Currently serving as live bassist for The Who, Jon Button might have been expecting an easy ride when Scott’s Bass Lessons challenged him to learn a song as quickly as possible. The tune in question, though, was Dua Lipa’s Dance The Night, and it didn’t take long for Button to realise that it’s no low-end walk in the park.
“Ooh, this is not an easy song,” he says, as he tries to get to grips with it.
Speaking to Variety last year, producer Mark Ronson confirmed Button's initial suspicion that the bassline to Dance The Night - which is taken from the Barbie soundtrack - was recorded 'live' on bass guitar rather than programmed on a synth. “Everything is pretty much played live apart from the drums," he said.
What's more, Button quickly establishes that Andrew Wyatt, who played the original bass part, must have been using an octave divider pedal, so he runs off to get one (an EBS OctaBass).
This helps with the sound, but the playing is another matter. “This is kinda hard!” admits Button, but he’s determined to get it right.
“I like to be pretty meticulous about playing stuff the correct way,” he says. “I hate it when somebody plays it kind of like, ‘it’s kind of close.’”
Button also offers some handy practice tips as he’s getting his head around Dance The Night’s. For example, he reveals that, when he’s learning a song by playing over the top of it, he likes to play an octave up so that it’s easier to hear the original bass part.
There’s also this: “If I’m doing something live and I’m not going to read a chart, I never want to write it down. I want it to go straight in here [points at head].”
Oh, and a pearl of wisdom from his son’s karate teacher: “Practice makes permanent”. This applies whether you’re learning a part right or wrong, the point being that, once you’ve practised something repeatedly, you’re probably going to play it like that forever. So make sure you’re playing it right.
As you’d expect from a man of his talent, Button does eventually manage to learn and play the Dance The Night bassline. Check his performance out towards the end of the video above.
