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Bass Players… Here Is A Different Way of Practicing 

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Bass Players... Here Is A Different Way of Practicing 

A Different Way of Practicing…

The holidays are here! And for a lot of us, that means less time with our beloved instrument. And even though a lot of us will spend some time away from the physical instrument that doesn’t mean we should practice less or simply forget about it for a couple of weeks.

In this article, I want to suggest you another way of practicing. I want to suggest you actively listen to music. By actively listening to music you can hopefully understand what the greats were doing and develop new ideas and concepts from your playing. Today I want to suggest to you 3 iconic songs and some of the stuff you can concentrate on and hopefully understand and get into your playing.

Chaka Khan – What Cha’ Gonna Do for Me (Greg Phillenganes / Anthony Jackson)



What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me is the title track for Chaka Khan’s third album and this track features Greg Phillenganes on key bass and Anthony Jackson on bass. From the very beginning of this song, we get hit with the slightly distorted signature sound of a Moog synthesizer played by Greg Phillenganes. The synth bass line gives the track that 80’s R&B feeling and advances the song and Greg shows great proficiency and creativity adding various fills that help move the track forward.

It’s not until minute 3:12 that Anthony Jackson erupts from nothing with a blazingly fast fill that marks the change from key bass to electric bass. If you pay close attention to the sound, you’ll notice that Anthony is using some sort of chorus or phaser effect to thicken the sound of his bass to keep up with the sound of the Moog synth.

Even though Anthonys’ part in the song is pretty small, he makes sure to make himself noticed with blazingly fast and super musical fills.

The song is a great way of listening to the interaction between synth bass and electric bass and how they can be used to great effect on songs.

Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (James Jamerson)  



We’re so used to listening that the bass is a support instrument, that we often forget how James Jamerson brought the bass to the forefront by using the bass not only as a support instrument but also as a melody instrument. James Jamerson was a master of playing a melody within a melody and telling a story within a story. This song illustrates that concept really well.

Jamerson’s bass line is full of chromaticism (one of Jamerson’s signatures) that gives the song a sense of moving forward but also gives it a different melodic direction that almost turns it into a second melody within the song.

Masterful work from Jamerson.

Miles Davis – All Blues (Paul Chambers)



All Blues is a blues composition from the iconic “Kind of Blue” album by Miles Davis. The bass player is Paul Chambers, and on this track, Chambers exchanges the walking bass technique for a riff-based bass line that repeats for almost 12 minutes of the entire song. This bass line supports the entire song and mesmerizes the listener putting the entire focus of the song on the soloists.

In this track, Paul Chambers shows the world that there’s space in jazz for steady, rock-solid bass lines that make a song progress without the constant need for the moving parts of a walking bass line. 

And that is it… 3 suggestions for you to digest and analyze in this season. Make sure to listen to them and try to identify the details we mentioned in this article, and then move on to songs that you enjoy and try to identify specific details and concepts used in them.

Bass Edu

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

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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!”

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Bass Edu

Bass Lines: The Circle

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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.

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Bass Edu

Approach Notes – Part 5

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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!

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Bass Edu

BASS LINES – The Blue Notes (Minor Blues Scale)

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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

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Bass Edu

BASS LINES: Staccato for Bass

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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!!!

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