Count Zero : Articles : Lone Star (Bass Player July/Aug 1991)

“Lone star” is a rock instrumental in the key of D, with Eric Johnson on guitar and Steve Smith on drums. It was inspired by driving through Texas at night. There’s a certain feeling you get when it’s two in the morning, bugs are smashing against the windshield, you’ve already gone 800 miles – and you’re still in Texas.

The tune has contrasting verse and chorus sections. This transcription shows the chorus, which is a weird little bass passage I cooked up. I played the part transcribed here on my blue Kubicki [shown in photos];I also doubled the figures on my piccolo bass, which is tuned an octave higher, and added pedal tones with a keyboard bass and my white Kubicki, the one with a Precision pickup.

This section is based on the A Mixolydian scale. Bars 1-2 are just double-stop pops on the D and G strings [see Fig. 1]. The technique is pretty straightforward, but it takes some practice to get both notes to speak evenly. Harmonically, it’s thirds: Bm, A and G. Bar 3 is a fifth, C and G, with a hammer to A [see Fig. 2]. That’s followed by D and A together at the beginning of bar 4. On beat two, I do a pull-off, sounding the open G, and then I pull it up to the octave D. On beat four, I pull off again and pop the high A. In bars 5-6, I repeat the double stop thirds. At the beginning of bar 7, I outline an F6 chord – root (F), fifth (C ), sixth (D) – with what I call the “flamenco sweep” [see Fig. 3]. I use three different fingers to pop three strings in rapid succession. Before striking the A string with my thumb, I position my index and middle fingers under the D and G strings. Then I hit the F on A string and roll my hand over by twisting the wrist. This motion pulls the two fingers out, popping the strings. After the sweep, I keep my 1^st finger down on the D and strike the string with my thumb. My 4^th finger then hammers and pulls off the F as the right hand taps the high notes [see Figs. 4 & 5]. In bar 8, I move the figure up a whole step. Then the entire eight-bar phrase repeats.

Before the guitar solo, I double this section up, playing in through four times for a total of 32 bars. I also throw in some variations. The second time through, I use different fill in bars 3-4; it’s a kind of Jaco-ish thing, D and G with the D sliding up to E, I also play a tapping thing in the last two bars. The second time I do it, I continue the tapping to create kind of an interlude at the beginning of Eric’s solo. When the bass chorus returns after the guitar solo, Eric and I do a little call-and-response: I play the thirds, and Eric answers with four different riffs. Then we go through the verse/chorus structure one more time, and the tune fades during the last bass chorus.

When you’re learning this, start off slow and use a metronome or drum machine to make sure you’re playing evenly. Keep your hands close to the strings; if your fingers are in place, all you have to do is push them down. Stay loose – there’s no hope if you tighten up – and don’t bang the hammer-ons too hard. Once you’re worked out the fingering listen closely to the recorded version and notice the dynamics. When I practice tappingm I work on playing my scales and riffs forte, mezzo forte, mezzo piano and piano. If you play everything at the same volume, it sounds pretty dull. And who wants to be dull?