Alternating Bass Note Fun with Don't Worry, Be Happy

Lesson #448 • Aug 8, 2022

Video Lesson

Instructional PDF 2 pages

Lesson Discussion

Description

In this week’s lesson, I’ll show you a fun alternating bass note exercise that you can use to play the song “Don’t Worry Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin. This song only uses four chords, played over and over in the same progression: C-Dm-F-C (play two full measures of each chord). But instead of strumming it, I’ll show how you can use alternating bass notes (always played on the 5th and 6th strings) for each of the four chords. Combined with a light percussive slap in between each bass note, we’re left with a nice groove that you can whistle/hum/sing over, if you please.

In addition to this core exercise, I’ll show additional variations on the riff — showing how you can use power chords, barre chords, or even open chords and get a similar result. This one is relatively easy to get started with, so let’s jump on in! Timestamps for my video lesson:

0:00 Lesson Overview
0:52 Chord Shapes & Progression
1:47 Alt. Bass Notes, At A Glance
4:52 Adding Percussive Flourish
6:05 Barre & Power Chord Options
9:40 Bass Note Finger Options
11:24 Playing Along with Bobby McFerrin

Bobby McFerrin’s Album Version

Note, this is played in the key of B — which is a half-step lower in pitch than the Key of C exercise I show in my lesson. If you want to use what I teach (C-Dm-F-C) to play along with Bobby’s version, tune your guitar down a half step. Or, you can play what I teach but move all fretted notes down one (e.g. 3rd fret notation in my tab means play 2nd fret).

Here’s a few other lessons I’ve made which explore similar use of bass notes & percussive rhythm guitar.

Browse Related Lessons

Click any tag below to view other lessons I've made in that category:

Enjoy My Lessons? Show Your Support!

Most of the lessons on my website are 100% free. If you have the means, please show your support with a tip jar contribution. I put many hours into every lesson — but it only takes you a minute to make a donation. You have my thanks!

Donate

Looking for More Song Lessons?

Recently Added

Featured Courses

Strumming & Rhythm

While your left hand is busy learning chords, your right hand has its own job: creating a sense of rhythm with strumming! This can be tricky at first, but there's so much fun-to-be-had once you get over the hump. Here's a guide to get you started.

17 lessons

View

Fingerstyle & Travis Picking

Dive into the basics of fingerstyle guitar, with plenty of examples of riffs, exercises, and songs that put this technique to use. This includes a healthy serving of Travis Picking lessons, which feature an alternating bass note played with your right thumb.

31 lessons

View

Blues Starter Kit

A guide to must-know elements of beginner blues guitar! I'll walk you through the essential topics, showing you fun things to play along the way.

18 lessons

View

Reading Music for Guitarists

Learn to read tabs, chord charts, fretboard diagrams, strumming patterns, and more! This course explains how to understand all of these must-know notation styles.

6 lessons

View

Learning Lead Guitar

A collection of videos teaching you licks, riffs, solos, and other lead guitar techniques! Includes info on scales, CAGED shapes, and other helpful lead guitar concepts.

24 lessons

View

Beginner Chord Guide

A guide to the must-know chords you'll need when getting started with guitar! The quickest way to learn major chords, minor chords, the chords in each key, and more.

22 lessons

View

Practical Music Theory

A general overview of must-know theory concepts. The goal here is practical, easy-to-understand explanations — all of which provide clarity to your everyday guitar playing.

12 lessons

View

Using a Capo

Capos are incredibly helpful if you want to play along with your favorite artist, change a song's key, adjust things to your vocal range, and so on. In this series of videos I explain all this & more!

8 lessons

View

Walk Ups & Walk Downs

A very common trope in rock, country, and folk music involves walking bass lines that "connect" one chord to another. I've used this in many of my song lessons, and I'm happy to share this list of related lessons if you'd like to brush up on this technique.

10 lessons

View

CAGED Essentials

Learn about the repeating pattern of shapes on the fretboard, named after the five open chord shapes (C-A-G-E-D). Each shape can be used to play a chord, arpeggio, pentatonic or diatonic scale in every key... which makes them worth knowing!

6 lessons

View

Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made

Fret Monster

Interactive fretboard map! See the patterns behind every scale in any key.

View

Capo Captain

An easy way to calculate key & chord combinations, for any capo location!

View

Key Master

See and hear the notes, chords, scales used in each of the most common keys.

View

Blank Tabs

Free PDF templates to download, print, and write out your own guitar tabs!

View

Coming soon is Jambox – which shows all the video jam tracks I've made. It's note quite ready for the spotlight, but check it out if you like!

Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Be sure to never miss a lesson by subscribing on YouTube. I put out 2-3 new videos every week. These include full song lessons, as well as covers, practice tips, behind-the-scenes updates. Thanks!

Recent Lessons

January 29, 2024

"Third Coast" by Larry Joe Taylor

Let's dive into this campfire-friendly fan-favorite by LJT! I'll teach it in two different keys, and show a few different ways to use strummy walk-downs to spice up the 8 measure progression.
January 28, 2024

Strummy Walkdowns in Key of G!

Let's learn how to combine strumming with melodic walkdowns when swithcing from D to G. I'll walk you through 3 common ways this is done, each of which sounds great and is fun to play.
January 22, 2024

"Let Him Roll" by Guy Clark – Updated!

I've added practice notes for this Guy Clark classic, as well as a few play-along practice videos to help you learn the fingerpicking sequence! Check 'em out.
January 15, 2024

Guitarist's Guide to YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts

If you watchs video lesson and rely on your mouse & cursor to pause and rewind YouTube, you're doing it wrong! Learn these must-know keyboard shortcuts that save you a ton of time, helping you learn guitar much faster.
January 9, 2024

"Mr. Tambourine Man" by Bob Dylan

Let's look at Dylan's 1964 classic, which is a terrific 3-chord song for beginners. I'll also show some intermediate techniques you can use to spice up the chords and utilize Drop-D tuning.
December 31, 2024

2024 Roundup! Song Lessons, Courses, Jam Tracks, and more...

Before we usher in 2025, I wanted to look back at all the new lessons & website updates I've made in the past year.
Dec 20, 2024

Deck the Halls – Fingerstyle!

Here's a fingerstyle arrangement of Deck the Halls for you to settle into! This is a fun, relatively short song that you should be able to get up to speed with relatively quickly.
Dec 19, 2024

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Check out this sing-and-strum arrangement I put together! I'll show you how to play this Christmas classic using (mostly) easy chords in the Key of G. Such a fun song to play!

Browse All Recent Lessons →

← back to homepage

Alternating Bass Note Fun with Don't Worry, Be Happy

Video Lesson

Instructional PDF 2 pages

Lesson Discussion

Description

Bobby McFerrin’s Album Version

Related Lessons

Unlock My Secret Stash!

Browse Related Lessons

Enjoy My Lessons? Show Your Support!

Looking for More Song Lessons?

Featured Courses

Strumming & Rhythm

Fingerstyle & Travis Picking

Blues Starter Kit

Reading Music for Guitarists

Learning Lead Guitar

Beginner Chord Guide

Practical Music Theory

Using a Capo

Walk Ups & Walk Downs

CAGED Essentials

Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made

Fret Monster

Capo Captain

Key Master

Blank Tabs

Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Recent Lessons