Bass Song 17 - My Sharona

This is how to play My Sharona by the Knack, but this version is based on a Live Lounge version that Royal Blood did, one of the uh best kind of modern rock bands I guess of the last few years, and also based in Brighton where I currently live as well. This song and this cover by Royal Blood was a huge part of the inspiration for all of this series, cos it's such a great cover. And it is distinctly different and it would be different to play it to the original, so um we're now in the key of E, most importantly. The uh bass player from Royal Blood, he tunes down, so he essentially plays this song exactly the same as the neck, but he tunes down so that he's a whole step or a whole tone lower. What I chose to do to make this super easier, much easier on bass and also on guitar, is to keep the tune in to standard, and the riff therefore becomes the open E string, and I would play it at the 7th fret. So that distinctive riff, which would be very difficult if we played it. Kind of with all that business, uh, in E. That becomes a lot easier and then just a lot more approachable for more beginner bass players and guitarists to play, it makes it accessible to all in my opinion. Uh, I will be doing tutorial for how to do the knack versioner in time because I just love the song so much, it's it's so great. um, but to play along to this specific version as part of the Amy Guguitar Band programme, we would be playing. And initially starting with a slide down from the 12th fret, actually. So we start off with 2 down picks. Alright, and the whole riff is really based around going open. To the 7th fret. Kind of on the er kick and snare of the drums. Boom, duh, boom, duh, OK, but that riff on the drums is very distinctive and you should memorise it because we are absolutely copying it and treating the thickest string as the kick drum and this higher note as the snare. Which I have to mention a superb video that I saw with Dave Grohl, um, talking about how he writes guitar riffs and he thinks of a drummer, and of course he is a drummer, but so many great guitar and bass riffs are actually born out of the rhythm of the drums. No better example than this, you need to memorise that drum part and then play it on bass, treating the thickest string as the kick and the higher string, the higher octave of the E, as the snare. A couple of techniquey points, uh we are uh muting the thinner 3 strings when we play the thickest one on the kick drum as it were. Then I'm uh playing this with my third and middle finger, which I wouldn't normally advise, but what we're needing to do is mute the thinnest two strings still, make sure they aren't ringing out. And then the thumb needs to mute string 4. Just by resting on it ever so slightly. And you know, it, it will still make a noise, but it mutes it enough. So, so important, we're doing that, and then that thumb completely changes position and goes in the middle of the back of the neck. To play that signature riff. Join in with me if you can, or have a look at what we're doing here, nice and slow in 234. Again, 34. And starting With the slide down, let's have a look at that straight away, nice and slow, and join in with the band here, this is gonna be at 75% speed, so we're just gonna look at that riff in depth, it's so cool, here it comes, play along if you can. Rewind the video to check that out a few more times if you need more help with that riff, but now we're gonna move on to the chorus which goes like this. Uh, after that, 5th fret, 8th fret. 10 threats. In total, that would be. One last time. 123. So they are the main two sections of this song, they just alternate uh as a verse chorus verse chorus structure for the first minute or so. Then we have a variation on that for the middle eight, which goes like this. That happens 4 times. Importantly, and Chris sometimes kind of swayed to doing this in the uh in the verses as well, but it's only this section, cos this is almost a copy of mine. Hi That riff. Should only happen in the middle eight section, when it's my eye. I woo. We don't, we don't have that bit. So for the middle eight section. We do have that, and that was again at uh 8th fret and 10th frets and then down, down, up, down. 7th fret to end. 10 threats, dragged down. That was the ending of that, so after on the 4th time, 7th fret. And a drag down, let's have a look at that section, again, 75% tempo, so this is slowed down so that you can play along and really see what's happening. And after this we're gonna go for a full play along of the whole song, here it comes. There you go, so that's all sections of this wicked song My Sharona. Done in the Royal Blood style, of course, cause it got rid of all the uh trickier solos and things that, you know, beginner and intermediate guitarists will, will kind of struggle with. Makes it a lot more approachable in the key of E as well. Uh, here comes the full band play along. So the idea, if you're not aware already. Play along to this, or at least check it out first of all to see exactly what each part is and be able to see, you know, dissect what you're hearing and see it being played to give you that fuller understanding of how bands work, where's where all the sounds are coming from, and so that you can play along with a band too playing this song. Here's My Sharona. So that's how to play My Sharon, I hope that was really fun for you, as I say, it's one of my favourites. 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