How to Play Lovely Day Bass Tutorial Pt. 1. Bill Withers Lesson.

I do not own the rights to this song. This video is intended for educational purposes only.
How to Play Lovely Day by Bill Withers. Bass Line Lesson.
Tabs at the end of the Video
Link to Part 2 - The Pre Chorus
• How to play Lovely Day...
Link to Part 3 - Chorus
• How to Play Lovely Day...
Equipment
Fender Geddy Lee MIJ Jazz
Orange Crush amp (line out)
Focusrite Scarlett 18i8
AKG C200B mic
Samsung Galaxy S10+
Microsoft Video Editor
Killer groove. Key of E. Root 5th grooves. bass driven, funky.

[@crobledom]

great lesson, congrats, thank you so much greetings from Vancouver Canada

[@DavidConnorsMusic]

Greetings from Detroit, MI. Glad you found this video.

[@steveninspain2022]

Just what I needed! A bass lesson with theory analysis into a song! More to come please!

[@DavidConnorsMusic]

Glad you dig it and hope it was helpful. Let me know if there are any songs you would like me to add to the queue to break down and cover.

[@Just_Me_TG]

Hey, I just learned the whole bassline thanks to your three videos. Just wanted to say thank you!

[@DavidConnorsMusic]

Thank you for the feedback. Glad I could help. If you have any questions or requests, let me know.

[@ericchabinsky1057]

Finally- some quality bass lessons on You Tube without a bloody English accent!! Keep it up!!

[@andtothewestamerica]

lol

[@robertpataki4844]

This is a great lesson David, I really like how you break the song down and slow it down.

[@DavidConnorsMusic]

Rhythm before speed.

[@sakkimenkiix6758]

Thank you! I have wanted to learn this song for a long time and you explain it very well!

[@_reannawalker]

Thank you! My favorite song and I always wanted to learn it. Great teaching!

[@DavidConnorsMusic]

Quite possibly my favorite as well. Thanks for the feedback. Hope this video helps you.

[@powerforward1955]

Hello again David, I’m still enjoying your bass tutorials. I’ve often felt that Bill Withers was under appreciated in his later years. Is your Jazz Bass the American Professional version? It’s really sharp looking. Thx for sharing so much music. Peace.

[@DavidConnorsMusic]

@powerforward1955 Hello. Bill Withers is an interesting character with some killer tunes. The J bass is a Japanese(MIJ) Geddy Lee Signature. Think it is a 2006? Most of them have a black body. I just happened to come across the sunburst finish.

[@jonswift7174]

Excellent lesson David.Have subscribed

[@DavidConnorsMusic]

Thanks and welcome

[@powerforward1955]

Thanks David. I appreciate your teaching style. I was trying to determine your muting technique. Are you muting with your fretting hand? Stay safe.

[@DavidConnorsMusic]

Thanks for the positive words. Yes, the muting comes from the fretting hand to create the percussive "dead" notes. Keep your fingers relaxed and in contact with the strings. It actually takes more physical effort to fret the note and/or to let the fingers lift off the strings ("fly away" fingers). Minimal movement is key for maximum results.

[@powerforward1955]

@@DavidConnorsMusic Thanks a million!

[@fooloscopy5948]

Hello ! Thanks for breaking down this classic song, it's really helpful. Just one question (sorry if it's stupid I'm a beginner in music theory) : what's happening between the intro/verse part and the pre-chorus ? Is there a key change ? In the intro/verse part we play I VI IV V in the key of E and then in the pre-chorus we move to a D note which is not even present in the E major scale ? Thanks to anyone who will clear up my confusion about this. All the best,

[@fooloscopy5948]

I think I may have figured it out : are we switching from E Major to E Minor ? the D is present in the E minor scale.

[@DavidConnorsMusic]

Excellent Question! There is also a C natural in the Verse Line that does not exist in the key of E. The A and B Chords (IV and V) from the verse section shift to minor 7ths in the pre-chorus with alternate bass notes (D and E). It would appear that the shift in the pre-chorus is either to the key of E minor (as you stated), or E dominant. It definitely changes the mood of the song and adds unresolved tension that pulls it into the chorus. Let me know what information you come up with regarding the theory behind this song.

[@ocgmike132]

wait im trying to learn this on a guitar for Bill Withers but what tuning should i put it in

[@DavidConnorsMusic]

I would imagine standard (EADGBE) tuning. If you are just playing the chords, you could possibly put a capo @ fret 4. It would still likely require barre chords. Let me know how you work it out.

[@ocgmike132]

@@DavidConnorsMusic today i was figuring out tuning bass on guitar and i put it on standard bass tuning but just went a bit deeper but not like half step deep and i figured out how to do the song by ear and not by watching the video. just watched where your hands went and followed that area till i got the right sounding notes. its all on the top 2 strings

[@DavidConnorsMusic]

@@ocgmike132 10-4. You are learning the bassline on guitar. Standard tuning will work. Probably would sound even cooler with an octaver or whammy pedal to get the octave-down bass sound. There is a cool "funk' guitar part in there and the chord progressions are pretty sweet too. Cheers.

[@andtothewestamerica]

This a very high quality lesson, thank you! sub'ed!

[@adamdavies1910]

Do you do a lot of these? I absolutely love the English accent bass lessons (sorry, Eric - NB Luke is Aussie, and Mark and Scott are from Yorkshire!), but they don't tend to dissect songs, and I need some of that to accompany the theory stuff. And this here was exactly at the right level for me! (Plus a great track). Thanks David.

[@DavidConnorsMusic]

Hi Adam. Thanks for the feedback. I plan to do more videos on a regular basis. Let me know if you have any specific requests as I am always looking for content inspiration. Subscribe for updates. I started this channel a few weeks ago when we (in Michigan) went into Covid Lockdown as a way to support my local student's lessons for the week. I've been a private one-on-one music instructor/coach for 15+ years and have had to recently add online instruction to keep my students engaged at home. I encourage learning from multiple sources, and KZbin is a great place to find inspiration. There has never been a opportunity in our history to study music and practice an instrument. Eric is a friend and student from when I was living in North Carolina. His comment reflects his sense of humor. Of course we both know appreciate the well known British accented tutorials.

[@adamdavies1910]

@@DavidConnorsMusic That sounds good. Anything where we can use the theory learnt on the other main channels. Personally I'd love to analyse and learn anything that's soul-jazz-funk-pop-disco-reggae- Broadway... and not too difficult. Your explanations are exactly where I'm at.

[@adamdavies1910]

Ha! Unfortunately I've been cursed with the supposedly dry British sense of humour (or humor, depending on your side of the pond). And with the CV-19 lockdown of course. Learning the bass from scratch after 20 year musical hiatus, since giving up bonfire guitar, fake (ie. crap) jazz/pop piano and a half decent funk drumming. Keen to learn anything Stevie, Marley, Gaye, etc, or 80s Brit-pop (Wham, Thompson twins, ub40, Supertramp,...), or soul jams (Van Dross, Lionel, Kool, Melvin, Flack, Knight, Crawford,...), singer songwriters (Billy, Elton, Paul Simon, Carole King, Taylor), Broadway,... basically anything cheesy. Yes, that's the best summary. Cheese!

[@DavidConnorsMusic]

@@adamdavies1910 Since moving to Michigan (United States) a year ago I have been adapting to Canadian Humor (Schitts Creek, working moms). Americans do gravitate towards sarcastic wit. What you listed, Those are some of my favorite (favourite) artists and genres. I like to teach based around what I enjoy sharing and what the student enjoys listening to. Stevie is likely next on the list for a tutorial as there are some essential basslines in his music that I encourage every student to learn. I have learned, played, and taught some Wham, Thompson Twins (Raise your hands? is that one of their songs), UB40, Elton, etc...I also have younger students who influence me to listen to some really good modern music that doesn't otherwise cross my radar. In that realm, My first bass tutorial video is "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish. Disney, Broadway Musicals and video game music all seem very popular with the next generation of musicians. I also post guitar and ukulele tutorials. Most of my students are guitar or ukulele players. I may pepper in some basic piano and drum tutorials as well as those are currently my prime instruments of study. Guitar was my first love, but Bass is the love of my life.

[@adamdavies1910]

@@DavidConnorsMusic Sounds good. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out. My ultimate goal is to be able to play Sir Duke properly (ie. not by rote but actually understanding what I'm doing). I've given myself a year to 1st April 2021! In the meantime, happy to learn what I can. I may even be looking for a live session or two at some point, to check my technique, bass position, etc. Cheers, David. A