The Greatest J-Pop Bass Line EVER

#bass #basssolo #ztmy #transcription #analysis #paulthompson
Talking about my latest musical discovery: J-pop music and one of it's greatest bands: ZUTOMAYO (ずっと真夜中でいいのに。). I'll break down one of the most incredible bass lines I've heard recently from groove, to amazing fills, to the jaw-dropping bass solo--let's check out "STUDY ME" (お勉強しといてよ) and see just why it's so amazing, and why Ryosuke Nikamoto is a name bass players all over the world should know!

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[jasond]

Just wait until you dip your toes into Japanese jazz, the bass in those songs is insane. And city pop from the 70s - 80s, the funk influence made that genre so unique and groovy

[NicDoesDumbThings]

Japanese bassists are truly on another level. A common thing I've noticed across J-Pop and J-Rock versus their western variants is that the bass is treated much more like a front-and-center instrument rather than just being there to hold down the root, it makes the music way more interesting to listen to as a whole.

[chlorine-]

ZUTOMAYO MENTIONED 🔥🔥🗣️🗣️🗣️💯📢📢 WHAT THE FUCK IS BEING NORMAL ABOUT MUSIC 🎵🎸🗣️🗣️🔥📢📢💯

[zocc]

Japan has this new generation of female bassists like Mina, Kiyoshi, Misa from Band-Maid, to name but a few. Japan rocks. Literally :)

[audibletapehiss]

I was about to start this video and my 14 year old daughter walked in. She's a young jazz trumpet player and J-pop fan, and just played her first solo at a concert yesterday. We watched this together and I was able to point out a bunch of useful concepts that you presented in such a beautiful way. Arigato!

[JohnSheppard]

Tetsuo Sakurai from Casiopea. A slap master, and just a master in general.

[shadowseed]

Japanese bass lines are the reason I've always come back to jpop and jrock over the last several years, just absolutely a pleasure every time

[OndaWOW]

JP music can be so complex, rich, and unpredictable that you can't get bored. I barely hear any Western music nowadays. My playlists are full of JP groovy bass.

[lucagreen]

I was not ready for 0:35 jesus almighty that is immediately being added to my playlist idec about the lyrics, give me that bassline!

[ImJustStandingHere]

YES ZUTOMAYO IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE BANDS! SO GLAD YOU COVERED THEM!

Now that you are looking into Japanese music, check out Casiopea (specifically the years when Tetsuo Sakurai was still the bassist, start with their first album and the live album "Mint Jams") and T-Square, you'll find lots of amazing bass lines.

[XiseTK]

Same Zutomayo has some killer bass grooves, Japan in general is having something of a music rennisance and they never slouched on letting the bass stay out front. If you are going down the rabbit hole, make sure you check out Fami-chan from LOVEBITES specifically her cover of alien alien

[ToxicMothBoi]

To hear kenshi yonezu randomly in a yt video is definetly something i never expected. Mans a legend in my eyes. All the other artists are absolute hidden gems aswell and i'm so hoping for thm to go viral worldwide

[mr.nicehat]

"Study Me" is simply my favorite song

[iamthinking_]

I have listened to ZUTOMAYO for quite a while, but haven’t listened to study me for a while.

I had never noticed the bass line this deeply - I just grooved to it

[flamingogas]

been a long time fan of zutomayo. "Hunch grey" by them was one of the first basslines that got me into bass

[NumPad]

Not gonna lie, that slower version of Study Me's bass solo at 4:02 is _gorgeous._

[donovangallaway]

Japan is legitimately a decade ahead of us musically. ZUTOMAYO is great

[Ixiaz]

4:22 convinces me that a slowed down bass cover in this style would be extremely chill to have on in the background

[Cybrtronlazr]

I never thought I would see the day you made a J-Pop video! There is SO much more melodic and interesting bass lines in Japanese music than Western (at least modern western), and thats part of the reason I like it so much more. They really know how to bring out the instrument to its fullest potential!

[plootyluvsturtle]

If you’re looking for more Japanese artist Sheena Ringo is my absolute favorite. She incorporates a tone of big band jazz sound into her music. Especially on albums like Sunny. Shoso Strip is also just a masterpiece