Best of 2022: The Top 10 Bass Lessons & Transcriptions
We published 67 bass lessons and transcriptions over the course of 2022. And while we love them all, we’re sharing the top 10 most viewed lessons for the year.
Time to hit the shed!
1. Bass Transcription: Jaco Pastorius’ “Jam In E”
Today, Alex Lofoco is paying homage to the legendary Jaco Pastorius and the “Modern Electric Bass” educational video. Check out Alex’s transcription and analysis of Jaco’s “Jam In E”.
2. Keep It Groovy: Learn To Play The Bass Line To “Ball Of Confusion” By The Temptations
If there’s one thing we know about Motown, it’s that the grooves are deep and bass legends like James Jamerson and Bob Babbitt have given us some incredible lines to learn from. Ryan Madora runs through “Ball Of Confusion” by The Temptations in this new “Keep It Groovy” bass lesson.
3. The Brown’stone: Tips to Improve Your Bass Tone
One of the most frequently asked questions Rich Brown gets has to do with his tone. So this week in The Brown’stone on No Treble, he shows us how he gets his tone. To prove the point, he grabbed his cheap Squier bass to demonstrate.
4. Keep It Groovy: Learn The E Minor Pentatonic And Apply It To A Blues
In this “Keep It Groovy” lesson, Ryan Madora shows how to play the E minor pentatonic scale across two octaves, both ascending and descending. Then, she adds a bit of rhythm to the scale to create a simple yet effective bass groove.
5. From the Bottom: Jaco Pastorius “Solo” on “Midwestern Nights Dream”
In this episode of “From the Bottom,” Paul Thompson digs into one of his favorite and lesser-known Jaco Pastorius solos. This one focuses on “Midwestern Nights Dream” from Pat Metheny’s 1975 album, “Bright Size Life.”
6. Keep It Groovy: Improvising Over The I-V-vi-IV Chord Progression
Here’s a fun lesson on improvising over an extremely common chord progression, the “I-V-vi-IV”! We’ll be working in the key of A and I’ll break down the process of moving from chord to chord, connecting notes within the arpeggio, and creating your own bass line.
7. The Brown’stone: Beautifully Rhythmic & Melodic Major Scale Patterns
This week in The Brown’stone on No Treble, Rich Brown has a great scale exercise to help you with melody and rhythmic phrasing. This exercise is based on a simple concept that can be applied to any scale.
8. Bass & Creativity: Chord Colors & Building Harmonic Movement
Olivier Babaz is back with another “Bass & Creativity” lesson. He covers how we can progressively build chord changes, starting from a static modal section and adding modulations and harmonic movement to it while keeping a consistent groove.
9. Talking Technique: Chromatic Groove in 7/8
Talking Technique is back! In this lesson, Ariane Cap goes into a variety of gems, from showing you a cool chromatic groove to how to count out a 7/8 as quarter notes.
10. Kansas – “Leftoverture”: The Complete Basslines, Part 8
Tim Fletcher and Troy Hughes’ epic project “Kansas: Leftoverture – The Complete Basslines” has, at last, reached its final chapter, featuring Dave Hope’s work on the eight minutes and twenty-five seconds album closer “Magnum Opus”.
