Best of 2021: The Top 10 Bass Lessons & Transcriptions
Our bass lessons and transcriptions have always been super popular with readers. This year, we added two new and exciting ones, with Rich Brown’s “The Brown’stone” and Ryan Madora’s “Keep It Groovy“.
Here are the top 10 most popular we published in 2021. Time to hit the shed!
1. Bass Transcription: Jaco Pastorius’s Solo on “All American Alien Boy”
Please help us welcome our newest contributor, Alex Lofoco! Alex’s first entry offers up a great analysis and transcription of Jaco Pastorius's bass solo on Ian Hunter’s “All American Alien Boy”.
2. Bass Transcription: John Paul Jones’ Bass Line on Dusty Springfield’s “Ain’t No Sun Since You’ve Been Gone”
Tim Fletcher took on John Paul Jones’ bass line on Dusty Springfield’s “Ain’t No Sun Since You’ve Been Gone” for his latest bass transcription. Check out his excellent take on the history of the tune, as well as his transcription and analysis.
3. The Brown’stone: The Mother of All Pentatonic Exercises
This week in The Brown’stone on No Treble, Rich Brown shares the mother of all pentatonic exercises. This one is going to be a workout, but it’ll be well worth it.
4. Keep It Groovy: How To Play The Bass Line To “Cissy Strut”
Ryan Madora’s newest “Keep It Groovy” bass lesson is here, and she’s featuring one of the all-time grooviest of bass lines: “Cissy Strut” by The Meters and George Porter, Jr.
5. Keep It Groovy: Tips For Buying A Bass
In this “Keep It Groovy” lesson, Ryan Madora offers suggestions on buying a bass. Purchasing an instrument can be stressful, but you can take some of the pressure off with these tips.
6. Talking Technique: The Most Important Technique Exercise of All
It’s fun to talk technique using song samples, blistering licks, and double stops. This episode of Talking Technique is dedicated to a less flashy but incredibly important topic.
7. Keep It Groovy: Beginner Improvisation For Bass Players – Location Jumping
In today’s “Keep It Groovy” lesson, Ryan Madora focuses on an important element of improvisation: location jumping. The goal is to build a bass theme and identify other locations on the fretboard where we can easily play it.
8. The Brown’stone: The Fundamentals of Time & The Metronome
In my very first lesson, I’ll be taking you through some fundamental exercises dealing with time and groove. We’ll start with the basics of playing with a metronome, and we’ll get into more challenging exercises based on the 16th note subdivision.
9. Bass & Creativity: Suspended Chords & Modes, Part 1
In this “Bass & Creativity” lesson, Olivier Babaz focuses on the beautiful colors made through suspended voicings. He walks through the basics of sus4 & sus2 chords and their most common use.
10. The Brown’stone: Pentatonic Scale Patterns That Will Open Up Your Fretboard
Rich Brown’s students call this bass lesson a game-changer. This week in The Brown’stone on No Treble, Rich takes a look at some Pentatonic sequential patterns that not only sound great but will also open up your fretboard in a colossal way.
