It's 1979, John Deacon is hanging
out at Chic's studio, and he's got a crazy idea. "What if I wrote a funk song for Queen?" No, John, I don't wanna play it. Then I'm all for it.
It's not us. Us? But then John hit them with it. That's quite a cool riff, actually. And the number one hit was born. But if John Deacon hadn't
done these five key things, "Another One Bites the Dust"
would not have been a hit, and I can prove it. I mean, even just without this first key, the song wouldn't have had that irresistible head boppin' vibe. So how did Deacy make it impossible not to dance to this song? Through the brilliant use of a trick I call the "rhythm contrast method." And it's not the usual bass rhythm advice of follow the kick drum. Here's how it works. Between the bass and the drums, one rhythm needs to be simple
and the other can be complex. And in "Another One Bites the Dust," which instrument is playing
the more complex rhythm? Right, the complex bass
rhythm is contrasted by the simple on-the-beat drums. Since this song was written starting with the complex bass rhythm, that means Deacon pushed
drummer Roger Taylor to keep his rhythm simple
to leave space for the bass. Without the rhythm contrast method, a more amateur drummer might
have played a complex beat that fought with the bass line. This method is an easy way
to come up with bass lines that automatically lock in with the drums, which, if you ever try to come up with a cool bass lines on
the spot, it's kinda hard. But if we reverse
engineer "Bites the Dust" and start with a simple drum beat, you could basically stick
any complex bass rhythm on top of this and it'll sound cool. Although John Deacon came up with a particularly kick-ass version, most of my noodles don't get almost 2 billion streams on Spotify. And you can use the rhythm contrast method the other way around too, like in "50 Ways To Leave
Your Lover" by Paul Simon, where Steve Gadd played
an iconically unique and complex drum groove, which is best supported by
the simple, spacious notes used in the bass part. ♪ I'll repeat myself at
the risk of being crude ♪ Because "Another One Bites the Dust" was written from the bass riff up, it also breaks a quote, unquote rule that bass players are taught to follow, which is to stay out of the singer's way. Meaning you just play
super simple, supportive, almost invisible stuff
while they're singing and save all your noodles and fills for in between the lyrics. But Freddie actually arranged his vocal to follow the bass rhythm, and there's a lot of overlap of when John and Freddie are making sound and when they're silent. Freddie was following the
rhythm contrast method, but in a different way. Joining in on the existing
complex bass rhythm, while Roger laid it down,
simple disco dummy style. "I'd always wanted to do
something a little bit more that was disco, which was
very uncool at the time." Which apparently Roger
was really unhappy about, as he and Brian felt the band should stay in the more rock and roll
lane of "Don't Stop Me Now" And "We Are the Champions." It's possible Queen wouldn't even have released "Bites the Dust" if they weren't encouraged
by Michael Jackson, another up-and-coming indie artist you should really check out. Hey you guys, you gotta put that song out. And I wasn't particularly
enamored with it, so I said, "No, you're kidding,
that's never a single." So yeah, Deacy nailed
the rhythm hard enough to make Michael Jackson say,
"That's it, that's the gravy," and Freddie nailed what is one of the most singable anthems ever. And there's a big difference
between a singable, anthemic number one mega hit, and a hot mess like this, which would be lucky to hit the top 1,000. The difference? Making the
right anthemic note choices. Otherwise, good luck singing along to "Another One Bites the Dust," or, Weirdo Josh - "Another One Bites The Dust" So how did John Deacon
pick the right notes to not sound like baby's first bass line or pseudo jazz note explosion? Well, this is where I could say some predictable bass teacher crap about the anthropological significance of the minor pentatonic scale, but really, there's a much a simpler way to understand how anthemic
bass riffs and melodies work. It just takes the two check boxes of the "Anthemic Riff Checklist." Checkbox one - are the notes
kind of close together, so even an unskilled singer
can join in and sound okay? Close together meaning
they're not too far apart on the fretboard or the piano keyboard, so this is easy to sing, ♪ But this is hard to sing ♪ And checkbox two, just not
too many different notes, like, maybe three to five. So you don't need Sherlock
Holmes Mind Palace musical memory just to
hold it in your brain. ♪ This is just three notes ♪ That's great. ♪ This one is too many notes
to sing at sports games ♪ ♪ Most people can't sing this ♪ If you check those two boxes, you can make a rift singable
with any scale, really. There's "Smoke on the Water," just four notes from the blue scale. "Blister in the Sun," three
notes from the major scale. And some claps, "Seven Nation Army," five notes from the minor scale. Or "We Will Rock You," just
four notes from the minor scale. But John Deacon was really good at the anthemic riff checklist. A man of a few words, but just
the right number of notes. Hello, it's John Deacon here. As usual, I don't know what
to say, so I'll dry up now. He wrote another iconic bass
line with just two notes, making a possibly boring bass moment into an instantly recognizable
classic two notes, but you instantly know the song. No, it's not Vanilla Ice, we're talking about "Under Pressure." But despite Mr. Ice's famous protest, sometimes songs sound
suspiciously like other songs. And some say that's the case with "Another One Bites the Dust." Did this song's success ride on John Deacon blatantly
ripping off the bass lines from "Good Times" by Chic? According to an interview
Bernard Edwards gave that I had to trace down
in this dusty, old book I found on eBay just for these
10 seconds in this video. "Well, that Queen record came about because that bass player spent some time hanging out with us at our studio. But that's okay, what isn't okay is that
the press started saying that we had ripped them off. Can you believe that? 'Good Times' came out
more than a year before, but it was inconceivable that black musicians could
possibly be innovative like that. It was just these dumb disco guys ripping off this rock and roll song. And you should subscribe to BassBuzz for more foolproof bass lessons." Wow, straight from Bernard Edwards. So let the record be set straight. "Good Times" came out
before "Bites the Dust," and John Deacon was in
the studio with Chic while they were writing "Good Times." But we know "Bites The Dust"
isn't just a carbon copy of "Good Times," 'cause
that would sound like this. Here's "Good Times," and here's "Bites of the Dust." So they get different in the second half, but they both start with those
three big, fat low notes. And you can hear even more Chic influence in that rhythmic guitar part, which was actually played by
John Deacon, not by Brian May. So good. Which sounds a lot like
Nile Rogers on "Good Times," right? So Deacy just totally
ripped off Chic, right? "Bites the Dust" came out in 1980, "Good Times" came out in 1979. Guess what came out in
1974, five years earlier? That's right, "Hollywood Swinging" by Kool & the Gang, featuring those exact same
three big, fat low notes on that low E string. My cousin is one of the people who started Kool & the Gang. And when they wrote the song, "Hollywood Swinging-"
"Hollywood Swinging." I was like, "Damn!" Oh! This was a fascinating interview. I'll link the full
thing in the description right below the Like button, hint, hint. So Queen ripped off Chic, sorta, but Chic ripped off Kool & the Gang, and then who knows where Kool
& the Gang got that idea from. Ultimately, everything is a remix. It's cool to give credit where
credit is due when you can. And John Deacon did not give a nod or a songwriting credit to Chic, and they didn't give one
to Kool & the Gang, either. So an eye for an eye makes the
whole world dance, I guess. And I'd argue that Deacon
actually improved the bass line, at least, for Queen's purposes, 'cause the original has
like 10 or 11 notes in it, which is a lot for the
average concert goer to like, remember and be
able to sing along with. It's still an iconic, amazing bass line, I'm not throwing any shade. But Deacon made it simpler, better checking off the
anthemic notes check boxes, so any idiot can sing
and recognize this riff. Sing it! Ah! And not to mention, there
are other riffs in the song that do not sound like "Good Times," and you can learn the full song with the free sheet music
and tab in the description. But even with the right notes and rhythm, the song wouldn't have hit the same way without Deacy's distinctive
disco-tastic tone. John Deacon was mostly known for playing a Fender Precision Bass, one of the most popular
basses of all time. The Precision, or P Bass, is known for its snarly, growly tone. Growl, growl, growly, growly. But for "Another One Bites the Dust," Deacy chose the Music Man StingRay, which was also developed by Leo Fender after he left the company. Known for its nasal, punchy tone, the StingRay lends a more
focused, disco-friendly sound to the bass on this track. And it's another place you
can see the Chic influence. Bernard Edwards recorded "Good Times" on the exact same type of bass. I've been curious how
"Another One Bites the Dust" might have sounded if John
Deacon had used his usual P Bass, so let's imagine together. Whoa. It's like, so much looser sounding. Still cool. Huh. If you're one of the
literal billions of humans who don't own a StingRay Bass, you can get a functionally similar tone with three simple tricks. Number one, pluck with your fingers and pluck near the bridge, which leads to a more
tight and clear tone. Plus, it's the only good place to rest your hand on the Music Man. And number two, you wanna
roll to your bridge pickup if you have more than one, and then boost the mids
control on your bass or amp, so you even further emphasize that tight, honky sound. And three, use some nice, dead strings. I'm not sure if Deacon used flat wounds or just old, dead round
wounds on this track, but if you have fresh round wounds, you're gonna wanna roll the tone knob or the treble knob down to match the muffly sound of this track. It's just so like, punchy, focused, and there's not a lot of top end. And speaking of matching the sound, if you've ever tried to
play along with this song, you know that it's not in tune. The bass, guitar vocals,
everything is slightly sharp, higher sounding than you would
think that they recorded it. This happened at some point in the analog recording to tape process. Whether it's an accidental
artifact of the technology or an intentional choice to make the song a little
faster and brighter sounding, we don't really know. Here's how it might've
sounded when they recorded it. It's slower than you expect, right? And a little lower sounding. With the perfect disco
punch tone dialed in, Deacy's bass riff is just
missing one final piece. The difference between
getting the right feeling and fitting with the lyrics,
and a total garbage flop. A subtle detail that most
beginners totally ignore that's not even really
that subtle, note length. Yeah, it's not the
sexiest name of a thing, but even with the right notes, the right rhythm, the right tone, I can still make this bass
line sound like total dog s**t just by missing this one thing. Ugh. So bad. Without those perfectly
punchy note lengths, the bass riff makes a hot
mess all over the song, getting in the way of
the vocals and drums. But Deacon's punchy staccato approach gives the song a feeling
of forward momentum, so the bullets can rip
to the sound of the beat. Beginner bassists miss this, 'cause most music instruction is focused around the beginnings of notes. Like, I might tell you
to play three low E's on beats one, two, and three, and then you go ba, ba, ba, but you're missing that tight finish that basically go bow, bow, bow, uh! Huh! And it's the tight clarity of those notes, along with the tempo of
110 beats per minute, that makes this a perfect
song to perform CPR to. The lyrics are a little ironic, but nailing your note length will help keep the chest
compressions clean and focused. You could literally save a life with the right note
length on an iconic riff. And if you're hankering
for some more lifesaving, iconic riffs, just click on the ♪ Click, click, click ♪ ♪ Click the video ♪ My name is John Richard Deacon, and I was born on August 19th, 1951. ♪ One turd, two tits, John Deacon ♪
