Pino Palladino is one of the best bass players of all time. He was known for his great fretless work in the 80s and New York Minute by Don Henley is one of his most iconic bass lines. Learn some cool fills and ideas Pino uses in this video lesson.
I'm using my Lakland fretless bought from The Bass Gallery in London and pre-owned by Pino himself.
Here's how it should be played...
Don't worry if you don't have a fretless. All of the ideas in this song will work on a fretted. That's why I do these lessons by the way, to give you some pointers when it comes to making your own music with your bass.
The scales being used in the song are:
He uses hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides a lot. These are articulations that make your bass playing sound more expressive. Since he's almost duetting with the vocals throughout this song, they're a good choice.
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Here are some related lessons if you want to tackle some more bass lines.
Thanks once again Dan,these Pino examples are ever so useful in helping me to expand my fretless journey.Might I suggest a tutorial on Rick Danko?I love his somewhat different approach to fretless beginning with his signature Gibson Ripper fretless,even more impressive that he often was singing lead.
Thanks Kevin – I’ll add him to the list! Thanks for commenting.