How To Master Constant 8th-Note Bass Lines

Imagine this. You’re playing a ‘chugging’ 8th-note bass line with a guitarist and drummer. You know the kind of bass line – it’s nothing but 8th notes just about the entire time (aka. Just about every AC/DC bass line ever).

At the start, everything sounds great – it’s all locked in – but after a few minutes of playing the same thing the whole time, your mind starts to wander.

You start thinking, “Did I lock my car?” or “What am I doing after this?” or any of the other random thoughts that happen to cross your mind.

Except then, you snap back to reality and realize…

You’ve drifted out of time…

You try to quickly fix your mistake, but it’s not that simple. Because you dropped the groove, the drummer was thrown off the rhythm and now they’ve messed up as well, which forces the guitarist to adjust, but then he starts stumbling as well.

ARGH!!!

Your single, tiny rhythmic slip up causes this cascade of mistakes which can ruin a great song.

That’s exactly what was happening to a student of mine, Joel, when he emailed me a while ago. He wanted to know how he could get more solid at playing the chugging lines and how to recover if he did mess up.

I answered his email when he first asked his question, but it was such a good question that I needed to make a video about it.

So in today’s video, you’re going to learn:

• The foolproof method to developing rock-solid timing and rhythm on ‘chugging’ 8th-note bass lines (it may not be the ‘sexiest’ process, but it’s super effective)
• The essential ‘groove insurance policy’ that ensures you stay locked in when you start playing these songs in the real world with other people
• Why it’s so important to get physical when it comes to keeping time and groove (plus what I do to make sure my rhythm stays solid the whole song)

Check out the video here:

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The process I show you in this video is exactly how I approach learning and mastering tricky lines myself and avoid the dreaded mistake cascade.

Remember though, even professional bassists make mistakes – it’s totally normal, so please try not to beat yourself up if you find yourself falling into this trap every once in a while.

Good luck with the lesson and happy chugging!

Cheers,