I know I’m guilty of this… I’ll be teaching some concept or idea and say something like, “It’s just the pentatonic scale…” and then play something that I think sounds really cool. But then some students will try to do the same thing and play the pentatonic shape and it just ends up sounding… Un-musical… […]
Plucking Hand Bass Workout
Ever find yourself fumbling or stumbling over notes because of your plucking hand? Maybe you know that learning to alternate with your index and middle finger will help you play trickier bass lines, but you just can’t seem to make it work for you… Maybe it’s that your hands just don’t seem to be very […]
Common Chord Progressions EVERY Bass Player Should Know
Common chord progressions on bass are unbelievably useful. Why? Because it’s how pro bassists learn a ton of songs really quickly and can play them in any key at the drop of a hat. Bassists who know thousands of songs don’t just have better memories, bigger brains or total recall. They do, however, memorize the […]
How To Play Melodies On Bass (3 Melodies To Get Started With)
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 […]
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 […]
