greghagger
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If you exclusively play your bass with fingerstyle, you might not know where to start when it comes to pick playing. This is a common issue for bass players, and students often come to me with this problem. They say that when they've tried using a pick, some of the following challenges arise: ❌ Unable to play consistently ❌ Unable to play fast ❌ Not knowing how to hold the pick This is not surprising really if you think back to how difficult it was to play a bass line when you first started bass. It's fine if you started on pick, but if you didn't, you have to develop your picking technique. ✅ Playing pick bass is not as hard as you think though. You just have to add in some pick playing to your practice sessions. I've put together a video tutorial to show you how to get started and to give you some tips and exercises that will help you to become a great pick player. These do work, as this is how I started playing with a pick when I was in the same boat as you, years ago! Now I often use both fingerstyle, and the pick. You’ll find a free download link in the video description. The PDF contains all the lesson exercises in notation and Tab.
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I'm currently planning a pentatonic bass course which will be out towards the end of the summer. Mastering pentatonics is very important if you want more freedom and more creative in your bass playing. One particular area that I'm deep-diving for the course is 'linear pentatonics'. In my latest GBS YouTube video, I give you a sneak preview into what I'll be looking at in the course. If you want to break out of the basic pentatonic box shape and at the same time, develop fluidity over the whole fretboard, check out my YouTube video.
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You might already be aware of the 'blues note', which is a note that guitarists often use in their riffs and solos. If you use this 'blues note' in your bass lines or licks, your lines will sound more authentically bluesy. But did you know that this 'blues note' is part of the Blues Scale and that there are in fact two blues notes, the flat 5th and the flat 3rd? The blues scales are based off of the pentatonic scales and contain one extra note. It's important to have these scales under your fingers if you want to have creative freedom with your Blues bass playing. I’ve made a video lesson explaining how to turn pentatonic scales into blues scales. You can also download a free PDF containing handy fret diagrams of the various scales - link in video description. Enjoy!
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Continuing on from last week's video lesson where I gave you a simplified version of the bass line from Don McLean classic, 'American Pie', this week I have a lesson on the original bass line. This is an epic bass line from Rob Stoner, that is improvised all the way through! The bass line is pretty busy, using a combination of triads, scales and repeated 8th note patterns, and it's really fun to play. Because the song is so long, in the video lesson I've just picked out the key passages from the bass line, but you can download a full transcription of the note-for-note original Rob Stoner bass line. Enjoy!
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The Don McLean classic, 'American Pie' is one of those songs that I've always loved, but never thought to learn properly. I did play this live way back at school, and I have to admit that I just 'blagged'' it from the chord chart! But recently, a one-to-one bass student of mine has been encouraging me to transcribe and make a lesson on the American Pie bass line. I'm sure though, that he just picks epics so I've got my work cut out for me! 😂 The song is over 8 minutes long and Rob Stoner's bass line is through-composed, meaning that it doesn't repeat anything. As you can image, it took me a while to transcribe! To make this song more approachable for everyone, I've made two video lessons on the bass line. In the lesson this week, I've come up with a simplified bass line that still sounds really great. Next week I'll show you the original bass line. So, if you've always wanted to play American Pie, here's your chance, whatever your playing level. You can pick up a simplified bass line transcription in the video description. Enjoy!
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I held a one-to-one lesson a couple of weeks ago where I taught a student how to use a single one-bar riff to construct a whole 12-Bar Blues bass line. We also delved into how we could take this one step further and add in variations to create more interest. I decided during the lesson that this would make a useful YouTube video, so here we are. My latest YouTube lesson is perfect for any aspiring Blues bassists who wish to improvise their own Blues bass lines. It's a basic concept that can be used to produce interesting and impressive sounding Blues bass lines, sure to get you out of a hole at a Blues jam or gig! You can download the free lesson PDF by clicking the link in the video description. Enjoy
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I watched an enlightening video the other week by scientist and musician, Dr Molly Gebrian, about the science that happens in the brain as we learn new tasks. The relevance to us bass players is how we can use this science to: ✅ speed up learning new material ✅ help eradicate mistakes ✅ play faster and with greater accuracy I'm sure that you'd like to improve on all three of the above points, I know that I would! In my latest YouTube video, I've summarised some of Dr Gebrian's ideas and used them to demonstrate how we can learn a technical exercise. This is really interesting stuff that will help you to practice efficient, saving you a lot of wasted time in the long run. You can grab a free copy of the lesson exercise by clicking the link in the video description.
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- play faster
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Fantastic @Normski, enjoy that! Plenty more coming out on the channel. Might cover some more Chas too!
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- chas chandler
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@Normski I bet that has been fun’! I’ve certainly enjoyed transcribing and teaching some of Chas’s bass lines recently. Are you playing old material or working on new stuff with the Animals?
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I've had a few requests lately to look at Chas Chandler's bass line from 'We Gotta Get Out Of This Place', so I decided to look at it this week. The main bass riff must be one of the most recognisable bass features in the history of pop music! Although it does take a bit of technique and concentration to nail the main riff perfectly, this is a fairly accessible bass line to play and only has two different sections. It's a whole lotta fun though! You can download a free copy of my note-for-note transcription of the bass line by clicking the link in the video description. Notation and Tab available. Enjoy this classic!
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If you don't have a method for working out how how to play rhythms, you'll most likely struggle to play any grooves accurately. This is an issue for bass players, to say the least! Have you glossed over a rhythm, for lack of understanding it, and just played an approximation? Do you commonly struggle with knowing where in the bar to play certain notes? Do you wish that you had a method for learning more complex rhythms? If you answered yes to any of these three questions, then you'll find the contents of my latest YouTube video very helpful. In the video, I delve into note and rest values, subdividing bars, and I also give you a checklist for how to approach learning a new rhythm. There’s a free PDF in the video description that includes the lesson material and a bass cheatsheet.
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A common question that I get asked by bass students, is "how can they make their bass lines sound more smooth?" When learning bass, it's very usual for players to stumble over certain parts of a bass lines, or play bass lines that sound disjointed and jerky. But there are quite a few approaches that you can take to eradicate these issues, including: 🟢 Utilising efficient fingering patterns 🟢 Phrasing 🟢 Using helpful fretting hand techniques 🟢 Focusing on what your plucking hand is doing In my latest YouTube video I focus on these issues, using real bass line examples to provide you with solutions that work. You get a free copy of the lesson material in a PDF by clicking the link in the video description.
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Good timing then! Check out my Greg’s Bass Shed channel later today (Monday) as I’m releasing a video of me playing this song with the original recording. Hope your gig goes well.
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It's high time that I featured a Paul McCartney bass line in one of my YouTube videos, as the last one was about 5 years ago! Macca is such an influential bass player and is one of the founding fathers of 'pop bass'. His approach to creating bass lines is very unique and interesting, often including arpeggio shapes and melodic lines, toped off with great attention to articulation. In my latest YouTube lesson I tackle 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,' a classic Beatles song that contains three different keys and two different time signatures! You can grab a free copy of my full bass line transcription in notation and Tab by clicking the link in the video description. Enjoy this classic!
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- paul mccartney
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When planning my latest bass lesson, I realised that it will be my 300th YouTube video! So I wanted to make something a bit different to mark this achievement. So, in my lesson I'm featuring five bass riffs that have each made an impact on my playing over the years. These riffs are both fun, and educational to learn, and I'm sure that you'll enjoy playing them. Check out the five bass riffs in my latest GBS video lesson by clicking below. There’s also a free lesson PDF in notation and Tab, just click the link in the video description.
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- bass riffs
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