Imagine this: You’ve just been pulled up on stage at a jam session to play a song on bass. Except you don’t know the song that’s being played. That doesn’t seem to matter to anyone else though. They’re still expecting you to create a bass line that works. This kind of thing happens all the […]
How To Write A Bassline: Basslines From Scratch (Lesson 1/9)
Do you know how to write a bassline? As a bass player, making basslines is one of the most important things you’ll do. Sure, sometimes bass players will be crafting fills, playing melodies or even improvising, but for probably 95% of the time, we’re playing basslines. The very best bass players don’t just know how […]
5 Shredding Bass Lines
There’s nothing more fun than going to town on some shredding bass lines. Most of the time, us bass players leave the shredding and faster playing to the guitars or keyboards, but it doesn’t have to be this way all the time. There are a ton of cool, fast bass lines that sound really cool, […]
How To ‘Transcribe’ On Bass
Today, let’s talk about how to transcribe on bass. In case you don’t know, transcribing is just the process of figuring out how to play something by ear. Pretty frequently, I get emails from people asking me to give them tabs or sheet music to songs that they want to play, but can’t find themselves. […]
How To Memorize Bass Scales: Three Tips To Make Sure You Never Forget A Scale
Have you ever wrestled with remembering scales on bass? Knowing how to memorize bass scales can be challenging, but most of the time, it’s only difficult because of the way bass players try to do it. Why is this? It’s because bassists will learn about tons of scales that they ‘really should learn’ and then […]
Is Bass Easier Than Guitar?
Is bass easier than guitar? I get this question a lot… Sometimes, it’s absolute beginners wondering if they should play guitar or bass as their first instrument. Other times it’s people who are struggling with playing guitar and wonder if bass would be easier. ‘It’s only got 4 strings, right?’ Occasionally this ‘question’ isn’t phrased […]
