This video course will cover the fundamental rhythmic independence techniques required for ‘contrapuntal’ playing. Playing contrapuntally means to play rhythmically independent lines with each hand. For example, your fretting hand might play a bassline, whilst your picking hand plays a melody, or some chords. This is a skill that pianists develop through the natural course […]

If you have worked through the Beginner Tapping course, you will have learnt how to use the two-handed tapping technique to play a variety of different lines. These include outlining chord progressions using voice leading and providing accompaniment parts using chords and arpeggiated figures. Consequently, you should by now be quite comfortable with the basic […]

This video course is the first of three that will examine the linear tapping technique. Linear tapping is the style of tapping that was utilised by guitarists such as Steve Hackett and Ace Frehley in the early seventies and was later more widely popularised by Eddie Van Halen. It differs from the two-handed tapping techniques […]

The previous course covered the basics of linear tapping, a variant of the tapping technique that can be used to play fast, lead guitar-like lines. With the groundwork now in place, this course will cover some popular variations on the technique. The concepts presented here will offer considerable scope for creating tapped lines of your […]

‘Could You be Loved’ is a 1980 song by Bob Marley and the Wailers and features the band’s long-standing bassist Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett holding down the low end. This is a great piece to learn if you have been playing for a couple of years. To download the transcription (with TAB and without), please […]

Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours’ is a classic Stevie Wonder track, recorded on the Motown label back in 1970. It reached the top spot on the US R&B chart when released and continues to be enormously popular. This track features Motown bassist Bob Babbitt, who worked alongside James Jamerson at the label. Bob’s bassline on […]

‘Never Before’ is the fourth track from Deep Purple’s Machine Head album, which was released in March 1972. It was the band’s most successful album and is regarded as a key album in the development of hard rock/metal. ‘Never Before’ was the first single to be released from the album. It was not particularly successful […]

‘Hard to Handle’ is one of soul legend Otis Redding’s best-known works and was originally featured on the album The Immortal Otis Redding, the first to be released following his death in a plane crash in 1967. It was famously covered by The Black Crowes in 1990 and was also featured heavily in the movie […]

This great song appeared on Emergency on Planet Earth, the band’s debut album, and the world’s first introduction to the bass work of a young Stuart Zender. This is one of the more complex basslines on the album: it’s busy, heavily syncopated, and there are many variations on the main themes. In short, there’s a […]

‘Easy’ is the fifth track from Nik Kershaw’s second album, The Riddle, which was released in November 1984. This song is notable amongst bass players as it features Level 42 bassist Mark King. King plays a powerful slap groove throughout the majority of the track, switching to the fingerstyle technique for the tricky melody that […]