How Deaky’s Hated Bassline Became Queen’s Greatest Hit

What’s your favorite John Deacon bass line? 👑

John Deacon is the unsung hero of Queen, dude wrote some absolute bangers! And the fact that he pretty much called it quits after Freddie was gone…huge respect for his decency!

I love that this is a video for songwriters as much as for bass players

The easiest method is to have a band full of musical geniuses.

Deacons playing is super clean and deceptively simple , yet perfect for the song . His playing is simply perfect for each and every tune he played on .

99.9% of this song was recorded by Deacon, except for the vocal of course. It's a drum loop, basically a drum machine, Taylor didn't play on it at all. And May only added some guitar noises, not even the funky instrumental break. That's why Taylor hated it, he's not even on it.

Queen was so ground breaking, even with "Under Pressure", both vocals recorded separately, without any knowledge of what the other was doing, amazing.

Every time I listen to Queen’s song, I’m attracted to John's bass. It's not an exaggeration to say that I listen to Queen to hear John's bass. I love John.💕

That song HOOKED me as a kid and is still the best and most loved song for me to this day. I crank that in my car when ever its on

I think my favorite thing about Josh is he’s not giving tutorials or like analysis videos on a $3,000 custom shop bass. He’s using squire jazz basses, Sterling by Music Man, basses that most of us commoners can afford. That being said , it also adds the immense value of the bass setup video. Good work Josh!

So. What you're saying is John Deacon is a life saving genius. I like it.

Deaky is a criminally underrated bassist.

John wrote the loveliest songs the group played. They were clean and simple but wonderfully composed and played. "You and I" was one of his best.

I was STARVING for this video

Josh is the most entertaining bass teacher. Always love his content and humor.

Deacy's electric piano on You're My Best Friend went straight to my heart because I was 11. When Another One Bites the Dust came I was 16 and already a cool guy, I just thought - It's okay.

According to Vulfpeck, it's the "3 on E". Apparently, that's all any song needs.

All Bernard Edward's syncopated riffs worked perfectly over simple drum parts, so much better than they do today with the new bassist and Chic's fancy drummer. Valuable lesson!

I know John Deacon has chosen to withdraw from public life, but I hope he knows how many people love and admire him and how even younger generations love his music. He didn't write very many Queen songs, but whenever he wrote a track that ended up on one of Queen's albums it was a certified banger. Also Freddie's vocal performance on Another One Bltes The Dust is off the chain. Guy almost sounded like James Browns, so much soul!

When I started studying this song I said to myself "well, this is an easy one... Few notes, keep the rythm and off you go". Well... I've found out that to really nail down this song and its groove, you must master note muting and get a very precise (and consistent) staccato. Plus, the syncopes in the chorus have to be practiced well before nailing it. Really awesome song to learn, it gives you an idea of where you are in term of "sense of rythm and groove". Also, nice to know that the guitar was also played by Deacon: I didn't know that! I always thought that Bryan May sounded so funky and groovy on this song, almost like a bassist :D. Great video, though, and thanks for making it :).