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Creative Bass Lines

Creative Bass Lines: Using the Melodic Minor Scale To Navigate on a Minor ii-V-i Chord Progression

Creative Bass Lines: Using the Melodic Minor Scale To Navigate on a Minor ii-V-i Chord Progression

Welcome back to another column, and today we’re diving further into jazz-related harmony with a look at starting to get inside two of the most useful modes from the melodic minor scale. The full line is demonstrated right after the opening title credits, with a little backing groove, and then during the video, I dissect and explain it for you....

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Bass Transcription Analysis: Getting Inside Cannonball Adderley’s C7 Lick

Bass Transcription Analysis: Getting Inside Cannonball Adderley’s C7 Lick

In our last series of lessons, we had a look at a chorus of a Bob Mintzer blues over four episodes. Well, today we are putting just two bars of music under the microscope. This line is from a Cannonball Adderley solo on a tune called “Limehouse Blues.” Now the line itself isn’t super tricky, but in this pretty intensive...

Bass Transcription Analysis: “I Start With The Blues” Bob Mintzer Sax Solo, Part 4

Bass Transcription Analysis: “I Start With The Blues” Bob Mintzer Sax Solo, Part 4

Our fourth installment on Bob Mintzer’s “I Start With The Blues” solo is a discussion of the crucial chord on bar 8 of a typical jazz blues. Almost always this is a vi chord – so in an F Blues like this one, it’s a D7 ( D dominant 7). In Letter A Bar 8 finds a D7 #9 chord...

Bass Transcription Analysis: “I Start With The Blues” Bob Mintzer Sax Solo, Part 3

Bass Transcription Analysis: “I Start With The Blues” Bob Mintzer Sax Solo, Part 3

Don’t be afraid to make some notes on your transcription! By that I mean to write in where there’s a cool diminished lick, a nice ii-V line, etc. If there’s a cool lick – outline that, and identify stuff you want to come back to. It’s so valuable to learn licks through the cycle of 4ths, so we’ll be taking...

Bass Transcription Analysis: “I Start With The Blues” Bob Mintzer Sax Solo, Part 2

Bass Transcription Analysis: “I Start With The Blues” Bob Mintzer Sax Solo, Part 2

For our second installment focusing on Bob Mintzer’s solo from “I Start With The Blues,” we’ll be focusing mainly on transposing a line through different keys and why we do that. This is really important and something I touched upon in part one, too. It goes without saying that jazz standards and indeed tunes from all genres are in different...

Bass Transcription Analysis: “I Start With The Blues” Bob Mintzer Sax Solo, Part 1

Bass Transcription Analysis: “I Start With The Blues” Bob Mintzer Sax Solo, Part 1

I’m kicking off a new series here for Creative Bass Lines. In this episode, we’ll take a look at a really great solo over a jazz 12 bar blues – performed and transcribed by sax great Bob Mintzer! We’re really fortunate to have this music for our lessons. Bob very kindly agreed to let me share this with you, so...

Bass Bebop for Beginners: Part 2

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

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....

Creative Bass Lines: Lydian Triad Pairs

Creative Bass Lines: Lydian Triad Pairs

Today, we dive into something new – superimposing Major triad pairs derived from Lydian Mode Harmony over a Major 7th chord. The examples on the video are over an F Major 7th chord, and I am using a neat little looper for this. It’s a great practice tool. In the video (and transcription) I take you through the basic major...

Creative Bass Lines: Increasing Fingerboard Knowledge – Part 3: Minor Arpeggios

Creative Bass Lines: Increasing Fingerboard Knowledge – Part 3: Minor Arpeggios

Continuing our series on increasing fingerboard knowledge, here’s the accompanying Minor Arpeggio Exercises to play all across the fingerboard. This is the same principle as the Major types. I’ve given you a number of variations to try, and you’ll see this gives you more options when playing over a minor chord type. As usual, practice everything slowly, paying partucular attention...

Creative Bass Lines: Increasing Fingerboard Knowledge – Part 2: Arpeggios, Major 7ths & Beyond!

Creative Bass Lines: Increasing Fingerboard Knowledge – Part 2: Arpeggios, Major 7ths & Beyond!

We have not one, but two lessons for you this month! In this lesson, I’ll talk you through major 7th, then 9th, ?11th and 13th arpeggios, which follows part one (“Triad Visualization”). I am a firm believer in learning these concepts in multiple ways/fingerings – it all goes to increase our overall knowledge of the fingerboard, and that’s a good...

Creative Bass Lines: Increasing Fingerboard Knowledge – Part 1: Triad Visualization

Creative Bass Lines: Increasing Fingerboard Knowledge – Part 1: Triad Visualization

This column finds us looking not at bass line creation, but some solid foundation ideas that help to increase knowledge of the fingerboard. We are going to start with some easy stuff and ramp up over the next few installments! The concepts in the video are a good place to start. There’s no transcription, as I want you to work...