John Deacon was quiet. In a band fronted by Freddie Mercury and flanked by Brian May’s hair and Roger Taylor’s falsetto, the bassist was basically the "silent partner" of Queen. But in 1980, he walked into Musicland Studios in Munich and changed the course of the band's history with just a few notes. That Another Bites the Dust bass line isn't just a riff; it’s a cultural shift. Honestly, it’s the reason Queen survived the transition into the eighties. Without that specific, dry, thumping groove, they might have been relegated to the "seventies stadium rock" bin along with so many of their peers.
It's weirdly simple. Three notes on an open E string, a jump, and a rhythm that feels more like a heartbeat than a melody.
Most people assume Queen was always this genre-bending monolith. Not really. By the end of the seventies, they were hitting a wall. They needed something new. Deacon had been hanging out with Nile Rodgers and the guys from Chic. He was listening to Good Times. He wanted that funk. He wanted that "space" in the music. When he started playing that line, the rest of the band wasn't even sure about it. Roger Taylor reportedly hated the drum sound initially because it was too "dead." But Freddie saw the vision. He knew that the Another Bites the Dust bass part was the hook. Everything else—the reverse cymbals, the dry guitar scratches, the lyrics about a gangster shootout—was just dressing for that four-bar loop.
The Technical Magic Behind the Tone
If you’re a bass player, you’ve tried to play this. You’ve probably played it wrong. People think it’s just about hitting the notes, but it’s actually about the "choke." John Deacon used his 1968 Fender Precision Bass. That’s the "P-Bass" sound: thick, mid-heavy, and punchy. But the secret isn't just the guitar. It's the strings and the bridge. Deacon used flatwound strings, which give you that thuddy, vintage sound without the "zing" of modern roundwounds.
He played it near the bridge. He used his fingers, not a pick.
Then there’s the studio trickery. Reinhold Mack, the producer simply known as "Mack," wanted it to sound bone-dry. No reverb. No room sound. They basically sucked all the air out of the room. In 1980, this was heresy for a rock band. Rock was supposed to be big and echoing. This was tight. It was claustrophobic. It was disco, but with a meaner, grittier edge. When you hear the Another Bites the Dust bass line today, it still sounds modern because it doesn't rely on dated 80s reverb patches. It’s just wood and wire.
Interestingly, there’s a persistent rumor that the song was "inspired" by Chic’s Good Times. Nile Rodgers has been very cool about it over the years, basically saying that John Deacon spent time in their studio. You can hear the DNA. But where Good Times is celebratory and fluid, Another Bites the Dust is military and rigid. It’s the difference between a party and a march.
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Why Michael Jackson is the Reason You Know This Song
The band didn't want to release it as a single. Can you imagine? They thought it was a fun album track, maybe a B-side. It was Michael Jackson who went backstage after a show at the Forum in Los Angeles and told Freddie, "You're a fool if you don't release that song." Michael knew. He was already moving toward the sound that would become Thriller, and he recognized that Deacon had tapped into a cross-genre goldmine.
Queen took the advice. The song went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100. It also went to number two on the R&B charts. That’s insane for a British rock band in 1980. The Another Bites the Dust bass line was the bridge that allowed Queen to cross over into Black radio stations in America, something almost no other white rock band was doing at the time. It changed their demographics. Suddenly, they weren't just for kids in denim jackets; they were for the clubs.
Anatomy of the Groove
Let’s talk about the actual structure. The riff starts on the "one."
$E - E - E \dots C - A$
Wait, let's keep it simple. It's three hits on the low E, a quick jump to the G string for a C and an A. But it's the silence between the notes that makes it work. In music theory, we talk about "rests." The rests in this song are just as important as the notes. If you let the notes ring out, the song dies. It loses its "strut." John Deacon played it with a very specific staccato feel. He was "killing" the notes with his left hand almost as soon as he plucked them.
- The "Thump": This is the three-note opening. It’s the foundation.
- The "Jump": Moving up the neck gives it that melodic lift.
- The "Drag": The way the rhythm slightly sits behind the beat gives it that "cool" factor.
It's actually a bit of a workout for the right hand if you’re playing it for five minutes straight. You have to maintain that exact level of intensity. If you get tired and start playing softer, the song loses its "menace." And this song is definitely menacing. It’s about a hitman, after all.
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Gear Talk: Getting the Deacon Sound
You don't need a $5,000 vintage Fender to get close. But you do need the right setup. If you're trying to replicate that Another Bites the Dust bass tone at home, start by turning down your "treble" knob. You want to roll off the high end.
If you have a P-Bass, great. If not, use your neck pickup. Use a piece of foam—literally just a kitchen sponge—and shove it under the strings at the bridge. This acts as a mute. It stops the strings from vibrating too long. This is the "old school" way to get that 1970s studio sound. It's how they did it before digital processing.
- Strings: Flatwounds (D'Addario Chromes or La Bella Deep Talkin' Bass).
- Amp: Something clean. Don't use distortion. You want "headroom."
- Technique: Use two fingers. Keep your hand stiff. Don't be afraid to dig in.
Impact on Hip-Hop and Beyond
Because the bass line is so repetitive and "loopable," it became a cornerstone for early hip-hop. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five used it. Sugarhill Gang loved it. It has been sampled, interpolated, and covered hundreds of times.
It’s one of those rare instances where a rock band created a "breakbeat" before the term was even widely used. It’s the definition of "tight." Even today, if you go to a wedding or a sporting event, when that first "thump-thump-thump" happens, everyone knows exactly what it is. You don't even need the vocals. The bass is the song.
There's a psychological element too. The tempo is roughly 110 beats per minute. This is the "sweet spot" for human movement. It’s also, famously, the correct tempo for performing CPR. If you're ever in an emergency, you're taught to compress the chest to the rhythm of this song (or Stayin' Alive). It’s literally a life-saving bass line. How many other riffs can claim that?
Common Misconceptions
People often think Brian May played a lot on this track. Actually, Brian struggled with it. He wasn't a "funk" guy. His style is very orchestral and layered. He eventually added those "scratches" and the feedback-heavy solo in the middle, but the core of the song is just John, Roger, and Freddie. It’s a very "sparse" recording.
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Another mistake: people think it’s a synth. By 1980, synths were everywhere. But Queen famously had a "No Synths" rule on their early albums. While they eventually broke that rule for The Game (the album this song is on), the main Another Bites the Dust bass line is 100% organic human fingers on metal strings. That's why it feels "alive" and not robotic.
Practical Steps for Bassists and Producers
If you want to master this style, stop practicing scales for a minute and focus on your timing.
- Practice with a metronome at 110 BPM. Don't just play the notes; try to make the silence between the notes sound "loud."
- Record yourself. Listen back to see if your notes are ringing too long. If they are, work on your palm muting.
- Study the dynamics. John Deacon doesn't play at the same volume the whole time. He leans into the "one" (the first beat of the bar) and backs off on the others. This creates the "swing."
Ultimately, the Another Bites the Dust bass line is a lesson in restraint. It proves that you don't need to be the fastest player in the world to be the most impactful. You just need the right groove, the right tone, and the guts to play something simple in a world that’s trying to be complicated.
If you're looking to capture this vibe in your own music, focus on the "dry" aesthetic. In a world of infinite digital reverb and shimmer, there is something incredibly powerful about a sound that just sits right in front of your face. It's bold. It's confident. It’s exactly what John Deacon intended when he stepped up to the mic and told the band he had a "little idea" for a song.
Next Steps for Your Music Journey:
- Check Your Action: To get that percussive "clack" heard in the original recording, ensure your bass action isn't too high. A little bit of string-to-fret noise actually adds to the character of this specific track.
- Experiment with Muting: Grab a piece of foam or even a folded paper towel. Place it under the strings at the bridge of your bass or guitar. It will instantly transform your sustain-heavy modern sound into a 1980-style funk machine.
- Listen to "Good Times" by Chic: To truly understand the evolution of the Another Bites the Dust bass line, you have to hear its ancestor. Compare how Bernard Edwards (Chic) and John Deacon (Queen) use the same "vocabulary" to tell two completely different stories.
- Practice the "Dead Note": Work on "ghost notes" where you strike the string with your plucking hand while your fretting hand just rests on the string without pushing it down. This percussive "thud" is the secret ingredient to a truly funky Queen-style riff.