In this course is a direct progression from the first part of this series. This time, the focus is on rhythms that combine sixteenth notes with eighth notes. There are three possible ways to combine these note values within a single quarter note beat, and each will be examined in turn here. It’s vital that […]

This course tackles two new rhythms, both of which consist of a dotted eighth note and a sixteenth note. As with previous combination rhythms, it’s crucial that these new variations are played with the correct application of downstrokes and upstrokes. Don’t forget to hit the Download Resources button above in order to download the PDF […]

The final rhythm that will be covered on this course is the triplet. Although in some ways triplets are simpler to play than the sixteenth note-based rhythms that have been covered in previous courses, they can be problematic when playing them with a plectrum. By leaving them to this part of the advanced course, you […]

This course is an in-depth examination of one of the most commonly-used scales – the blues scale. As you’ll learn from the course, the blues scale is simply the minor pentatonic scale, with an added ‘blue’ note. With that in mind, it would be a good idea to have worked through the Minor Pentatonic Scale […]

This course is a deep-dive into a very popular and useful scale – the major pentatonic. As you’ll learn from the course, the major pentatonic is derived from the major scale and works well in all styles of music. As bass players, the major pentatonic is an important scale for us to learn. With that […]

This course is a deep-dive into one of the most commonly-used scales – the minor pentatonic. As you’ll learn from the course, the minor pentatonic is derived from the natural minor scale and works well in all styles of music. As bass players, the minor pentatonic is an important scale for us to learn. With […]

This short course covers some basic considerations: the setup of your instrument, muting techniques, and the various different ways in which tapping can be notated. Don’t forget to hit the Download Resources button above in order to download the PDF worksheet and audio files for this course (available to subscribers only).

Two-handed tapping requires you to use the fingers on each hand in a very different way: rather than plucking the strings with one hand and fretting notes with the other, you will now be ‘tapping’ notes directly on the fretboard with each hand. This can be tricky at first since your fingers – particularly those […]

Now that you have begun working on a series of coordination and finger strengthening exercises, you’ll no doubt be ready to incorporate some more musical ideas into your practice routine. This video course is the first of two that will help you to begin playing arpeggios on the bass using the two-handed tapping technique. A […]

The tapping technique is great for playing chords on the bass as it enables us to play notes in both the low and higher registers simultaneously. This means that it is possible to play chords with better separation between the notes than we would be able to achieve simply from just fretting a chord. Don’t […]