A few months ago, something happened to me right before I walked on stage to play a gig – something that barely ever happens to me anymore. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach I could feel my heartbeat pulsing through my whole body My palms were sweaty, even though it […]
3 Reasons Your Bass Solos Aren’t Working
Have you ever taken a bass solo and just knew it was a total flop? I know I have – hundreds of times! There’s almost nothing as demoralizing as ending your improvisation on bass and feeling like it could have been so much better. What’s even worse is knowing your solo wasn’t great, but not knowing […]
Expand Your Creativity In Bass Solos By Avoiding The Root
One big problem that bass players run into when they start to improvise is always coming back to the root over and over again. This makes sense, right? That’s what we’re doing most of the time when we play bass lines, so this habit carries over into our solos. The upside of this is that […]
The Modes Vs. The Pentatonic Scale: The Critical Difference
If you’re a beginning bass player, you’ve probably at least of heard of the ‘modes’ and of the pentatonic scale shapes. You may have even learned both of them. But how are they different, and where should you use each of them? The confusion usually crops up around the purpose and use of the modes […]
How To Tell What Key A Song Is In By Chords: A Bass Player’s Guide
Knowing how to tell what key a song is in by the chords it uses is one of the most useful skills a bass player can have. Especially if you find yourself in any of these situations:. Maybe you’re playing unfamiliar songs at a jam session and someone puts a chord chart in front of […]
How To Find The Key Of A Song Using The Melody
Knowing how to find the key of a song isn’t always completely straightforward. Especially if you haven’t developed your ears yet or don’t want to rely on them 100%. In the last lesson, we talked about the Intuitive Method of finding the key using your ears. But what if your ears can’t seem to find […]
