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Duff and Steve helped me move a sheet of plywood into my room (by putting it on top of milk crates to support my bed) when we all lived at 1750 N. Sycamore Ave. (2nd floor) in Hollywood.
Theory lingo alert! Duff tip: Always use a perfect fourth even if the chord change requires you to use the lydian sound (#11)!! That's how his lines give many GNR songs a bluesy and rebellious feel. Paradise City, Sweet Child of mine, Knocking on heaven's Doors are a great example of this.
@@johnnatelli3841 uhm for instance, in sweet child of mine, bass lines run like a major scale for every major chord. Even if what Axl sings follows the D flat major scale diatonically. The vocal line goes for a sharp 11 during B major but not the bass. The bass avoids F#
Oh, I got you. He does do that all the time. Sure, it makes sense that he would have no knowledge of chord scales and just treat every chord like a new tonic. That’s kind of funny to think about. Really good observation.
Duff’s playing on Appetite is an absolute masterclass of rock bass playing. He adds so much dynamic energy and his interplay with the rest of the band is masterful. He absolutely unleashes during the double time section in paradise city
Saw GNR at the Marquee Club in 1986. What a band. Managed to get right in front of Duff. Watching him play with the sweat just running off him. In my top five best gigs. They were something else.
The way he locked in with Adler is a huge part of the way they sounded and it’s massively underrated. When Adler got the heave and Sorum came in, while Sorum was technically better, they lost that and the band was much worse as a result.
(guitar player here) If only for the unbelievably brilliant bass intro to Sweet Child O' Mine, which to me is the BEST melodic bass line ever recorded, he deserves a special place in rock history. Awesome team player, and a huge part of the GnR sound. He's up there with Tom Hamilton, Roger Glover, Geezer Butler and Bob Daisley.
Before I saw Duff's list at the end, my initial thought was that his bass playing, really does serve the song. Melodic, creative and sets the mood of the songs perfectly.
*one of the most rated bassist, and he earned it. under rated would mean that no one ever gives him his attention but he is actually one of the most popular, well known and well recognized bassist in the world. he is great and everyone knows it :)
I never think about it, as I have never seriously analyzed GNR in this way, but his bass lines really are a crucial part of their sound. Now that I think about it I was always hearing it and "feeling" it and liking it but not paying attention. To me thats part of what the true greatest bass players and drummers do, and they usually don't get the recognition for this exact reason. The older I get the more I respect bass players and feel its the trickiest instrument. There are plenty of Guitar players I can't touch but know exactly what they are doing and how and why they did it, but bass, especially good bass, somehow eludes me. Not the playing but the decisions, the composition choices. It's just not what I'd do for whatever reason. Traditional bass lines make no damn sense to me and its hard to keep it up but on guitar I can "glide" over the top and make mistakes and bend my way out of them and stuff.
Started playing bass last year, now that I am listening more to the Bass in songs duff quickly stood out to me. a very unique tone and some tasty licks.
The more I study your lessons, the more I realize that playing bass is not simple as it could seem to be. Bass is the simplest instrument to play badly, while playing it seriously is quite hard even for the simplest basslines. It's a hard work of precision, ears and groove, melted with the difficulty of playing on a big, long neck and a heavy instrument. Thank you man, your work is superb.
My first intrument was bass, on early 90's, also played drums and nowadays I consider myself a bass player whose plays guitar, Duff McKagan, Mike Starr and Jason Newsted with their massive sound and huge stage presence inspired me in the beggining, because of them I started on bass.
As someone who used to play in TWO GNR tribute bands, I find this video truly eye opening. About his picking: seems to me it had changed throughout the years: The AFD picking style sounds to me like a heavier pick playing near the bridge pickup, as it get more of a 'thump' sound, While the more recognizable "Illusion" picking style is a thinner pick playing little 'north' of the neck pickup, which gives more of a 'zing' sound (if those terms make any sense) It also helps to pick at an angle which is not parallel to the strings (try and see what you get). Also - He doesn't boost a lot of highs in his sound, just a little bit. Nor boosting the heck out the lows. Gallien Krueger is THE amp for the job, for having rock-solid mids, while not being too "bassy". NOTE: The chorus effect is not used as much as people think, only in key parts, that's why everyone thinks he uses it all the time. Overall, yeah, Duff is the finest example of a modern rock bass player.
Great video Paul! I really like the bass playing in "Rocket Queen" especially. Duff's a great bass player with a great sound that also managed to have excellent music production. Eric Stacy of the original Fasterpussycat band was really good too, especially on "Whipped". Thanks again!
Duff is the reason I picked up a bass too. In my teens, I used to have a GNR poster, adorning the door of my room. The live photo of Duff was the coolest, I've ever seen a rock musician. A young, pre-bloated Duff, leather jacket, wide stance, bleached blonde hair on his face, cigarette hanging between the lips, with his black P Bass. That combined with the punky, nasty bass tone, and awesome riffs. The whole band had a perfect bad boy image, for a kid living in the early 90s but Duff was hands down the coolest of them all! You pointed out a lot of obvious things, that make his playing really stand out. Things I've never thought about but now explain, the uniqueness of his sound.
i think this might be interesting even for duff himself. because most of the stuff someone does, happens unconsciously. this is a good analyse of what he does, when he plays bass.
He has a Fender deluxe Precision Bass with signature Seymour Duncan pickups and a special circuit switch. Fresh strings and pick if you want to start somewhere.
Awesome, thank you so much! Duff is the reason I started playing bass, definitely has led an interesting life. His story is so inspiring. Definitely my favorite bass player. I always bring him up when I get crap for playing with a pick.
It would be nice if you do one about Kelly Nickels from L.A. Guns. I think his playing style is kinda similar to Duff's and I really enjoy it. Cheers! :)
Dude you gotta do Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith, he is an absolute MONSTER on the bass. A real "bass player's bass player", he plays exactly the right line for the songs, both complex and simple when needed. He's effective with both fingers and pick, really just a fantastic bass player. Duff McKagan and him are my absolute favorites.
I was gonna mention Tom as well. Really similar surroundings: blaring guitars, high register frontman taking up a lot of space, rhythm section very much in "know your role" territory. Both of them were excellent at supporting the song, picking their spots for fills, and exercising a lot of discernment as to how to be creative with the context of the song. Two of the best rock bassists, both really knew what they were doing.
Tom is one of the most underrated bassist out there. I never see anyone talking about him even when mentioning his peers. People talk about Steve Harris, Geddy Lee, John Paul Jones, etc but never mention Tom Hamilton from Aerosmith. The bass line to “Sweet Emotion” is legendary and can be a bit tricky to actually get the timing right and that’s just one of many Aerosmith songs.
Geddy has a very similar playing profile, lots of high notes, lots of following or leading guitar, ending bars with high notes ect, but he does do a lot of other strange techniques. I'm not a fan of G&R, but I do appreciate their sound in general. The bassist from Iron Maiden is also freaking amazing.
I’m reaching waaaaay back but my point correlates to exactly Duff’s choice of notes. The song: Sure Gonna Miss Her by Gary Lewis & The Playboys. Throughout the song and just when you think the bassist will land on the low note, you’re immediately surprised that the high note is accentuated instead. I often wonder if it’s a “guitar player who’s playing bass” thing or not. Not sure….but it sure sounds good! The great Carl Radle played in this band but I’m not certain it’s him here on this track. Speaking of Carl, you may want to consider looking into his life and career. It’ll speak for itself…trust me.
Duff is the reason I played bass too!!!! Chorus. Set your action down so the strings rattle a little on the frets I have a Jackson 4 string that with effects set right clones his tone pretty well
I love this series. There is something to learn from every bass player, whether you play their style of music or not. And loved how you mentioned he was the reason you began to play bass. We all have our inspirations, mine is Adam Clayton of U2. Not the flashiest, but he serves the song.
I used to think U2 songs were easy until I tried to learn "Where the Streets Have No Name". If your pick playing is deficient, this song will reveal it.
@@57precision Yep! I know a few bass players who can only play with their fingers. Knowing how to play with a pick as well is so important and opens up so many more doors in terms of tone.
Duff's tips are incredibly wise. If you think on him as boy doing this stuff back then, you'll realize how Guns 'n' roses was a dream team. In reality, all this big bands were.
obrigado! thanks for this analysis. I began as a guitar player (for about 10 years) and switched to bass until now (15 years ago). when I made the transition, it was almost as if I had never heard many of the songs I love, because I started to really "listen" to the bass And that's when I discovered the duff. He'd always been there, but I'd never really heard him. this also happens in my band, because we play some gnr covers and i make a point of playing them some Duff bass lines for them to see how they helped sculpt the sound of the Guns and Roses.
Great video, I love this series of videos!=) I think Duff McKagan is one of the great rock bass players, I am not the biggest Guns N Roses fan but I have always liked Duff
Duff in '92 made you want to play bass?!?!? ME TOO!! I was lucky enough, during my senior year of high school, to drive to Orlando, Florida with 3 friends from Starke, Florida, to see GN'R, Metallica, and Faith No More at the Citrus Bowl! It was September 2, 1992- I'll never forget that date as it was the moment I realized I wanted to play bass in a band! I still play to this day because of Duff. I stood 20 feet from him and was mesmerized...
There’s a couple of bass tracks from the Appetite album on youtube that I believe to be legit. You can definitely hear the ghost notes which add more umph.
Total bullshit, Steve doesn’t play like this. Duff wrote these basslines and played them. Listen to early GNR shows and sound city sessions, Duff talks throughout the set and the basslines he plays are in development but still sound like him. Just because he was some punk stoner kid who played guitar doesn’t mean he couldn’t write or play bass. He brother taught him some bass early on in his life too. Steve has an ego through the roof and is a liar
@@KellySKline I'd be surprised if there were many ghost players on Illusion since Pro Tools was out by that point. But yeah, AFD is filled with ghost players, even the guitar solos.
he is a monster pick player - as a finger style player some of the ghost notes are not quite as pronounced when GnR is covered and his use of octaves is very noticeable
