Bass Lesson Archives - Page 14

Q: What are modes and how do they work? A: I get this question a lot, but have only touched on it in past columns, as it relates to other questions. Here’s a straightforward guide to modes and scales to follow. Modes are a very simple concept but can take some time to really understand and get under your fingers...

In this lesson, we’re going to examine a couple of different blues forms, specifically the 12 bar, 8 bar, and 16 bar blues. Additionally, we’ll go over a few different approaches to playing through the form and knowing when it would be appropriate to substitute chords or when to adhere to the traditional changes. Here is a diagram outlining the...

One of the best ways I know to increase one’s intonational precision is to play against a held drone note. It is excellent not only for left hand finger spacing, shifting, but also for improving one’s aural pitch discrimination. You can create your own drone note using a looper, midi program, etc. or your metronome or tuner may have the...

The simple, straightforward exercises below are the best I have seen to develop and maintain right hand pizzicato (plucking) on the upright bass. They isolate the technique to focus one just one thing: your right hand technique. There is certainly room in a practice routine to work on right hand/left hand coordination, or tricky patterns, but these have proven to...

Q: I have wanted to really get to know the fretboard inside out for a long time but have always struggled with visualizing a scale or the notes of a chord over the full range of my instrument. So I often find I’m playing in the same familiar patterns and am not really able to move freely over the fretboard....

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 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.

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...

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

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

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

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.