Two-Bass Hit

The power of doubling a bass line

- BY CORY WONG

ONE OF THE coolest and most badass-sounding things a guitarist can do is double a long, complex bass line an octave higher. This was my approach for the song “Dean Town,” which I recorded with Vulfpeck for our 2016 album, The Beautiful Game.

The tune was inspired by legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius’ “Teen Town,” which he recorded with Weather Report on the 1975 album Heavy Weather. Like “Teen Town,” the bass line in “Dean Town” is a through-composed melody, which means it’s a continuous and non-repetitive piece of music. The melody was written by our keyboard player Woody Goss and “made famous” by bassist Joe Dart. I decided to octave-double Joe’s intricate bass line through the long initial section of the tune, which was challenging!

Before launching into the melodic line, let’s take a look at the basic underlying chord changes, outlined in