Hello groovers!! Today we will analyze the groove of Stevie Wonder song: Higher Ground - Red Hot Chili Peppers Version.
The song structure is divided into 4 main parts: (Intro, Verse, Bridge and Chorus).
The download links for this analysis is right below.
You can download the Red Hot song file in mp3 here: Higher Ground Red Hot.mp3
You can download the original Stevie Wonder song file in mp3 here: Higher Ground Stevie.mp3
You can download the songbook file in pdf here:
You can download the Guitar Pro Tab here:
The intro is divided in 2 parts: Intro Bass where only the master Flea plays the groove and the Intro Band where the rest of the band come into the song.
The verse also have 2 parts: the groove in both parts its almost the same except that in the second part the song key is changed from Em to F#m.
The bridge is a small part with 2 bars that take the song from Verse 2 back to the Intro.
The main groove have 4 bars and is played 2 times in most of the parts.
Then the chorus witch have only 2 bars and is repeated 3 times. This odd structure helps to separate the chorus from the others parts.
Then the second bridge that brings the song back to intro again.
Now lets take a look in the bass intro:
You can listen to this groove here!!
If you have any trouble just hit the play button again so te buffer will be loaded.
Right in the intro we can see that the time signature brings the blues DNA into the song. The massive use of the octave interval gives that funk sensation, witch is increased by the SLAP!!!
When the tercine is played with the octave it's where the blues meet the funk. And master Flea do this extraordinarily well.
Now lets take a look in the band intro:
When the band come in, we can see new licks been played in the groove. The third is played to give the intention of G major chord.
Then the G Lydian is played as a drum fill. This mode is very common in jazz and Flea know this very well.
You can listen to this groove here!!
If you have any trouble just hit the play button again so te buffer will be loaded.
In the second part of the verse the groove keeps the same octave pattern but in the key of F#m.
If you have any trouble just hit the play button again so te buffer will be loaded.
The first bridge we can see the use of the #4th as chromatic passing note. This note could also be consider the blues note of the Am blues scale.
You can listen to this groove here!!
If you have any trouble just hit the play button again so te buffer will be loaded.
In the chorus the grooves go for the G Pentatonic Scale. This gives to the song a more happy feeling, or should we say "Higher".
You can listen to this groove here!!
If you have any trouble just hit the play button again so te buffer will be loaded.
The second bridge the use of blues scale is emphatic, and bring the song back to start.
You can listen to this groove here!!
If you have any trouble just hit the play button again so te buffer will be loaded.
The last part of the Red Hot version is not in the original Stevie's version.
I think that in this part they try to create a moment where people can run and jump like crazy.
If you have any trouble just hit the play button again so te buffer will be loaded.
Well this is it Groovers. Thank you for join us in the analysis of this amazing song. Which one do you prefer? Stevie or Red Hot version? I think if you are a bass player the second one is made for you. Leave a comment and tell me which one you like more.
See you in the next Groove Analysis!!!!
The download links for this analysis is right below.
You can download the Red Hot song file in mp3 here: Higher Ground Red Hot.mp3
You can download the original Stevie Wonder song file in mp3 here: Higher Ground Stevie.mp3
You can download the songbook file in pdf here:
