Victor Wooten's awesome slapping skills are put into full effect on this track from
his 1996 debut album, "A Show of Hands". "Me & My Bass Guitar" is a complex sounding
song
that is actually pretty accesible once broken down. As with many of Victor's jams,
lots
of ghost notes (written "x" on the tab) fill up space and give it that funky, complex
groove.
Also, check out Victor's website to get familiar with his "hammer, slap, pluck"
technique.
It is in full gear here.
Victor also has a secret to keeping his strings from vibrating too much: he puts a
fuzzy
hair tie on the neck, dampening the strings enough to keep them under control. You
can
see this in any of his videos or pictures of him playing. Use a small hair tie to
play this
song -- it is essential to reaching his distinctive sound.
Play along with the CD and be sure to "strum" those notes with all the fingers of
your right
Hand. He ends the intro with a quick tap on the G-string's 23rd fret before launching
into the MAIN GROOVE. For that tap, use either you right hand thumb or index finger.
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
| G x x x x x x |
| D x x x x x x |
| A START > x x x x x x |
| E x x x x x x |
"ah" "uh"
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
| G x x x x x x x |
| D x x x x x x x |
| A 9 x x x x x 10 |
| E x x x x x x x |
S S
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
| G x x x x x x x |
| D x x x x x x x |
| A x x x x x x x |
| E x x x x x x x |
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
| G x x x x x x |
| D x x x x x x |
| A 9 x x x x 10 |
| E x x x x x x |
S S
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
| G x x x x x x x |
| D x x x x x x x |
| A x x x x x x x |
| E x x x x x x x |
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
| G x x x x x x |
| D x x x x x x |
| A 9 x x x x 10 |
| E x x x x x x |
S S
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
| G x x x x x x x |
| D x x x x x x x |
| A x x x x x x 11 |
| E x x x x x x x |
S
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
| G x x x x x x x x |
| D x x x x x x x x |
| A x x x x x x x 12~~~~ |
| E x x x x x x x x |
S~~~~~~
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
| G x x x x x t23 |
| D x x x x x |
| A~~~~~~ x x 13~~~~~ x x | To MA | N GROOVE |
| E x x x x x |
~~~~~~~ S~~~~~~ R
MAIN GROOVE, without tapping
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
| G x x x |
| D h6 x h7 x |
| A h7 x x h5 |
| E h7 x h5 h6~~~ |
L R P L R P L R L R P L R L L
If this strikes you as a little difficult, here is an easier way to do it. There is
no plucking
involved. You just tap the note with your left hand (marked L), and slap the
remainder
of the muted ghost notes with your right thumb (marked R):
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
| G |
| D h6 x x h7 x |
| A h7 x x x h5 |
| E h7 x x h5 h6~~~ |
L R R L R R L R L R R L R L L
Either way works. Practice them slowly at first and build speed. When you have the
'bass'
of it, let's add the right hand chord tapping.
MAIN GROOVE, added tapping with right hand - index & middle
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
| G (t19) x x |
| D (t19) h6 x h7 x |
| A h7 x x h5 |
| E h7 h5 h6~~~ |
| G (t16) x x |
| D (t16) h6 x h7 x |
| A h7 x x h5 |
| E h7 h5 h6~~~ |
Note that both measures of the groove are the same, except for the tapping with the
right
hand (written in parenthesis) which goes from 19 to 16. Listen carefully to the CD to
get Victor's experimentations with the tapped chords. He sometimes will repeat the
hit on beat 2 of the measure, and also sometimes slides the chords up on the release.
There's
a method to his madness, but I'll leave that for you to find out. Now on to the
Chorus. .
.
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
| G (t16) x x x |
| D (t16) h6 x h7 x |
| A h7 x |