Here’s a video showing the bass guitar beginner how to play bass to Ain’t Too Proud To Beg by The Temptations.
This tune was originally released in 1966 on the Temptations album Getting Ready. This is a great example of Motown’s early 8th note feel songs – the chord progressions used in the song are very simple, very diatonic. And the bass line itself is very simple – it’s a perfect tune for beginners to get their fingers around.
There are basically two parts to the song – the chorus and the verse. The first verse in the recording is drums, piano and vocals – the bass comes in right at the end of the verse with a 4 note fill and hits the first chorus.
I’ve split the lesson down into the chorus and verse sections – and I teach the chorus first. To find the 4 note fill at the end of Verse 1 you’ll need to look at the Verse section of the lesson.
Once you’ve got the basic line down it’s worth trying out some variations on the chorus and see if you can retain the flavour of the original but add a bit of interest.
