When I was about 17, a friend of mine gave me a copy of the self-titled Jaco album: To be honest, at the time, I didn’t really understand the music – it was kind of beyond me. But the bass playing? That blew me away!!! The growl of his fretless, the chime of his harmonics, […]
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 […]
Motown Bass Lines: 5 Of Them Guaranteed To Impress
Motown Bass Lines! As a bass player, it’s hard to go past Motown and James Jamerson when talking about incredible bass lines. In fact, some bassists get super intimidated when they get asked to play Motown bass. You end up standing in the shadows of some of the most respected and influential bassists of all […]
Master The Minor 2-5-1 On Bass
Let’s talk about how to play through a minor 2-5-1 progression on bass. I don’t know about you, but when I was getting serious about my improvising, I loathed playing over minor 2-5-1 progressions. Give me a 12-bar blues? I was fine – I could play over that all day. A major 2-5-1 – no […]
Silk Sonic – Leave The Door Open Bass Line Lesson
I first heard Silk Sonic’s Leave The Door Open the day it came out and fell in love with the bass line (and the song) pretty much instantly. Burgers, toasted cinnamon donuts, John Mayer tunes and a few good friends. That’s how I spent my rare Friday night off last week. In between discussing everyone’s […]
How To Hear And Recognize The Modes (For Bass Players)
Imagine this: You’re at a jam session and a guitarist starts noodling away (that shouldn’t be hard to imagine…) and asks you to join in with what they’re doing. But what you’re hearing doesn’t sound like it’s in a major key, but it also doesn’t sound like a straight-up minor key either. You realize they’re […]
