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Bass Lesson Archives - Page 13

Ask Damian Erskine: My Sense of Groove
Ask Damian Erskine

Ask Damian Erskine: My Sense of Groove

I get a lot of emails asking about how to play certain grooves from some of my tunes. I have a new book coming out that deals with many of my techniques, and I explain them in the same way drummers explain drum rudiments. The book will include an mp3 CD with over 100 tracks of all of the exercises...

Bunny Brunel Releases Slap Bass Instructional DVD
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Bunny Brunel Releases Slap Bass Instructional DVD

Bunny Brunel has released his latest instructional DVD, this time focusing on slap bass. Slap Bass, a 50-minute, region-free DVD, includes basic slapping technique, popping and hammer-ons, and other tricks to enhance a player’s slap technique. A variety of exercises are demonstrated as well. Here’s a preview: Slap Bass is available on Brunel’s store as well as Amazon.

Slap Bass 101 – Part 6: Octaves
Slap Bass 101

Slap Bass 101 – Part 6: Octaves

Continuing our series on slap bass, today we’ll combine several of the elements from the first five lessons in this series, and add “octaves” to the mix. FYI, in this lesson, I’m paying a Shergold Modulator bass. If anyone know where to get modules for it, please let me know in the comments below. Check out the entire Slap Bass...

Slap Bass 101 – Part 5: Funk/Rock Scale Basics
Slap Bass 101

Slap Bass 101 – Part 5: Funk/Rock Scale Basics

Today, we continue the Slap Bass 101 series, adding the basic “funk/rock scale” – the minor pentatonic, with trills, to what we’ve learned so far. Check out the entire Slap Bass 101 series: Part 1: Slap Bass Introduction Part 2 – Building on the Basics Part 3 – Left Hand Slap & Hammer-Ons Part 4 – Right Hand Pluck/Pop

Slap Bass 101: Part 4 – Right Hand Pluck/Pop
Slap Bass 101

Slap Bass 101: Part 4 – Right Hand Pluck/Pop

In this lesson, we’ll build on the concepts in Part 3 and add the right hand pluck/pop. Next time: Funk/Rock Scale Basics! In case you missed them, here are Parts 1-3: Part 1: Slap Bass Introduction Part 2: Building on the Basics Part 3: Left Hand Slap & Hammer-Ons

Slap Bass 101: Part 3 – Left Hand Slap & Hammer-Ons
Slap Bass 101

Slap Bass 101: Part 3 – Left Hand Slap & Hammer-Ons

This week, we continue building on the foundation established in Part 1 (the basics) and Part 2 (building on the basics), and add left hand slap concepts and hammer-ons. Next: Right hand pluck and pop

Slap Bass 101: Part 2 – Building on the Basics
Slap Bass 101

Slap Bass 101: Part 2 – Building on the Basics

Last time, we covered the basics in my introduction to slap bass lesson. This week, we’re going to build on the concepts of the introduction, covering basic thumb slapping, ghosted notes, muting and offbeat bass lines. Next: Part 3 – left hand slap and hammer-ons.

The Lowdown with Dr. D

Technique Series: Minimum Finger Pressure

Although there are times when strong muscular exertion in the left hand may be beneficial, in general we want to use a minimal amount of effort. The fingers should press the string with only enough force to produce the note cleanly, and no more. Keeping minimum finger pressure in the left hand will help with speed, stamina, shifting, general ease...

Lesson: Slap Bass 101
Slap Bass 101

Lesson: Slap Bass 101

By popular demand, I’ve been working on a new lesson series for beginning slap bass. This week, we’ll break down the basics. Part 1: Slap Bass Introduction This lesson covers basic thumb slapping, ghosted notes, muting, hammer-ons and plucking/popping: Next: we’ll build on these concepts with Part 2 – Building on the Basics.

The Lowdown with Dr. D

Practice Techniques: Utilizing Metronome to Improve Facility

Practicing very, very slowly One of the main advantages to playing a passage vastly under performance tempo is that you give yourself ample time to think. It is easier to plan, calculate and control your playing at slower tempi. Exactly how slowly you should practice depends on the difficulty of the passage. In general, the more difficult the passage, the...

Ask Damian Erskine

Ask Damian Erskine: Following Up On Patterns

Q: I’ve almost gotten through all three videos, really good stuff in them. I really like the concept of knowing patterns/visualizations to have handy when your soloing, like your ascending 4ths, alternating major/minor, and alternating 6th/7th fingerings. I think I got away from having a set of licks/patterns when improvising, which I can see now is a big mistake! Seems...

The Star M Method

How To Start A Fire

As bass players, we brethren of the low end are aware of something that normal listeners, and even other musicians, take for granted. We know that a song starts and stops with us. We know that a great drummer can make or break a band in general, but once that slot is filled with a solid player he can’t really...