Free. Bass. Lessons... » Basic stuff

My Forum members’ Bass guitar lessons:

Kris — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:10:00 +0000

There are some great bass song lessons being taught by the members on my forums right now. All hard work and original content from those guys. Defiantly worth a check out! I’ve learnt loads there, myself!

Clicky

Back to basics!

Kris — Sun, 24 May 2009 12:28:00 +0000

Wow, this one slipped through my archiving net! I just found it hiding in the deepest depths of youtube, and thought it deserved an add to my blog.

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!

And after this brief introduction, check out my massive lesson archive right here, to get you on your way!

Learning bass made simple: Lesson tree!

Kris — Wed, 20 May 2009 12:16:00 +0000

Hiya guys, I’ve made a few alterations to my main site. A couple of members in my forums mentioned that navigation could do with being a little more simple, as to not confuse beginner students…

So I created a Lesson tree. This is an order of learning that I would recommend all beginner students should follow.

The Lesson tree is available right HERE!

Enjoy…!

How to Learn the Notes on the bass fretboard!

Kris — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:23:00 +0000

How to read the notes on the Bass fretboard!

Ok, ok, this is a simple blog post, but I feel it needs to be in there!

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…

Firstly, know this:

When i’m teaching my students how to remember notes, I teach them the “Big Bass, Little Bass” theory that I invented. That being that the first twelve frets on your bass (The Big Bass) repeat themselves in EXACTLY the same way, once you hit the twelfth fret, and onwards (little bass).

So…an open E is the same note as the twelfth fret on the E string. The first fret on the E string is the same note as the thirteenth note on the E string. The second fret on the E string is the same note as the fourteenth fret on the E string. The third fret is the same note as the fifteenth note on the E string, and so on and so on. This applies to ALL strings.

Now, start with the E string. Remember that the first dot is “G’ (for some reason not shown in the picture above, but you should have on on your bass!) The second dot is “A”. The third is “B” and so on and so on. Once you have learnt what notes the dots are on the E string, all you have to do is then learn the notes in-between the dots! And of course, once is gets to the twelve fret, everything just repeats itself again.

Learn that, and then go onto the A string, then D, and lastly, G.

Now, as I mentioned in the “what is an octave?” lesson, which is right here, two strings down and two frets up of the root note you hit, is exactly the same note, just played at a higher octave. So, say you hit the A on the E string (fifth fret) go two strings down from that fret, and then two frets up, so you are hitting the seventh fret on the D string. That is the octave of that note. So once you know how to get an octave of a note, it will make this task a lot easier, trust me…

Ok, enough talking, start memorizing!

What bass to buy for a beginner?

Kris — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:47:00 +0000

Hey guys, I answered this question down below in text, but I thought i’d do a video to back it up.

Enjoy!

Beginners evolved (cheap premium lesson)

Kris — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:12:00 +0000

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.

What is an octave?

Kris — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:20:00 +0000

And after this lesson, check this out. This is the natural progression from the learning featured here.

How much to practise?

Kris — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:03:00 +0000

How Much To Practice?

How much you practice depends a lot on your goals and your schedule. I believe frequency of practice is more important than quantity of practice. You will retain more and learn at a faster pace if you consistently practice 30 minutes every day of the week rather than 6 hours one day a week. Boredom can be a real killer of inspiration as well, so as soon as you get bored, put down the instrument!

Pick up your bass once a day even if it is only for five minutes! Just a few minutes of practice when you don’t have much time will strengthen your memory of concepts, improve your musical ear, and reinforce the muscle memory you are developing.

If possible, keep your bass out of its case. Make your bass accessible. That way it is easy to pick up whenever you have some time. If you want to force yourself to pick it up, leave it sitting in your favorite chair or in your bed! Put your bass where it is in your way; don’t keep it out of sight. I find myself picking up my bass instinctively when I’m watching tv, or on the net.

I think a decent, average amount to practice would be 45-60 minutes a day. If you are consistent, you can make a fair amount of progress with that much practice. If you are more serious about playing the bass, 2-3 hours a day would be a good amount of practice time. And, if you want to be really good you might practice as much as 6-8 hours a day. I did this for a long time when I didn’t have a job, and my band was gigging loads. It defiantly made me a better player, but as I said above, frequency is more important than quantity.

The more you practice, the more you will learn. Of course, you need to be practicing the right things, but more practice helps.

I do think there is a saturation point where you can be practicing too much. At some point you will notice you don’t get much more return for the time you are putting in practicing. Don’t forget there is a world out there that can really inspire you and make you play better, too. Everything is not in your practice room. Don’t be a total shut-in! Take your bass out with you, and go for a walk. I do this quite often, and normally end up in some random field, playing away…

As you increase how much you practice, you also need to be aware of the increased health risks musicians face. Long practice sessions may stimulate hand injuries, and you are at higher risk of losing your hearing. Remember to be gentler on yourself as you increase your practice time. Check out my videos on hand and tendon stretching, and do these exercises if you plan on a doing a marathon bass sessions.

Your practice routine doesn’t always have to be the same length of time each day. You could have a full practice routine (maybe 2 hours) and an abbreviated one (maybe 30 minutes). Choose which one fits your schedule best each day. Don’t skip practicing for the day because you can’t get in your normal amount of practice time. This is a common trap into which students fall.

Above all, “an ounce of practice is worth a ton of theory”, so stop reading this, and start playing right now!

Adios.

~Kris~