Lesson 24 of 45Hammond OrganIntermediate

Bassline: 'Green Onions' Booker T

2:01
On the record Booker had Duck Dunn playing bass, but if you want to play this tune solo you need a bassline, and Joe walks us through how to play one
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45 lessons (3h 0m) · 1 free
    • 01. Performance: 'Green Onions' Booker T

      3:01

    • 02. Tones: 'Green Onions' Booker T

      3:08

    • 03. Playing the tune: 'Green Onions' Booker T

      8:21

    • 04. Lead lines: 'Green Onions' Booker T

      4:43

    • 05. Bassline: 'Green Onions' Booker T

      You are here

      2:01

    • 06. Performance: Jimmy McGriff - All About My Girl

      3:43

    • 07. Keyboard view performance: Jimmy McGriff - All About My Girl

      3:43

    • 08. Tones: 'All About My Girl' - Jimmy McGriff

      4:01

    • 09. Intro: 'All About My Girl' - Jimmy McGriff

      2:10

    • 10. Playing the head: 'All About My Girl' - Jimmy McGriff

      2:58

    • 11. Bassline: 'All About My Girl' - Jimmy McGriff

      1:52

    • 12. Ending: 'All About My Girl' - Jimmy McGriff

      1:51

    • 13. Improvisation and comping: 'All About My Girl' - Jimmy McGriff

      4:38

Lesson transcript

Creating a Bass Line for Your Music

So if you're playing at home on your own, you're going to need a bass line to carry it on the record.

It's going to be Duck Dunn playing bass and Booker is just doing his thing on the theme and the lead line.

Adding Your Own Bass Line

But if you're going to try and put a bass line in there, remember:

  • The same things we were doing in the intro
  • It's obviously a bit harder to keep going whilst you're trying to play the licks

You're going to need to split your head in two a bit there, but you can get there!

Tips for Improvisation

  • Use the same line, but I'm not doing the skip that we were doing in the intro. That isn't there.
  • Put that in, have a go with it.

Don't feel you need to stick to what Booker does in the lead lines.

Explore and Experiment

  • Do your own thing with it.
  • Stick some trills in.
  • Incorporate your jazzy, more Jimmy Smith kind of elements.
  • Maybe add some repetitive notes.

Have Fun!

Have fun with it!

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Joe Glossop

Joe Glossop

Joe Glossop is a keyboard player from Sheffield who has made his name on the Hammond organ. He currently holds the organ chair in Tom Jones's touring band, and has played with Van Morrison and James Hunter, as well as on piano and Rhodes. His courses get the real Hammond sound out of any keyboard - drawbar registration, the Leslie, the walking-bass left hand, and the comping and soloing vocabulary of the soul-jazz, blues and rock organ traditions, from Jimmy Smith to Booker T.

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