…making better bass players with Kris Rodgers A.K.A Dmanlamius
Not all lessons are hosted on my youtube channel which is available here. As well as these, there are top quality, long extensions of some of the free lessons you see featured below. Please click here for details.
Once you have gone through all these lessons, move onto these exercises, that will further your progression!
A lovely Bass tuner:
Tuning your Bass guitar. How to tune using the 5th fret method, using harmonics, drop tunings and half step tunings also covered here. Don’t worry if it is too much information to take on. If you have a tuner, use that so we can start right away!
Hand and tendon exercises A few stretches and words of advice concerning not getting Carpel tunnel syndrome and R.S.I. Try and do these exercises before you start playing your bass, and especially if you know you’ll be playing for a long time (maybe for a gig). This is an early video, and I talk quite a bit before we start. Apologies.
How to increase finger strength for Bass. My personal review of these great little tools, that will help you maintain finger strength:
An effective Bass warmup Do this exercise before playing for long amounts of time. It really works! Also builds up your strength!
Beginners Bass lesson part one For the guys and gals that are starting from the beginning of their bass journey. What the different parts of the bass are, walking finger technique, and a simple riff for you to be getting on with.
Beginners Bass lesson part two The second part For the guys and gals that are starting from the start. What the different parts of the bass are, walking finger technique, and a For the guys and gals that are starting from the start. What the different parts of the bass are, walking finger technique, and a simple riff.
Beginners bass lesson part three (evolution-premium)
The Evolution of our Beginners youtube riff! In this lesson we will add fills to our riff and some other cool ideas. In this lesson we briefly cover:
Hammer-ons. Slides. Economy of motion/finger placement. String bends. Slapping and popping the riff.
We also cover alternative notes to play around the board.
After doing these, try these hammer-on exercises to build hand strength:
Onwards…
Beginners Bass lesson: Simple 12 bar blues riffs to learn!
Here we have a “How to” on the twelve bar blues We start simple, and then get a little harder as we go on. This lesson is PERFECT for beginners, wanting to gain hand strength. It s also good for intermediate players that want a basic understanding of how the blues is made up.
I hope you enjoy the lesson!
Back to Basics Just a vid explaining terms of techniques on the bass guitar. What is tapping? What is slapping and popping? What is a hammer-on? What is a walking blues bass-line? I cover it all here!
How to learn the notes on the Bass fretboard I can’t emphasize how important it is that you learn these notes, and where they are off by heart! It’s one of the fundamental and first things you should learn as a bass player. Don’t feel like this task is too daunting. It’s more simple than it looks. There are only twelve notes to remember on each individual string, and our language is made up of a LOT more letters than that…
The Major scale What are root fifths and octaves? How do I play the scale? What does it mean? What are intervals? Need it all explained? Then watch on….
How much should I be practicing?
What Bass should I buy as a beginner?
Should I be using a pick or not?
If you like using a pick, check out this discussion and exercise.
I hope the above answers helped you out. If not, you can always ask me or my bass community any questions right HERE Also, you can contact me through my Twitter which is right here, or Facebook page which is right, here.
Now, let’s focus on some of the more important aspects of the bass guitar.
Tips on timing 5/4 (Introduction)
Tips on timing 3/4 Further tips on timing
Now, use the beats by clicking the icon below to further practice your timing! Timing and practicing to a consistent beat are a fundamental and important part of Bass playing!
So now you have some ideas on how to keep better time! Let’s have a look at some more techniques!
Introduction to natural harmonics. Harmonics are great little tools to get a unique sound out of your Bass guitar. Check out the lesson to find out how!
Introduction to natural harmonics part two. The second part.
An introduction to Bass chords (Orion) Here, you will learn how to play Metallica’s “Orion.” (the middle part). This is a good introduction to the chords I will teach you in the future
Cool chords #1
Here you will learn the shape of five chords to experiment with, and start to write music with. I also cover different ways of playing these chords. I dont teach the “names” of the chords, just the shapes. I name them “Primusy one” etc. At the end, we string these chords together to write a nice tune! This lesson is best for intermediate students, but will be O.K for beginners with good hand strength to sustain chords. It’s best if you do the “Basic chords” free lesson before you purchase this one…
MASSIVE tips on how I compose music, here!
Onto some Slap and pop…
Slap and pop lesson one Here we have the first in my slap and pop series. I explain what slap and pop is, where to slap and pop and how to slap and pop as well as add mutes (or ghost notes). We also go through a basic riff!
Slap and pop Lesson two The second lesson.
Slap and pop lesson three In the third lesson, we go through the Chili peppers’ “Higher ground”. Well, their version of the Stevie Wonder classic, anyway.
Slap and pop evolved!
The Evolution of our free YouTube riffs!
These exercises have been created by me, and have been tried and tested with all my students. A lot of those guys (and Gals!) are now out gigging, and are at a very good standard…
In this lesson are eight exercises to get you slapping and popping like the pro’s! They come as one video file that is about fifty-five minutes long. This package also comes with seven drum tracks that progress in speed.
Here is a brief summary of what we cover:
Exercise one:
Similar to our youtube video, but with a lot more groove, and a little harder. We start with a double slap, and incorperate pops, hammer-ons and mutes later. Also advice on the psychology of practice, featured here.
Exercise two:
An exercise designed to gain finger strength. More slaps and pops but also double popping as well as barring (or bridging) with the fretting hand. More advice on muting and the economy of motion, here.
Exercise three:
A cool line with a nice use of slides. A funky one, which is one of my personal favourites. Has a primus-like feel to it.
Exercise four:
A great exercise that can be changed to the users personal preference. Again, this exercise was created to build strength, but it’s main purpose is to build up speed and efficiency! Exercise five: An exercise and discussion on the role of the Bass player, and how slap and pop fits into that role. Also, an exercise with a pocket played slap and pop groove, and how it applies to the role. Exercise six: Another groove based exercise that we move around onto different frets. Exercise seven: A percussive exercise that will speed up your slap and popping! A cool little exercise that also covers timing. Exercise eight: Another percussive lesson/exercise.
Ideas on Slap precision Slap Dynamics
When I slap and pop, where does my thumb land?
More slap precision exercises for you to get your teeth into:
Slap precision exercise three.
Red hot slap and pop!
In this lesson, we cover some methods that will get you slapping and popping like the pro’s! We discuss right hand muting methods as well as left hand hammer-on stuff. We also cover the technique and method that “Flea” uses in his slap and pop playing. We break down the slap part of “Black eyed blonde”, and my song “Day of the goat.” Both these slap parts can teach good technique when slowed down and broken apart. I also tell you about tried and tested methods that will help your long term slapping and popping!
What does “playing in the pocket” mean? You may have heard of this term. Click to see my explanation of it.
Another new technique for you to get your fingers round! “Tapping”, a technique made famous by Eddie van Halen on guitar, is now being used more and more on the bass guitar. Here is my introduction to the technique.
And here are some more interesting exercises to get your head and hands round:
Riff of the week. Loads of Riffs created by me, for you to learn. Some are simple. Some are not. Every style you can think of is covered in these lessons, and it is an on-going project:
Below, we have a bunch of my personal funk lines for you guys to learn! I play the riff, show YOU how to play the riff, and then there is a drum track for you guys to play along with. All for free. Bargain. Some are finger played, and some are slap and pop, so make sure you have a little experience before you start these.
One of my own funk lines to learn #1
One of my own funk lines to learn #2
One of my own funk lines to learn #3
One of my own funk lines to learn # 4
One of my own funk lines to learn # 5
One of my own funk lines to learn # 6
One of my own funk lines to learn #7
One of my own funk lines to learn #8
One of my own funk lines to learn #10
And some exercises to get your Funk precision down:
Finger Funk precision #2
How about practicing
And some more…
15 ways of getting out of a creative bass playing rut.
Learn to play by ear (great post from my forums)
Great little unit I use for effects:
So hopefully, at this point you’ll have a good understanding of the bass guitar, be able to play a few songs, have good hand strength, know quite a few techniques, and have a good basic understanding of theory, know a few chords as well as loads of other important bass related stuff.
Feeling confident? Then try and create some of your own bass lines to these guitar and drum lines I created. There have already been some great replies to this, and i’m always interested in seeing what everyone else has been creating! Here’s the blurb:
Ready to gig? Here’s some advice for you when starting out! How to prepare for a gig! How to prepare for a gig
My Bass forum Youtube channel: Dmanlamius76 Twitter: Dmanlamius The Beat box: Here at main site My interviews with famous bass players
Fat stringers, and low-end lovers
There is a lot of content on this site! I am sincerely trying to reach out to you as if there were no geographical boundaries.
The first port of call on your Bass journey should be the “Lesson tree”. These are lessons that start off easy, and slowly progress.
Bass tuition book!
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