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Structuring Your Practice: A Checklist for Bass Players
Any serious musician will practice regularly. While consistency is the most significant factor in our progress, we need to make good use of our practice time if we want continued improvement. No one set of specific materials (i.e. specific etudes, etc.) will be appropriate for everyone, but any successful long-term plan will hit on a few distinct areas each day....
Zander Zon: Imagine Dragons “Radioactive” Solo Bass Arrangement
Once again, Zander Zon turns in an amazing solo bass performance. This time around, he takes on Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive”. The original blends rock, electronic music and dubstep. Zander makes it all about the bass.
Flying Colors Announce Live Album and DVD
Prog rock supergroup Flying Colors is gearing up to release a new live album and accompanying DVD of their performance from Tilburg, Netherlands on September 20th, 2012. Flying Colors – Live In Europe captures the band at the toward the end of their fall European tour and just months after their debut album was released. Anchored by bassist Dave LaRue,...
In Memoriam: Tim Wright
Tim Wright, original bassist for the experimental rock group Pere Ubu, has passed away. The cause of death was not announced. Wright helped to form Pere Ubu in Cleveland, Ohio in 1975. Blending punk and art rock, the band’s sound was underpinned by the bassist’s growling tone on early tracks including “30 Seconds Over Tokyo” and “Final Solution.” Wright also...
Weekly Top Ten: The Best in Bass for the Week of August 4
Last week was full of bass greatness in the form of some mind-bending, face-melting videos, a great behind-the-scenes look at songs from Will Lee’s vast catalog (told to us by the man himself), a great lesson, new gear and more. Here are your top ten most popular features on No Treble for the week of August 4-10, 2013. Thanks for...
Jayme Lewis Band: Abby Someone
We recently shared a video from the archives by Jayme Lewis and his band, and it knocked everyone out. Here’s Jayme’s band in a more recent video, performing the tune “Abby Someone” and once again delivering the goods. The tune is on the band’s release, When Will Then Be Now.
Christian McBride Releases New Trio Album, “Out Here”
Christian McBride is keeping busy. The bassist has a new trio and they’ve released his second studio album of the year, Out Here. Joined by pianist Christian Sands and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr., Out Here offers McBride’s smallest group in three years. “It’s a pretty diversified trio,” McBride says. “The real core foundation is hardcore swingin’, blues and the American...
Squier Adds Cabronita Precision and Bass VI Models to Vintage Modified Line
Squier’s Vintage Modified line of basses is getting two new additions with the announcement of the Vintage Modified Cabronita Precision Bass and the Vintage Modified Bass VI. The Cabronita comes in one finish – black, with a single play white pickguard. The bass sports a maple neck with a 9.5?-radius maple fingerboard with 20 medium jumbo frets, and a Fideli’Tron...
MarloweDK Releases “Beginning Slap Bass” for iPad and iPhone
Bassist and educator Thomas Risell – perhaps best known as MarloweDK – has released his “Beginning Slap Bass” lessons in the form of an iPad and iPhone app. Beginning Slap Bass with MarloweDK features 25 licks covering all the fundamentals – slapping, popping, slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends, double thumbing and more. Each lick includes four different videos – three set...
George Duke with Byron Miller: “Dukey Stick”, In the Studio 1978
The music community was rocked this week with the passing of the legendary keyboardist George Duke. The phenomenal musician had a long and varied career including work with Cannonball Adderley, Frank Zappa, and more. The list of bassists he worked with is equally inspiring: Stanley Clarke, Christian McBride, John Heard, Alphonso Johnson, Tom Fowler, Louis Johnson, Doug Rauch, Byron Miller...
Newsted Releases Heavy Metal Music
Newsted has built upon their Metal EP with the release of their first full length album, entitled . Fronted by bassist Jason Newsted, the band’s raw grooves and genuine attitude shine through on eleven tracks of unadulterated metal. “I’m doing this because I want to do this,” Newsted told us in an interview earlier this year. “I only do what...
Misa Introduces Tri-Bass MIDI Controller
Australian company Misa is all about enabling live bands to play electronic music, and their new Tri-Bass is a great example of that. The Misa Tri-Bass is a MIDI controller built for use with synthesizers or computers while fundamentally feeling like a bass. It has two main parts: a touch sensitive neck with three “strings” and a touch screen on...