‘On The Serious Side’ is another tune from Tower of Power’s album ‘In The Slot’ (if you haven’t already, check out ‘Drop It In The Slot‘ as well!) featuring Rocco’s punchy sound. The whole tune revolves around the same relentless bass pattern almost all the way through, with a short B section interjecting in the middle of the song. The repeating bassline contains a trademark chromatic run up from the 3rd degree of the scale and just keeps going and going! This presents a bit of a stamina challenge on the tuba. I can just about keep my single tonguing going for the whole tune but found that double tonguing is not only easier and more efficient, but also seems to fit better with the way the TOP band play the groove. It’s like the double tongue sound matches the ‘wacka chicka’ type articulation that is going on throughout the tune.
Download the full transcription here: On the Serious Side bass transcription
Richard Fox Tuba Player 