Connect with us

Bass Edu

Slow Bass… It’s A Thing

Published

on

Remember that great bass line you keep coming back to year after year and yet it’s still not where you want it to be?

Your fingers turn into pretzels and you start to think it must be bad bass genetics. 

You need Slow Bass! 

What is Slow Bass? It’s a concept that can transform your practice habits and help you get great results. It’s all about learning how to take your time to develop your playing skills in a careful and conscious manner. 

In the recent generation of bass development there is a new breed of extremely able technicians of the instrument on the scene.

In plain English –  there’s a lot of hotshot bass wizards running around. I’m not saying that’s in any way a bad thing. Realize that the learning of music itself probably hasn’t changed that much over the last few centuries. Every musician still needs to shut everything else out and learn. Deeply. 

The thing that definitely has changed is that with instant information ruling the day, now you absolutely know that the moment you step out your front door in the morning that you might be ground into dust by the shockwaves caused by furious bass fingers working in concert all over the hemisphere. These maniacs are out there! 

Don’t laugh. Structural engineers call it “destructive harmonic vibration”.

You can think of it as Chinese water torture for bridges. Just as the drip, drip, drip finally causes an unruly brain to melt, a series of vibrations add up at the exact right moment to cause the bridge concrete to crack or the steel cables to snap. Not good when you’re on the way to your gig.

Remember that guy who plays in the Devo tribute band that told you he hates blues bass lines? He’s going to be making bank at your funeral in his jobbing band while you get lowered down into Mother Earth. 

All kidding aside bass people.

In a very chaotic world with endless waves of destructive harmonic vibrations, if you can cut out  distractions, concentrate on basic musical materials to start, and bring everything you are playing to mind consciously, methodically, and slowly many times over in an effort to learn the material deeply then one day as your live playing continues you’re going to wake up a much better bass player and you’re going to have a lot more confidence as a musician.

In an effort to prevent any of the previously mentioned bass destruction I have produced a video lesson especially designed to bring a modicum of success, peace, and musical knowledge into your life and the guiding principle is Slow Bass and an F minor blues. 

The lesson requires you to play the 4 or 5 triads of the F minor blues up and back in the first position while grabbing the next appropriate triad tone at the chord change. Scaled way back, it’s the same type of thing that you will need to accomplish harmonically if you are constructing a walking bass line or blowing a solo.

All that you have to do is take your time and work with the process of learning this chord progression and note-names in this particular position while getting your fingerboard hand to behave as you take it all in. Make sure that at sometime in this process you start to sing the roots so that you can get started with driving those notes down into your bass soul. That’s how it works. 

Click to download the play along mp3’s – any questions, please visit me online at basslessonswithkevin.com

Want 2 Free Online Bass Lessons? Click Below:

Slow and easy does the trick. Every time.

In fact, I am developing the Slow Bass concept to help players to experiment with more long tones in their playing. It’s great stuff, so please stay tuned. 

You might want to check out my playing clip once again, too. I threw in a bunch a Slow Bass long tones just for you. 

I truly hope that you enjoy this video lesson and that you can appreciate the Slow Bass concept and also the beautiful sounds of the minor blues. That’s one of my personal favorite chord progressions and it’s a great way to get going learning your bass inside and out. 

Thanks for stopping in everyone!

Kevin
Remember… if you have any questions, you can always contact me online at basslessonswithkevin.com

Bass Edu

Premiere! Bass Playthrough With Foetal Juice’s Bassist Lewis Bridges – From the Album, Grotesque

Published

on

Premiere! Bass Playthrough With Foetal Juice's Bassist Lewis Bridges - From the Album, Grotesque

Premiere! Bass Playthrough With Foetal Juice’s Bassist Lewis Bridges – From the Album, Grotesque

Bassist Lewis Bridges Shares…

“Gruesome’s sparse intro marks a stark contrast from the intensity of the rest of the album.  The original intention was to keep the bass simple but colourful, however as I worked on it, the lines grew more expressive and the more striking flourishes began to emerge.  The intensity builds into a harmonic minor passage that takes us into the drop — a signature death grind cacophony.  This is where Foetal Juice thrives.  You’re getting a full-on right-hand barrage to in the face to take you into a groove-laden mulch-fest.

I owe my throbbing bass tone to the Darkglass Alpha Omega pedal borrowed from our sound engineer, Chris Fielding (ex-Conan), mixed with the clarity of the tried and true Ampeg SVT CL.

As mentioned earlier, colourful basslines are important, especially in a one-guitar band. Chucking some funny intervals and odd flourishes here and there brings life into the brutality. There’s no point sounding brutal if it’s not gonna be fucking evil too!

Recording this playthrough was hard work. This was not the fault of James Goodwin (Necronautical), who was kindly filming and is ace to work with, but because in true Foetal fashion, we had stinking hangovers — and that jam room was hot!”

Follow Online

FB @FoetalJuice
TW @FoetalJuice
IG @foetaljuice
Youtube: @Foetaljuice
Spotify
Foetaljuice.bandcamp.com

Continue Reading

Bass Edu

Bass Lines: The Circle

Published

on

jaime Vazquez

Bass Lines: The Circle…

Hello bass players and fans of bass! This month we’re going to study “The Circle.”

The Circle of Fourths can also be called “The Circle of Fifths or just The Circle.

Practicing the scales, chords, and ideas in general via the circle has been a common practice routine for jazz musicians and highly recommended.

It is a disciplined way of working through all twelve keys.

Plus, many bass root movements to jazz and pop songs move through sections of the circle.

Fig. 1 – “The Circle”

See you next month for more full bass attack!

#bassmusicianmag, #basslines, #bmmbasslines, #groovemaniac, #thecircle, #thecircleoffourths, #thecircleoffifths,#scales & #chords.

Continue Reading

Bass Edu

Approach Notes – Part 5

Published

on

James Rosocha

Continuing our lesson of Approach Notes, Part 5…

In continuing with the concept of approach notes being applied to chord tones, this lesson approaches the root, third, fifth, and seventh degree of each arpeggio inversion by incorporating a double chromatic approach from above, and a single chromatic approach from below. 

The first examples approach the root of a G major 7th arpeggio as a double chromatic from above and a single chromatic approach from below -before continuing to the third, fifth, seventh, double chromatic from above/ single from below to the root, continue to the third, fifth, and come back down.

The next example approaches the first inversion of G major 7th arpeggio.

A double chromatic from above/ single from below approaches the third, continue to the fifth, seventh, root, double chromatic from above/ single below to the third, continue up to the fifth and seventh, and back down.

The third example approaches a second inversion of a G major arpeggio.

A double chromatic from above/ single from below approaches the fifth, continue to the 7th, root, 3rd, double chromatic from above/ single from below to the 5th, continue to the 7th, root, and back down. 

This final example approaches a third inversion of a G major 7th arpeggio.

A double chromatic from above and below approaches the 7th, continue to the root, 3rd, 5th, double chromatic from above and below to the 7th, continue to the root, 3rd, and back down.

Be sure to pace yourself with these lessons to avoid burning out.

Being overly ambitious with your practice schedule can lead to unrealistic expectations. Try learning one approach note concept and one chord type a week. Change your practice routine as necessary and tailor it to your needs as a musician. Good luck!

Continue Reading

Bass Edu

BASS LINES – The Blue Notes (Minor Blues Scale)

Published

on

jaime Vazquez

Hello bass players and bass fans! Happy New Year 2024!

In this issue, we are going to study the blue notes.

In blues, jazz, and rock, a blue note is a note that (for expressive purposes) is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical context.

The blue notes are usually said to be the lowered third(b3), lowered fifth(b5) and lowered seventh(b7) scale degrees. The lowered fifth(b5) is also known as the raised fourth(#4). Though the blues scale has “an inherent minor tonality, it is commonly ‘forced’ over major-key chord changes, resulting in a distinctively dissonant conflict of tonalities”.

Blue notes are used in many blues songs, in jazz, rock and in conventional popular songs with a “blue” feeling.

Formula:

The A Minor Blues Scale

1 – b3 – 4 – (#4/b5) – 5 – b7

A – C – D – (D#/Eb) – E – Bb

The grades(blue notes):

b3, (#4/b5), b7

C, (D#/Eb), Bb

See you next month for more full bass attack!

#bassmusicianmag, #basslines, #bmmbasslines, #groovemaniac, #thebluenotes, #minorbluesscale & #bluesscale

Continue Reading

Bass Edu

BASS LINES: Staccato for Bass

Published

on

jaime David

Staccato for Bass…

Hello bass players and bass fans! In this issue, we are going to study the technique known as staccato.

When we talk about the staccato technique, we are referring to a form of musical articulation.

In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence.

* In 20th-century music, a dot placed above or below a note indicates that it should be played staccato.

* The opposite musical articulation of staccato is legato, signifying long and continuous notes.

Fig. 1 – An example of a normal notation.

Fig. 2 – Is the same example but now with the staccato articulation

Fig. 3 – A basic groove played and written in a normal notation.

Fig. 4 – The same basic groove using the staccato technique.

So, at the end of the day, you as a bassist will decide what type of technique you will use depending on the effect you want in your performance.

See you next year for more full bass attack!!! Happy Holidays & New Year 2024!!! Groove On!!!

Continue Reading

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Facebook

Trending