Bro, you are amazing, i have bills to pay, have no time, could barely afford a bass, giving this kinds of lessons free for everyone has helped me improve so much, thank you for giving away your years of knowledge for free
I always enjoy your videos. When you were talking about hitting the root notes at the beginning instead of a 3rd, I really appreciated your comment about changing the energy of the song "if you don't know what you're doing". That's what I love about the bass, tremendous power to change the feel of a song. During a performance, I won't mess around much. During rehearsal, I experiment all the time, seeing what feels good, what works and what doesn't. Loads of fun!
If you know a song and there's an iconic bass riff, line or rhythm you're familiar with then you'll want to hit that or at least give it more than a passing nod. Beyond that, I wouldn't at all worry myself about recreating an original bass line, certainly not at a jam session. The only time I'd give an originally recorded bass part my undivided attention would be if I was playing in a band that wanted to do a supremely accurate cover. Even then, it's very uncommon for an original artist to play a part the same way at every show.
So obviously Charles is WAY the hell better than I (or nearly anyone else) is on this stuff, but I'm a bit surprised he didn't mention what I've always found the "cruise control for cool" on bass. When you finally DO see those 7ths or 6-9s or whatever show up that always feels like free advice for how to use passing tones there. Like to the point I generally think of something like a "Cmaj7->C" change as explicit instructions for the Bass to walk from B to C on the turn right? By the same argument, what do you do when you see a C6 go into a Bb or a Cdim go into an F? With "good enough chords" I've always argued that charts are more than descriptive enough for most bassists to land on something very close to the same thing while It's those super sparse 'I-IV-V type charts that anyone can play' that separate the Jamerson's from the scrubs.
I do bass guitar at church and I had already sung bass for hymns and the like for years. Most of the time I can do something similar on bass and it normally sounds great.
improv is ALL I can do. and I need to break out of my shell and do new stuffs! working on the "quiet" double thumb lesson Victor Wooten does where he says "Don't worry about volume yet" was groundbreaking for me. I had started with Wax and Wane by The Omnific
Great video ! This is about all I know about playing the bass, so I know 10 min of bass. Btw an easy thing to add is transition notes e.g. you can play a semi-tone under/above the fondamental you go to, know what I mean ? Then a question about that 7th when major chord. It's not necessarily a Maj7, but a 7 could work as well, how to choose, just try ?
Went to get the free cheat sheet. It requires billing information even though it is free. I can understand the email address being mandatory but billing information?
I am like number 1000. Please Charles, have a look on my latest video. Would love you can give me your input on my right hand. I wanna know if the way I hit the strings fits the voice I want to achieve for this tune. No effects, ambient mic, period. Thank you!
Fantastic vid! Though I’m a classically trained percussionist, I’ve always noodled around on bass. And in just the last couple of years I’ve really gained a lot of facility. This vid was very helpful in confirming my approach, but also given me a lot on which I can chew!
I appreciate all your bass camp videos..trying to get music theory knowledge lol...been playing 15 years just never did the music theory thing so I'm trying like hell now to grasp it 😂
wouldn't you still often use flat 8ths even in major chords? feel like thats what they always do in rock and pop. like Beatles. at least it's rare that I see maj7 chords in popular music
3:25 although in certain circumstances you can use the note above the root on the same fret as the 5th because it's an octave of the 5th it is NOT a 5th interval. That is a 4th interval. Interval inversion. You are a better bass player than I'll ever be. I'm a guitarist and you are still probably a better guitarist than I'll ever be. 😅 Moreover, I know that at this level that musicians are at for the most part watching this video it isn't gonna make a big difference for them to know this difference. However, it's still important to give accurate info. Great video I definitely had a few takeaways that helped me as well. I'm a big fan just wanted to give feedback!
