Blues Bass Archives

This lesson adds a new song to your blues repertoire, but don’t worry, it’s not another 12-bar. “She Caught The Katy” by Taj Mahal is simply a great tune with a funky bass line. We’ll dig into the chord progression, work through the different sections of the song, and get you playing in no time.

In this lesson, we do our best Duck Dunn impression and learn the bass line to the Otis Redding classic, “Down In The Valley.”

This lesson focuses on one of the most popular eight-bar blues tunes, “Key To The Highway.” It features a shuffle feel, much like the version from Derek & The Dominos.

Today we’re playing a funky blues bass line in the key of C. Inspired by the Albert Collins tune “If You Love Me Like You Say,” this groove combines chromatic motion and dead notes.

Today’s “Keep It Groovy” lesson involves playing a blues shuffle in the key of E, and more specifically, a Texas style shuffle. Inspired by the bass line from Albert Collins’ “T Bone Shuffle,” this takes us through a 12-bar-blues progression.

Let’s add to your repertoire of country blues bass lines and practice the Johnny Cash classic, “Folsom Prison Blues.” Ryan Madora breaks it down in this “Keep It Groovy” bass lesson.

Today’s “Keep It Groovy” lesson is all about versatility, understanding the fretboard, and integrating open strings. This one piggybacks off a previous lesson on playing a slow blues. This time, we’ll find the bass part in a different position.

In this bass lesson, Ryan Madora keeps it groovy with a nice slow blues in the key of C. She focuses on an incredibly common bass pattern for a slow blues that can also be sped up and adapted to a blues shuffle.

This “Keep It Groovy” lesson is all about diversifying your blues repertoire. Ryan Madora shows us a rumba rhythm played in a minor key to create a different kind of groove.

In this new “Keep It Groovy” lesson, Ryan Madora is joined by Derrek Phillips to chat about improvising a funky 12-bar blues bass line with a drummer.

Jaz Moss runs an online school for bass players, and he recently shared this cool video with us on his list of the top 15 blues bass lines of all time. Jaz breaks each one down.

Here’s Part 2 of Ryan Madora’s “Blues Endings” bass lesson series. Here are a few more options that you can use when listening to, learning, or jamming a blues.