Keep It Groovy

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.

In this “Keep It Groovy” bass lesson, Ryan Madora walks us through perfecting the bass line to “Come Together” by The Beatles. To do so, we need to understand the theory behind the line and how to play with note duration and articulation.

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.

In this new “Keep It Groovy” lesson, Ryan Madora takes a simple walking bass line that moves from E to B (or I to V) and adds dead notes. These dead notes add funk and groove to an otherwise simple walking line.

In this “Keep It Groovy” lesson, Ryan Madora takes a simple walking bass line that moves from E to A (or I to IV) to demonstrate how to add dead notes to add more rhythmic interest.

In this “Keep It Groovy” episode, we’ll channel the power of George Porter Jr. to get our funk on. Check out this lesson Ryan Madora created around “Cissy Strut” by The Meters.

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.

In this “Keep It Groovy” lesson, Ryan Madora guides us through practicing arpeggio shapes by playing through a very common chord progression. It’s the perfect warm-up exercise to play with a metronome and can even be shifted to other keys.

In this “Keep It Groovy” bass lesson, Ryan Madora explores the tonal capabilities of the Precision (or “P”) bass. She A-B tests the difference between flat wound and round wound strings along the way.

In Part 2 of this lesson series, we further develop our bass groove with the E minor pentatonic scale and a few built-in moves perfect for pull-offs.

This lesson explores the pull-off technique, an essential element of bass playing. While it’s typically used in funk, this can be applied across all genres of music.

Here’s a quick follow-up to Ryan Madora’s previous “Keep It Groovy” lesson on hammer-ons in the key of E. Ryan reviews the basics of the technique and then adds a few new funky options to help build our groove.