French Bass Phenom Hadrien Feraud on the John McLaughlin Tune “Senor C.S.”

Hi everyone,

For the one year anniversary of Bass Musician Magazine, I have chosen to put up a very special and challenging transcription. It is a live solo by French bass phenom Hadrien Feraud, on the John McLaughlin tune “Senor C.S.” The solo is both technically and harmonically brilliant to say the least. I got the idea to transcribe this solo after watching a clip of it on YouTube which I have included here:

The bass solo starts after the keyboard solo about 4:40 into the clip. Some things to things to look out for:

1.   The tune is in 6/4 and for the most part is written in treble clef, watch out for the change to bass clef in bar 5.  It only stays in bass clef  for that one measure and then returns to treble clef in bar 6 and remains in treble clef for the remainder of the transcription.

2.   The chord changes that Hadrien is soloing over are deceptively simple at first glance, but Hadrien treats them in a very sophisticated way utilizing Melodic Minor, Lydian, Lydian Augmented, and Altered Dominant Scales.

3.   There are only four chords that Hadrien is blowing over and they are; Ab-9/ Amaj7 (#11)/ Dmaj7(#5)/ Eb7 (alt) all one bar a piece. These chords just keep repeating for the bass solo.

4.   Notice how Hadrien treats the Ab-9 as Ab-(maj 7) which allows him to use the Melodic Minor Scale.

5.   The Amaj7 (#11) gets treated with the Lydian Scale for the most part.  The Dmaj7(#5) is especially interesting as it utilizes the D Lydian Augmented Scale or a B Melodic Minor Scale depending on how you think of it.  The last chord, takes the Eb Altered  Dominant Scale.  I have written out the respective scales for you in case you are not familiar with them.  That should help you when analyzing the transcription, which I highly recommend you do.

I have transcribed the first 8 courses and will have the rest of the solo in my next column.  This should keep you plenty busy for now.  Happy Anniversary Bass Musician Magazine!!

Pick

Click below to download both pages of the “Senor C.S.” transcription