieswift6581]

Saw an interview with Carol where she said that a felt pick was her weapon of choice…

[@c.a.t.732]

@@johnnieswift6581 Odd then that her signature picks are heavy gauge plastic.

[@johnnieswift6581]

Carol played a lot of 6-string as well…but when asked how did she get “her” sound (on bass) she said a felt pick and some foam under the strings...

[@johnnieswift6581]

I also recall back in the early ’70s she marketed a tutoring kit that included songbooks, felt picks, and a phone call…

[@AndreMaurici07]

also bobby vega!

[@thechosenone1961]

OMG, Scott this has to be one of the most entertaining videos you've done on SBL. Sledgehammer is one of my all time favorite songs, and it drives my wife absolutely crazy. I've never attempted to learn to play this but now I will. I can't wait to see the look on her face when she walks in and sees and hears me playing Sledgehammer!!! It's going to be EPIC!!!! A million thank yous for this one Scott!!!

[@SO-ym3zs]

It's wicked fun to play! You're in for a treat!

[@jonmorrow1291]

Great to hear you are still trying to impress your wife!! Well done.

[@Notsram77]

Tony's work with King Crimson changed my life. Absolutely a genius musician.

[@devinebass]

💯💯💯

[@woodshed_moments]

Tony Levin is so disturbingly freaking sick... I don't care what anybody says, the intro baseline to 'Big Time' is some of the funkiest s**t on tape... add to that Stewart Copeland was on drums, massively hot!!

[@AnthonyWilliams-ot1yk]

When I first heard Sledgehammer, the unusually funky bass line instantly made my neck snap my head around! And those horns and Peter’s screams. Truly a groundbreaking song.

[@montraix]

I was a drummer in my high school jazz band in 1980, and our band would actually tour and do gigs, so when we needed to fill some time I’d have this huge drum solo. During the drum solo our bass player came over with his Precision, out of nowhere, leaned it at. 30 degree angle towards me and I did a funk bass solo with my drum sticks on the bass!!! He actually did the left hand, including intermittent muting, and I just played with my sticks. It sounded awesome!!!! Needless to say, for the rest of that year, the bass became part of my drum solos. And yes, now I am a bass player, I have 2 Warwick GPS Corvette basses, a 4 string, a 5, and a fretless, all $$. Also play Fender Precisions

[@mikeb.7183]

Late 82 I had a guitar player who would grab a drumstick and play the intro for Judas Priest's version of Diamonds and Rust. It all started because he didn't have a delay pedal and the drum stick would give him a bounce and in effect a delay.

[@D-Fens_1632]

There was a Floyd cover band I used to see whose lead guitar player would do a large section of the end of Comfortably Numb using a drumstick in his right hand. The gimmick was fun live but I've never gone back to any recordings I made of them where they did it to hear if it actually sounded all that good. It definitely took me back when I first saw it and the crowd loved it.

[@BigBri550]

The Ventures did the drumming-on-the-bass-strings thing back in the early '60s. It was also featured on Mel Taylor's drum solo from their 1965 Live In Japan version of "Caravan" kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIW8Xquped-HrtE

[@jas_bataille]

Great story.. totally unnecessary to brag about the price of your basses tho. No pro is interested in that, all due respect. But still a great story!

[@montraix]

Jas bataille, ust so you know, I wasn’t bragging about how much my basses cost, they have 2-humbuckers on them, and the nickname Warwick calls them are “double bucks,” and even their website and the owner’s manual uses the $$ to show that they’re “double bucks.” Saying that they cost a lot wouldn’t matter to me. I do love the basses though

[@AndyA1234]

The Peter Gabriel Secret World tour is fantastic, must watch . Manu Katche is amazing.

[@Callsigntitan]

This

[@leoinstatenisland]

Just the fucking best drummer.

[@ze_rubenator]

I listen to In Your Eyes from Secret World about once a month for my health.

[@Itsjustjess352]

Manu Katche & Paula Cole are incredible on that tour! One of my all time favorites!

[@camerakungfu]

Next episode is on the Tony's Chapman Stick...

[@hoot7588]

In the late 90s a guy used to regularly play Chapman stick outside Rose Morris on Denmark Street in London, he was amazing!

[@sullenpuffin]

Ooh, Ian flexing with that signature bass! Very nice 👌 …wait, AND a signature pick!!

[@sebg2086]

Scott is way more deserving

[@sullenpuffin]

@@sebg2086 they're both pretty deserving in my opinion

[@LordEradicus]

Funk fingers...I never knew that. Whenever I played along with "Big Time," I just used to thumbslap that passage on a largely open E-string...😄

[@dwayneelizondomountaindewh1465]

Funk isn't a game !.

[@dwayneelizondomountaindewh1465]

it's a joke

[@fractalist]

If I recall correctly reading this in the past, even Big Time was not with funk fingers - instead, Jerry Marotta playing Tony's strings with drumsticks while Tony fretted the notes.

[@mrufino1]

@@fractalistthat’s correct. He developed the funk fingers in order to play big time live.

[@henkehakansson2004]

You can even see him starting to use Funk Fingers on the tune "Red Rain" which can be seen in his "Growing Up" live DVD from 20 years ago or so. Which wasn't used either on studio recording. The company Expandin Hands LLC has now gone off the market, and no more avaiable, at least so I've heard. While I've used Funk Fingers too, one cannot think that it is a parlor trick or show off, to the audience amusement. It requires some serious training, and be wary because you'll need higher string action. Otherwise the fret buzz becomes too annoying. While the red ones is a betterment, and development, all in all after a while they all end up just like some kind of novelty. One can do drum rolls on the bass on one string only but one can't "shred" with them and finger different notes and strings at the same time. What they really do - too - is producing a considerably amount of volume decrease, because the added energy of up and down of the string motion. You'll need a compressor to tame the large volume increase.

[@MikeKobb]

Y'all, this format of video, where we get to see both of you play the lines and the nuances in how you are each approaching it -- these are GOLD. Please make as many of these as travel and other considerations permit. Also, fretless F fiver? Sweeeeeeet. 😍

[@ThomasLuongo]

What Would Tony Levin Do.... the secret to all great bass playing... absolutely. No one knows how to make one single note become music like Levin.

[@IanMartinAllison]

YES

[@c.a.t.732]

I dig Tony Levin as much as the next person, but "changed the history of the bass forever"? The main riff is pretty much Stevie Wonder's "Tell me something good", and Alphonso Johnson was using effects like that on his bass a decade before Sledgehammer.

[@podchauffe]

Did anyone read Tony's book Beyond the Bass Clef? It is very informative and so hilarious! A must-read for every bass player. Although I'm not, I still totally enjoyed it and got it signed by the man himself when he was in our town with Larry and Jerry

[@V4Now]

On another note, I always appreciate Peter Gabriel's showmanship. He's fun to watch😄

[@jarekd.stawarz1399]

I think King Crimson's "Sleepless" is the best known use of Tony Levin's funk finges. However I'm not sure whether Tony plays sixteenths or eights (and then sixteenths are played by Bill Brufford's bass drum). Anyway, it was a great pleasure to listen to this video :)

[@mettamoose5074]

Hey, so glad you brought up "Sleepless"! That's actually not done with funk fingers, he's just doing regular thumb slap and pull funk technique but with a single added sixteenth-note delay (or 32nd note, depending on how you count the bars) - you can see him doing it on a Three Of A Perfect Pair live video (filmed in Japan I think, easy to find here on YT). Cheers!

[@fenderfetish]

Sleepless was thumped…you may be thinking of ‘Big Time’?

[@jarekd.stawarz1399]

Indeed, I've got the feeling I saw him with these fingers on this footage, but I've just checked it and I must have messed it up totally. Sorry! Anyway he didn't use them when he played "Big Time" during Peter Gabriel's 2023 I/O tour. When I was younger, in late 90ies, I was trying to play "Sleepless" slapping but I didn't know there's delay used so every time after couple of bars I just couldn't catch the tempo.

[@djmikio]

During ABWH tour in 89 we were backstage and Tony just literally just had sawed-off drumsticks taped to his fingers. He said that he had to play Chris Squires parts on the classic Yes jams and he wasn't able to get an attack that was as sharp and percussive as Squires with his normal technique. Cool to see that this evolved into a finished piece of gear!

[@willemniehorster9836]

I saw Peter Gabriel's first tour ever with Levin on bass back in the early 80's. Also first time I saw a chapmanstick. I also saw him with Crimson playing the LP Discipline. I've seen them many times.

[@ericashmead4049]

That is such a great King Crimson album, my first exposure to the chapman stick. Sheltering Sky soooo goood

[@ОлександрРаєв]

Gabriel started his tours in 70's...

[@heavyhands1383]

Gotta wonder if the whole fretless with an octaver sound was influenced by Pino Palladino's killer bassline on Paul Young's version of I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down

[@AlfieGoodrich]

Seeing Gabriel at Earls Court on the ‘So’ tour as a teenager was life changing for me. So good.

[@ronallen2458]

Ian! Come back to Mike’s. I missed you the last time!

[@IanMartinAllison]

I hope to get back out there a couple times this year!

[@tumbleweedtumbleweed]

My favorite part of this is the Mike Lull bass. He was a super nice guy who helped me a lot back in the day

[@inatehex]

It sounds very synthy to my ears. Who knew? Great breakdown. I am absolutely loving your recent videos. The great chemistry between you guys makes it really fun to watch.

[@jimmymack9440]

Space is the sledgehammer in your toolbox... Pino, Prince and Questlove talk about this. I also recommend watching Harry Styles cover of Sledgehammer

[@wootube]

All well and good, but you guys are missing the one thing that makes the groove feel so heavy: the TEMPO. The recording has so much weight because it’s a couple bpm slower than you would naturally expect to play such a song.

[@chrisharrison809]

of course they freak out on the overtones. Never thought of that. Nice inside baseball tip. bassball

[@PhilBoswell]

Was the Chapman Stick the next step on from the Funk Fingers, or was that separate? I always wanted to try a Stick but didn't have a spare house to mortgage 😞 I don't suppose the prices ever came down, I stopped looking as it just made me sad.

[@TerryBollea1]

No....the weird Michael Jackson glove is what brought me

[@SwirlyWhirlyXYZ]

Your tone would be better if you were wearing matching white trenchcoats

[@KitBasher1]

My friend Jeff has a Fender Jazz bass from the custom shop - it has those awesome thunder-buckers! His is a metallic hot pink/magenta color. I have the opportunity to buy - If only it were a five string, lol

[@geraldfriend256]

Buy it now or regret it later

[@KitBasher1]

@@geraldfriend256 I would totally buy it if it were a five string but I just know that it wouldn’t get played. I’m too set in my ways having been playing a five string for over 30 years - kind of want to stay there

[@jimmymack9440]

We (Yorkshire folk) need to talk about Ian's cowboy boots! 1:16s

[@radiozelaza]

ol' Pete G. invented the fungers?!!

[@VarionJimmy]

This is the first time I’ve seen your videos, and I really love this. Subscribed instantly!

[@TheBobOnBass]

I have a Micro Thumpinator to eliminate the unwanted sub tones. Dusty Hill used one.

[@harounel-poussah6936]

Tony Levin used the funk fingers on Sleepless (King Crimson's "3 of a Perfect Pair) in 1984

[@brettmarlar4154]

His use of the Funk Fingers found its way onto songs like "Sleepless" by King Crimson as well!

[@AndyJWalsh]

Splendid video guys! Thanks for 11.35 minutes of Hi-octane egeukashun

[@Tacko14]

Yep, got ‘em. Utterly frustrating at first, but once I learned to find my way around without looking at every thump they were alright. It’s easy to hit too hard and always will be, though. The sound is so enticing, I forget to hold back.

[@Kunibert_Knatter]

You guys are like two little boys having lots and lots of fun playing around, making nonsense and you both harmonize perfectly! And for me and many others its so much fun to just watch you playing and making nonsense! Thanks for all your efforts to be not too serious in this business!

[@acb9896]

The attack from the pick with a bit of palm mute. Stopping the note makes your ear look for the decay but its all gone and the next note blends so well. Levin is top three for me.

[@bobthebomb1596]

Big fan of Tony Levin. I loved the bass on Sartori in Tangiers from Crimsons' Beat album, though I believe he was playing a stick rather than a bass.

[@videditorEB1]

Dudes, that super-casual unison mind melter was ridiculous! Now, back to the show.😃

[@filmwabbit]

Fantastic video, guys! I had the good fortune to see Tony Levin with King Crimson using the "funk fingers" while playing the song "Sleepless". I had no idea how he got that sound until I got to experience it first hand.

[@thenashvillebassistofficial]

Space is the greatest note I never played.

[@pythagorasaurusrex9853]

Nearly 40 years passed since Sledgehammer came out, but still such a great piece! And.. yeah, I still love to play it on my bass from time to time. The bass is a real challenge to play with all this tiny little fills and alterations in between the main line. I never get it right and there is always something new to discover in there. So much fun! Great video, dudes!

[@David-iv6je]

True story: I'm traveling around Europe with a backpack. I'm sitting in a seaside cafe on a little Aegean island in Yugoslavia (now Croatia), called Cres. (pronounced Suh-ress). It's a very Euro outdoors cafe space, in a non-Soviet communist kind of way. This song comes on and I say "Holy shit, that's Tony Levin!" Then Gabriel starts singing and I realized a new album had come out. So distinctive.

[@milanthedrummer]

Adriatic not Aegean

[@David-iv6je]

@@milanthedrummer Thanks! Brain fart. I also spent time on the Aegian that same trip. Backpacking!

[@azzkikr331202]

Great fan of Peter Gabriel too. Great video, thank you for bringing me so much joy with your funk-fingers.

[@burmesecolourneedles4680]

Joyous. I didn't know Gabriel himself suggested the FFs. It figures!

[@richardnoble3989]

Fantastic - absolutely love all things Levin - he's a monster for Peter Gabriel, in King Crimson and his own band Stickmen! More of this please! Oh and whilst we're on requests could you do a look at the bass playing of John Wetton? Robert Fripp recently described him as the bass voice of his generation!

[@kevbob]

I have funk fingers! I can't say that I can use them well, but I bought 'em.

[@fisch723]

Any bass players on Long Island interested in playing this music with a great band? Hit me up.

[@geordiew2162]

Saw Them at the Ziggoo last JUNE The coolest SHOW to date!! Thanks for taking the time to share the GROOVE of TL & PG while having so much fun!

[@danilobernaschina1842]

You're simply the Best and I'm very proud to be a student your academy🎉🎉

[@ShortFuseFighting]

youre thinking of Ike Turner.....

[@stevenrankin4212]

Loved everything about this! Papa Bear, Tony Levin is an absolute bass god. He possesses so much awareness of where the bass sits in the arrangement. It's always a treat. Thank you for sharing this with us.

[@brucelawson642]

FOREVER ? Thats a long time, RIGHT??😂

[@hansmolders1066]

See it can be fun to listen to base nerds, congrats! Most guys are boring, you're a joy!

[@BrownThunderBass]

I KNEW I WAS MISSING SOMETHING!!! CHORUS 💀

[@KitBasher1]

When I went to buy my funk fingers (many years ago) they weren’t available due to production issues - so I started making my own. I’ll send you guys a couple pairs if you’re interested. I found that adding plastic-dip helps the attack and bounce, while the finger collars have a little padding making it comfy and slip-free.

[@nickpridding3435]

This is the first time I’ve ever really enjoyed the whole of one of your videos. Certainly very informative and such a lot of fun.. 👍👍👍

[@rationalmuscle]

Levin is a genius - but DAMN MAN those funk fingers sound KILLER. I'd totally play with those live.

[@joehall6390]

Signature Picks?!! Cool. Where can I buy them? Thanks for this PDF. Love the song and love Tony Levin.

[@ardakeremoglu1]

I love this channel

[@andreasdeutinger7319]

fretless bass is a completely different instrument, sounds very different-jaco, tony l, mick karn, les c…everybody has an individual tone and sound, but fretless is awesome!

[@georgemcconnell5405]

This is bass education at its finest! Nice show for a bassist. I need more bass friends lol.

[@sicilianmammalian]

Carol Kay would be proud

[@WizardOfArc]

I had a set of funk fingers back in the late 90s

[@wickedprotos1937]

Always loved Tony Levins Style!!!!~

[@MainelyW212]

HOW COME NO ONE MENTIONS TONY’S CUSTOM 3 STRING STINGRAY? 😂😂 custom just for the funk fingers…

[@MissEliza99]

It was Ian's video about So that led me to SBL where I've happily been hanging out for almost 2 years now.

[@IanMartinAllison]

🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@jeffjeff4477]

Cool line Sleepless showcases the funk finger thingys

[@The_sinner_Jim_Whitney]

I learned this bass line without effects, and it was near-impossible, haha! Once I played this stuff 'right', I learned a LOT.

[@fabrikk60]

Tony Levin's bass solo near the end of "On The Air" is also worthy of a discussion, no?

[@IanMartinAllison]

YES

[@stanwellback]

Thank you for an entertaining and informative video, guys! 🙏🏻 I learned a lot about ‘space’ in bass playing by listening to Andy Fraser of Free. The notes that he left out were just as important as the ones he played. When approaching any new bassline, I always ask myself "what would Andy Fraser do?" 😎

[@provarcisempre]

I Just love this channel. You manager to highlight such awesome features and songs, it's unbelievable.

[@simonhodgetts6530]

Sledgehammer is such an awesome song. The mix is brilliant - the snare makes my eyes pop. Brilliant, brilliant track!

[@DavidHoareLOL]

Are you gonna demonstrate how to play Sleepless by King Crimson now to show what else you can do with the funk fingers?

[@Quicksilver_Cookie]

This is one of my absolute favorite bass sounds ever. It's got the punch and attack of a bass, but then this polyphonic depth of a synth bass thanks to that octave and chorus. It's just so good.

[@SimonKlees]

Edward Drumstickhands

[@KalalProductions]

Came here because I love Tony Levin’s bassline on this song. Did not realize I’d be treated to Ian Allison, the man who’s band Down and Above is the reason I started listening to Peter Gabriel in the first place. What a great video/collab/lesson!

[@newsles2]

Totally misleading headline emphasising the funk fingers - which were not employed on Sledgehammer.

[@styx85]

That's literally the first thing they say in the video.

[@Dr_Lipschitz]

It’s called a joke dude

[@Leonmpj]

I own a pair of Funk Fingers, they are so hard to control.

[@gigio2949]

best track ever

[@millerman7799]

According to a Rick Beato interview, he used his daughter's diapers to dampen the strings when he recorded "Don't Give Up" in the studio, Peter Gabriel called it the "Super Wonder Nappie Sound" xD

[@midasghijsels]

Carles Benavent? Anyone? Fretless with a pic and some effects on all those Paco de Lucia and Camaron albums.

[@joemiglionico6527]

IN the early 80s, I used to play one song using a drumstick, just one, but the whole stick. I loved the way it sounded, but I was using a Peavey T40 at the time and one day I realized that I was denting the chrome pick up covers on it, so I stopped doing it. I still have that bass, and it still has dented pick ups. On another note, I once wrote to Tony Levin via Myspace (this was years ago) and asked a question about his equipment, and not only did he write back to me, he gave me a detailed explanation of exactly what he was using, how it worked and advice on using it all live. Amazing and very nice guy.

[@stephentyson8011]

Awesome guys, thanks 👍🏻

[@Yasin5791-d7u]

2:57 Swung 16th notes 3:43 Eb major pentatonic 3:50 flat seven 4:07 slide 4:09 slide 5:26 verse 6:52 So much space

[@UrbanGarden-rf5op]

I'm a big fan of Tony Levin but he wasn't the first to use drumsticks on a bass. Check out Big Noise from Winnetka by the Bobcats. Talk about locking to a common pocket. First recorded in 1938! ✌✌

[@jerryg2757]

Awesome bass line

[@mikosoft]

4:45 that screen is actually part of the sampler, that's the famous Fairlight CMI. Everybody at that time used it.

[@IAmInfinitus208]

Fretless Musicman Cutlass 2 bass played with a pick (not funk fingers), Boss OC-2, maybe a chorus, and crazy amounts of compression.

[@ellonysman]

You're wrong. Davie504 changed bass forever, actually.

[@User-gfys-0icu81]

You think Tonys’ playing is phenomenal with Peter Gabriel, you should hear Bozzio, Levins, Stevens!!! 😮❤❤❤

[@RedForceProductions]

Didn't know the song "Sledgehammer" and thought you were talking about Tony Levin himself, and I was rather disappointed when I learned that a man that looks like *that* isn't nicknamed Sledgehammer. Thankfully my disappointment was quickly lifted by the Funk Fingers. Would be a bomb nickname though.

[@ragrj2009]

Interesting... for me, in 1984, that song was just a boring pop music. The music was also employed on a very silly/stupid TV show. Now I think it's cool, not a RUSH song, but cool.

[@repentnow1720]

YOU: "Tony Levin changed the world of Bass playing with the song Sledgehammer!" All TL Fans: "Have you NOT listened to KC's Discipline or 3 of a Perfect Pair CDs?!?!"

[@eddiemiller7800]

If you guys found a way to get Esperanza Spalding on either channel if only for a interview that would be so awesome!

[@devinebass]

We would love to at some point!!!