I have finally got round to it! Woot! Here is the explanation vid:

And here is the purchase page link!

Enjoy it, guys!

Here is a post about keeping up with your practice. It is in a guise of a little story that happened to me. It doesn’t only relate to bass guitar…

On staying on the path.

Excuse the Hollywood-esqueness of this story. But I can tell you, hand on heart that it is 100% true. I swear on my Musicmans (for those of you reading this without a knowledge of bass guitars, a musicman is a make of bass, and my pride and joy!) life.

Some time ago, in the late summer, I was going for one of my wanders. I normally wander quite a bit, taking my bass with me, and if there is no-one around, i’ll have a little jam, and maybe write a little song or riff if i’m lucky. I normally do this out in the sticks, because it’s much more inspirational out there, and is so much better to play music in.

I’d gone quite far on this occasion, and it started to get a bit dark. I had a good idea what direction I needed to head off in to get to where I wanted to end back up. Instead of turning around, and going back the way I had come, I found a fork in the path, and took another track that headed back in the direction I wanted to go.

As it got darker and darker, I noticed that there was a wood I had to go through to get to the other side of the path. Now, I’m the first to admit that my imagination can still get the better of me (even at 33) on certain ocassions.

(Those ocassions normally being me, walking through a dark woods with beasties and spooks that probably don’t exist, but defiantly exist inside my stupid head whilst I am doing so.)

I had gone some distance at this point, and turning round, to go back the way I came would certainly double my journey time. It was the safe option, but not the exciting one, and one that would take quite a while. I stood there for a short while, looking behind and forwards, before I made my decision to carry on.

I grit my teeth, held my bass like a battle axe, and began to walk through the dark woods…

Now, I can’t say that that decision was a comfortable one for me. If i’m honest. I couldn’t see the path, and it just got darker and darker as I walked on. I felt spiderwebs on my face. I heard things. I saw things. (Well, at least I think I saw and heard things. The reality is probably very different.) The path was muddy. The only way I knew I was going in the right direction was by attentively staring at a slight bit of light in the far-off distance. This…became my mantra.

The light got closer and closer, step by step, and when I actually saw the exit hole of the woods, I ran. I ran like a six year old runs up the stairs when it’s dark, and they think something might be behind them. It had that same panic. I ran like a girl. I ran for my life.

Unfortunately, in my panic, I didn’t run very well, and fell over quite a few times. Me being on the floor, just added to my panic, and I let out a little scream as I scrambled to my feet again. As far as was concerned, the non-monsters and ghosts were right over me. And they had big teeth. I kicked out at empty space, and swore at nothing. Got to my feet, and moved quickly on to the exit…

…and what I saw when I got there was mind-blowing…

I came out onto the top of a large hill that looked over a Castle. Above that was the biggest orange moon I have ever seen in my life. It was spectacular. I just stood there and watched.

It was so spectacular that I hadn’t realised I was covered head to toe in mud and cow shit.

And here comes the Hollywood and hard to believe part. At that point, a massive firework display started at the castle. I sat down on the floor, and watched the Moon, castle and fireworks. I picked up my plop stained bass, and started playing. I then put it back down again because it was too cold. I just sat and watched. It was amazing.

Now, what does this have to do with bass playing you may ask? Well, apart from not recommending dropping your bass in cowpats, quite a bit!

To get to where we want to be, we need a goal of some sort. Like my light at the end of the wood, you need to have it firmly in your head. Now, regarding bass playing, that could be to learn a new technique, gain more strength, learn more scales, find a band, do a gig, become a millionaire rockstar, or whatever. The goal, is your own personal goal, and only you can, and should choose it.

And this doesn’t only relate to bass playing. It can be anything in life.

The journey I set myself was a difficult one. I couldn’t see the light at the end of the woods when I entered it. I had to persevere a bit before it appeared. Sometimes in life, we have an idea where the goal is, but we can’t see it yet, so we have to go on. We have to move forward. We have to try. We have to have faith.

Now, the easy option would have been to give up, turn around and go back onto the original path I came from. That was the easy option. To give up. But I had to muster enough mental strength to carry on. Even though I was scared to death (I really was), and had no idea where I needed to be (I really didn’t), I knew the exit was in that general direction. And when I finally saw it, I headed to it. When I fell over, I got up and carried on. I never stopped. If I had done, the ghosts would have got me.

When you start your journey with your bass, or whatever in life, you will come across a metaphoric wood like mine. You won’t know where you’re going. You’ll be confused, and a bit lost. The easiest thing to do would be to give it up, turn around, and go for the easy option. The known path, rather than the un-known. The track most walked.

Also on this path will be lots of mental monsters that you will find. Those monsters that whisper to you in the dark “give up” “You can’t do this” “You will fail”, but you have to shut those monsters up, and keep on keeping on…

…because Sometimes in life, we make monsters in our head that don’t exist. Our own personal monsters, that feel very real.

But trust me when I say this. You’ll appreciate the goal so much more if you have to fight for it. The castle, fireworks and moon were proof of this for me. The journey may seem too hard, and you will really want to give up. It’s at these times the monsters will start their whispering. Ignore them. Move on. You’ll feel lost, maybe a bit lonely, but move on.

It was lucky I had my bass on me, because it made me link this story with the journey we take when we take up an instrument, or anything worth achieving in life. That is why I am sitting here in the cold, watching the Moon, Castle and Fireworks whilst frantically writing it down. The path is behind me. This is spectacular.

Stick with it and fight for it. Trust me. It’ll be worth it if you do.

*Just an added footnote. As I was walking back down the hill to my car, I fell over, rolled most of the way down and hurt my knee a bit. I have no idea what this means.

Another funk lined lesson for you guys to learn!

I am a proud man.

I remember being about 17, at school, having just purchased Rage’s first album. This must have been about ‘93 time. I remember carving Anarchy symbols into the back of school desks, even though I had no idea what it really meant.

I remember arguing with the head of year and prefects about their tastes in music that dominated our six form social area stereo.

90’s dance music, with ugly bursts of Madonna and the like in-between.

I remember breaking that stereo.

Back then, we were the minority. The long-haired ones that would do nothing with their lives. The ones that would probably be in a band that would do nothing, or something. Probably nothing.

Well, they were right.

And they got stronger and stronger, and bigger and bigger, as the industry adjusted itself, Whilst our types and our types of music just got weaker and weaker…

But there was something that they always seemed to miss. And it’s the same thing that supporters of the programmes like the X-factor seem to miss as well.

There is more to music than gain.

And since those days, my friends have lived and breathed music. Played it everywhere we could. Played it in forests, woods, on beaches, on hills. Done thousands of gigs. Laughed, jammed and cried. We’ve lost soldiers, we’ve gained soldiers. Every part of our lives has been about it. Playing, inventing, sharing. There is no money here. There are no big lights. There is no backing track to sing along to. We are the backing track. Ever since those days of broken stereos, we have done this. And we will continue to do so. It’s dirty, noisy, emotional, and most important of all….it’s real.

And now, i’m thirty-something. I still have the same passion I had for it than when I was seventeen. I’ve seen the industry turn uglier than it ever was. I’ve seen it become a characature of itself. I’ve seen it spoonfeed the masses. I’ve seen it lie.

But yesterday, Rage against the machine were announced number one in the U.K for Christmas. Beating, the X-factor winner Joe cliche. All on the back of an internet campaign that one guy started. The internet, being used as a communication tool of those people that share the same as I have written above. All of us, coming together as one.

Look. At. What. We. Achieved.

To say that i’m proud is an understatement. I have a brand new daughter, and when she looks back at the Christmas number one when she was born, it’ll be “Killing in the name of”. The band her Daddy was so passionate about for all those years. The mindless sheep I saw yesterday buying Joe Cliches single at Sainsbury’s, whilst discussing what happened in Eastenders last night have, for once, been silenced.

Now, we have the choice to further this. To keep it real. These…are exciting times…

Excuse the noise, but we had just heard some great news…

I love playing Bass.

It’s always been the exciting instrument for me. For many people, it’s guitar, and that is the instrument that a lot of people head for, when picking one.

It’s been that way for years…

But these days, i’m noticing a lot of people heading towards the bass as their prefered instrument. It used to be the case that bands needed a bass player, so some poor soul would be lumbered with it, whilst secretely wishing he could play guitar. It used to be the un-cool choice. The “sit at the back and be a good boy” choice.

But it’s come so far, you know? The electric Bass is such a young instrument. In it’s infancy, it’s number one ability was to sit back, hold time and maintain the low. Now, it’s still like that, don’t get me wrong, but we’ve come to realise that there are many ways of achieving this…

Tapping is still a new technique being used on the bass, and we’re finding out new things, daily. In my interview with Jean Baudin, he says it’s his favourite technique, because there is still so much to be found. Very true. Slapping and popping is a pretty new technique as well, pinoeered by Larry Graham. We are playing melodies now as well, just like in my video here. Again, people are doing more and more different things with it. We are adding more strings, more effects. We are experimenting.

These are exciting times to be a Bass player.

So when that lead guitarist tells you you shouldn’t be playing slap and pop, because it takes the shine off his solo, tell him it’s evolution. And when the old-school dinosaurs tell you not to experiment with your Bass, and keep it traditional, tell them it’s evolution…

As long as we maintain the low, and keep good time, we can be allowed to dream…

So that’s why I love playing Bass. Why do you?

(If you like this post, please tweet it, or post it around your favourite forums etc)

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.

In this lesson, we cover the “Up-down” method of pick playing. I also cover tonal opportunities when playing in different places, as well as discussions on pick thickness and uses.

After this, I move onto an exercise. There will be more and more of these.

Here is the initial discussion video (click).

And here is the Intro and exercise:

Regarding effects that I use in my vids. I review the Korg, here (clicky).

If you look over there on the right hand sidebar, you’ll see a nifty little bass tuner!

It’s at standard-E-A-D-G, you you’ll have to find your own B if you have a five string.

It’s been really handy for me. I don’t need to go any further than my own blog now I have it! Hoorah!