Which other bass players would you like to see ‘decoded’ like this? Where you get to see *underneath* their playing and how you can sound more like them for yourself?

This dude explaining all this technical stuff, we all know the funk comes from that signature Joe Dart neck.

Thank you for doing such a great job sharing the Joe Dart sound! (I shared it with Joe as well)

What a fucking gift this video is. Man's done some serious legwork obsessing over these lines for us.

Vulfpeck always get me motivated to pick up my bass and practice.

It dawned on me a few weeks ago that the "Quintessential Joe Dart Lick" is probably from the shout chorus on Sir Duke. Joe has said before that Songs in the Key of Life is one of his favorite albums of all time and it's so cool to hear that language in his playing!

The real spice hearing Joe play in Vulfpeck is his sense of rhythm and the way he plays in the pocket with the drums. He's a bit spoilt playing with Jack and Theo who are not only fantastic drummers but versatile multi-instrumentalists and composers themselves. That groove really comes together playing with people who truly understand all parts of a song. And add Cory and Woody in the mix and you have an absolutely stonking rhythm section - and that's the root of Vulf, inspired by the legendary Motown rhythm players and solely focussed on the groove.

Saw a guy say that Joe plays the bass almost like it's a joke. For instance, if there's an easier way to play any of his lines in terms of fretboard positioning and hand placement, Joe will always pick the harder way to do it. And he does it effortlessly too. He's too damn good.

The MSG live concert is a right of passage for all musicians

Actually almost every Joe Dart lick is based on James Jamerson, like the chromatic line from 9th to 10th through #9, or the 'quintessential lick', which is technically a scale run on the 3rd mode of the blues scale (yeah, blues scale has modes too). His whole approach is the same, and also his midrangy, flatwound, kinda muted sound is very much like Jamerson. But after all, I love Jamerson, so I love Joe's playing too.

Awesome. Julia taught Bootsy stuff and you’re teaching Joe Dart! It’s a great Friday. Thank you for the lessons, you’re a great teacher.

Not being familiar with his music, I Googled him and learned not only he’s a great bassist, but he’s from a tiny town not far from where I live.

That must be the quickest i've ever clicked on a link hahah. Thanks for that..

Love Joe's playing and enthusiasm and that he (and Vulfpeck) have brought new eyes and ears into old school funky town (big props to them)...but it's nothing new tbh; all roads lead back to the funk machine himself: James Jamerson. Anyone who has studied or remotely listened to Jamerson, Chuck Rainey, Jaco, Bernard Edwards, Nate Watts, Stevie's left hand, Pino Palladino and just about half the gospel bassists in the U.S. over the last 40 years...has heard most of these licks before in some variation. Again, not taking away from Joe's brilliance as I'm a fan as well, just hoping people know he didn't invent this particular wheel, but he's keeping it spinning and it's all good :-)

This is great man. And you put up the PDF for free. Get that man a beer. Cheers from across the ditch.

The "Quintessential" Lick looks a lot like the beginning of Sir Duke "bridge" :)

their recorded performance in Belgium at the Ancienne Belgique is killer . . if anyone is loooking for Joe live to practice ty

Super glad to hear you talk about the quintessential lick at 10:00 , out of all Vulfpeck’s songs this is definitely the lick that stands out to me the most, and is so simple yet so unique to Joe

That run you showed that he does in deantown is ferocious.. high energy brilliance

Regarding the "constant streams of single subdivision", one should always mention Francis Rocco Prestia (Tower of Power): Songs like What is Hip, Come On With It, A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing, etc... The constant flow of 16th notes controlled with left hand muting was his signature style after all. Joe has lot of influence from Rocco (RIP). Rocco's old lessons can also be found from KZfaq.

This is so egregious :) The internet is stoked with this premium content

Bah yes that MSG concert. I could listen to that daily. If that was my heaven to be stuck there for eternity, I’d be totally fine with it

9:48 That's the Barney Miller lick. Joe is playing the Barney Miller lick. As a middle-aged man, I grew up watching Barney Miller, so I'm quite familiar with the Barney Miller theme. If you're not familiar with the Barney Miller theme, just look for it here on KZfaq: Barney Miller Theme.

You can definitively tell that there is a huge Francis Rocco Prestia influence in the ghost + 16th notes and some of the James Jamerson licks. Dart has amazing precision and feel. Amazing bassist.

69. Nice.

I don't even play bass, i'm a drummer. But Joe Dart is life.

Don't want to be unfair, I mean this is an amazing work and video you made, just to remember that this distinctive "Dart" lick , is nothing else that the beginning of "Sir Duke" lick ... Stevie Wonder genius !!! There's nothing new in music, everything already played and listened, but that s the great thing...you can steal around ideas and mix them in different situation, making it "your" way of playing.... At least thats what I think... Bye and thank you

Brilliant. Reverse engineering stuff and listening to Joe Dart are two of my favourite things

You're a genius sir. The way you were able to explain it in such a simple manner just blows my mind. Amazing work!

Joe is my favorite bass player because the crazy licks I have in my head but don't know the names of the notes or notation, he just does. His rhythm, I have the same bits in my head. If I could just translate it to an instrument I bet I could do some cool stuff too

This is a great lesson. It's so rare these days for youtube lessons to be this comprehensive nice one : )

This is incredible, I’m so happy I found this on reddit. Could you do the same about other bass players? Some ideas I’d love to see: Flea, Victor Wooten, Marcus Miller

Great analysis, and original content. If every video was like this, KZfaq would be an amazing place.

Amazing work, can't believe you're sharing this with us. This is the next step to those how to improvise videos

Hey Luke, it has to said: GREAT WORK!!!! Thanks a lot for the incredible anlysis of the most oldschool modern player who is really reviving bass playing for large audiances!!! all the bass-t from kayo

Luke, incredible video. This should be a new series. Definitely will implement a few things to my arsenal.

Thanks a million Luke, That was brilliant .

Stay relaxed as much as possible

20 minutes and 25 seconds of very educational entertainment. Thanks Luke and Joe!

Thanks Luke. I don't know much about Joe Dart or am particularly interested in this type of bass playing, but fantastic lesson. I am always open to learning something new.

That's the best sounding banana I've ever seen. Jokes aside, kudos for this gem of a video!

Excellent work Luke! Been pretty stagnant as player since college. Looking forward to hitting these transcriptions with a drum machine. Bass love runs deep my man

I wish there were a way to triple-quadruple-like a video. This is seriously such a great tutorial. 👏🏻 👏🏻

I love the random dog right at the beginning

Great job, man. Thanks for all your hard work!

dude, your tone is great

Before I learned about Vulfpeck and Joe Dart, some of my biggest influences were Jaco Pastorius and Rocco Prestia, and I was doing a lot of the stuff that Joe does for a long time already: Small subdivisions, lots of ghost notes, attention to articulation, muting and tone length, and approaching harmonies in a similar way. Then one day, maybe 10 years ago, I saw a KZfaq video demoing an Aria RSB Standard, kind of like a P bass with the pickup further to the bridge, almost in StingRay position. I love the sound, and looking back, it really sounded similar to Joe. I bought one and put flats on it, still not knowing about Vulfpeck. Now I have the perfect finger funk machine that can just nail the Joe Dart sound, by accident! But you're totally right: Gear is the smallest part of the equation, and the things you talked about absolutely nail it, and they are not only a great example of how to get the Joe Dart sound, but also what the many different aspects are that make someone's sound. This helps a lot in finding _your own_ sound. In my case for example, in contrast to Joe, I tend to play a lot less licks, play more laid-back, leave a lot of room for the other instruments and try to fill the room they leave with something complementing. Something I learned from other awesome bass players like e. g. Pino Palladino and Nathan East.

Very well done! You’re absolutely right that the most important part of Joe’s sound is his immaculate pocket! I need to get my How to Sound Like Joe Dart video done soon...

Exactly the video I’ve been wanting! Awesome job Luke. Although kinda typical I’d love to see some of Flea’s licks

Great analysis of Joe's style and sound ! 👍👍 Thank you Luke for a such amazing job !

"Hear Cory play like Joe" "That's me!" 🤣🤣

Wow this has to be one of the best bass videos I've ever seen, keep it up man! Your channel is awesome.

Much obliged Luke~~~

Thank you for all the work it took to break all of this down! What a great resource! The 1 2 b3 3 5 6 pattern is the standard major blues scale. Not as popular as the minor blues but much cooler imo

A fun coincidence: I've just got a drum machine. Like unboxed literally one hour ago. Don't really think I'll be ever able to sustain four bars of 16'th at that speed but whatever, I can certainly try...

For the historians.... in 1985 at BIT I was taught the 3 note chromatic lick (2 - flat 3rd - 3rd) as the Chuck Rainey lick. I wonder where Chuck got it from.

At 52 yo i didn't know my fingers could fly! It's like my brain finally connected directly to my fingers! I stumble, it's floppy and messy more than it should, but i know i'm on my way! You made an incredible job here! Thank you so much!

Would love something similar for MonoNeon... or KNOWER basslines, even for those Louis Cole keyboard bass riffs

Super great job on this video. Thanks so much for taking the time to do it. I passed it on to my son who is a budding new Bass Player.

Thanks for this, your insights are great. Love Joe.

you legend, thanks for the tabs!!!!

He's like a hype Jamerson. Jamerson has a lot of similar fills and that 2 b3 3 phrase pretty ubiquitous around Motown in general.

i play piano and am incorporating these licks into my left hand. thank you!!!

First off, thank you so much for all the great lessons, Luke! I've learned a lot from you and you have a very nice attitude. Funny you don't mention that what you call "The Quintessential Joe Dart Lick" is *very* similar to bars 4 & 5 of Teen Town... I can't believe you haven't noticed! :)

dude, thanks for the joe dart licks! Woody Goss (Woody and Jeremy) has a song, "Too Hot in LA" and Joes on the bass. Man, that bass line is so catchy. Simple and elegant

Extremely detailed! Excited to rewatch MSG with this PDF!!

Thanks Luke, great presentation! Subbed. Kudos to Stevie Wonder for the genesis of Joe’s ‘signature’ lick in Sir Duke. Greetings from across the harbour... I’ve got an ‘86 red NS2. Love the natural finish on yours. How much fun are they to play, eh?!

Great video man. I'm about to buy my first bass, and as a long time guitar player I already know a fair bit about technique/theory, but I wanted study some great bass players. This info is very telling, and I'm gonna be learning that whole MSG concert as soon as I get good enough to!

Nice one, cheers from Sweden. Subscribed 💜

Lots of new (to me) and good bass channels I'm discovering lately - subscribed :)

Great work, Luke! One of the best KZfaq instructors around...

Makes video with a meme tile. Never even hints at referencing it once. Becomes a god.

It'd be amazing if you could do one on Leon Sylvers, I love his basslines and hes so underrated. Be really cool to see a breakdown of his style!

Thanks for the lesson and turning me on to joe dart!

thanks, i needed that

I only just found your channel, it's well done your tips are easy to follow so I'll be using it plenty.

He’s attuned to the groove.

You are an absolute legend. Thank you so much this is so incredibly helpful thank you omg

Ahhh pero vos sos un capo capo capo de la vida ! Gracias por este laburazo

Thanks!

Great video. But I think the most significant part of Joe's sound is his super fast staccato. I have no idea how he does it. Every note is so short and punchy, even when he's playing 16th notes at 160 bpm.

killer vid my man

I like how you broke this down. Well done 👍🏾

Very cool video. If I may add to this from a drummers perspective: Something that Joe does all the time is use 16th note syncopation. He really likes to start or end a lot of his lines or note groupings on the "e" or on the "a" of the beat. He also uses a lot of accents in these places. A really good example of that would be on "Daddy, he got a Tesla" after the drumsolo (18:51 on live on madison square garden if you want to check it out) where he plays 16th notes on one note and then plays Octaves only on the "e" of each beat. But the concept of accentuating the "e"s and "a"s is found all throughout his playing.

great, thanks for the tabs! exercise sessions for a long time.

Thanks Nice tone on your bass

great summary, can't agree more with the analysis from what my hears tell me

Great video my man!! Enjoyed every second 😊

Awesome job Luke superb, great video love joe Dart 🎯

Seems like the main lick from Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” is the blueprint for most of Joe Dart’s fills. And that’s not a bad thing!

You absolute beast i love you

that #4 concept reminds me of Sir Duke iconic lick

Such a hot bass, I have to say

The start of the quintessential lick sounds like the horns on Feel Like Makin Love by D'Angelo

Great job!! I'm having loads of fun with these tricks/tips... whatever you call it

That's a lot of work! Great job and thanks for sharing 👍

This is super awesome dude, awesome lesson

Superbly helpful! Thank you so much❣️

This is an amazing birthday gift, thank you sir!

Thank you very kindly for sharing!