Weekly Top 10: Talking Technique, Better Intonation on Fretless, New Transcription, Top Bass Videos, New Gear and More

Happy Sunday. We have a great top 10 list for you this week, built by readers.

Here are the top 10 stories, how-to’s, videos, and more for the week of April 9-15, 2016.

Thanks for reading, watching, commenting and sharing.

Jeff Healey with Marcus Miller: See The Light

1. Jeff Healey with Marcus Miller: See The Light

Ian Pettersson has sent us a handful of great videos, and he just sent us another. “An old one, but I hadn’t seen it before,” Ian said. “Jeff Healey with Marcus Miller ripping it up. Awesome performance!”

Talking Technique: Killer Dead Note Grooves

2. Talking Technique: Killer Dead Note Grooves

Dead notes are percussive effects that can really liven up a groove. There are a variety of ways to create them, including left-hand muting, right-hand percussion, and left-hand percussion. For this lesson we examine how dead notes (and silence) affect the groove…

Getting Better Intonation on a Fretless Bass

3. Getting Better Intonation on a Fretless Bass

This week, a reader asks for advice on how to achieve great intonation after making the switch from fretted to fretless bass. Damian has it covered…

George Porter, Jr.: How to Play “Cissy Strut” (and More)

4. George Porter, Jr.: How to Play “Cissy Strut” (and More)

George Porter, Jr. sat down with NYC Radio Live’s David Ellenbogen for their podcast. During the session, Porter discusses how most bassists play The Meters’ “Cissy Strut” incorrectly (and shows how it is really done). He also covers other lines and shares his thoughts on music, life and more…

Bass Transcription: Scotty Edwards’s Bass Line on Hall & Oates’s “Rich Girl”

5. Bass Transcription: Scotty Edwards’s Bass Line on Hall & Oates’s “Rich Girl”

Often as bassists we become so concerned with notes, rhythm, and locking in with our drummer that we forget other important aspects of groove. Brian Wroten transcribed Scotty Edwards’s bass line on “Rich Girl” as an example of how to shape the groove…

Bass of the Week: Hot Wire Blues Bass

6. Bass of the Week: Hot Wire Blues Bass

Hot Wire Basses took a page out of the old school with their Blues Bass. The bass is modeled after the early fifties Kay Electric Bass, the Blues Bass is a vintage-style hollowbody, which the company notes was often played by four-stringers backing up Blues legends like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf…

New York Bass Works Introduces Reference Series Basses

7. New York Bass Works Introduces Reference Series Basses

New York Bass Works has announced the Reference Series, a line of basses that bring together luthier David Segal’s custom work with the classic J-bass platform. “The Reference Series Basses are instruments infused with the DNA of nearly 20 years of custom bass projects, complex renovations, and pain-staking repairs of nearly every brand of instrument…”

Christian McBride & Edgar Meyer: Solar, Live 2016

8. Christian McBride & Edgar Meyer: Solar, Live 2016

One of the best concerts I saw in 2015 was the duo of double bass virtuosos Christian McBride and Edgar Meyer. Besides being unbelievable technicians, their musicality and rapport was astounding. This year they took the show on the road to the UK. Here’s a smoking clip of McBride and Meyer tearing through “Solar”…

Top 10: The Most Watched Bass Videos (March 2016)

9. Top 10: The Most Watched Bass Videos (March 2016)

A bonus in this top 10 list is another top 10 list. Here are the top 10 reader favorite videos of the month – and our excuse to watch them all again…

Louis de Mieulle: Nanobot

10. Louis de Mieulle: Nanobot

Louis de Mieulle, a French bassist/composer living in NYC, just released his second album, Stars, Plants & Bugs. He sent us his video of the track “Nanobot”, which was filmed live during his in studio session in Brooklyn. We dig it!

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