Need help with MoneyGrabber
 

Man, I hate when it's a minor chord because the note in the chord tone could either be the 5 or the flat 6. Grrr!

Anyhow, I was wondering if someone could help me with the beginning riff which will most likely help me out with the rest of the song. I'm not talking about the intro bass line, I've got that. It's the quick triad at the beginning (which comes into the chorus) right before they sing "Don't come back..". Is it E, "C", G, to F, or E, "B", G, to F? Or maybe there's an A in there. Man, I don't know why I can't get this. ;)

It comes in at 0:15

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiwmZKkEqnI

I think at :15, E, B, G, E or E, B, G F# both work (but then close enough is usually good enough for me).

I think the difficulty in getting it is that the one note is pretty difficult to hear.

First is F# to F second is E to F

http://www.rccvideo.com/money grabber open.mp3

Listened again, and I'm pretty sure (80%) F# is right

Thanks for the help. So you think it's B and not C? This is interesting because he definitely hits the C quite a bit in other parts of the song which is generally the same progression. That's probably why I was struggling with it. Also, you say he drops down to the F# before going to the F. I was torn between that and going from Low E to the F. This bass player is definitely unique. If you listen to the rest of the song, his riffs are unlike most pop bass players. He's definitely influenced by Jamerson, but he also has his own strange style, which sounds really good to me.

I believe I played the same thing that I'm hearing in the song, which is E, B, G. I could as wrong.

If C sounds right to you, play it that way.

I try to learn note for note only because I usually learn something new. I have no problem improvising with tunes, but then I feel a bit stagnant. ;)

That's cool. I envy note for note players, in a way. There are nuances that make some songs, but it would be to much of a time investment for me.

I was interested in your post because I had heard the song before and figured I'd check out the issue. I looked at the various youtube videos, and I don't think a single one is right...some sound good, imo, but they're definitely not note for note.

Good luck with it. Fun bass part on that one.

Just a little trick. Learn it up 2 octaves first.

I actually do that and it is a good trick because sometimes it's easier to hear if the note is off at higher frequencies.

Btw, after working on the song off and on for a few days, I feel that I'm pretty spot on with the notes. It was that fast chromatic run from G to F that was throwing me off at first, but I think I've got all the riffs now. The only difference is that this guy recorded with either a 5 string with a low B or he tuned down for the song. I'm thinking the former because there's only a couple spots where you can hear a low Eb (which I don't bother with because I'm a 4 stringer). ;) The bass player who played that track on the record has a very interesting style. He's one of those guys that can make an unlikely note sound like the perfect note for the riff, and that's something I've never been able to do. Particularly the use of the 4th note of the minor scale over the minor chord. I'm always impressed by that kind of stuff.

Anyhow, I'm sure my version is much closer than any of those youtube videos. I could post what I've transcribed if people are interested. I just wish I had a tool that made it easy for me. Really don't want to type the whole song in raw notation/tab. ugh