Artist - Chic
Electric Bass - Bernard Edwards
Difficulty - Intermediate
Hey all!
For this week’s transcription i’ve gone back to one of my all time favourite players, Bernard Edwards, who not only laid down incredible bass lines with Chic but also with Sister Sledge, Diana Ross and Riptide among others. His work really does speak for itself and I never get tired of listening to him play.
This track is one of his best known, Le Freak from the album C’est Chic and there are all kinds of little gems within the line that I love coming back to! The verse groove is something like my musical comfort food, and that 8th note bass break is something I LOVE to play live. Things to look for? Articulation, note length and time feel, three things that define what makes Bernard sound the way he does. His articulation in particular is extremely punchy (helped by his Musicman Stingray) and his feel is very much ‘up on the toes’ rather than really laid back.
As I don’t own a Stingray, my Fodera in dual coil mode was the closest I can get! Full signal chain was Fodera (dual coil mode, both pickups, passive tone rolled on) - Cali76 compressor - Audient interface - Garageband.
Enjoy!
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The full transcription is free via the link below, paid subscribers can download the transcription without a watermark
