Photo by Alex Kluft
We take an in-depth look of the magic of Dirnt's bass playing
Saviors, with its smartly conceived, stadium-sized fifteen tracks, is both an impressive artistic step forward and a sonic and stylistic return to vintage Green Day. After all, Mike Dirnt still anchors and propels the band with his power-pick parts, in sympathetic spasms with drummer Tré Cool and guitarist/vocalist Billy Joe Armstrong. Best of all, with the passage of time, Dirnt has continued to develop his musicality, to the torrid trio’s benefit. This can range from subtle moves like playing fifths or octaves under a stream of steady root notes to add impact in a chorus, or adding what he calls a “2k pop” by playing harder in spots to produce a frequency that cuts through the mix, to adding counter-melodies, polyrhythms, and low-to-high movement to create musical and emotional sub-hooks in a song. “I’m always looking for windows. Places in the music where I have the opportunity to contribute to and serve the song.”
Ex.1 shows the opening unison riff of “One Eyed Bastard.” Note how Dirnt prefers to stay on the A string, jumping from the 7th fret E to the open A in measure 2. Conversely, he remains in 7th-fret territory for his one-bar fill at 2:19. Try to lean back on both. He offers, “We love shuffles in Green Day; that’s our wheelhouse. The swing feel gives you a lot of options on bass. You can sit in the pocket or you can find a counter-melody—almost like you’re playing a horn part.”
Ex. 2a contains the B section groove from “1981,” at 0:42. While the first two measures double the guitar riff, bars 4-6 ride the root of the chords until Mike steps out melodically in bars 7-8. Here he ascends and descends via an F# dominant scale (we’re in the key of B), moving chromatically from the 7th to the root at the apex, across the bar line. He explains, “I just wanted to add movement and create a dramatic resolution to the phrase. But the key is it’s teed up by me flipping the rhythm in the first two bars. Then I go back to playing the roots [in measures 3-6], and the last two bars are the answer to the opening rhythm. That’s all inspired by the bass player in The Rezillos [Dave “Dr. D.K.” Smythe], who would do intersting rhythmic things.” Play the lines slowly at first, to get them under your fingers, before building up to the super-fast tempo.
In Ex. 2b, the bridge, at 1:13, Dirnt issues an ear-grabbing counter-melody that starts on the same note as Armstrong’s vocal but descends differently in bars 2 and 4. Then in 5-8 he basically mirrors the vocal melody. He notes, “I was playing along to Billy’s vocal and resolving my part the way I heard it, which happens to be in harmony with what he’s singing. He liked it.” The trick is to be locked into the steady 8th-notes but also retain a singing mindset when the notes move.
Ex. 3a is from the opening section of “Coma City,” when the full band enters, at :21. Dirnt rides the roots until the V chord in measure 4, where his stated love of walking bass lines emerges via the climbing line. In bars 11 and 13 he again shifts from pumping 8th-notes to mirror the rhythm of the lead vocal with his own potent counter-melody. “That’s me dancing along with Billy’s vocal melody in my own way,” he smiles.
For Ex. 3b, at 2:43, which is a rideout on the tonic, Mike switches from steady B 8th-notes to a descending B major line for contrast and maximum melodic impact. “Just breaking up the monotony of the same note by adding some motion.” Be sure to keep the driving feel in both examples.
Ex. 4 shows the band unison riff from “Living in the ’20s,” at :07. In an interesting quirk, Dirnt plays the first Bb on the first fret of the Astring before jumping to the 6th position to complete the phrase. He reveals, “I wanted that bite on the first note; it’s too round if I play it up on the E string.” Sit square in the pocket while leaning forward.
Finally, Examples 5a and 5b are from the acoustic power ballad, “Father to a Son.” In 5a, at 1:01, Dirnt brings some melody to the four-bar transition before the second verse, while also establishing the bass line rhythmic figure of quarter-note, dotted 8th-note, and 16th-note pickup into two more 8th-notes. “He allows, “I wanted to play something emotionally suited to the song. I got the syncopated rhythm from Tre’s kick part.” In 5b, at 2:42, which is the second time through the song’s B section, he maintains the bass line figure before once again stepping out melodically with another slide-induced fill. Put on your ballad hat for these, but retain your edge.
By: Chris Jisi
