by Blues bass riffs are just about the perfect thing to pull out of your arsenal at a blues jam session.
Why?
Because if you play some authentic blues bass riffs, it signals to all the other people playing that you know and understand the language of the blues.
And it doesn’t hurt that you know these riffs will sound good in advance.
Have you ever been to a blues jam session, but been too intimidated to actually get up and play with other people? I get it – those things can be scary if you’ve never been to one before.
Or maybe you have done it, but it didn’t go as well as you would have liked. Maybe you’ve even ‘bombed’, which leaves you completely deflated.
So what’s the solution? How do you give yourself the absolute BEST chance of nailing it? How do you make sure you leave the jam session on a high and feeling invincible, rather than getting home and not even wanting to look at your bass?
Simple – get to know the language of the music!
How do you do that? By straight up playing (or you might say ‘borrowing’ or even ‘stealing’) existing bass lines or riffs that you know are going to work in advance.
So today, I want to show you exactly how to do this and where to start.
Check out these 5 vintage blues bass riffs that would be perfect to pull out of your arsenal at your next (or your first) blues jam session. We’re going as old-school as Muddy Waters and as modern as Cream and it’s going to be a great time!
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FREE - Download The Tabs And Notation For These 5 Vintage Blues Bass Riffs
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Some of the riffs can work over a ton of blues tunes, while others are specific to individual songs. The more of the blues language you know though, the better chance that you’ll nail it when the jam session comes around.
If you want to practice these riffs for yourself, be sure to download the tabs, notation and practice tracks by filling out the form above. It’s 100% free and it’ll help get you up to speed using these riffs for yourself.
Good luck with the video and let me know if you get the chance to use any of these riffs soon – I’d love to hear about it.
Cheers,
Thanx
You’re welcome!
Thanks Luke
I struggle with my motivation for a number of reasons and I am so pleased to watch your video and accept your offer of the notation and practice stuff. Especially the Jack Bruce dumbed down version for fellas like me! I love Jack Bruce! The second I heard that riff I started singing along with excitement and motivation in my heart :-0 yay!
That’s so good to hear Michael – glad to hear your motivation has been rekindled!
Thanks for your lessons
How do I get rid of sub titles on your video? They cover some parts of the tab. Cheers, Jim
That’s a YouTube setting Jim. Just click the “CC” icon at the bottom right hand side of the video.
Just want to say thank you will appreciate what you doing a new to bass And which are doing is very encouraging for me thank you so much Don
Always happy to hear that Don. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for more great info!
You’re very welcome Gary!
thnank you, Luke! I need some help figuring out the bassline for Baby How Long on Beyond the Blue Door album by Ronnie Earl. It sounds familiar like these you just taught us, but what is it?? Please reply if you can. jimmy
Hey Jimmy – it sounds like the bass line is Formula #4 from this video: https://becomeabassist.com/blues-bass-lines/ and it’s in the key of A. Hope this helps!
Hi Luke,
Just wanted to say thanks for all your awesome lessons. You teach in such a way that makes it very easy for me to understand. BYW, thanks for the pdfs. and free downloads, I will always be a student of yours.
You’re too kind Larry – thanks so much for checking it all out.
Thanks Luke for all you do 👍🎸
Thanks Luke, these are fun 👍🎸
Thank you Luke, these are fun to do.👍
OOOHHH these look like a whole mess of fun to learn and find the complete song to go with. Thanks Luke
Hello Luke. I don’t know how to download backing tracks for this lesson. Kriss
Hey Kriss – I just checked and the email with the backing tracks has been sent out. Check your spam folder in case it went in there!
I checked all folders and they are gone
Thank you, Luke. Cheers!
Ken
Luke, thanks tons for your video and give aways. I’m an old fart that’s always loved the bass-my dad bought me a P-Bass ages ago and I never “really” learned to play, then life and family (and now COVID) happened … soooo, now with 68+ yrs behind me and nothing but time in front of me – I’m learning how to play an instrument I’ve always loved, and the good part is, you are helping with the fun part – playing the stuff that makes ppl feel good and want to move (not that boring old technical stuff you should know but no fun to learn), thanks.
Thanks Luke