5 Beginner MOTOWN Bass Lines (Guaranteed To Impress)

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Motown Bass Lines! As a bass player, it’s hard to go past Motown and James Jamerson when talking about incredible bass lines.

In fact, some bassists get super intimidated when they get asked to play Motown bass. You end up standing in the shadows of some of the most respected and influential bassists of all time.

But playing Motown bass lines doesn’t *have* to be intimidating or scary. In fact, in this lesson, you’ll learn 5 beginner-friendly, entry level Motown lines that are:

► Instantly recognizable - in fact, they carry the songs entirely; and
► Also easy to learn, get your fingers around, and master

Two of these bass lines are so simple, they only use 3 notes the entire song!

If you want the tabs, notation and practice tracks from this video (including the slowed down versions to make practicing easier) and to get them all for free, make sure to head here:

Fill out the form on that page and you can download everything you see in this video. It’ll make it super easy to learn, practice, and master these Motown bass lines,

Now because of the Motown record label’s record-keeping practices, it’s not always clear which musicians ended up playing on which songs - especially if multiple people were brought in to have a pass at a song.

Sometimes three or four people would come into the Motown studios and lay down the same part for the same song. Which take ended up on the final recording? Sometimes it’s tricky to tell.

For example, on Papa Was A Rolling Stone, the bassist on the final track could have been James Jamerson, Eddie Watkins, Leroy Taylor or Bob Babbitt. In fact, Bob Babbitt talked about this on his forum back in 2008. Check out the post here:

Apparently Babbitt and Jamerson were on the same session, but Jamerson walked out because he was being asked to repeat the bass line over and over. That being said, Babbitt himself doesn’t remember this. I guess that’s what can happen when you play on as many recordings as he did.

So while Jamerson is synonymous with Motown, it’s not always certain that you’re hearing him on the Motown recordings.

No matter who is actually playing though, these Motown bass lines are a ton of fun, they’ll get people singing along and dancing and like I said, they’re easy to get your fingers around.

Good luck with the lesson and happy playing!

Cheers,

Luke

[Chapters]

0:00 Intro
1:12 Motown Bass Line #1
4:06 Motown Bass Line #2
7:32 Sidenote: Motown Bass Tone
8:25 Motown Bass Line #3
11:06 Motown Bass Line #4
14:51 Motown Bass Line #5
18:07 FREE: Get The Tabs & Tracks For These Motown Bass Lines

#motown #becomeabassist #basslesson

[BecomeABassist]

What other (beginner-friendly) Motown bass lines do you love?

[pmhnic]

I grew up on Motown music and this bass lines are truly iconic. Thanks for sharing your technique for playing them.

[pickbassguitar]

I've been playing bass for 3.5 years, and I've been watching you for 5... lmao

[acehandler]

I read through that reference page re Carol Kaye/James Jamerson - what a convoluted mess! Enjoyed reading the list of songs from the early 60's. We moved to Detroit in 1963 when I was 9 years old, received a 'table radio' for my 10th birthday just in time to immerse myself in the homegrown joys of the Motown Sound - and I loved it! Now I've been playing bass since the late 70's (better late than never) and really enjoy your lessons (beginner schmeginner!) - thanks! Hope you're making money 🙂

[t.s.racing]

My first instructor taught me " My Girl "
CHEERS LUKE !!!

[prodigaldaughter]

Love you videos very helpful. I play at church and it's easy to get locked into one style of playing. Thank you for your content ☺️

[Bass-guitarist]

Brilliant lesson, learnt two in less than 15 mins. Thanks you and subscribed!

[ajdayton]

Was just thinking....Where's Luke been? Glad you're back.

[stevelowe]

Yet again! More amazing free content to learn. Taking my base camping, that's my evenings sorted for the week. Headphones of course!! Thanks Luke

[Slimp]

Love your vids! I’m new to bass (last Friday) I’ve learned so much from your tutorials 🤝 Keep it up 💯

[GrooveRiderExpress]

Like how you sing and name the notes ! Trying to get rid of tabs but actually know which notes I play.

[ZACE]

Thanks for doing this video Luke! It's awesome of you to share the sheet music too. Zo

[connorbettge]

thanks for the great videos! i really appreciate that you make the lesson materials available for free—makes me much more likely to donate when i can :)

[thomasfioriglio]

Luke is back, baby!!! Welcome back my friend. Nice to see a new video. What a great lesson with some nice song choices. I love how these bass lines show all you need sometimes are just 3 notes to groove. Also love how they make use of patterns and then just move them around the fretboard. Good lesson that can be carried over to other bass lines. I am not much of a Motown guy so this was a good education for me. And we got a cameo from Arnie too! Cheers!

[alfheyer]

Very happy you are back, Luke. It is fine to see, that u are quite in good mode. Thanks a lot for the MoTown-Lines. Wll, i recognize, i made efforts in the meantime - i can now play with you (thanks to Greg H. ). Cheers Alf

[davidreichert]

Between this and your other soul basslines video, it makes for a really nice suite of lines to get into classic soul and grow from. I've been getting too greedy trying at Darling Dear, I want you back, What's Goin' On etc. Thanks for getting me grounded!

[wmkennard]

Thank you so much. I appreciate learning from you.

[jillgeary]

Thanks Luke - I'm always eager to try your tutorials!! Fun music and great teaching!

[w.d.]

Fantastic lessons, thank you! I chuckle that I am learning the Motown style on a Spector from a teacher playing a Spector!

[bobfoster]

Good job Luke, good explanation on how it's done.