"Tell Me Something Good" - ***???

ceedj · #1 02-19-2009, 03:13 AM

Tell Me Something Good - Chaka Kahn & Rufus

Three questions:

1) It's in 4, I get that. But during the verses, where in the blue hell is the downbeat (1)?? This has been bugging me for months. It's just all over the place "odd", which is part of why I like it so much.

2) Ab is the correct key (relative to the chorus)?

3) Has anyone ever done this without the clav? If so, how did you arrange it? It's kind of confusing me in some spots. Some of the fills during the verse jump out, but sometimes the clav is getting in mah way.

Thanks!
-CJ

ptuckerbass · #2 02-19-2009, 04:06 AM

Here's my take on the time...
The song's in 4 through out the verses and chorues. The twist is during the 4 bar breaks between them. On the 4th bar of those breaks the last bar is in 5.

It sounds like the placement of where things are landing is throwing you off, making it sound odd. Try counting it through a few times without playing to see if it starts to make sense.

73jbass · #3 02-19-2009, 04:23 AM

The notes are on the upbeat.Not a big deal,just go by feel instead of trying to count it.

JTE · #4 02-19-2009, 08:46 AM

Bass Player Magazine had a transcription of it a few years ago. The original bassist on the recording worked with them on it, and he talked about the feel. Notes are pretty simple to find, the timing depends on EVERYONE locking the groove. It's all about the interplay between them (i.e. it sucks really bad if you have to play it with typical rock drummers and guitarits).

No keyboards? Then have the guitarist play the clavinet parts.

jte

Largedon · #5 02-19-2009, 09:03 AM

The song is in 4/4, but the bass part is completely on the upbeat for the first part of the phrase anyway. The bass comes in on the "and of 4" at the top of the tune. The big trick is once the bass part flips during the 2nd half of the phrase you have to flip it back at the top of the phrase by doing a "1 and" then playing on the upbeat till it flattens out again on the 2nd half.

The first time I learned this tune I was in a large funk band and the drummer and I got into a big argument about the beginning of this tune. We had to move on to something else. Turns out I was the one who was wrong

I apologized later once I listened to it again and we ended up playing that song for a long time

Killer song but the drummer and bass gotta be locked up tight or it will never work.

deaf pea · #6 02-19-2009, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ptuckerbass

Here's my take on the time...
The song's in 4 through out the verses and chorues. The twist is during the 4 bar breaks between them. On the 4th bar of those breaks the last bar is in 5...

NOT TRUE!
The whole song is in 4/4 from beginning to end . . .

Quote:

Originally Posted by ptuckerbass

...It sounds like the placement of where things are landing is throwing you off, making it sound odd. Try counting it through a few times without playing to see if it starts to make sense.

That's good advice . . .

Here's a tip that might help you figure this one out: listen for the snare drum. ALL of the main snare hits are on "2" or "4" . . .

BTW, I'd say that it's a medium-slow rhythmic ballad at about 83 to 87 beats-per-minute (depending on the performance) . . .

And yes, Rufus did the song in Ab . . . the verse lick starts on the 3rd (C) right on the "one"!

ceedj · #7 02-19-2009, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deaf pea

Here's a tip that might help you figure this one out: listen for the snare drum. ALL of the main snare hits are on "2" or "4" . . .

I know it sounds simple, but (for me anyhow) it's not. Indeed, that DOES help a bunch, as do all the replies here. This is gonna be like explaining to a drummer that the bass drum does NOT fall on 1 for "Edge of Seventeen".

Cripes, I've figured out DT songs that were easier than this.

Bluesy Soul · #8 02-19-2009, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JTE

The original bassist on the recording worked with them on it, and he talked about the feel...

That original bassist is Dennis Belfield. He is one of my absolute, all-time favorites; but I can't even find a webpage for him.

Does anyone have any info?

Bluesy Soul

T-MOST · #9 02-19-2009, 11:13 AM

Funky tune written by Stevie Wonder... that says it all! But the down feels like the 2 and 4 during the verses.

fretlessman71 · #10 02-19-2009, 11:23 AM

Here's the trick: Put your bass down, listen to the song a few times in a row, and follow the DRUMMER in your head. Literally count "1, 2, 3, 4" along with Kick, Snare, Kick, Snare. You'll not just believe it's all in 4 because you read a post here, but you'll FEEL it in 4 because you did the exercise. The drummer is playing about as straightforward as you could get away with in a song like this; use this to your advantage.

When you can follow the drums without letting the rest of the song get you lost, THEN go back to the bass part. Let Chaka help you out; her first note of every verse line starts on the ONE (even though you play a note right before that). And you have very few bass notes that land on the beat, get used to it - that's where the FUNK is.

TheWolf · #11 02-19-2009, 11:29 AM

Heres the info someone else referred too

http://www.bassplayer.com/article/ru...e/Jun-06/20710

ceedj · #12 02-19-2009, 12:04 PM

Got it; except for some of the fills, the timing is MUCH easier now. Thanks to all!

@Wolf: Thanks for that link, even without the music, that helped as well.

Intune · #13 02-20-2009, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluesy Soul

That original bassist is Dennis Belfield. He is one of my absolute, all-time favorites; but I can't even find a webpage for him.

Does anyone have any info?

Bluesy Soul

I'll ask him. Denny has been coping with the effects of surgery from a few years ago but he's doing great & hasn't lost his sense of humor. He is such a laid-back, super-cool, plain old nice guy that it is easy to forget you're sitting there bs'ing with a guy that has some serious cred from the Grammy Awards house band to Three Dog Night and tons more. Oh, the stories...

He'll be kinda embarrassed when I tell him somebody was askin' about him. I'll be gentle...

toepoet · #14 05-22-2010, 12:13 PM

The downbeat is the guitar not the bass. Think of the very first bass note of the song as a pickup. Start counting 1234 on the guitar beats. You can count a straight four all the way through the song.

JimmyM · #15 05-22-2010, 03:46 PM

damn, was hoping to save the day but it looks like you got it straightened out. but just remember chaka always hits the one solid with her vocal.

CDweller · #16 05-24-2010, 11:12 AM

I've only heard this song played properly live once, and heard it messed up like 3 or 4 different times- once by me

It's tricky, for sure. There has to be a pattern, though, and it can't be that compicated- they were all too stoned in the 70's to make that complicated...