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Bass Transcription – John McLaughlin’s Solo on “Off The One” by Lucas Pickford
Hey bass players. I thought I’d give you something challenging to start off 2014 with. Once again, it’s not a solo by a bass player but rather another master of strings, guitarist John McLaughlin.
The solo is on a tune of John’s called “Off The One” from his CD entitled “Floating Point”.
The solo begins at 3:30 into the song.
I chose this solo for a couple of reasons. First, the chord progression is very simple and repetitive. It begins with an E13 chord which is just an E7 with the 13th (C#) in it. It’s a basic dominant 7th chord and takes the E Mixolydian mode. That’s followed by an Emi7 to A13 to C/D. C/D can also be thought of or written as D7sus4. Again it’s just a dominant 7th chord except the 3rd (F#) is taken out and replaced by the 4th (G). You can still play a regular D Mixolydian mode over it no problem. Later on in the song you’ll see an F/G which can also be written as G7sus4 and it too takes a G Mixolysian mode. All the minor 7th chords are treated with the Dorian Mode as the default scale. That said, McLaughlin mixes in other stuff like chromatic notes and pentatonic scales but for the most part his choice of notes is very “inside” and that is a good thing.
The second reason I chose this particular solo is because of the way McLaughlin’s solo lines actually lay on the neck. I play a 6 string bass but whether you play 6 or a 5 or a 4 string, you will notice right away when you begin to play through the solo just how “comfortable” and “guitaristic” the notes lay on the fingerboard. That shouldn’t be too surprising considering we share 4 of the same strings with the guitar and McLaughlin’s lines really make you notice that. Don’t worry too much about the “8va” sections. The goal of learning this solo on the bass is not to exactly match the register the guitar is in but rather to give you some new ways of moving your fingers when playing through chords. You can really mine this solo for new ideas that you can add to your regular bag of licks and because the lines lay so nicely on the fingerboard you can work those ideas up in speed as well. So the next time you come across a II-7 V7 or a sus4 chord, try uncorking some of the lines in this solo. I think you’ll like what you hear.
Pick
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Photo: Self-portrait by Melissa Auf Der Maur
Melissa Auf Der Maur is a Canadian bassist who played with Tinker, Hole, and The Smashing Pumpkins. She released her own work and is a photographer with photos published in Nylon, Bust, and National Geographic. She released her ‘90s Rock Memoir “Even The Good Girls Will Cry” on 17 March 2026.
KB: Did you always want to be a singer-musician growing up?
I’ve played music my whole life. In school, I played trumpet and sang in a children’s choir, so music was always within me. My mother was the first female disc jockey on the Montreal airwaves; her record collection played a huge role in my inspiration and love of music.
KB: When did you start playing bass, and why this instrument?
When I was 19, the early 90s music explosion began to percolate in tiny clubs around the world. I was lucky to be a ticket girl at Montreal’s underground music club. In one year, I saw Hole, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, White Zombie, and The Breeders – all had female bass players. That’s when the seed was planted. By the age of 22, I was the bass player of Hole.
KB: Which brands of basses have you used in your career, and which one are you using now?
The first bass that I learned on was a vintage Squier Precision. Hole was sponsored by Fender guitars, so I upgraded to Fender Custom Shop Precisions. That is all I play, but I have a cool vintage 8-string Greco that I use on recordings to thicken up guitar parts.
KB: What equipment do you use or have you used with your basses?
Ampeg SVT amps and cabinets, a couple of Sans-Amp pedals, and that is it.
KB: How did you become a member of Hole, and what is your fondest memory of that time?
Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins was helping scout a replacement for (RIP) Kristen Pfaff, Hole’s bass player. My band, Tinker, opened for them on the Siamese Dream tour, so Billy had seen me play and could vouch for me. Courtney trusted her talented friend, and that was it. I initially said “no thank you” due to my commitment to my photographic studies and the drama and chaos surrounding the band during the “Live Through This” album release. Courtney took it as a good sign that I said no, so convinced me to reconsider, and soon after, I accepted their invitation, in the name of helping put females in the male-dominated landscape of rock music. My fondest memory is every show we played as a mostly female band, symbolizing what a woman could do in a rock band. Every show had a purpose: get more women to play music.
KB: You are a photographer as well. What makes a great picture? Do you shoot in color or b/w?
I started shooting photographs at age 15. Initially only shot black & white and worked in the art school darkroom. In university, I took a color photography course, and shifted mostly and forever to that, because it was easier to process film on the road when I joined a rock band. I experimented with many cameras, point and shoots, manual, polaroids, medium format, and vintage finds. The trick to a good photograph is to shoot many and all the time – the magic is in the edit and selection process.
KB: Are there artists you would love to collaborate with or wish you had?
??I’ve been lucky to collaborate with some of my favorite musicians in my career. I would still love to collaborate with a new generation heavy electronic artist on an analog bass, heavy electronic drums, and synths collaboration project. Take me out of my usual zone, merging the past and future: my love of 80s dark new wave and new artists exploring that genre. It was very futuristic back then, and we are now, after all, living in the future. I am in the mood to play bass to heavy beats I want to dance to.
KB: What are your 7 favorite bass lines in music across all genres? And why these 7?
“Mountain Song” – Jane’s Addiction (love a rambling, rolling bass line – feels like the ocean waves)
“Black Top – Helmet” (was the first bass line I taught myself)
“Gold Dust Woman” – Hole from “The Crow 2” Soundtrack (it was my first bass line contribution to the band)
“Get Ready” – The Temptations (Motown just feels so good, because of the bass)
“Lucretia My Reflection” – Sisters of Mercy (makes me want to hit the dance floor and play bass simultaneously)
“Be My Druidess” – Type O Negative (full chord bass playing at its best by iconic, demonic, Peter Steele, RIP)
“Romantic Rights” – Death from Above (1979 – unique distorted overdriven tone, combined dance rhythm and melodic intelligence, all in one shot – also! Shout out to a bass & drum only band, which is awesome, and we should have more of, but the bass player needs to be a killer to fill that role.
KB: What are you currently up to?
Releasing my ‘90s Rock Memoir “EVEN THE GOOD GIRLS WILL CRY”. Visceral healing process, it was to get it out of me and write it, but I suspect the real magic will begin by putting it into the world and reflecting with others on what the magic of the ‘90s was all about. Powerful music decade that carried us into what is now a brave new world of digital corporate weirdness – may the past shed a light on our future. That’s my hope for this book release and tour.
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