Top 10: The Best All Bass, No Treble How To’s, Lessons and Features in August

Here’s the best of the best of what we published in August, 2012 in the how to, lesson and feature sections on No Treble, based on readership.

Thanks as always for reading, commenting and sharing. We love you guys.

How and Why Woods Affect Your Bass Sound

1. How and Why Woods Affect Your Bass Sound

A reader asked Damian Erskine a question about bass wood choices, and the impact on the instrument’s sound. For this column, Damian enlisted the help of bass luthier Pete Skjold, who didn’t disappoint.

Transcription: “No Woman, No Cry” Solo Bass Arrangement

2. Transcription: “No Woman, No Cry” Solo Bass Arrangement

We introduced our new transcription series in August, thanks to the addition of bassist/educator Stuart Clayton to No Treble’s contributor line up. Stuart tackled bassist Viaceslav Svedov’s take on the Bob Marley classic “No Woman, No Cry”, with notation, tab and details on how to pull it off yourself…

What Makes a Great Bassist? Part 1: Playing For The Song

3. What Makes a Great Bassist? Part 1: Playing For The Song

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the “hows” of bass playing: scales, chords, arpeggios, slapping, tapping, harmonics… Maybe you’re working on getting that one awesome lick just right so you can use it someday. With so much information to digest, sometimes it’s best to take a step back and remember what it is we’re actually working toward…

Top 10: The Most Watched Bass Videos (July 2012)

4. Top 10: The Most Watched Bass Videos (July 2012)

Bass videos rule. And here are the ten that ruled most in July 2012, based on No Treble reader views. Enjoy!

I Wish I Knew That: Making The Music Better

5. I Wish I Knew That: Making The Music Better

Let’s face it, sometimes we find ourselves in not-so-ideal playing situations. In a perfect world, we would always have our favorite drummer on the gig and could lock in and groove all night long. We would never have to compete with the busy left hand of a keyboard player, stay alert during the 15-minute guitar solo…

Bass Line Construction: Rhythm and Repeating Patterns

6. Bass Line Construction: Rhythm and Repeating Patterns

Thomas “MarloweDK” Risell once again breaks down bass lines like no other. Let’s take a look at some of the fundamentals in bass line construction. In this lesson, we’ll improvise on some funk in the key of C…

Thumb Position Exercises for Bassists

7. Thumb Position Exercises for Bassists

“Thumb position” is a left hand technique in which the thumb is used on top of the board to press down the strings. In essence, we use it just as we use our other fingers. Although the technique can be used anywhere on the instrument, this technique is most often used at the midpoint of the string or higher…

Bass in an Acoustic Setting: Knowing How to Play Your Role

8. Bass in an Acoustic Setting: Knowing How to Play Your Role

Damian answers this reader question: I think I have a good suggestion for an area you may have not covered: the role of a bassist in an acoustic setting. No drummer (maybe a Djembe), just acoustic guitar, bass and vocals. How do you keep it grooving, how do you fill the space, how do you make it sound good?…

Stories Behind the Songs: Chuck Rainey

9. Stories Behind the Songs: Chuck Rainey

We caught up with Chuck at his home in Dallas, Texas, where he reflected on the last fifty years of his recording career. You can imagine how difficult it would be to pick your favorite recordings from such a vast catalog, but Chuck didn’t seem to have a problem deciding on his favorites. Typically a “top ten” list, we didn’t argue when Mr. Rainey wanted to include twelve tunes…

Getting Started with the Nashville Number System

10. Getting Started with the Nashville Number System

In this edition of Ask Damian Erskine, Damian fields a question about the Nashville Number System, which turned into a great conversation among readers too…

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