A lot of people make a big deal about the circle of 5ths. If you open up pretty much any music theory book, you’ll find the circle of 5ths. If you take music theory classes, you’ll be told about exactly how ‘essential’ the circle of 5ths is. Even some bass teachers extol the virtues of […]
3 Of The Most Melodic Rock Bass Lines Ever
Rock bass lines get a bad wrap sometimes, right? Some people have this idea that rock bass players are nothing more than glorified apes, just pounding away relentlessly at the root and that’s all they’re good for. I disagree. You can find a whole treasure trove of incredibly melodic rock bass lines if you know […]
Tabs vs. Sheet Music: Which one should you learn?
Tabs vs. sheet music/notation – Nearly everyone has an opinion on which one you should learn. But, after years of experience I don’t think one size fits all. For some bassists, reading sheet music is nothing but a distraction that won’t actually help them. For these players, learning and reading tabs makes total sense. On […]
Beginner Bass Lines – Guaranteed To Impress [Volume 3]
Beginner bass lines – the 3rd edition is here! It’s always good to have songs in your arsenal that you can pull out when someone says: “Play something for me”. Two of the most popular videos on the BAB YouTube channel and the website itself are ones that offer exactly that – songs and bass […]
5-Minute Slow Blues Bass ‘Hack’
You probably know that playing bass is about MORE than just playing the right notes with the right rhythms. You can play everything ‘correctly’ and it can still sound wrong. HOW you play something is often just as important as what you’re playing. When it comes to playing slow blues songs (or just about any […]
The 30-Second Walking Bass ‘Hack’
I used to think that in order to get through a song with a walking bass line, you needed to have some sort of advanced degree in music theory. Everyone around me was telling me different things like: “You need to know all your scales to make it through” “If you don’t know your arpeggios, […]
