The Duck Dunn Style Files
How YOU Can Incorporate The Ideas of Duck Dunn Into Your Bass Playing!
How To Learn From A Master Bass Player?
The process of learning from a master bass player - in this case Duck Dunn, but equally applicable to Jamerson, Flea, Jaco, Jack Bruce, Rocco, or anyone - is reasonably easy to understand and I think the process has been documented.
Basically you transcribe a bunch of tunes. Or get accurate transcriptions.
Then you analyze the bass lines looking for the devices player uses, the rhythms, the modifying devices, how he connects chords and so on.
And then you can assimilate those ideas into your own playing.
Fairly simple to understand.
But not easy.
Even if you can get accurate transcriptions (ideally at least 50) of your favourite player, it still requires a heavy time investment analyzing the lines and looking for the unique way each player approaches creating bass lines.
What If There Was An Easier - And Quicker - Way?
Sometimes you don't need to dive into the minutia of a bass player's style. Sometimes you can apply the 80-20 principle to this....you get 80% of the results with 20% of the effort.
Unless you're playing for a band like The Bootleg Beatles where everything has to be spot on, 80% of the results will give you an authentic vibe for 99% of the people!
Not only will taking the 80-20 approach save you time, but I've already done the process of picking out the 80% and packaging it into a condensed collection of Style Files for you!
Introducing The Duck Dunn Style Files
Over the upcoming months I'm going to be releasing a series of "Style Files" that take the majority of the hard work out of taking ideas from players like McCartney, Duck Dunn, Flea, Geddy Lee (and others) and using them in your own playing.
The Duck Dunn Style File is the second of these releases and covers Duck's R&B playing with Stax plus also there's a deeper dive into his blues playing as demonstrated in his Masterpiece bass line for Sweet Home Chicago with The Blues Brothers.
The important thing to note though: the ideas covered can be used in multiple genres. The primary difference between genres is mainly rhythmic.
Why Should I Listen To You?
Here's A Picture Of My Amazon.com Bookshelf (end May - 2022)
Since July 2021 I've been turning my years of teaching into books. So far I've written 12 (plus am working on two more to be published in June).
My advice: click this link for LEARNING FROM JAMES JAMERSON VOL 1 and then check out some of the reviews. That will tell you more about my teaching than almost anything, though there are some testimonials below too.
One other fact to consider about this: Amazon's data says that most books get 1 or 2 reviews per 1000 copies purchased. Jamerson Vol 1 currently has 133 reviews on Amazon.com from around 1500 copies sold since its release last August...so the fact that it's getting 50X the number of reviews that Amazon's own data suggests it should be getting tells its own story.
What You Will Learn
Here's What You'll Learn In The Duck Dunn Style Files:
Duck's Bass Vocabulary (Both R&B and Blues)
Duck arrived on the scene with Stax with a foundational vocabulary already developed. While that vocabulary did grow over his time at Stax and he incorporated some new ideas, it was reasonably developed from Day 1. If I had to summarize Duck, I’d say: great lines made of foundational ideas played with great time.
Note that vocabulary encompasses the devices Duck used, how he put those devices together, modifying devices and rhythmic vocabulary.
Distinct 'Stylistic' Approaches
There are three distinct stylistic approaches covered in The Duck Dunn Style Files: the predominantly straight 8th note R&B stax style; how this was varied with 16th notes in later (and lesser known) Stax tunes as well as great performances like She Caught The Katy, and the blues as exemplified in Sweet Home Chicago.
How To Create 'Device Exercises'
If you’re new to the concept of devices, there will be suggested device exercises that will help you master devices so that they can be used in your vocabulary. But the focus of the Style Files is not on that…I’ve done plenty of other trainings where that’s been a focus.
How To Create Your Own 80-20 Song Sheets
Imagine you have to play a gig and learn a few new tunes…on the night of the gig if the singer has a sore throat and those new tunes go down a tone you’re potentially screwed if you learned lines note by note. If you created an 80-20 Song Sheet though…adjusting is a breeze and your line will sound authentic (if your song sheet is authentic).
Bass Line Modelling
If someone wants you to play a bass line in the style of one song but with the chords of another song…that’s a snap with a combination of 80-20 song sheets and bass line modelling. Such a stupidly simple technique can be so powerful. Why no-one else teaches this is utterly beyond me…but it’s an effective way to develop an authentic bass line in double quick time!
What Other People Say?
Here's What Bass Players Just Like You Say About My Teaching - here's Rodi:
And Paulia:
And Rob (and Goran):
What Do I Get?
Here's What You Get When You Join The Duck Dunn Style Files:
The Stylistic Breakdowns
Each of the main Duck Dunn sub-styles covered will be broken down into constituent elements (devices, modifying devices, rhythms, chord connections). Each of these sub-styles will then be demonstrated using chord progressions to non-Beatle songs and bass lines created with the sub-styles. All examples are fully annotated. Examples are presented in either 80-20 Notation or Notation and tab. Plus there’s video of the examples so you can see and hear them being played.
Downloadable PDFs For Each Sub-Section
Each Sub-Section has a PDF version that you can download to print out and make notes from.
Downloadable MP3 Practice Tracks
For practice exercises and practice songs there will be realistic, band-style MP3 tracks generated by Band In A Box that you can download and use in your practice space.
BONUS - 80-20 Song Sheets
Not only will I teach you how to create your own 80-20 Song Sheets…but I’ll kick start your library with 20 that I create that will help with the Duck Dunn Style Files.
BONUS - Duck Dunn Band In A Box Styles
This bonus is only available until Monday June 6th.At time of launch this is in a state of flux….essentially I’ll either create Band In A Box style files for the different sub-styles OR (and I’m currently in negotiations with PG Music about this) they will be turned into what are called Midi Super Tracks. Either way, you’ll get the style files in a format that can be loaded into Band In A Box so you can create push-button practice etudes and grooves.
Paul’s Note: one of the biggest ROI (return on investment) practice activities you can do is create a line using these files, then print it out and THEN edit it, smooth it out, add modifying devices and really make it sing. Having these styles loaded into BIAB not only makes this a breeze, but allows you to do it with as many different chord progressions as you have and it’s literally push-button easy.
The Million Dollar Question - How Much Is Enrollment?
If you were going to do THIS work yourself you'd either have to transcribe 50 songs yourself OR you could start with Soulfingers (which retails at $20) and analyze bass lines from there.
Depending on how accurate you are at identifying 80-20 devices, and how much you know about putting them together....on top of your $20 investment for Soul Fingers you'll also have to invest at least 50 hours of time transcribing further songs, analyzing and systemizing the ideas in Duck's bass lines.
I don't know how you value your time...and we've not even factored in opportunity cost ...but I'm guessing it would be more than $20 an hour...which equates to over $1000 in 'cost.'
Or you could just enroll on The Duck Dunn Style Files for a fraction of that and be working on applying Duck's ideas to YOUR bass playing at your next practice session.
Your investment today is.....
Note: all prices in USD .
15 Day 100% Money Back Guarantee: This is a unique approach to understanding the bass style of Duck Dunn that's based on years of study of bass lines, years of study of deliberate practice and detailed study of Duck's work. As such I'm 100% confident that not only will you find the information in the course highly valuable, but that the implementation of this material will make a massive difference to your bass playing.
I want YOU to be just as confident with your purchase though, so there's a full 15 day no questions asked guarantee period.
If for whatever reason you're not satisfied, all you have to do is drop me an email and let me know. I'll refund your purchase ASAP with no hassles and no hoops to jump through, and we can part as friends.
What To Do Now: Click on the big yellow button below and you'll be taken to the enrollment page on the 8020bass.com site, where The Duck Dunn Style Files are hosted. If you've signed up there before, just log in and then complete enrollment. If you're new to the 8020bass.com site (which is a different website!) then just enter your best email and a password as part of the enrollment process.
Once you've enrolled, you'll be added to The Duck Dunn Style Files and sent a welcome email. If you don't receive that email for any reason, then don't panic, simply send me an email and I''ll work out what went wrong in the process and get you added to the site manually. So go ahead. Click the big yellow button below and JOIN NOW.
P.S. There Are Now Four Possible Courses Of Action Open To You
1. If learning how Duck Dunn approached putting bass lines together is of no interest to you, then close this window and go about your day.
2. If you want to study Duck Dunn's style yourself, then get hold - or transcribe - of a bunch of Duck's bass lines. Start analyzing those lines in those books and look for commonly repeated devices and ideas and create your own 'map' of Duck's playing. (Budget at least 50 hours for this...probably more.)
3. Or let me do the heavy lifting and save you hundreds of hours of analysis and study and get you started on the road to understanding Duck's foundational bass playing.
4. You're interested...but you've got questions. If so, just email me and I'll answer them as quickly as I can.