Lesson material here: www.talkingbass.net/mustang-sally-why-every-bassist-plays-it-wrong-tabs-and-tutorial/

This is such a funky bassline for a simple blues progression. The rhythmic placement of everything is *chefs kiss* 👌

Really hope you've planned a whole series of these "pub standards"! Great stuff as always Mark, cheers

I probably never got the notes right, but nearly every time I’ve played that song it was the Buddy Guy version, which just murders the beautiful syncopation of the WP version. Drove me to the brink of despair some nights!

Nicely done Mark. A must know for bassists everywhere. Thank you for sharing your work.

Thank you for posting that. Wow, Mustang Sally. Yea, I been playing bass since 1974 and I remember that song being brought up so, so many times. I did it, well we did it and no matter how off to the left or the right we did the tune, it mostly went over due to the condition of the listeners at that point. Well, one day when I was home practicing new tunes that our band was doing, I remember we discussed that It would be a good idea to actually get the dam song Mustang Sally down right, as best we can. Let me tell ya, Im talking the year 2001 when technology was just not what it was today. So, I had to do this the hard way. I sat back and just listened to the dam song over and over until I had to pick up the bass and try. I am a very good " pick up by ear " bassist but Dam, I could not get the lick perfect. I had to try different headphones, studio monitors and equalize until I thought I had it right. When I finally got it ( that same thing you just showed us on your video ) I sat there trying to sink in the riff and I thought to myself, No No, this aint the dam lick! So I started playing along with the record like I did at the start. Holy Crap! It took me 4 hours to get the Mustang Sally lick! I felt stupid and satisfied at the same time. Thank you for sharing that. Helps me even more to believe I got that dam song down right. Now, it's actually more fun to play!

Legend doesn’t even begin to describe session players like Tommy Cogbill.

Excellent lesson!

Every time I play it I have to follow the guitar player as usual! Guitar players love to play their version of the bass parts.

The real reason bassists get this wrong is because we can't be bothered to actually learn it. You know you get the song list and this one always gets pushed to the "it's just a 1-4-5 with a groove" pile. Well now I know it, so thanks! I might still play it wrong on purpose though. I like to do like a funky shout chorus under it.

A terrific lesson Mark. Thanks.

loved this. really informative and brilliantly presented. Thank you!

As a bassist I have found that even if you play the part right, it wont sound "right" if everyone else doesn't play their part correctly. Lol

I always played BC F# G.. Never heard the A or Bb ever. Learn something new everyday.

After playing this any old way, a new challenge! Great job. I might actually learn to unhate this for awhile.

Cool, I love how he laid that in there. sounds a bit not right at first but makes perfect sense and sounds great.

Excellent. Just listened to the original recording. Wow that’s really cool.

Damn I have been playing this song wrong all these years. I even played with Eamonn Flynn, the road keyboard player for the Commitments for a few years. When I see him next and show him this riff, I am curious to his reaction.

At 53 years old I’ve never heard this song one time on the radio. I had a music store for 4 years and never sold a copy. I’m intrigued by the fascination with bands playing this song in clubs. I honestly don’t get it. Played in bands in my youth, and this song was never requested. Yet every time I go see a live band, the song is always played. Glad there’s a tutorial to get it right.

Very cool subject and lesson, thanks.

Thanks for this Mark. After playing this for 30 years in The Solicitors (incorrectly, I might add), we finished last December, so I’m glad I don’t have to adapt this now lol. Keep giving fella…

Amazing lesson!! Easyly explained and easy to understand. Thanks a lot.

A great tutorial Mark👍👍👍

Great video sir!!! I began 45 years ago finger plucking because, frankly, almost none of my bass heroes used a pick. I began experimenting after 3 years or so and really fell hard for the plectrum. I use the big Fender triangle heavy gauge. I found that by varying my hold location, I can get more or less flexibility and there's plenty of surface area to work with. Plus, when sweat becomes a factor, you can spin the pick to catch the closest point if it slips. Just my take on the subject. I realize it isn't for everyone.

Wow, what an eye-opener!! Thanks a lot.

A great breakdown! Nice that people study and appreciate the skills these "old-school" musicians had. They didn't "overthink" things, had some knowledge of theory but mostly used instinct from tradition. Music is Rhythm and Pulse in the foundation, with the vocals providing Melody while telling a Story. Learning how to interact and mind-meld within the Pulse is the key to being a good player, and not just an ego-tripper Thank you!

I just used your video while teaching a bass lesson. Thank you very much for this.

What a treat - thank you!!!

Good stuff!

Man, he just did not care whether those are dominant chords or what. You gotta love that.

You play it your way and I’ll play it MY way. 😎

You rock Mark! Thanks again!

I imagine a lot of people, like me, learned this a lot of years ago off a 4th or 5th hand cassette copy where any hope of hearing all the original bassline was long gone so we either played 1)what fit the bog standard major or minor chords the guitarist played (see the theory bit) 2) what our mate, mentor or bassist you admired in the local pub played 3) used the version "The Commitments" played or 4) played something different every night just to keep it interesting. I never dreamt back then we'd have access to the sort of technology that allows us to isolate these barely audible parts. Now all you (still) gigging bassists have to do is make the rest of your bands play the correct parts too 😂😂😂 thank you for a really interesting post. Now subscribed.

Thanks for breaking this down!

This is not only instructional but very funny, Mark. I tend to do the Commitments version, but this is very interesting too!

Pretty darn cool discovery, mister…hats off to you

Great analysis - your playing makes Mustang Sally almost palatable. I possibly have to play this at a jam night tomorrow and a private party on Sunday. Your insight has been invaluable. Let's hope I can keep with the proper bass line... lol

This was a great vid &, like almost everyone, I've not played it correctly most of the time. For the record, though, the original was the songwriter, R&B/soul artist Sir Mack Rice's, version released in 1965. Wilson covered it a year later & had the big hit.

Excellent video. Thanks.

DUDE!! Thanks! I never quite felt completely comfortable playing this song. I incorporated pretty much every version you played at the beginning. But now I can at least fake it better!! LOL!!

That's how I'd actually heard it in the recording when learning the song for a covers band three years ago, but it sounded 'wrong' to my ears so I omitted the A and moved the B in its place, followed by two C 8th notes on the '1' beat 😁

The commitments is one of the greatest films ever!! 🇮🇪

Very cool. Once you hear it it's quite obvious but very useful breakdown

Mark ! ! ! Thank you so very much for this break down of Mustang Sally.... Like you have said trying to pick it out of an old 45 rpm record is tough. I have had countless arguments and a few "your fired" over this tune in the 50+ years I have been playing it. I discovered some cities different are adamant about how they perform certain oldies among the local musical populations. Your presentation style is terrific. I have been a long time lurker on Talking Bass. Thanks again. Maybe a Word on "Peter Gun" next time. :) 🤣

If you're gonna do Mustang Sally you're gonna have to do Brown Eyed Girl 😁

This is the sound that made Tommy Gogbill Great. He created a great bass line without stepping on else's original music.

GREAT, THANKS for showing the notation. I like how you teach.

Starting to play bass in the band ... giving the guitar a rest .... great info thanks

GREAT THANKS

Ah yes, lalal.ai. I've been using that a lot to create rhythm tracks to work on vocals against. A completely Brilliant and powerful tool. Hadn't applied it to this song though. I've been playing this completely wrong forever as well, so thank you for providing me with the means to correct that.

Awesome thanks

good stuff

Thank you , Mark.

Good one Mark..

Amazing how hard easy things can be!

Thank you for showing this bass line, and the song, some proper respect, it's been trashed for far too long!

I've been playing totally different and it sounded good...but liked this version better..thank you

EXCELLENT

Thanks ❤

Never ceases to amaze me how great those Alabama white boys were. The guitar parts on MS are absolutely brilliant. Nobody plays then right either! Usually just some random idea of “funky “ with a bunch of 7th and 9th chords. There are only major chords being used. One is doing a v Cool riff using octaves (like Wes Montgomery). The other guitar is playing a Chuck Berry type of double stop parts. Anyway, great video! You got a new subscriber!

OK what a shock, I played it always wrong the last 40 years....thanks! and all the bass-t from kayo

Very informative - thank you! Also - you literally worked up a sweat with that groove! :-)

I play the same part that is on the record by Wilson Pickett. Fairly straightforward.

Super Freak has a alternating riff that no bar band uses. I’m a guitarist in a funk groove band and nobody plays like the record of the songs we play just the hooks. Which is actually nice because I can kind of jam on the tunes.

I've been using the program called RipX to extract, isolate, and analyze songs. It runs about $100 so it isn't necessarily cheap.

That B natural works, as do most chromatic runs, because it's a tritone substitute. In this case it's a tritone substitute for the F which is the fourth in a C7.

Been half-steppin' this tune for many, many Years.

Nice.

❤Thank you

You are a riot.

Ha brilliant,... I am guilty as charged. Nice one Mark.

Man the Wicked Wilson Pickett version is Thee Version 👌 🙌 🔥

Hahahha Very same to Guajira start.....beauty thanks

However, Mark: You are a Dangerous Genius Bassist at LARGE! - Thanks for Another Great Video.💯

Thank you so much. I love blues, Rhythm and blues, Country and western, of course 50s 60s 70s rock and roll. I play Rhythm Guitar it is time to play bass. How about getting both on one body. 😁😁

Thnx for this ! What a motherCogbill was !! Could swear when you first play the extracted sample it starts ON A ! oh well TY

Kudos to you for isolating the authentic bass line. The only question I would have is, is that the best bass line for the song? The slide up from B to C on the first beat suits me fine, as does the slide from F# to G on the way back up. However the choice of the 6th (A) note instead of going to Bb, irks my ear a bit. I tend to think that the song works in spite of that choice, and because under all the instruments, the bass riff is murky anyway. In a perfect world I would lose that 6th and use the 7th.

I bought the R&B Bass Bible HAL LEONARD, Bass recorded version. On page 100 has Mustang 🐎 Sally words and music by Bonny Rice. I don't think there is a wrong way of playing it really, the public don't give a 💩 how it's played, especially if they are hammered mate!! Are they going stop 🛑🖐️ you? Say hey!! You are playing it wrong 🤣, NO. Tommy Cogbill and Donald Duck Dunn, John Paul Jones are my top three bassists. They influence me on becoming a bassist.

Going to tonic, Very ingenius

Really interesting! Funny how dodgy one can play this song in a covers band and still get away with it. This is one of those be told the changes and be shown the rough feel of the riff and your ready to go type songs.

Well, it turns out that because I didn't know how to play it, I played it right! 😄 A muted open string before leading up to the root note from the flat is my main bass technique when I don't know what to play! 😁

Whoa! Definitely guilty of playing this wrong many, many times lol. It's like this bassline is pulled from an alternate timeline. 🙃

Bass Thanks

Ha!! Love it. The bassist in my band did it right! 😝

The Bb is often B natural on a lot of charts too.

Mustang Sally are written and was first recorded by Mack Rice.

Well done! 💪 Just a question... Sorry if it was already asked... What kind of dr strings do you use? I have a squier p bass cv 70 with lindy fralyn pickup and i'm actually using thomastik.

I played guitar with Wilson Pickett for five years. The bass player never played the original bass line 😳

I really liked the Commitments sound, just because it’s not like the original doesn’t mean it’s bad

my band played the Young Rascals version of this song a year before Pickett's cover was released.....we did play it quite a bit faster than the Rascals as it was a better dance song at a faster speed....

Can you do it in a full tab layout from start to finish?

Nice work but I can't let you get away with saying the original version is by Wilson Pickett when in fact the tune's writer Sir Mack Rice recorded it a year earlier!

This may sound musically blasphemous to some, but I think the original bass line sounds a bit herky jerky with no real groove to it. So I made up my own bass line using almost the exact same notes and it really puts some funk into the song (no, it's not slap & pop). I just play the line in a different way.

We always did Buddy Guy's version of this in bands I was in.

My motto will be from now on: "It wasn't wrong note, it was my chromatic approach!" 😂 Thank you for great info 😊! And stay cool - literally😥!

I'm so, so, so glad that I'm retired from playing bass and I never have to play this song ever again.

I like that you used math to solve Master of Puppets and used AI to solve Mustang Sally. Kids these days will never know what it's like transcribing from a cassette tape that someone else recorded off the radio.

Sometimes it's hard to pick out the fundamental notes from a recording, so we're stuck with using some music theory to fill in the gaps. Which is why I always played C (1) F# (b5) G (5) Bb (b7). I guess I was wrong.

So start on the major 7 on a dominant chord? Makes sense. Charlie Parker used to do that a lot. To mess with people's heads, I believe. 😉

As a guitarist played this old number many times I don't doubt for a second you got it right but whare this old song has been butcherd over the years and ime included in this confusion reigns man !