Your "shapes" thing is really how I've understood the bass forever. I kinda figured that out on my own when I was a kid. I'm a visual player too and you have validated my own thinking on the subject. Thanks man! It takes the mystery out of knowing scales and notes etc. Like you said, "when in the heat of battle"... Great stuff.
Your a legend mate..I dont even play bass ...but I find myself watching your vids in there entirety. ..think I'm going to get myself a bass and start putting all this knowledge I'm absorbing to good use
Scott, this is the best lesson you have ever done! Taking something as complicated as high math(s), i.e. music theory (minor organ chord!) and making it this accessible, you deserve a Nobel prize for Advancing Humanity or something. Outstanding job, simply brilliant - thank you!
might as well pick it up while you're here. You can always just buy a cheap on to start off with and since you've been watching you'll be starting from a pretty good place
Thanks Scott!!! Finally, I have found someone who teaches to clarity! Man, those sexy notes are BADDDDD!!!! I thought I was out in left field...but, you proved me right!!! I started messing around on the jazz bass playing by ear and gradually begin to learn some notes and riffs. I felt a little lost but, after viewing your lessons I am on my way!!! Thanks brother!!! "The Gman"
Scott i can't thank you enough. You're giving a great present for a large number of people. This lesson improved my playing a lot! it was like magic, really.
Scott, you are a great teacher man. This opened my eyes instead of thinking in scales all the time. You tricked me man. This video and about 2 hours of jamming got me out of my rut, and my comfort zone. You've earned a student. Thanks much, cheers.
true although i think it's arguably closer to the super blues scale which is a combination of blues scale, dorian and mixolydian although there is no Major third present here, you are right too though it could be seen as a dorian with a flat 5 aka blue note or as the man says a sex note!
I love the way you make this fun and easy and gradually sneak in those blue flatted 5th and 9th notes using the minor scale and minor pentatonic. To the novice bass player it just sounds right and they will have fun with it. As you said later on you can explain the theory behind all that. Thats genius!!
Wow. Wow. Wow. Nothing mechanical. Nothing stiff. Brain can see this. Such great great teaching. You are the man Scott! Finally a lesson that gives u the freedom to make your own jam yet still following instructions. ..
I've played in a technical-experimental-progressive-groove-metal band with every conceivable form of insane, blazing technique, sweeps, taps, slaps and runs and damn... do I envy this guy's skill!. Your solidity is FLAWLESS. Good job sir, very good job.
Glove or no glove, this man plays a mean bass, and is a clever tutor. He teaches you the scales from a different direction. Sometimes the glove gives a much smoother, buffed sound depending on your guitar / amp set up. Keep up the good work Scott.
well, im hooked. i just got a gig playing bass with some true music magicians, and i needed some fresh you tube lessons. scott you are the man. another instant subscription!
I've been playing bass for over 12 years now and i suck! Been thinking about quitting just to end years of frustration. This video sheds new light! Makes me want to play! Thank you
To be fair you could literally play absolutely every note over every chords progression in some context. Scales are just there to tell you the ones you can rest at. But in the end you could fill the whole fretboard with sexy notes starting with the pentatonic adding the blues note, the 9th, the sharp 3rd, the 13th, the 6th, the sharp 7th, the flat 9th. Only the flat 7th is kinda ahh...
Probably one of the best tutorials on anything I have seen on you tube. Well done and made so simple anyone of any level would appreciate it. I've been playing for over 30 years and I never thought of it this way. Well done.
Great lesson , Scott. Still, I think that you forget to name the key ingredient in bass playing, which is not the notes that you use, or scale etc. It is all about how you use the notes, which is the groove. Which you demonstrate with your playing. Still i don´t think that everybody realize that there is in that were the magic is. - I am not a bass player, I am a guitar player. But I write basslines for my songs, therefore I have really studied basslines. - Correct if I am wrong, If you did mentioned this in your lesson.
True, but I think it's hard to teach 'good' judgement, kind of have to leave it to the pupil to come to their own conclusions, instead of telling them that they CANT overuse these 9ths/flat 5ths. Closest I've ever come to understanding groove is a tension and release of tension between the on and off-beats. But even this isn't enough to explain what has groove and what doesn't, and to be honest I'd rather not understand it completely, I like to just enjoy it
de_dongle I don´t really understand it my self. I just feel it. And that is how I apply it in my songs. The best way to describe groove to someone that doesn´t really understand it is to say that it is the element in the music that make you want to dance or move, it is often the relationship between the drums and the bass, and sometimes other instruments as well.
Stefán Atli Jakobsson to teach groove, make the students listen to songs like Billie Jean (Michael Jackson), Another One Bites The Dust (Queen), Good Times (Chic).
Love your videos. Played guitar since I was 21, picked up a bass last year at 58 and I’m learn so much about music from your lessons than I have in 30+ years. Thank you.
If you get the chance, check out some jazz, fusion, or jazzy pop charts (Michael Jackson comes to mind). Extensions beyond the seventh work wonderfully on Major-7 and Minor-7 chords. Check it out: Go to a keyboard and start stacking perfect fifths, starting with a G in the bass. G-D-A-E-B-F#-C# When you get to the seventh note, you will have formed a GMaj13(#11) chord, and it will sound gorgeous! Now, rearrange it in order to separate the lower structure activators and the upper structure triads. G-D-B-F# C#-A-E Rearrange again, but create a Dorian Emin13 sound: E-B-G-D A-F#-C#
Nonresponder that means you are a beginner. Concentrate on getting your fingers working properly and use your ears. If you still don't know what I'm on about after 35 years, send me another message.
So far as I have seen....these vids by Scott are by far the best and most useful bass lessons on youtube. Great stuff. This makes sounding great look so easy. Thanks.
Scott, I have no words to decreibe how thankful I am for seeing you preseting bass "things" in this manner! It is so relaxing and motivating. Mate it is awesome. Regards from Serbia
He has a disease called Focal Dystonia. The disease is a neurological condition that affects a muscle or group of muscles in a part of the body and causes involuntary muscular contractions or twisting due to misfiring neurons in the brain. - From his website.
rain train Nice! I've been playing for about 18 years never wore a glove but it would answer that sweaty hand problem. "slick fingers" not cool sometimes lol.
I am Blind! Lost my drums in a fire so I bought a base! I know nothing about one until two weeks ago! Found your channel to try to learn! The way you describe it is very helpful to me! Thank you so much
I've just come across your channel, Scott. The way you explain and break it down is really excellent. Patient, controlled, clear phrasing (probably like your personality) plus the use of the white board. It augurs well for anybody interested in bass playing. People at different levels get different things out of it but your interest and your teaching shines through. Respect!
You are, hands down, the best instructor I have ever come across and have improved my bass playing tremendouslly. I cannot thank you enough for what I have learned from your online lessons. The only instructor I have across that even approaches your abilities is Victor Wooten.
This is probably the best lesson I've ever seen that explains the theory and how to put it into practice. Hearing the notes and knowing what they're going to sound like is probably one of the most important skills to have. I struggled for a long time being able to hear something in my head, be able to whistle it but not be able to play it...until I started experimenting and figuring out a few of these things on my own. Awesome lesson, thanks Scott!
Scott's lessons are awesome. Loved how he worked modal playing and blue dim 5 into a lesson basically on minor pent. A master at presenting things. BUT, what wasn't presented here is a sense of time and phrasing. He does it elsewhere, but don't forget those. Scott's simple "box" pent riff's sound great because the notes are "placed" so well in that groove.
100% legend, never watched any of your stuff before mate, but it's a joy to see something like bass being properly taught through the medium of RU-vid, keep it up :)
Gotta say Scott, you're a brilliant teacher. Engaging, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. Love watching your face as you play, can see that you're immersed in the sound. Thank you so much for taking the time to do all this quality tutoring and provide it free. Very grateful, and very humbled. Peace.
Your enthusiasm and joy of playing is contagious, and you have a great sense of making a complex concept approachable -- an ability to put yourself in the learner's position without making it feel dumbed down. In short, you're a superb teacher!
Scott you're an excellent instructor and put together a super lesson. Thanks for taking the time to show a concept in a simple way. A great teacher knows how to take the fear out of learning. . . you're that teacher!
I've been playing bass a long time, but thinking about bass lines in shapes and patterns has really freed up my playing. I love your playing and your teaching style. Really amazing that you make all of this available for free! Thanks again!
Thank you so much for putting these videos out for free. I have a lot to learn about knowing what interval I am at in relation to the root im playing, and this video made it fun and I think easier to understand. A thousand thank yous my friend.
Scott, thank you for putting your free lessons on here, I am grateful for your generosity. You are a very talented player and teacher who has clearly enriched the lives of many people. That includes my own.
Hi Scott - I have played bass for many, many years and recently returning to guitar and writing songs. You have rekindled the fire in me to pick up and play more bass with your BRILLIANT LESSONS Thank you young man ! David
I don't really get it, why people dislike his video. This guy is just teaching others bass skills for free, I don't care he sucks or not, he deserves respect.
Duuuuude!! Hands down the best bass instructor on RU-vid by a loooooong shot!!! There are some good instructors on youtube, but Scott is a different being altogether!! I can't tell you how much this single video made everything make sense!! This video alone single handedly transformed my whole playing!! All of a sudden I can see so much more stuff that I can do. There is so much knowledge packed into this video that you don't even realize. I'm talking dorian, pentatonic, blues scale...whew!! This man is a God-send!
I am pretty advanced bassist and I have learned all my skills by ear and just plain ol practice. These videos are great, most lessons bore me and I just want to get into jamming already. These are perfect because they allow me to jam while learning new techniques. Thank you!!
After 4 years of bass playing and improvisations, I find out that indeed,all those things I had in mind (patterns and shapes on the fretboard) are actually the roots of something bigger and not just a "fooling around with the bass" kind of thing. You rock bro!!
I knew there was something in the shapes and patterns that I just wasn't seeing in my playing. I could hear it when others played, but not make it happen, "on the fly" like you mentioned. Now i have a visual concept to add to the playing. Just perfect, mate.
Man I play the guitar and your videos work more for me than seeing other guitar players. You always make me want to pick the guitar and jam along! :D Thanks!
Just found your channel, absolutely wicked man. Your approach to theory is the way I've tried to fit my 'by ear' bass playing over the years, but have never got much farther than a major or blues scale, this is Gold, thank you !
