Vulfpeck's "Dean Town" on Bass Guitar | Reverb Learn to Play

Vulfpeck brings funk back to the forefront with their energetic jams, thanks in no small part to the soul-infused work of bassist Joe Dart. Today, Jake is picking apart Dart's bass work on "Dean Town" and teaching us how to play it. Follow along and get some ideas for how to funk up your bass playing.
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[@KidHellacious]

This video be like: How to draw an owl 1. Draw Circle 2. Draw the Owl

[@vincentkoster6291]

This is so accurate 😂

[@ILiveForTheSummers]

r/restofthefuckingowl

[@hunterkiller889]

It's a little hard

[@akmadsen]

Well, except it's "how to draw an owl" but he then proceeds to draw something resembling an owl but with lots and lots of wrong features.

[@maximo.01]

Nice! Now please get Joe Dart to talk about his playing and other stuff :D

[@markhawksford785]

Max A. My man's don't talk often

[@alejandroluengo674]

You can listen to him at the No Treble podcast ("groove"), and at the channel Allegra - stopitsgingertime.

[@hershiekopper]

I got the chance to chat with Joe Dart after a Vulf show in Toronto, and he said he switched from those old rounds to Thomastik Flats on his jazz. Definitely crucial in nailing this tone

[@user-jr2vh3mp3e]

There are a few mistakes. The pickup from the sixteenth notes into the main part is c#, d#, c#, not c#, e, c#. Also during the main section when it goes to the C# chord, there’s no f# on beat 2 it’s just a rest.

[@laxing77]

Can you provide time stamps. Not sure what you mean by "main part"

[@f2detaboada]

*Broke* : Neck p-up w/ a bit of bridge p-up blended in with the tone full on *Woke* : Bridge p-up soloed and the tone rolled off completely

[@GuyOnTheInternet53]

Fernando II de Taboada or tone rolled all the way up and just roll the bridge up a quarter

[@f2detaboada]

Skylar Cook that’s what I meant by *broke*

[@akiraishu4453]

instead of making this, they should invite Joe himself for an interview

[@patdavey7187]

Well you helped a student of mine learn an important lesson. ALWAYS TRANSCRIBE MUSIC YOURSELF and don't take KZbin lessons as gospel. So I am a drummer. I broke my left hand so to keep me amused I learned the head to Dean Town using my right hand on a keyboard. A college student of mine who plays bass was impressed, I made a deal with them that if they learned it we could play it together after class. They played it well but with a bunch of wrong notes. Now I know where those notes came from......

[@larrymcqueary]

This is SO true. And it kills me how many wrong bass lines are copied from one video to another, to another. I went through a period where I was traveling a lot for work while I was with a new band, so I was having to learn a lot of material with very little practice time. I tried using videos but just watching some of them, I'd be like.... "no, that doesn't sound right". I finally got a little Akai midi controller and started transcribing the songs myself while on airplanes. Worth every penny and every minute invested.

[@theHumanBryno]

Vulfpeck is so terrific. I probably won't learn this since I'm not really a bassist, but I love the content. Reverb is killing it lately.

[@tastybassy8135]

Vulf yes, reverb no

[@theHumanBryno]

What's wrong with Reverb?

[@tastybassy8135]

Baity titles, no information vids.... this is the easily one of the better ones in my opinion.

[@theHumanBryno]

Between the bass walk videos, the synth sounds videos, Tommy Emmanuel showing up on the channel recently and Jordan West's drum lick videos I've been really happy. Not to mention it's free and quality content. I'm not really sure what else you could ask for.

[@abelton20]

You can still learn it on guitar or piano or any instrument

[@corrda1993]

I'm really worried about Joe Dart's neck.

[@FormulaMonte]

Don't worry, his neck isn't moving at all. The power of his bass moves the earth around his stationary head.

[@zac9311]

@@FormulaMonte somebody repost a video of a vulfpeck show, but mo cap stabilize the whole video around joe darts head

[@regimiro4888]

Daniel Goodwin Joe is the bass, the wooden thing you see in his hands is merely his method of communication

[@Michael-yr3ok]

@@zac9311 do you have the link? i really want to watch it...

[@vivael18]

So many wrong notes. Guys you need to do some serious quality check before "teaching" others how to play stuff.

[@DylantheScapegoat18]

seriously

[@mtkwe]

Not so many, just a couple

[@raaron4315]

i just got that this song is a reference to Jaco's teen town

[@MisterCaution]

Joe Dart and 16th notes go together like... Rocco and 16th notes... This is the first time I’ve seen someone play a Fender bass with both pickup guards on.

[@stathamanthony]

Love all the videos this guy does for Reverb. He’s great at the bass and a joy to listen to talk about all these great bass players and their work

[@SimplyJojo]

Only real bass players know whats wrong with this video lol

[@ronniarbitiaas3095]

Any person with decent musical sense can detect the inconsistency in his first demostration (stopped there, dunno what's after)

[@patdavey7187]

I'm a drummer and I'm also aghast.

[@larrymcqueary]

Regardless of instrument, I hope any musician with a good sense of time knows what's wrong.

[@AdamHallacher]

@@ronniarbitiaas3095 yeah not to mention there were tons of completely wrong notes

[@TheZammySam]

1:34 not an E, an E-flat

[@MrGul]

Technically a D#. It's the major 6th of that chord which as F# as its root. Eb would be a flattened flat 7th in relationship to F# and the E is already "taken" by the natural E (regular flat 7th) which is also present in the chord & melody. D# and # are enharmonic, but they definitely don't mean the same when talking about theory.

[@TheGeekFactor_]

Mr. Gul Well... I mean he’s not wrong if we are talking frequency. After all, it’s all sound is. I’m terms of frequency D# is Eb, so he’s both right and wrong all at once. Hooray music lol

[@herrlogi]

Great song and great presentation here thanks

[@henry2179]

It’s so fast, I need to practice more. Thanks for the lesson

[@Vsko478]

Please roll dat tone off :(

[@Shankopottomus]

V Ferreira jazz bassists be like: insist on playing flats, compensate for lack of high end by diming tone knob and playing as close to the bridge as possible

[@user-wm3ft4jt8q]

where is groove, man?

[@clandestin011]

maybe playing the final result with a metronome would help both the viewer and you. Because to be honest, there's almost half a beat of rest missing a bit after 6:02

[@kbreviews7785]

really tough song, super fun to learn

[@StrangoFilm]

0:27 very true

[@0o0o099999]

I'll start by finding a video on how to make 16ths sound good, then I'll be back 8'D

[@laxing77]

Looking for help, can anybody give me a starting point for how to approximate Joe's tone? Not really good with figuring it out myself, was hoping for some guidance for this song.

[@organisedchaos8208]

Its all about the Fender jazz bro! If you got one then dial in back pickup with a little more bass tone dialled in and play like you stroking a woman (",)

[@samlangton5228]

Doesn't matter too much about the bass (okay he recorded this using a Fender Jazz but he now plays a Music Man). Biggest thing: play as close to the bridge as possible and play it hard.

[@szrnkabela]

Fender Jazz, SD Antiquity II ($$$, but really a part of the magic), old Rotosound rounds. His best bass ever. The Joe Dart II doesn't cut through the mix as well. Knobs: Neck 20%, Bridge 80%, Tone 80%. Miked through a humble solid state Amp in the studio version.

[@roquemusic]

For a second, I thought it was going to be Joe Dart explaining this! Still good, but it sounds like there might by some variety to what Joe played in their video.

[@LovingGoodContent]

assuming I don't have any musically inclined friends, well you'd be right ;D

[@coleemmersonhallman5329]

Nice

[@bassbymichele]

Is that an American Vintage 64 Jazz?

[@sundownrec]

Is it me or is the last bar too short? The run down to the F# from the E starts on the next bar line.

[@laxing77]

Great video, but just another clarification for the chromatic slide up, Joe actually plays it with his ring finger and then hits the high E with his pinky. Slow down the official video and watch the last time he plays it, the camera actually zooms in on his hand

[@jakehoneywill1]

First thing wrong with this video is the tone.. bridge pickup & dill off some tone dude

[@MikeHunt.420]

Jake: you must not have friends… You:☹️ Jake: …who know who vulfpeck are. You:😅

[@andersingram]

is the title a reference to weather reports teen town do ya reckon ?

[@freakyrawen]

It's got to be!

[@coleemmersonhallman5329]

I'm thinking yes

[@maartenarnou]

It is!

[@randallwalsh3919]

Anders Panders it has the same hi hat and split jaco drums

[@AfferbeckBeats]

There are also some direct quotes of Parliament's Do That Stuff. Woody composed Dean Town and is a big fan of Parliament.

[@karlsberg3455]

If you only did the Joe Dart bobblehead

[@outdoortime3648]

I think Joe's neck moves are the secret to his tone...

[@npthedarkside27]

Oh boy

[@80sruler]

Still working on the beginning ;]

[@raphaellequinnramos7598]

I actually learned this song by listening to it note per note. I can't read music sheets, yet I still know that he murdered the song just by listening to it. So many wrong notes.

[@adamputtergill]

Do a Louis Johnson video please! We need it!

[@Reverb]

We definitely need to do more, but a little of Louis Johnson's catalog is covered in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b4DOlYpobaisp7M

[@waawaaweewaa2045]

Hes only using the bridge pickup and playing by the bridge for the jaco tone.

[@TSBASSIST]

Why in the fuck isn't the bridge pickup soloed

[@marcoonoroto9765]

Good job overall, but he should state the differences from the original. I like to watch several renditions when learning a song. Anyone want to post their favs of Dean Town?

[@parkerthomsen4825]

Used this video to learn it, I can now play it pretty well, I learned this song not long after starting bass, I always thought that these people in the comments saying it was wrong were delusional or something, just re-listened to it, yeah, there are a lot of errors here, mainly in the notes.

[@slowrest6041]

Many wrong notes EDIT: just a couple of bad notes

[@theethanatorem]

Francisco Silva Can you tell us what they are? If not, shut up. Accurate transcription and playing as well.

[@bacicinvatteneaca]

theethanatorem hecc off

[@PublicEnemy1337]

Yup, this has mistakes

[@reiniervanzwieten7092]

2:13 played a wrong note G# (actually an extra note so he actually not even listening to the amount of notes) 3:20 Again plays an extra note. 6:02 it's really clear that he plucks 2 notes there instead of a quick hammer on as in the original this makes it sound like two notes instead of one note with a sort of ad lib to it. Also i believe the double stop is not correct but i've seen many people do it this way and i heard people do it the other way so but that one is quite hard to get. also in some places he plays a slide instead of staccato notes. and he also he does not play it clean by a long shot, he gets a lot of note lengths wrong his shifting accuracy is shit that combined with some of his slide timings are bad (what i mean by that is for example that with the lick up the neck he first plays 3 notes then slides and fretts the last note with his pink instead of playing the 2 notes with first index and middle then slide up the neck then plays one note with index and then the last note with pink. which i wouldn't mind if he played that cleanly which he did not) He gets a lot of the notes right but the ones he does get wrong are not justifiable IMO. that combined with him not having the feel of the song it seems rushed, tense and not nearly as funky when he plays it. He just pumps it too full of notes as sound when sometimes the silences make it more funky which vulfpeck in the original demonstrated perfectly. even though it is a constant stream of notes it is really funky with the stops and silences at the right place. which would all be be forgivable if he didn't teach it and pretend to know every single thing Joe does, for example he stated that joe does a little slide near the end which you can clearly hear in the original he plays staccato as separate notes.

[@SimplyJojo]

As a bass player that learned this song by ear, even though it was only a few mistakes, it bothered me a bunch

[@zac9311]

Makes me want to throw my bass in the trash. And then sit in there with it for about five years

[@aakkoin]

technically a-ok, but it's gotta be more staccato (cheers from a drummer)

[@reiniervanzwieten7092]

True he also mushed some extra notes in it that ruined the flow. and some wrong notes.

[@jeefunk8833]

Probably the most un-groovy thing I heard in a while! A robot on cafeine would groove more.

[@franciscamafouana52]

C shark? lol

[@bolicabolica]

These people complaining about the tone, this is a how to play, not how to get the same tone.

[@BeardyTheCake]

But not even all the notes are correct.

[@oldethangoogleacc8484]

man this guy should have been given a click to play to so his timing would be consistent

[@alexbreyer6921]

Wow. That tone is really not Vulfpeck. Way too much mud in there makes this tune hard to stand out in.

[@BecaSchmitt]

That is the tone of Joe, it's just that they use the VULF COMPRESSOR THAT BURNS HELL INTO THE BASS TONE AND WELL WHAT CAN YOU DO?

[@thefliesband3765]

it's how to play not how to get the tone

[@alexbreyer6921]

I couldn't disagree more. He even plays a clip of the song. Joe uses that Jaco sound that is much more tight and upfront mids. This is soft, flabby low end.

[@BecaSchmitt]

Alex Breyer Totally agree with you.

[@marike1100]

It's because Dart in the clip is playing a Fender Jazz bass right on top of the bridge pickup, Jaco style. And the presenter is using a Fender Precision, which doesn't really produce the same type of sound even with the tone knob wide open. Note, Dart plays Jazz Bass, P-Bass, a MM Stingray, and even a short scale Fender bass.

[@datboi7858]

how the fuck can you come up with such a bassline

[@guyarshansky3341]

you got some mistakes there but nice!

[@calebmooneyham287]

If someone is is learning this, I would hope they're already at the point to where they know the notes and frets on the neck 😂

[@juanestebanlopezquintero2948]

I just muted this guy so i could read the score...

[@victorvilchesf]

I remember those old days when you had to really KNOW something to teach it.

[@Empyrean55]

Victor Vilches k

[@orion4079]

You sound like a grandpa

[@thewomble1509]

Whoa millennial expert alert!

[@danielrock3498]

Tone is Terrible hahahahah

[@wingo84]

Daniel Rock as is your comment.

[@Generalbas1972]

Why are you teaching people to play it wrong? the double stop isn't just minor 6 (Eflat and A) it goes to the minor 7 (E and A) you shouldn't teach people to play stuff wrong it's bad

[@meck5367]

Funkmaster K bruh calm your tits it’s HIS transcription of the song it MIGHT not be the same as the version you play

[@Generalbas1972]

@@meck5367 first of all don't call me bruh dude. Second of all if you do a transcription you can't just change things here and there where you feel like it. and Third that's not the *ONLY* mistake there is in this "cover" and i'm not the only one commenting on all the mistakes, so why don't you just stfu hellium unge

[@meck5367]

KS I like the helium unge insult that didn’t work. Just saying you shouldn’t try to wreak havoc on someone for trying to teach a famous bass line. Sure there may be a few mistakes, but he’s not intentionally teaching them wrong, that makes zero sense.

[@Generalbas1972]

@@meck5367 the hellium unge insult always works. I'm not saying he's intentionally teaching them wrong, but to go on youtube and make a learn to play video with that many mistakes which clearly shows he didn't even learn it himself is just wrong. It would be the same if i made a video about learning a C major scale and i would teach it with C - D - Eflat - F - G - A - B. so everyone who watched my video would think that the third step in a Major scale is a minor third and not a major. That would just be wrong

[@meck5367]

KS Yes we all know the notes in a c major scale. I don’t think it matters here but I see what you’re trying to compare. What you’re not understanding is that some people have better ears than others. One person might hear things differently than another, and what he heard when he was transcribing this may not be correct, but he’s going off of what he hears and what he thinks are the correct notes. It’s fine if you correct him but he’s not intentionally trying to teach people the wrong notes to a song that makes no sense once again. And no, the helium unge insult does not work all the time.

[@angusleslie9965]

dreadful, could have at least got someone who can play bass?

[@Empyrean55]

AngusLeslie so upload the 'proper' version then

[@angusleslie9965]

facebook.com/AngusLeslie123/videos/vb.100003220642464/1611756588941680/?type=2&video_source=user_video_tab

[@angusleslie9965]

there ya gan sern

[@patrickohaodha8743]

Aw shit son hes done you

[@owens7807]

pompous dick

[@TheMikerath]

I don't want to be a hater, but I never saw a video where this guy plays something right. I get adding in your "flair" to things but thats not what he is doing, he just plays things wrong. Also probably the dumbest choice of jazz bass, some of Joe's tone clearly comes from anchoring his hand over the bridge pickup (as shown in the clip in this video) which you can't do with those pick up covers.

[@ZdraveBass]

Some wrong notes. No groove. Tone completely off. 3.5/10

[@stepsmp5718]

Some Muting and Phrasing mistakes coupled with the wrong notes make this video unwatchable, sorry my guy.

[@danigarcia7531]

it’s so obvious that this dude is nottttttt a bass player. awful tone, awful left hand technique, so much buzzing. if he were a bass player, maybe this lesson would be useful. yikes.