Here’s a few ideas concerning jamming with different techniques in this song. I hope they help or inspire in some way!

Link references in video:

Slap and pop lesson 1:

The Major scale (Octave explanation):

Not just another Bass tuition book (Finger picking):

HUGE lesson here, going through the song ‘Pretty little ditty’ by the Chilli peppers.

In this lesson, we cover Bass chords, Slap and pop, plus more.  Tons of learning in this one lesson….

Hope you enjoy it, guys.  Oh, and Don’t forget to check out the other Chilli peppers lessons right HERE!

 

Not Just another Bass tuition Book!

(Click image to purchase!)

Book one

 

These series of short books aren’t similar to most other Bass tuition books.  They are a small archive of the things and ideas that have helped me become the Bass player I am today.  A little insight into my way of doing things, if you will.

All those people that have asked me how I use the techniques used in my solo bass guitar songs have the information right here. The questions are answered.

Why “Not just another Bass guitar book”?  Well, there are plenty of books out there that teach you how to play music, and a Bass, theoretically.  Although these books are important (and I’d still recommend them!) they are quite lifeless, and seem to lack practical ideas. A lot are just repeated content from another book that was written the year before. Copy and paste tuition.  This is more a book of practical ideas, and therefore not just another Bass guitar book.

So, You might call it a book of notes and ideas.  Hopefully, something positive for everyone of all standards.

The book is aimed at intermediate players, but there is a lot of stuff for beginners in there as well. I didn’t want to just make it at one level, so i’ve tried to mix it up a bit, so everyone can benefit. This is certainly the case with the 61 free bass riffs.

 

What you are getting with the first book:

 

61 original Bass riffs to learn. all created by me, in all manners of genres and difficulty levels.  Punked, funked, slapped, tapped, strummed and more!  There are loads of riffs to play with for beginners and upwards!

An extra folder full of beats for you to practice with, in all different BPM’s and time signatures.

An e-book, with original and practical lessons, and video examples. The first book chapters chapters include:

 

Introduction.

On Technique.

Role of the Bass.

Bad habits you’d do well to avoid.

Playing with three fingers.

Jedi Bass tricks.

Downstrokin’ and upstrokin’.

Finger picking.

Composing simple Basslines.

Some timing and rhythm exercises.

 

The text files will be as PDF’s. Most modern computers will have a PDF reader. If not, there are plenty on google to choose from.

To view the videos, I’d recommend a free bit of software called VLC. Movie files are mixed between .MOV’s, and .M4V’s. I’m not sure if standard players will play both types of files, but if they don’t, get yourself a copy of VLC:

http://www.videolan.org/

 

*The files themselves come as four .ZIP files.  I had to do this, because the file was WAY too big by itself.  So, I had to split them, just so it’s easier for you guys to download.

If you have any questions about the book.  Any questions at all, please ask them in the special category I set up in my forums.  If we keep all the questions in one place, other people can benefit from them.  Click HERE to be taken to the forum category (You’ll need to join)

 

 Here are some quotes from people on my forums who have purchased the book:

‘This really is some pretty damn good stuff. You’re encouraged to mess around with things and be creative, and that I think should be exemplary of all other bass books – but in my experience it sadly isn’t. This is one-of-a-kind. Most of the ideas in the aforementioned ‘Jedi Bass Tricks’ section can be applied to anything else you do as well.’-Pippynip

‘The encouragement to be creative is something that has been missing in pretty much most “learn how to” type books simply because they are trying to put a strict format on the books which the student is supposed to be following and exactly that just takes away any chance to be creative .. Thats why i really like the approach of a “collection of thoughts” as it just gives so much room to play around and experiment … ‘-Accipiter

 

Ok, here we have a number of riffs created by me, for you to learn.

We’re starting simply here, and will be making them harder as we go along.

I’ve managed to do eight in a row, before my computer broke! But I am back in the game again now, and will get down to making more.

Bookmark this page for all updates!

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 1

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 2

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 3

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 4

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 5

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 6

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 7

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 8

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 9

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 10

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 11 (Intro to Vibrato!)

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 12 (Quick Slap and pop)

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 13 (Strum ‘N Tap)

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 14 (Finger pickn’)

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 15 (Drone strummin)

RIFF OF THE WEEK # 16 (Drone strummin # 2)

 

 

 

And here is part two. That bothersome Bass solo!

 

The Penthouse project.

A UNIQUE learning opportunity.

My new bands’ songs, broken apart for you to learn composition, writing and musicianship skills.

Learn unique and original riffs from myself, and more importantly, why I write those specific riffs to the music being played.  In some instances I write the main part to the song, and sometimes it comes from jamming.  This will all be explained in the videos!

So, how does it work?

Well, Penthouse is a band that covers many styles and genres of music. So the lessons featured here should interest a wide variety of musicians. Typically, each “Piece of music” is around ten minutes long, with lots of interesting changes. Each piece describes a situation from my cartoon towers block, ‘The Towers’.

 

 

We will go through the songs, part by part, and I will teach you what I am playing for that part.  Whilst I’m teaching you, I’m explaining WHY I am playing those parts.

All in all, I’m hoping that this will be a really educational experience for my online (and off!) students. I have been writing music and Bass lines since 1993, and have lots of experience I can share.

Why am I doing this?

Well, I’ve been teaching Bass guitar online for a few years now. Although thousands and thousands of people have benefit from these lessons, I wanted to start teaching something with a more practical matter concerning being in a band, and writing lines.

What shall I play here? Why would I play it? How shall I play it? All these questions will hopefully be answered when I break apart these Bass lines.  I’ll also be covering issues like overplaying, specific techniques for specific genres as well.

Ok, here is the first song you will be learning:

And here is the video how to play it:

…Hello, guys!  Ok, for those of you that aren’t on my Facebook page, i’d like to make you aware that I am writing a Bass tuition book called “Not just another Bass book.”

So far, I have briefly covered (and will add more to):

Chords, and their use.
The art of creation/creating bass lines.
Playing with three fingers.
Playing with other people.
Practice!
Playing with droning notes.
Percussive playing.
Singing and playing Bass.

+Loads of exercises.

Stupidly, I have a thread of updates at my personal blog:  http://www.krisrodgers.com rather than here.  I have no idea why I did that, but please go have a look at and keep an eye on this thread if you are interested in updates!

This thread.  This one right here.

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 efficency!

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.

DURATION: 55 MINS

PRICE: £8.00 (Approx 13 dollars)

FILE: .MOV

PAYMENT TYPE: PAYPAL/CREDIT CARD

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS!

The third in my “Cool Funk lines to play” from myself. This one is a slap and pop lesson, aimed at students with slap and pop experience. If you are a beginner, check out my beginner slap and pop lessons!

Here we have ‘Red Hot Slap ‘N pop’!

In this lesson, we look at Fleas style of slapping and popping. We cover some methods to get your timing better, we cover the muting techniques, we cover the importance of Hammer-ons and muting in the quicker types of Slap and pop.

We also cover the main Slap part of The Red hot Chilli peppers ‘Black eyed blonde’

 

 We start off pretty simply, talking about ideas to get your slaps and pops working together.  We then raise the level more as we go on.

We also cover the main Slap part that is in this video, here:

 

 

DURATION: 33 MINS

PRICE:  £5.00 (Approx 9 dollars)

FILE: .MOV

PAYMENT TYPE:  PAYPAL/CREDIT CARD

CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS! 

 

Here is a link to Hammerhead studios, as mentioned in the video:  HAMMERHEAD DRUM SOFTWARE!

Drum beats to use: