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Bass Lessons - Page 28

Bass Transcription: Bobby Vega’s “Gosh”
Transcriptions

Bass Transcription: Bobby Vega’s “Gosh”

This month’s transcription is a piece I’ve been meaning to get to for a long time: Bobby Vega’s “Gosh”. This piece was originally featured on Bass The World’s YouTube channel last year. Grab the transcription, read the notes below and follow along: Although a master of all techniques, Bobby Vega is probably best known for his plectrum work. Combining impeccable...

Advanced Bass: Crackin’ the Slonimsky Code
Advanced Bass

Advanced Bass: Crackin’ the Slonimsky Code

Using concepts derived from classical music, Joe delves into demystifying diminished patterns commonly used by jazz musicians, such as John Coltrane, Pat Martino, Jaco Pastorius and countless others. Follow along with this lesson’s notation (PDF) and video.

Advanced Bass: Interval Shapes
Advanced Bass

Advanced Bass: Interval Shapes

In this lesson, we will cover a basic concept for interval shapes to develop your technique, while attuning your ears to hear the root motion of common harmonic progressions in jazz. Follow along with the notation (PDF) and this video:

Bass Transcription: Joe Dart’s Bass Line on Vulfpeck’s “Beastly”
Transcriptions

Bass Transcription: Joe Dart’s Bass Line on Vulfpeck’s “Beastly”

“Beastly” is the opening track from Vulfpeck’s first EP Mit Peck. I’ve loved this piece since I first heard it and it’s been on my “transcribe list” for a while now. Fortunately, the isolated bass track cropped a while back, making the task of transcribing it a little easier.

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Bass Lick Series: A7?9 Chord Bass Groove with Legato Fill
Bass Lick Series

Bass Lick Series: A7?9 Chord Bass Groove with Legato Fill

The A7?9 chord (referred to by some as the “Jimi Hendrix” chord) is a useful chord to know since you can play both the minor and Major pentatonic over it. Here’s a groove using mostly a minor pentatonic fill in the end, with lots slides, hammerons and pullofs so we get a fluid motion. For the gear heads, I’m playing...

Bass Lick Series: Funky Bass Breakdown in E
Bass Lick Series

Bass Lick Series: Funky Bass Breakdown in E

Here’s another lick to add to your bag of tricks. Once again, I’m using open strings as described in past lessons. This one is a groovy bass line you can play over a E7, E9 or E13 chord using the Em dorian scale with the Major 3rd added (G#). Omit the G# and use it over a minor chord/key. Follow...

Bass Transcription: Miki Santamaria’s “Thinking Out Loud” Solo Bass Arrangement
Transcriptions

Bass Transcription: Miki Santamaria’s “Thinking Out Loud” Solo Bass Arrangement

This bass transcription was suggested to me by No Treble founder Corey Brown, serving to remind me of Miki Santamaria’s fantastic solo arrangements of pop songs for bass guitar.

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.

Bass Lick Series: Funky Fingerstyle Bass Groove in Dm
Bass Lick Series

Bass Lick Series: Funky Fingerstyle Bass Groove in Dm

Time to add another lick lesson to the series. This time around, our focus is on this funky fingerstyle bass groove, which is in the key of Dm or D7, using mostly the D minor Dorian scale with chromatic connecting notes. This lick also relies heavily on open strings, for fast note doubling (D on open string to D on...

Bass Transcription: L?rincz Viktor’s “Rock and Roll Bass Solo”
Transcriptions

Bass Transcription: L?rincz Viktor’s “Rock and Roll Bass Solo”

There’s been no shortage of great pieces to choose from for my monthly transcription recently: Cody Wright’s groove with drummer Chaisarary Schenk was a serious contender, as was Simon Fitzpatrick’s cracking solo bass rendition of “Rosanna”. I intend to cover both pieces in future transcription columns, but this month I couldn’t resist scoring out L?rincz Viktor’s “Rock and Roll Bass...

Bass Transcription: Federico Malaman’s “Speed Demon”
Transcriptions

Bass Transcription: Federico Malaman’s “Speed Demon”

Like many bassists of my generation, I grew up loving the grooves on Michael Jackson’s records. The track we all wanted to be able to play was “Speed Demon” from “Bad,” a hyperactive little number with a bass part that was just too ridiculous to be real. Federico Malaman – one of the bass world’s most inventive players – is one of the few who cracked it, making it perfect for this month’s transcription.

Bass Transcription: Wojtek Pilichowski’s “Cowboy from Prague”
Transcriptions

Bass Transcription: Wojtek Pilichowski’s “Cowboy from Prague”

This month’s transcription is “Cowboy from Prague,” a short piece by Polish slap bass wizard Wojtek Pilichowski, recorded at the Aguilar Artist Loft earlier in 2014. Wojtek has made a name for himself in recent years with his hard-hitting and energetic slap technique. True to form, he packs a lot of ideas into this short piece. Wojtek takes influences from...