Bass Player: Steve Rodby

Massively under-rated, Steve Rodby played bass for the Pat Metheny Group for 23 years and produced many if not most if the band’s most successful albums. His bass playing is absolutely perfect for the Metheny ensemnble and Rodby has this knack of playing exactly the right part, no more and no less. Sometimes, this means a root note on one and nothing more but there are many parts across the Metheny canon where his playing has been every bit as complex as that of James Jamerson or any number of funk masters.

The transcription is the bass part for the tune ‘Beat 70’ from the 1989 Pat Metheny Group album, ‘Letter From Home’. The part is made up up a a two bar phrase (one bar, if you look at the Pat MEtheny Songbook version of the chart) that repeats relative to the changing chords but there are some other hurdles to cross before you can master the chart. A great tune to play.