Stuck in a “bass line rut”? The Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge will help you come up with melodic and catchy bass lines and go beyond roots, 5ths, and octaves.
Using “A.M.B.L.A.P. Sprints” you’ll be able to finally unlock the bass lines in your mind and get them onto your bass – without needing to master music theory, memorize tons of scales or scramble to find tabs.
The challenge closes soon:
The Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge
- 14 bite-sized lessons designed to improve your bass lines - FAST
- The powerful 'Critical Mass Framework' that virtually guarantees you'll get out of any 'bass-line-rut'
- Gain the confidence to start making real music with real people
- Daily 'challenge tasks' to ensure you follow through
- 5 Free Bonuses (How to model your favorite bass lines and develop a personal 'style', 7 hours of custom practice tracks, tabs & notation for every example and exercise, 14 step-by-step challenge cheat sheets, How to use bass line 'modeling' to simplify complicated lines, but keep the same 'vibe'
Only $29 Today
(List Price $134)
What Is The Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge?
When you want to get beyond just playing roots and 5ths in your lines, it’s no use trying to come up with a few bass lines.
Instead, you need to create a LOT; and if you do it enough, you start a chain reaction where one bass line idea sparks another, then another and then another…
Eventually, this chain reaction reaches a ‘critical mass’, where your bass line ideas become self-sustaining.
This is where you no longer have to think about creating catchy, in-the-pocket bass lines; it just comes to you naturally.
In the Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge, you’ll learn a fool-proof way of coming up with tons of high quality bass lines (and almost limitless bass line variations) so you can reach your own personal critical mass of bass lines.
Even if you don’t know music theory and even if you aren’t ‘creative’ (creativity is a skill you can learn)
Over the next 14 days, you will learn how to:
- Create bass lines that you can be proud of and that you know will work perfectly
- Get out of your ‘bass line rut’ (where you just play the same patterns over and over)
-
Meaningfully contribute to the music any time you’re playing with other musician
The Critical Mass Line Challenge is easily digestible, with a clear action step for every single day – action steps that actually work – and help you finally get beyond roots and 5ths and start truly creating when you’re playing.
My fingers "learned" on their own to slur, hammer on, pull off and slide....truly magical for me. Had been trying to teach them for years - something about the forced practice of a specific idea for extended time of ten minutes "freed" them to finally learn I think.
I just started playing live again and my ability to go up and down the fretboard has increased drastically. I feel like I can play bass and perform interesting bass lines for hours!!!!
I feel overall more confident about developing bass lines with more ideas to explore. This challenge has helped me better understand [bass lines]...and where I can make my own interpretations while keeping the original intent…Overall, as a relative beginner, this course has been awesome”
So Many Bassists Find Themselves In A ‘Bass Line Rut’
This is where you get trapped by only using roots and 5ths – maybe the occasional 3rd or octave.
Or when you play the same 2 or 3 pentatonic bass line ideas over and over (even though you’re sick of those licks…)
And what’s the most common advice to break out of a bass line rut?
Just learn a brand new genre of music…
Or get into the music theory weeds…
Or play this game..
The trouble with most of this advice?
It will take AGES…
Learning an entirely new style from scratch? That’s a massive commitment, plus where would you even start?!?
Learning music theory? Sure, it’s good to have more knowledge, but again, it can be a slog trying to decipher it, and even if you do, there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to use it to create more interesting bass lines.
Jump on RockSmith or Songsterr? This also isn’t a bad idea, but it just means you end up learning bass lines, not creating your own.
Just doing this is a recipe for frustration because when it comes time to make up your bass lines, all you can do is regurgitate what you learned on RockSmith…
Instead, it makes WAY more sense to follow a completely different path that completely sidesteps the ‘bass line rut’ completely:
Two Things You NEED To Reach Your Critical Mass
The only way to reach your ‘critical mass’ of bass lines is to create a LOT of bass lines.
But how do you do this?
It’s easier said than done, but the easiest way to reach your critical mass is by using two crucial concepts:
Concept #1 – ‘A.M.B.L.A.P. Sprints’
One HUGE mistake a lot of bassists fall into when creating their own bass lines is this:
Perfectionism
Bassists will spend HOURS trying to ‘perfect’ a bass line (even if the core idea isn’t that great…)
The problem with this?
In the time it takes to ‘perfect’ one bass line, you could have created hundreds of OTHER bass lines.
And the practice you get from doing that means that the overall quality of your bass lines goes WAY up.
After seeing so many bassists going down the perfectionism route, I tried giving them something different to do:
‘A.M.B.L.A.P. Sprints’
These ‘sprints’ of bass line creation short-circuit the perfectionism so many bassists struggle with and get you making a LOT of bass lines.
And the more bass lines you make, the better your bass lines will be and the faster you’ll reach your critical mass of bass lines.
Concept #2 – Bass Line ‘Modeling’
When lots of beginner bassists try to create their own bass lines, they often just end up copying bass lines that they already know.
This sucks because it means you’re not actually creating anything; you’re just regurgitating.
However, if you learn to ‘model’ great bass lines, things change completely.
Bass line ‘modeling’ is where you:
Look ‘under the hood’ of great bass lines
Figure out WHY they work so well
Borrow those ideas to make your own bass lines.
You’re not copying the notes and rhythms; you’re using the ideas that made that bass line great in the first place.
Once you understand the reason a bass line works, you can take that concept and apply it everywhere in your own lines.
And because of this, it means that any bass line you create based on that concept or idea is almost guaranteed to work as well.
Modeling + Sprints = Critical Mass
By themselves, Bass Line Modeling with A.M.B.L.A.P. sprints are both incredibly useful tools
But the real magic happens when you combine them.
When you do that, it means you can come up with 10, 20, 50 – even 100 different bass lines every day.
Your ability to create new bass lines EXPLODES.
And because you’re modeling ideas from bass lines that already sound great, you’ll be certain that your own original bass lines will sound great too.
You’ll reach your critical mass and your bass lines will be catchy, melodic and in-the-pocket – exactly the kinds of bass lines that other musicians love to play with.
It’ll feel easy and intuitive.
It’ll be more FUN.
And you’ll never find yourself in a bass line rut again.
Here’s What You’ll Learn In The Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge
Instead of drowning in music theory, or trying to learn entirely new styles or obsessing over learning other people’s bass lines, the challenge is designed to get you creating great bass lines from day 1.
Here’s what you’ll learn every day of the challenge:
Day 1 – The iconic ‘Motown’ idea that legendary bassists use to sweeten their bass lines so even the most common chord progressions sounds beautiful, interesting and melodic
Day 2 – How John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin uses ‘offbeat strings’ to catapult a groove forward AND contribute melodically to the song at the same time
Day 3 – The 4-note ‘cell’ you can use to make even the most dull of chord progressions interesting and melodic (as seen in an iconic Michael Jackson bass line)
Day 4 – The powerful concept hidden in plain sight that Bernard Edwards of Chic uses to create bass lines that are always in the pocket
Day 5 – The unbelievably simple hack that Paul McCartney uses to make unforgettable bass lines (and how you can too)
Day 6 – The new way of approaching bass lines that reliably forces you out of a bass line rut (because it automatically pushes you to use imaginative rhythmic ideas)
Day 7 – How pro bassists like James Jamerson ACTUALLY use pentatonic scales (and it’s not the traditional ‘box’ shapes most beginner bassists think of…)
Day 8 – The no-brainer framework that lets you take a single bass line idea and turn it into DOZENS so you always have the perfect line to play at the drop of a hat
Day 9 – How bassists like Sting effortlessly weave in and out of chord changes to create ultra-smooth bass lines
Day 10 – A simple rhythmic model that predictably propels a groove forward when the song needs a bit of energy and excitement (perfect for funk, soul or anything where you want people to dance)
Day 11 – How killer bassists like Nate Watts (Stevie Wonder) UPGRADE their pentatonic scales by adding one ‘secret’ note
Day 12 – How Joe Dart creates ‘earworm’ bass lines that are guaranteed to work with everything that’s happening in the song
Day 13 – How to change a single note in a bass line and create moments of incredible uplift – the kind of moments that other musicians will LOVE
Day 14 – The fool-proof way of ‘navigating’ through chord progressions that give you dozens of unique ways of playing through a simple 4-chord progression
Beginner Bass Bonuses
To make sure you never get stuck and to guarantee you get the most out of the challenge, you’ll also get access to these essential bass line creation bonuses:
BONUS #1 – How to model bass lines you LOVE so you can start creating your own unique style [$29 Value]
BONUS #2 – More than 7 hours of custom bass-less jam tracks so you always have the perfect practice tools [$29 Value]
BONUS #3 – How to use bass line modeling to simplify difficult bass lines, but still keep true to the original (perfect for ‘fudging’ your way through a jam session or even a gig) [$19 Value]
BONUS #4 – 14 Step-By-Step Challenge Cheat Sheets that show you exactly how to get the most out of the challenge and reach your critical mass faster [$19 Value]
BONUS #5 – How to create killer bass lines on the spot when all you have is a chord chart or lyric sheet [$9 Value]
Who Is This Challenge For?
The Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge is perfect for 2 main types of people:
#1 – The Bass Line Beginner
If you haven’t started trying to create your own bass lines yet, then having a proven method is crucial.
Without it, you run the risk of:
- Not being able to come up with anything when playing with others
- Getting stuck in the inevitable bass line rut
- Accidentally stealing bass lines, thinking you created them yourself
That’s why the Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge will show you exactly how to create bass lines, step-by-step.
Just follow the steps and you’ll be able come up with bass lines that you know are going to be catchy, melodic, and in the pocket.
#2 – The ‘Stuck In A Rut’ Bassist
Just about every bassist finds themselves in a bass line ‘rut’ at some point. But whether you find yourself unable to play anything but roots, 5ths and octaves, or you simply play the same licks over and over…
It can be demoralizing.
Rather than just trying to muscle through it or letting your playing plateau, you can use the Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge to:
- Start going BEYOND roots, 5ths and octaves
- Trigger a flood of amazing bass line ideas
- Finally break out of your bass line ‘rut’ and create bass lines that you’re proud of
The challenge was specifically made with the ‘bass-line-rut’ student in mind so it almost forces you to come up with new things to play, and then shows you how to never get stuck in that rut again.
My 60-Day Money Back Guarantee
The goal of The Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge is to give you everything you need to level up your bass lines so you can do things like:
Come up with bass lines on the spot when you decide to jam with buddies
Look at a chord chart and lyric sheet and create bass lines that go beyond just the roots
Start actually contributing to the music
After the 14 days of the challenge, I’m certain you’ll be infinitely more confident in your ability to jam with others, hold your own and come up with an endless supply of great bass line ideas.
But I also want to give you the best possible chance of learning how to do all these things and that’s why The Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge comes with a rock solid 60-day money back guarantee.
Here’s how it works:
Try out the challenge risk-free for 60 days. Watch the videos, download the PDFs, and do the exercises.
60 days covers the entire length of the challenge four times over, so there’s more than enough time to really sink your teeth into the material and start improving.
If you don’t like the course for any reason or you don’t see the results you want, just email the student support team within 60 days of joining and I’ll refund every cent. I believe in the challenge I’ve created and I want to make sure there’s absolutely no risk for you to join.
Join The Challenge For A FRACTION Of The Cost Of A Single Lesson
A 1-on-1 lesson with a good teacher will cost you roughly $75 an hour.
And that’s for a SINGLE lesson.
And that’s with ZERO guarantee that the teacher teaches in a way that works for you. (Some bassists are great players, but not so great at teaching…)
If you worked with a teacher for 14 lessons, the cost balloons out to more than $1,000…
With the 14 lessons in the challenge, plus all the bonus material, it would be fair if I charged even one tenth of that ($100).
But I don’t want to do that.
I want to make it as easy as possible for beginner bassists to get started and make meaningful progress with their playing.
That’s why I didn’t price the challenge at $150, $100 or even $50.
You can try the challenge completely risk-free for just $29.
That’s half the price of a new pair of strings…
Or one-third of the cost of a new pedal…
Or just one-twentieth the cost of an entry level bass.
But unlike new strings, pedals or basses, the things you’ll learn inside the challenge will stay with you for life.
I’m certain it will be one of the best investments in your bass playing journey.
But don’t take my word for it.
Try the challenge out, see what difference it makes for your playing.
Then you can decide whether it’s right for you or not.
Here’s What You’ll Learn In
The Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge
Instead of drowning in music theory, or trying to learn entirely new styles or obsessing over learning other people’s bass lines, the challenge is designed to get you creating great bass lines from day 1.
Here’s what you’ll learn every day of the challenge:
Day 1 – The iconic ‘Motown’ idea that legendary bassists use to sweeten their bass lines so even the most common chord progressions sounds beautiful, interesting and melodic
Day 2 – How John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin uses ‘offbeat strings’ to catapult a groove forward AND contribute melodically to the song at the same time
Day 3 – The 4-note ‘cell’ you can use to make even the most dull of chord progressions interesting and melodic (as seen in an iconic Michael Jackson bass line)
Day 4 – The powerful concept hidden in plain sight that Bernard Edwards of Chic uses to create bass lines that are always in the pocket
Day 5 – The unbelievably simple hack that Paul McCartney uses to make unforgettable bass lines (and how you can too)
Day 6 – The new way of approaching bass lines that reliably forces you out of a bass line rut (because it automatically pushes you to use imaginative rhythmic ideas)
Day 7 – How pro bassists like James Jamerson ACTUALLY use pentatonic scales (and it’s not the traditional ‘box’ shapes most beginner bassists think of…)
Day 8 – The no-brainer framework that lets you take a single bass line idea and turn it into DOZENS so you always have the perfect line to play at the drop of a hat
Day 9 – How bassists like Sting effortlessly weave in and out of chord changes to create ultra-smooth bass lines
Day 10 – A simple rhythmic model that predictably propels a groove forward when the song needs a bit of energy and excitement (perfect for funk, soul or anything where you want people to dance)
Day 11 – How killer bassists like Nate Watts (Stevie Wonder) UPGRADE their pentatonic scales by adding one ‘secret’ note
Day 12 – How Joe Dart creates ‘earworm’ bass lines that are guaranteed to work with everything that’s happening in the song
Day 13 – How to change a single note in a bass line and create moments of incredible uplift – the kind of moments that other musicians will LOVE
Day 14 – The fool-proof way of ‘navigating’ through chord progressions that give you dozens of unique ways of playing through a simple 4-chord progression
Beginner Bass Bonuses
To make sure you never get stuck and to guarantee you get the most out of the challenge, you’ll also get access to these essential bass line creation bonuses:
BONUS #1 – How to model bass lines you LOVE so you can start creating your own unique style [$29 Value]
BONUS #2 – More than 7 hours of custom bass-less jam tracks so you always have the perfect practice tools [$29 Value]
BONUS #3 – How to use bass line modeling to simplify difficult bass lines, but still keep true to the original (perfect for ‘fudging’ your way through a jam session or even a gig) [$19 Value]
BONUS #4 – 14 Step-By-Step Challenge Cheat Sheets that show you exactly how to get the most out of the challenge and reach your critical mass faster [$19 Value]
BONUS #5 – How to create killer bass lines on the spot when all you have is a chord chart or lyric sheet [$9 Value]
ONLY $29
Usually ($134) 78% OFF
All prices in USD
Frequently Asked Questions
Unlike some online courses, the goal with the challenge is NOT to overwhelm you with hours and hours of videos (or try to ‘impress’ you with how much stuff there is…)
That just leads to frustration.
Instead, the challenge is very different.
When you join, you’ll be sent just one short video every day for 14 days.
Each bite-sized lesson contains a bass line ‘model’ that you can learn in just 10 minutes.
Then, every day, you’ll do a 10-minute ‘A.M.B.L.A.P Sprint’ using that day’s model (or you can go longer if you want to improve faster).
Every single bass line model is designed to meaningfully improve your bass lines and explode your creativity to the point where the people you’re playing with will say things like,
“Woah – you sound GREAT!”
No more plonking away on the root, just trying to get by.
No more playing the same tired, limp lines you always play.
And no more confusion about exactly what to do differently.
The challenge is short, sweet, to the point, and most importantly, insanely effective.
Absolutely not!
The Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge is exclusively about getting you to create your own bass lines.
In fact, every single challenge task is centered around you creating something brand new, original and of your own creation; NOT recreating something that already exists.
There’s definitely a place for learning existing bass lines, but that’s not the focus of the challenge. The focus is getting you inching towards your critical mass of bass lines that YOU create.
That being said, I will be getting you to borrow concepts and ideas, but the process involves you using existing lines as inspiration; not just mindlessly playing the exact same notes and rhythms as someone who came before you.
You will have lifetime access to the challenge.
Even after you’ve gone through the 21 days of the challenge, you’ll still have access to everything – the videos, practice tracks, PDFs, exercises so you can keep improving long after the 3 weeks of the challenge has passed.
In fact, I’d recommend that you actually go through the challenge multiple times; I can almost guarantee you’ll get something new out of it every time you go through.
Absolutely not!
In my opinion, it’s never too late to capture the joy of playing music, creating your own bass lines and playing them with friends.
When I put a small ‘testing’ cohort through the Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge, the majority of the students were over 50, and they got amazing results from the material
No matter what age you are, you’re not ‘too old’ to start making your own bass lines.
No.
This challenge isn’t about learning the intricacies of music theory. In fact, when I was making the material and a theory concept came up, I asked myself:
“Does this NEED to be included for my students to create better bass lines?”
If not, I cut it out and I was ruthless.
Any way to get you closer to making better bass lines faster, I took it.
However, there are a few concepts that really were essential, so those were kept in, and explained in full (and without any ultra-technical jargon, so even the most beginner of players can still get the most out of the challenge).
Absolutely.
The principles of creating bass lines don’t really change whether you’re playing a regular electric bass, a fretless, a U-Bass, an upright bass or even a synth bass.
That means that no matter what kind of bass you play, you’ll be able to get a ton out of the challenge.
The Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge is genre-agnostic, which means you can take the ideas from the bass line ‘models’ and apply them to just about any style of music.
Plus, if you look at all the examples of bass lines that you’ll model in the course, they come from a super diverse set of genres like reggae, rock, funk, Motown, salsa, disco… The list goes on
However, if you’re looking for something super genre-specific – like walking bass for example – you won’t find that in the challenge.
Let me be super clear.
The Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge is not going to take you from zero to Victor Wooten levels of competence and creativity.
However, the challenge is specifically designed to get you playing and thinking differently or simply start making better bass lines.
To get you out of a bass line rut…
To get you playing new ideas that go beyond the root….
At the end, you may even be surprised at what you’re able to do. Things like:
Create genuinely catchy and melodic bass lines (the kind that people notice and compliment you on)
Build the confidence to play with ever more experienced musicians
Even create entire songs based on the lines you come up with
Will you be ready for an impromptu extreme jazz fusion jam in a few weeks?
Probably not…
But could you be creating bass lines that go far beyond roots, 5ths and the occasional octave?
Absolutely!
And could you feel confident to go to a jam session with some friends or family and proudly ‘hold your own, pull your weight and actually contribute to the music in a meaningful way?
Definitely!
And the challenge can help you get there.
FINALLY – Get The Bass Lines Out Of Your Head And Onto Your Instrument
Some bassists go their entire lives playing it safe and just plonking away on roots and 5ths, scared of even trying to escape the root/5th cage.
Even when they know they could be doing so much more.
I don’t want that for you, your music OR the people you play with.
And I know that you don’t want to be trapped playing the same old tired bass line ideas for the rest of your life.
So instead, I want to offer you the opportunity to reach your own critical mass of bass lines.
Rather than spending years trying to gather ‘licks’ or master music theory, you can take 20 minutes every day for the next 2 weeks and learn EXACTLY what you can do to improve your bass lines and get out of your rut.
So if you know that you have better, more creative bass lines in your mind, but haven’t found a way to get them out yet, then I’d love to unlock them for you; to get them out of your head and into the world.
If you’re ready, I’d be honored to have you as a student in the challenge.
Join The Critical Mass Bass Line Challenge
Instead of drowning in music theory, or trying to learn entirely new styles or obsessing over learning other people’s bass lines, the challenge is designed to get you creating great bass lines from day 1.
Here’s what you’ll learn every day of the challenge:
Day 1 – The iconic ‘Motown’ idea that legendary bassists use to sweeten their bass lines so even the most common chord progressions sounds beautiful, interesting and melodic
Day 2 – How John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin uses ‘offbeat strings’ to catapult a groove forward AND contribute melodically to the song at the same time
Day 3 – The 4-note ‘cell’ you can use to make even the most dull of chord progressions interesting and melodic (as seen in an iconic Michael Jackson bass line)
Day 4 – The powerful concept hidden in plain sight that Bernard Edwards of Chic uses to create bass lines that are always in the pocket
Day 5 – The unbelievably simple hack that Paul McCartney uses to make unforgettable bass lines (and how you can too)
Day 6 – The new way of approaching bass lines that reliably forces you out of a bass line rut (because it automatically pushes you to use imaginative rhythmic ideas)
Day 7 – How pro bassists like James Jamerson ACTUALLY use pentatonic scales (and it’s not the traditional ‘box’ shapes most beginner bassists think of…)
Day 8 – The no-brainer framework that lets you take a single bass line idea and turn it into DOZENS so you always have the perfect line to play at the drop of a hat
Day 9 – How bassists like Sting effortlessly weave in and out of chord changes to create ultra-smooth bass lines
Day 10 – A simple rhythmic model that predictably propels a groove forward when the song needs a bit of energy and excitement (perfect for funk, soul or anything where you want people to dance)
Day 11 – How killer bassists like Nate Watts (Stevie Wonder) UPGRADE their pentatonic scales by adding one ‘secret’ note
Day 12 – How Joe Dart creates ‘earworm’ bass lines that are guaranteed to work with everything that’s happening in the song
Day 13 – How to change a single note in a bass line and create moments of incredible uplift – the kind of moments that other musicians will LOVE
Day 14 – The fool-proof way of ‘navigating’ through chord progressions that give you dozens of unique ways of playing through a simple 4-chord progression
Beginner Bass Bonuses
To make sure you never get stuck and to guarantee you get the most out of the challenge, you’ll also get access to these essential bass line creation bonuses:
BONUS #1 – How to model bass lines you LOVE so you can start creating your own unique style [$29 Value]
BONUS #2 – More than 7 hours of custom bass-less jam tracks so you always have the perfect practice tools [$29 Value]
BONUS #3 – How to use bass line modeling to simplify difficult bass lines, but still keep true to the original (perfect for ‘fudging’ your way through a jam session or even a gig) [$19 Value]
BONUS #4 – 14 Step-By-Step Challenge Cheat Sheets that show you exactly how to get the most out of the challenge and reach your critical mass faster [$19 Value]
BONUS #5 – How to create killer bass lines on the spot when all you have is a chord chart or lyric sheet [$9 Value]
ONLY $29
Usually ($134) 78% OFF
All prices in USD
