Giants of Bass – John Entwistle

‘An Ox’s Tale’ was written to demonstrate the extravagant and improvisational style of bass playing that John Entwistle became renowned for through his work with The Who. As you’ll hear, the track was heavily inspired by classic Entwistle basslines such as ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ and ‘The Real Me’. Don’t forget to hit the Download […]

READ ARTICLE

Giants of Bass – Flea

‘Flea Bites’ was written to demonstrate the aggressive but funky style of bass playing that Flea has become renowned for through his work with the Red Hot Chili Peppers. As you’ll no doubt be able to hear, this track was heavily inspired by Flea’s playing during the band’s early to mid-nineties period, when Flea had […]

READ ARTICLE

Giants of Bass – Larry Graham

‘Graham Crackers’ was written to represent Larry Graham’s pioneering bass techniques and reflects the work that he recorded with his own group, Graham Central Station. The piece features an aggressively performed bass part which features a powerful slap groove and many of Larry’s preferred phrasing techniques such as vibrato, trills, and shakes. His use of […]

READ ARTICLE

Giants of Bass – Stuart Hamm

‘Slap and Tickle’ was written to represent the instrumental music recorded by virtuoso bassist Stuart Hamm during the late eighties and early nineties. The line features many common elements of his playing style, such as complex slap grooves, triplet popping lines, note bending, the use of open strings, and the use of the two handed […]

READ ARTICLE

Giants of Bass – Carol Kaye

‘Pick a Game to Play’ was written to represent legendary session bassist Carol Kaye and is a great workout for your plectrum technique. The bassline for this piece is based on a sixteenth note feel, which is something that can be challenging to play effectively with the plectrum. In keeping with some of Carol’s more […]

READ ARTICLE

Giants of Bass – Paul McCartney

‘For the Benefit of Mr. McCartney’ was written to represent Paul McCartney’s bass work during the latter part of his time with The Beatles. The line features many elements often found in McCartney’s basslines, such as a strong use of chord tones, the use of inversions, and the straight repetition of established parts. The line […]

READ ARTICLE

Giants of Bass – Marcus Miller

‘Miller Time!’ was written to represent Marcus Miller and features some advanced applications of the slap bass technique. This piece has a moderately slow tempo and is representative of the music that Marcus has written and performed on albums such as Silver Rain, Renaissance and Afrodeezia. It features slap and pop grooves built around minor […]

READ ARTICLE

Giants of Bass – John Myung

‘A Nightmare… for the Fingers’ has been written to illustrate all of the challenges typically encountered when tackling the parts John Myung has recorded with Dream Theater. These include upper register melodies, hard-hitting unison riffs, arpeggiated lines, and time signature and tempo changes. In addition to all of that, this track also includes a blisteringly […]

READ ARTICLE

Giants of Bass – Jaco Pastorius

‘A Portrait of Jaco’ was written to reflect the work of legendary bassist Jaco Pastorius, both as a solo artist, and with pioneering fusion outfit Weather Report. The bassline for this piece is a busy, syncopated part that is very challenging to play up to tempo. As well as the groove elements, it also features […]

READ ARTICLE

Giants of Bass – John Paul Jones

‘Lead Balloon’ was written to represent John Paul Jones’s bass work with legendary rock group Led Zeppelin. The bassline features many common elements of his playing style, such as the use of the blues scale, a variety of different bass fills, some heavily syncopated lines, and some parts played in unison with the guitar. The […]

READ ARTICLE