Donny Hathaway - The Ghetto

[antfarm]

Watching some bass covers of Donny Hathaway's The Ghetto on YouTube, I see people play the bassline different than I was doing it for years.

Is there a difference between the Live (1972) version and the original recording?

 

[funkinbottom]

Here's a vid with tabs for ya.

 

[bass12]

If you're playing it in the original key the third note in the bass line is Ab.

 

[BismarckHerring]

Definitely Bb in both versions.

 

[75Ric]

If you're playing it in the original key the third note in the bass line is Ab.

Agree

 

[tleebassist11]

Don’t have my bass in my hand but just listened and to my ear the third note sounds like an Ab

 

[BismarckHerring]

Are we all counting the notes the same way here? To me, it feels like the line starts at the F. That makes the second note an Ab and the third note a Bb. I guess you can also start counting at the Bb on the first beat, that would make the Ab the third note.

I think the OP counts in the same way as I do, seeing the poll says “F (same as first note)”.

 

[Dynacord]

Do you mean the literal third note in the intro or of the main motif/riff (which varies a lot particularly in the second bar)? If the latter, I hear that as a flat 7/Ab.

 

[billiard]

its the flat 7 of whatever key its being played in

 

[bass12]

Are we all counting the notes the same way here? To me, it feels like the line starts at the F. That makes the second note an Ab and the third note a Bb. I guess you can also start counting at the Bb on the first beat, that would make the Ab the third note.

I think the OP counts in the same way as I do, seeing the poll says “F (same as first note)”.

Why would you count the F as being the first note of the line as opposed to the Bb (which occurs on the downbeat)?

 

[Smooth_bass88]

The riff is based around a Bb7 chord. So the note in question would be an Ab

 

[BismarckHerring]

Why would you count the F as being the first note of the line as opposed to the Bb (which occurs on the downbeat)?

It's not a choice. Sometimes people just hear the same thing but feel it differently.

I answered from memory, and in my mind it starts on the F. If I play it or hum it, that's where I start. The Bb feels like the last note of the line (though I realize it can be both the first and the last at the same time).

I only realized that it's not actually the first note that the bass plays after the intro because two different people both answered Ab to this question and I started questioning my sanity. Especially since the options in the poll made total sense to me.

Again, given the way the question and the poll options are phrased, I suspect the OP feels it the same way I do.

@antfarm can you clarify what note you are talking about?

 

[antfarm]

Thank you all for the answers, and sorry for the confusion! I wrote this post without my bass at hand, and now realize the question was never what note it is, but what octave it is played in.

I think of the riff starting on the F (as stated in the poll), if you start counting at the start of the bar, that would of course be the second note and the note in question would be the fourth note..

Here is what I consider the riff, with the note in question highlighted (taken from the video in post #2, which was actually the one that made me question the way I play it):

I always heard and played the third note (Bb) as an octave above what is played in the posted YouTube video.

 

[bass12]

Thank you all for the answers, and sorry for the confusion! I wrote this post without my bass at hand, and now realize the question was never what note it is, but what octave it is played in.

I think of the riff starting on the F (as stated in the poll), if you start counting at the start of the bar, that would of course be the second note and the note in question would be the fourth note..

Here is what I consider the riff, with the note in question highlighted (taken from the video in post #2, which was actually the one that made me question the way I play it):

View attachment 7245293

I always heard and played the third note (Bb) as an octave above what is played in the posted YouTube video.

I also would have thought that second Bb was played an octave up - but that might be Mark King's fault (he played a very similar line in a live version of "Turn It On" and I've listened to that way more than I've listened to "The Ghetto").

 

[Smooth_bass88]

Thank you all for the answers, and sorry for the confusion! I wrote this post without my bass at hand, and now realize the question was never what note it is, but what octave it is played in.

I think of the riff starting on the F (as stated in the poll), if you start counting at the start of the bar, that would of course be the second note and the note in question would be the fourth note..

Here is what I consider the riff, with the note in question highlighted (taken from the video in post #2, which was actually the one that made me question the way I play it):

View attachment 7245293

I always heard and played the third note (Bb) as an octave above what is played in the posted YouTube video.

I cannot make heads or tails of what you posted, what I guess would be called tabulature.

Talking about the live version of "The Ghetto" from recorded in 1971, the first note of the riff played on the bass (by Willie Weeks), at bar 4 is a Bb, likely played on the 6th fret of the E string. This is dotted quarter note. The next note is an F, which he slightly slides into, and the next note, the third note, is an Ab. See attached transcription below
which is 100% correct. Willie probably played it in the 6th position and the notes sound fatter and it's easier play it with more fluidity compared to the first position.

 

[antfarm]

I cannot make heads or tails of what you posted, what I guess would be called tabulature.

Talking about the live version of "The Ghetto" from recorded in 1971, the first note of the riff played on the bass (by Willie Weeks) is a Bb, likely played on the 6th fret of the E string. This is dotted quarter note. The next note is an F, which he slightly slides into, and the next note, the third note, is an Ab. See attached transcription which is 100% correct.

It's the note after the Ab. The question is: Do you hear the Bb above or below the Ab? In your transcript, it is notated below. Is it maybe different in the 1972 Live version?

 

[Smooth_bass88]

It's the note after the Ab. The question is: Do you hear the Bb above or below the Ab? In your transcript, it is notated below. Is it maybe different in the 1972 Live version?

On the live version, it's the lower Bb on the 6th fret of the E string, all day, without question, just like the transcription. Same with studio version.

 

[Admiral Akbar]

I cannot make heads or tails of what you posted, what I guess would be called tabulature.

Talking about the live version of "The Ghetto" from recorded in 1971, the first note of the riff played on the bass (by Willie Weeks), at bar 4 is a Bb, likely played on the 6th fret of the E string. This is dotted quarter note. The next note is an F, which he slightly slides into, and the next note, the third note, is an Ab. See attached transcription below
which is 100% correct. Willie probably played it in the 6th position and the notes sound fatter and it's easier play it with more fluidity compared to the first position.View attachment 7245411

I’ve ALWAYS played this line as written above. The downbeat is on Bb (6th fret, E string). Third note is Ab (6th fret, D string), and fourth note is Bb (again back to 6th fret, E string). 0nce in a while, I may transpose the Bb (“4th note”) up an octave, but I’ve always understood the line as written above. If I’m playing guitar in a band, I instruct the bass player to refer to the line, again, as transcribed here.