African Kanindo Bass Lesson With Downloadable TAB, Bass Backing Track & Drum Backing Track – 09
The above African bass guitar tutorial is a kanindo piece. I play it in my own style, with a thumb pick and 3 fingerpicks. Make sure that you read through this guide and download the tablature, the drum backing track and the bass backing track at the end of the article, so you can begin to practice it like a champ! If you are curious about what the kanindo genre really is, well, it’s pretty much the Kenyan version of soukous, á la African rumba. Interestingly, the music that all these sub-genres originate from is the Cuban son music, so technically they are not even rumba, but in Africa, they are called rumba, (for example, soukous is the Congolese rumba). Don’t worry about confusing categorizations like that; you know it when you hear it. After some time, at least. 😉 Anyway, in Kenya it was originally called benga, and then in about the late ’70s it’s transitioned into kanindo, named after Phares Oluoch Kanindo Kenyan politician who owned most (if not all) of the Kenyan music business, being the CEO of the local EMI label. But let’s not get tangled up in politics. Our bass line – as well as the song – is in the key of F-sharp major, in common time. Its chord progression is I-ii-V for both sections of the bass line.
Relaxed Syncopation On All Four Strings
As you may have noticed in our previous lessons, the beginning part is usually played lower on the neck. It’s also a more relaxed, groovy thing. Our current kanindo piece is no exception in these regards either. The distinctive syncopation is of course present in this tune, so much so that it’s pretty much maxed out. -.- You’ll love groovin’ with it! Other than stopping the strings in time, there are not much in the way of difficulties. Unlike the 2nd part, the (sort of!) sebene.
Finger Jumps And The Mighty Pinky
Yup. So we get to the 2nd section played on the higher end of the fingerboard. If it were a Congolese song and not a Kenyan one, we could call it the sebene part (we can still do that 😉 ). Anyway, the challenges. Right after the initial 16th notes, there’s that part played on the G and D strings of the bass, where you need to skip with your index finger diagonally, from one string onto the lower one (8th to 9th fret). That’s how I play it at least. You can of course work out other fingerings, whatever is the most comfortable for your own playing style. I tried it a few different ways, and this index finger jump worked the best. The next stage that can be difficult is the slight variation of the previously described part in measure 6. It’s where instead of the 8th fret on the G string, you play the 11th fret D# note. The note right before this one is also on the 11th fret, just one string lower. Because of this, I’ve found that playing the 1st note with the tip of the little finger and then creating a little barré with it to play the 2nd note one string higher is the quickest and most effective way to play this particular section. To me at least. Again, if you can find other, more comfortable solutions, feel free to use them. The bass line ends on the A string. Cheers!
