3 Basslines That FIXED My Fingerstyle Technique 

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These are the EXACT same bass lines that fixed my fingerstyle technique too 🤯

C'mon Girl is actually a really underrated song, glad to it getting some recognition

"What Is Hip?" - Tower of Power

I played in a Maiden tribute band years ago and yes Run To The Hills is brutal. We also had a tendency to play about 10 bpm faster live and I could not wait to be finished that song!!!

Geezer Butler, Steve Harris and Geddy Lee were my initiation to the bass as an instrument with its own distinct voice in an ensemble. After them I really started to get into John Taylor and Mick Karn of Duran Duran and Japan, respectively. These 5 are some HEAVY HITTERS and with a topping of Tony Franklin I was hooked.

this is exactly what i need! ive been practicing yyz a lot and ive just kinda been doing everything at 50% to get better lmao! thanks a lot ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Jamiroquai - Canned Heat (Live in Verona) -> working through that really pushed my abilities up, what makes it workable is that each groove is highly repetive, you do not have to struggle with tiny variations

What most people don't realize is that 10000 practice means 10000 hours of conscious, analytical, intentional practice where you try to understand the full aspect of what you're doing. Not just mindlessly playing the same thing over and over. Your videos really instill that which is awesome

Hey Charles Idk if you'll see my comment but I'm a huge huge fan of you , I've been watching bass content for almost 3 years and last year I bought my very first bass after some help from my guitarist friends I've been taking guitar lessons from various teachers and this channel in particular has helped a lot I hope to be as great as you one day maybe even jam with you in the future

Something that really helped me with my technique was playing Godzilla by blue oyster cult. one time I had a jam session with my uncle and he gave me that song to learn and ofc I learned it but I was adding some cool fancy licks that only made the song more complicated. I was obsessed with playing super complicated basslines and being the spotlight but my uncle told me something that changed my playing which was that nobody cares about how fancy I am and the only thing i should worry about is getting the gig which would help me realize that the bass can be as complicated as you want as long as you keep a solid foundation. up until that point, I took a melodic approach to bass but then after I jammed with my uncle I realized that i needed to chill and I began to be more rhythmic and now I play in a church band where I stick to rhythm and people are always complimenting my ability to hold that foundation.

i've been racking notes without even thinking of it for a while and i instantly got a more sexy sound as soon as i forced myself to play correct alternate fingerstyle, thank you man !

You should have talked also about that one bridge in run to the hills where the bass goes a little bit in flamenco mode at the speed of light after having played the rest of the song until that point🥲 That's a killer lick

I was surprised at Charles’ warning about raking. I thought the answer is to have your alternate plucking proficiency good enough for that whether the lead finger is 1 or 2 that you are consistent. Rather than avoiding raking which is honestly economy of movement, I’m trying to get good at leading from whichever finger will “land and lead” for the next alternate plucking run

If your working out a song that is complex and fast. I find it a massive help to explore all the fingering possibility. I made the mistake of working out Donna Lee without doing this and now I have to reprogram my muscle memory. I find this topic hardly ever covered. And yes including the plucking hand too.

That’s a great video with great information. As a beginner I struggle with my finger style and basic fundamentals. I travel for work a lot so my practice schedule sucks. When I come home after a week or two of traveling I fell like I’m starting all over again and it’s frustrating. Lessons like this really help to get me back on track with my practice. Thank you for the video.

The Gallop on Caught Somewhere In Time is the hardest because the song is very long, and if i didn't practice Maiden regularly I will need to simplify with half notes or I cramp. Killers, Only The Good Die Young are slightly harder than Run To The Hills. River People by Jaco is a technic fixer i think.

When I gallop, is employ my ring finger, and sweep those 3 fingers across the string, I find it easy to keep and even pace with the notes, and it's less exhausting.

another one that helped me heaps was dean town

This is gold for bassists of any level … a good refreshers for advanced players too! 😊

For those who want more advanced bass lines to work what Charles shows in the video : - Stamina and fast fingerstyle practice : Dean town - Vulfpeck - Fast octaves : River people - Jaco Pastorius

Right on time was the flea tune that helped me get that octave playing down

C’mon girl and Right on Time were my go to songs for practice

I am so happy you picked "cmon girl" that song helped me a shit ton get my right hand in shape. Before that song came out it was the song "right on time" that helped me, but you get more of a break in that one lol

Unlearning bad habits is the real struggle.

Dude… Flea’s crazy fast finger style playing really throws me off as well. The string skipping in “Right on Time” really gave me fits when I first learned it.

I’ll definitely consider becoming a paid member after I finish the lessons I bought from another RU-vidr. I’ve wanted to learn exercises using songs I can hear and play normally. This is the exact format I’ve been looking for. I used to think that maybe your exercises might be too advanced, but maybe they’re starting to become within reach. Thanks for the great lessons!

You are the best Charles! ❤

Whenever I've felt my stamina start slipping, I always come back to Iron Maiden's Powerslave album - if I can play it straight through in one go, I know I'm back in shape and ready to play. :)

I am pushing myself to go through the Run to the Hills section at 85% speed... Imagine Steve is in his 60s and can still do it for hours and at the speed that I cannot even match yet! WHAT A LEGEND!! p.s. whats helping me to beat the speed barriers is trying to be as relaxed as possible.

Great examples, gonna try practicing these later. Donna Lee was what personally made me improve my fingerstyle the most (so far), especially trying to get the phrasing right at higher tempos.

I just use 3 fingers for fast gallops. Index always on the first downbeat then I "rake" through the next 3 notes starting with the ring finger. Makes the whole thing into a single wave-like movement, rather than having to pick each note separately.

Took me a few tries, but I was able to play the basslines to completion. I love both your channels, you are very inspiring! I am very thankful for this BassCamp channel, I love that you get straight to the point with the exercises/transcriptions. I started on the tapping one and Classical Thump not too long ago, they have been super helpful in refining my technique. I'll be adding this as well to clean up and speed up my fingerstyle. Thank you so much for what you do, Charles!

I've been trying to play The Trooper forever! I prefer a pick, but maybe I will try more finger techniques.

I'd be super interested to see your take on Clawhammer/Banjo style in non-Bluegrass styles like Nikko Whitworth used on Awakening by Unleash the Archers.

For gallops I always use three fingers, for me it's way more comfortable and sounds sick too

Accenting Iron Maiden gallop with third finger vs index finder will give you that more lopey, percussive attach. 121, 121, 121, is fine, def a smoother, more consistent tone, but 323, 323, 323 is gives you a more accented attack.. He's playing two finger, but the ring finger is sort of along for the ride with middle finger (kind of a flipper style) , I think this is what gives you some additional mass/momentum that helps with the attack, and gives it that lumpy, galloping feel!

Nice to see someone giving Stuart Zender some credit his basslines with Jamiroquai were phenomenal

I've been practicing Billy Sheehan style 3 finger technique. For 16th note spam Ive been doing Billy idol white wedding. For endurance I've been doing Sade hang on to your love and for gallops I've been practicing heart barracuda in both alternate finger and 3 finger styles... We have similar approaches which is cool

amazing man keep like this thanks

Recently joined, excited to elevate my bass technique!! ✨💪

Dude, I truly love your videos and how simple you explain wicked bass techniques! Cheers

*While it isn't the traditional two finger technique, (as derived from playing vertically orientated acoustic upright Double-Bass Viols), that Steve Harris uses..., for that Maidenesque style triplet gallop rhythm, I've always just used the three finger style that players such as Billy Sheehan and John Myung are noted for. For a very fast gallop triplet like that, it's just more efficient, with the work and speed of the three fingers used evenly distributed three ways. When only using two fingers, even if you only use alternate picking the entire time, alternating the downbeat back and forth between the two fingers, then each of the two fingers will have to do 50% of the overall work and speed instead of only 33.33% of it. And if you do it **_"Steve Harris two finger style",_** as displayed in the video, then one finger will have to do twice the work and speed of the other, with one finger doing 66.66% of the work and speed, and the other only doing 33.33%.* *Don't get me wrong... Who am I to argue with the greatness that is Steve Harris? Back in the 80's, it was bands like Maiden, Priest, Sabbath, RUSH, etc..., that made me want to play guitar and bass in the first place... So..., I guess the best approach is to go ahead and woodshed on the original techniques used by these truly great original artists..., but to also use their amazing music to work on other techniques as well. A great example of this is to not only play using fingerstyle, but to also be able to play with a pick. I remember an interview once with John Paul Jones, and he mentioned that while fingerstyle was generally his preference when playing bass, if either he or the producer felt that that the dynamics and timbre of a pick suited a composition better, then he would use a pick. He then mentioned the Zeppelin tune **_D'yer Mak'er_** as a good example of that.*

Always great lessons and advice

As a teen metal head my bassists favourite bassist was Steve Harris and we would run through Maiden song after Maiden song. Now that I play bass instead of drums, my respect for my former bassist has grown immensely. Not that it was lacking before, he was incredible!

ABBA Voules-Vous or Gimme, gimme, gimme are also great to practice fingers. The second one is almost identical to the Jamiroquai piece you present.

Great selections to improve or refine fingerstyle technique, whether you're starting out or dusting off the cobwebs and jumping back in. "C'mon Girl" is a good one I'll incorporate into my warmup routine. Another song I think is good to help fix, improve, or refine fingerstyle technique, increase speed/dexterity is "Root" by The Deftones. (RIP Chi Cheng). I felt so accomplished as a teen starting out when I could finally play it without slipping. 30 years later, and I still use it as part of my warmup routine. That song is a big reason my technique got cleaner and less sloppy.

This is so helpful - thank you!

"With great power comes great responsibility" - CB is leaps and bounds beyond MANY professionals and the fact that he teaches proves he has more to him than his talent. I could never say enough about him. Simply incredible!

PLEASE show more of what and how you are doing w your left hand; like barring vs fretting individual, using one finger shifting to 2 strings on same fret vs two fingers one on each string, etc. Apparently all utub bass teachers seem to think we know this, but we dont!

just what i needed in my next steps of learning bass, thanks BassCamp!

More and more impressed by Yr work over the years 🏆 Keep 'em comin' 🍀

Thank you! You gave me more confidence and self esteem!

That section around the 2 minute mark made me think of Are Friends Electric.

I like that you seem less full of yourself now. Great video.

Thanks for the video Charles. I try using the three finger picking style but all of your points still apply, the odd timing is just a bit more challenging.

Love Iron Maiden! Let's goooo!

Perfect exercise. Thanks Charles

Finally on my feed 4 days later. Even tho I pretty much only watch bass content... W/e 🤷🏾‍♂️

Great examples dude. I'd just add one more, for an expert higher level, it's a line a play at least once a week, which is Kuru Speak Like a Child by the great John Francis Anthony Pastorius the 3rd. Cheers n peace!

Next level: "Come on come over" by Jaco Pastorius! Also: many bass lines by Joe Dart of Vulfpeck and Francis Rocco Prestia from Tower of Power (What is Hip, f.i.).

I’m so keen to learn these!

Thanks Charles -- bucking up and sticking to alternating fingers (no raking) really is helping me nail down a sixteenth-heavy song that I've been working on. Cheers!

Yep, Come On Girl is overlooked as demonstrating some pretty impressive right hand technique from Flea. (There's another tune where he showcases quick fingering in the right hand but the title escapes me. Anyone?)

Thanks for the video

Another Flea bassline that's similar to Cmon Girl is the chorus of Right On Time

Thank you, Sir ❤❤❤❤

This is a game changer of a post, thank you very much.

Playing Run to the Hills sitting down makes my hand fatigue since the wrist is bent. Standing up…lots better! Have fun while playing that followed by Caught Somewhere in Time….brutal!!!!🥵

Great seing Charles doing lessons, the man's a bass beast 👍

Great tips. Thanks.

My top 4 fingerstyle workout basslines : - Vulfpeck - Dean Town - Weather Report - river people - ToP - what is hip ? - Muse - Hysteria If you can play these 4 tracks clean, at tempo, in a row, you can say your fingerstyle game is on point and you got serious stamina my friend (to this day, I can’t). Thx for the Steve Harris lead, as a funk/ soul bassist I never really listened to big rock basslines, I should give it a try

That’s a hella good workout thank you 🙏

Awesome! Thank you 👌

Thanks for video ❤👍

I love this video, dude!

Great Steve Harris! I wait so for this on your Channel! Thank u!

thanks Charles!

As for me the biggest stamina effort was always IM - Losfer Words (Big 'Orra). One thing is that the tempo is insane, another is that bass plays all the time, no pauses almost, also it get a "solo" so to say at the and. Everything is so crazy in this instrumental piece...

Great video, just as always! I just want to point out that the tabs for "Run To The Hills" are often off from what you are playing. It's not a big deal and I'm not sure if it's important to fix it, the video is amazing regardless, I just thought it might be helpful to tell you. Anyways, I love your content, you're one of my favourite musicians and also one of my main role models who inspired me to play bass.

The trooper from iron maiden is one I keep coming back to personally to get my technique back, it's been years since I touched my instrument but I'm getting back in the saddle and my god picking that song back up is painful hahaha

Disciplined use of alternating fingers isn't just for 16th note runs -- It's a good idea to do it all the time, and only rarely deviate. One reason is that it will vastly improve your ability to stay on tempo, since the first finger is always the downbeat and the second is always up. This will also bring structure structure to your sound. There is a slight difference in tone between a sting -pluked with the first finger and the second, and this difference is dramatically amplified when all the downbeats sound one way, and all the upbeats sound another. It's part of why repetition is so important in music.

Canned heat, is such a great bassline. I played it everyday, along with some other jamiroquai basslines. And I noticed that after abit, I was able to play the bassline without my hand cramping up alot like it used too, and now I've noticed that I've gotten faster at playing other songs. I think it's Definitely helped alot!

Thanks for the great exercices, I'm stuggling a bit on canned heat to jump back on the lower string after the double octaves but it's fun and I'll eventually get there. Run to the hills is still too fast for me at the moment, I'd recommend Knights of sidonia by Muse to have kind of the same exercice but simpler and slower, I believe it's played with a pick but fingerstyle works too. Love your videos, keep on the great work!

awesóme video, love all songs.. i play rtth's gallopping with three fingers always starting with ringfinger and the fast quadrupel part i play even with four fingers, which took me long to practise, but it sounds better than ripping through with two.. i also never start with the indexfinger, i play my fingers right to left..

Yeah; I'd like to see Victor W play Run To The Hills!

I’ve got one for you: the inimitable John Paul Jones, and his bassline for “Reptiles”, by Them Crooked Vultures. Excellent finger work on that song!

Violent and funky by infectious grooves.

Thank you a lot. Raking is so good until you want to really grow speed. I'm working on my alternate fingering, and the Peppers's line is easy in itself, but the trick is beating years of raking to change strings. Eternally grateful.

Two lines that dramatically improved my fingerstyle technique were - Soul with a capital S (Tower of Power) - Power (Helloween) Maintaining consistency after 5 minutes playing 16th notes swapping strings non-stop is not as easy as it may seem. Great video👍🏻👍🏻

Paint it Black, stones; but all octave eighths. Jack Bruce's counter-lead on Cream Crossroads, great for syncopation, too..

I was raised playing Steve Harris basslines, and I reached adulthood with really fast fingers and really good endurance. But I didn't understand that the bass is basically a rhythm instrument, and as far as basic things like sliding, it took forEVER for it to fit into my bag of tricks. It took forever for me to have a bag of tricks at all. But yeah, for people learning the bass in the other order, Harris is great for building up your speed/stamina.

galopping style is more easier to play with a 3-finger technic in direction 1-3-2 (index-ring-middlefinger) fast songs like run to the hills or the trooper from maiden are easy to play with this technic. direction can also be changed to 1-3-2-1-2-3 e.g. a little practice everyday and it works

Great! 💯👍

VIDEO REQUEST: a video about sheet music reading and why bassist needs them

I always played maiden gallops with with three fingers, haha.

The beginning 4 bars of Come On Girl sound like part of Riding on Giants to me...

Love your music and thanks for these informative technique videos! For the "Gallup" technique, why not use 3 fingers? What advantage or disadvantage would there be?

I play RTH gallop with three fingers😎and it works perfect.cheers Up the Irons😎

Thanks Charles. I am working on the Chilli Peppers song right now. Listening to your intro enabled me to see a flaw in my finger picking. My fingers trip over each other at times and I never realized why. It is swearingly frustrating to arrest and redirect the anarchy of said fingers and this is eye and ear opening. l love your playing and am going to do some of your other vids. Cheers. PS. Definitely cutting back on raking. Unless OK.