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16 results for “beginner”

Keep It Groovy: Beginner Improvisation – What Do I Play In The Key Of A?
Keep It Groovy

Keep It Groovy: Beginner Improvisation – What Do I Play In The Key Of A?

In this Keep It Groovy lesson, Ryan Madora explores tips and tricks for improvising a bass line. Working in the key of A, we’re settling on a particular chord progression and spending two bars on each chord.

Keep It Groovy: Beginner Improvisation For Bass Players – Location Jumping
Keep It Groovy

Keep It Groovy: Beginner Improvisation For Bass Players – Location Jumping

In today’s “Keep It Groovy” lesson, Ryan Madora focuses on an important element of improvisation: location jumping. The goal is to build a bass theme and identify other locations on the fretboard where we can easily play it.

Bass Bebop for Beginners: Part 2
Creative Bass Lines

Bass Bebop for Beginners: Part 2

Here is the second Parker line as promised – you can put it together with the C-7 F7 line from Part 1 and you get a cool turnaround lick: D-7 to G7 leading to C-7 to F7! So that gives you a nice two bar iii vi ii v line in B?. (And be sure to check out Part 1...

Bass Bebop for Beginners: Part 1
Creative Bass Lines

Bass Bebop for Beginners: Part 1

Today we’re starting with the first part of a new series on bebop bass, a topic a lot of my students are getting into lately. Our goal is to incorporate some great bebop vocabulary on the bass guitar. There is a ton of stuff out there to help you get started. Look for books on Charlie Parker solos, for example....

Bass Lessons

Radio Airplay: A Beginner’s Guide

Who doesn’t want to be on the radio? If you’ve gotten a solid response from live shows and have a strong local or niche following, radio airplay may be the next big milestone toward meeting your music business goals. These are a few things to consider when you’re trying to get into a radio rotation, but the biggest factors are...

Keep It Groovy: Improvising Over The I-V-vi-IV Chord Progression
Keep It Groovy

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.

Talking Technique: “Mordents” for Finger Strength
Talking Technique

Talking Technique: “Mordents” for Finger Strength

Today we have another multi-layered workout for you to build up your finger strength. This lesson will help you practice a scale up and down one string while improving coordination and strengthening your fingers. It’s not a beginner’s workout, but wherever you are on your journey, give it a good try. You’ll need to be ready to play hammer-ons and...

Talking Technique: Efficient Practice Hacks #5: Mnemonics – Part 1
Talking Technique

Talking Technique: Efficient Practice Hacks #5: Mnemonics – Part 1

Harness the power of these creative time tested memory tools. They will enrich your bass playing and are useful for all walks of life. A mnemonic is any idea or device that aids in remembering something. Maybe you are familiar with “Large Elephants Jump Slowly And Sink Rapidly” – helping US students remember the seven articles of the United States...

Talking Technique: Efficient Practice Hacks
Talking Technique

Talking Technique: Efficient Practice Hacks

Are you (like me) always on the hunt for the latest and most efficient practice “hacks”? Today I am starting a series here on Talking Technique introducing you to my personal favorites. Some of them are quite unexpected, and I encourage you to try them and see the results for yourself. Some go back to ancient wisdom, and science has...

Fast Fretboard Position Shifting on Bass
Bass Lessons

Fast Fretboard Position Shifting on Bass

Here’s a lesson I’d consider more beginner/intermediate-level, but it is a great refresher for all of us. Many times, we have to play a line which requires some quick shifting along the fretboard. Here’s a simple exercise for fast position shifts. Follow along with the video.

Learning the Bass Fretboard by Rocking Out
Bass Lessons

Learning the Bass Fretboard by Rocking Out

Here’s a lesson I’d classify as beginner/intermediate level, but the truth is, it is something I think can benefit all of us. The goal of this lesson is to become comfortable with the entire fretboard, through learning the notes on every fret. Using a simple Rolling Stones-style rock groove backing track, this lesson focuses in on working our way through...

Lesson: Getting Funky with Trills on Bass
Bass Lessons

Lesson: Getting Funky with Trills on Bass

In our last lesson, we focused on using vibrato to your bass lines for better phrasing. This time around, we’re going to spend time working on trills on the electric bass. As you’ll hear in the video, playing a line without trills is not bad. But when you add those trills, the line has so much more life to it....