The Greatest

Bass Line Ever?

Mr Brightside

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The Greatest
Bass Line Ever?
Mr Brightside
Scott Devine & Ian Allison

As the longest-charting song of all time in the UK, The

Killers’ Mr Brightside still sends dancefloors into air-
punching frenzies. But does it have one of the greatest
bass lines EVER? In today’s lesson, you’ll learn what
made Mark Stoermer’s bass line so impactful, and how
The Killers’ signature anthem about betrayal hasn’t left
the charts for 20 years!

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Some History…
The Killers met in Las Vegas in 2002 after frontman Brandon
Flowers answered a local newspaper advert placed by
guitarist Dave Keuning. “They were already putting out demos
on their first couple of shows, which was strange for a new
local band in Las Vegas,” said bassist Mark Stoermer. “Their
first demos already had recordings of Mr Brightside.”

Originally written around 2001 by Flowers and Keuning, Mr

Brightside featured as the first single to preview The Killers’
2004 debut album Hot Fuss. “At first, all I heard was the riff,”
Flowers said in 2015. “This was before cell phones came
along… when I first heard those chords, I wrote the lyrics
down, and we didn’t waste much time.”

Mr Brightside went on to set a new chart record. According

to the Official Chart Company, the 2003 hit is streamed 1.2
million times a week on average, and has sold 3.52 million
copies since it was first released.

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Killer Gear
Tone-wise, Stoermer used his Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass, with
some distortion or drive for some added bite. When you’re playing
with a pick and switching among note values, it can be tricky to
stick to a set downstroke/upstroke motion, but downstroke-only
picking gives this bass line the weight it needs.

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The Main Riff

Mr Brightside is written in the key of Db Major, with a fast-paced
drum track and insistent Db’s in the vocal melody. Dave Keuning’s
guitar arpeggio is based on a Db add9 chord, but with a moving
bass note that cleverly implies a C in the bass for the second bar
of an otherwise pretty standard I-IV chord progression. Bassist
Mark Stoermer mirrors this chord movement, holding things down
with steady eighth notes all the way. Album
Hot Fuss (2004)
Bassist
Mark Stoermer

Verse
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
? bb b 4
b b4

¤ 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15

3
? bb b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
bb

¤ 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14

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Pre-Chorus
For the pre-chorus, Flowers switches things up with his vocal,
moving down a half-step to C. Stoermer also draws the listener’s
attention with a descending bass line, using notes from the Db
major scale, to set up the anthemic chorus.

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¤
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1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 2 14 14 14 14 14 14 14
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Chorus
The chorus follows a I-IV-VI-V chord progression, with Stoermer
playing a driving eighth note bass line throughout, moving up
the octave to add some variation for the final time through.

Chorus

? bb b 4 ™™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
bb4 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™™

™ ™
¤ ™ 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
™

5
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bb œœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœ

¤ 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

9
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¤ 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 11 11 11 11 11 11 11

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Breakdown
During the breakdown, Stoermer leans into some double stops,
which is a fancy name for a two-note chord. This is just the
chorus chord progression of the song taken up the octave and
played with the relevant third (with the exception of the second
chord where it’s a root and the fifth of the Gb major chord).

Breakdown

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¤
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