Topic
6 posts
Groove is the physical reaction people have to music — the feeling that makes them want to move. Creating it is the bass player's prime directive. In Western pop, beats one and three are the rhythmic strong beats, but two and four are what people feel. Get that two-and-four pocket inside you with your voice first, then let it through the bass.
A very important part of bass practice that is often overlooked is how you hold the instrument. Whatever strap height and posture you use on stage, match it in the practice room. The more consistent your position is between practice and performance, the faster muscle memory locks in and the more reliable your playing becomes.
Ear training has many components, but the one to develop first is the ability to accurately identify ascending and descending chromatic intervals. Almost every other ear-training exercise — hearing chord qualities, following changes, transcribing lines — depends on how well you know those intervals. This post walks through a simple bass-based exercise to start building that recognition.
A well-developed ear is one of the highest-leverage skills a bass player can invest in — it lets you hear chord changes, follow other musicians in real time, and learn songs faster. For me it was always a struggle because I didn't enjoy it, and I regret not busting ass on it sooner. This post shares a few exercises to get started.
When working on a bass exercise, get the mechanics right — fingering, timing, coordination — but don't spend too much time on the exercise in isolation. Balance academic work with applying the exercise inside real music. At some point you need to trust that you know the alphabet and start forming sentences.
Where you feel the pulse directly shapes how your playing feels. For 8th notes and 16th notes to sit correctly in 4/4 time, anchor your internal pulse on the quarter notes. Whether you're running harmonic exercises or laying down a groove, locking to a steady pulse is the first job of the bass.
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