John Paul Jones Lesson (Part 1) 

"If you don't have a reason for playing a note, then don't play it". FUCKING BRILLIANT!

Only this guy could make an unplugged bass sound that amazing, in 240p to boot.

JPJ is, without a doubt, Led Zeppelin's secret weapon.....!

John Paul Jones is so freaking awesome that we Catholics named TWO Popes after him!

What an intelligent Renaissance man. I could sit through a 40 hour interview with this guy. He’s always calm, composed, humble and no malarkey at any time.

CAN EVERYONE JUST APPRECIATE HOW COOL IT IS THAT HE DID THIS

I'm totally with you. John Paul Jones was an integral part of Zep. Absolutely NOBODY would have been right for the band. He did a lot more writing and arranging than he gets credit for. His bass parts are unbelievably cool, not to mention his skills on the mandolin and keyboards, and of course his ability to arrange for strings, etc. The proof of the pudding is that when Page/Plant tried to do it without him, it really was not the same. The guy is a true musician of the highest caliber.

When JPJ admitted that part of "Ramble On" was hard that totally made my day.

I love what he says about NOT playing. Pauses. Leaving gaps and silence. So important in funk, and reggae, but also rock n roll. It gives groove, adds dance-ability. Genius! He's very funny too. :)

I love how he starts playing Ramble On when he's talking about What Is And What Should Never Be

How can you not love this guy. A true legend and so humble and genuine.

3:27 well now I know why 'Whole Lotta Love" sounds so powerful.

I hope this never gets taken off the Internet. This video is gold.

John Paul Jones is such a cool talented bassist and piano player of Led Zeppelin, he is the most underrated of the whole band. A lot of respect to him. from a bass player to another, cheers John! :D

Super bass player and arranger. Humble and witty. Kept away from the BS of being a rock star and kept pursuing his musical vision. An inspiration to any musician.

Incredible, he is so cool for such a legendary rock star. Such a humble guy. Amazing Musician.

This Man is one of the BEST musicians in the 20th Century .. (maybe of all times) because he is so Multi talented and gives much Led Zep Songs the "point on the i" together with John Henry Bonham they are the DEFINITIVE BEST Rhythm group In Rock History !! His Keyboards in "No Quarter" are PURE GENIUS . Genius !

JPJ admitting that part of ramble on was hard made my day.

My all time favorite bassist... I wish we had RU-vid back when I was a kid.

the best bass player that is still living!

I almost cried! That was my idol! John Paul Jones! Led Zeppelin!!

15:08 "Some fills can be silent" - great name for a book

The baddest ass bass player. The Lemon song showcases my point exactly. Led Zep's THUNDER and BOTTOM...and on keyboards,piano, mandolin,etc., etc.!!!!!! "In the light" from physical graffiti has the trippiest keyboards ever!!!!! Badass to the 'nth degree and then some!

Best musician in the band as far as I'm concerned.

A Great Great Musician , Pagey Wanted him in His Band , because of his experience and Genius . John Paul Jones .

New bass player here and huge Zep fan. I just have to give a shout out to him. I've played guitar for 30 years and just recently stepped in because our cover band didn't have a bassist. Holy shit! I never realized not only how good JPJ was/is but how integral he was to all the songs! Mass kudos John Paul! LOve you and you made me love Zep even more.

Time for some current Love for John Paul Jones. It’s June 2019... and he’s still... and always will be... a Badass! Thanks for everything, Sir!!! This should never be taken down. It contains golden nuggets that don’t require high quality video... or even an amplifier to shine brightly for the plucking. This is how a gentleman who has reached the highest pinnacle in the Music business... behaves when he owns his ego... and not the other way around. Many diverse things to be learned here. Love...

That man right there is an icon. Was as much a part of modern music as anyone. Definitely shaped the Led Zeppelin style and experience. Nice guy too 👍

John Paul Jones, John Entwistle and Geezer Butler are the guys responsible for modern bass playing.

This interview is remarkable, JPJ just lays years of experience, skill, and insight, all out there, in front any musician smart enough to grasp it. His contributions to making every single Zep song unique can't be overestimated.

listen to the punch of the jazz bass thats not plugged in.finding new ones that sound like this is very rare.what a killer sounding bass

THis was shot back in 1999, where your camera options weren't what you would call "state of the art" today.

My favorite member of my favorite band.

His bass lines are AMAZING!

John Paul Jones Rules! He's one of the greats; also he has an awesome technique.

The bass lick JPJ said was from 'What Is And What Should Never Be' @ 5:20, is actually from 'Ramble On'.

I'M A BEGINNING BASS PLAYER, AND TO LEARN FROM JOHN PAUL JONES ON RU-vid IS EXTRAORDINARY!!!!

"if you want to play like me you gotta keep it moving all the time" I'll give that a try, Mr Jones

John Paul Jones is one of my top favorite bass players of all time. The Lemon Song is probably the most complicated bass line (to me). It sounds simple until you dig into it and discover that he's all over the place on it and none of the phrases seem to repeat through the whole song. Can you do a basic 12 bar blues with it? Technically yes, but it wouldn't be the same. Thank you for sharing.

His bass playing on the song "The Song remains the same" and the song "Celebration day" is epic. There's one recording of Led Zep playing "Celebration day" live on RU-vid where whoever mixed it put Jimmys guitar on the right speaker and Bonham and JPJ on the left speaker and if you shut off the right speaker all you hear are the drums and bass, and holy shit, he is just utterly kicking it on bass.

JP Jones was THE MAN for me! In particular, the second Zep album! Back in those early days I studied the bass on that album like it was gospel, which for me, it was. One of my all-time favorites - so melodic and inventive, and yet still rock solid and TCB. Unfortunately, those fresh strings don't fit his mellower melodic style well, IMO. But still such a treat to hear the legend reflect on a lifetime of amazing craft and artistry! Thanks for all Mr. J!!!

The often forgotten genious of the band!

I loved playing JPJ bass lines in the 60's and 70's, his fills were super fast, and he did change them up. Lee Dorman did the same in Iron Butterfly. When a guitarist like Page is playing something fast it's great, and when the bass player is playing exactly the same thing note for note, that is amazing! Jones is the last remaining great bass player of that era. Lee Dorman 9/15/42 to 12/21/12 Jack Bruce 5/14/43 to 10/25/14 Chris Squire 3/4/48 to 6/27/15 Jaco Pastorius 12/1/51 to 9/21/87 I became friends with Jaco a few months before he was brutally murdered. He used to call me, "Victor the greatest Bass player in the World". Of course I wasn't, but coming from 'the Greatest Bass player in the World', it shows what a great person he was. I called Jaco "Spider Fingers", because he had tiny palms and long skinny fingers. He could stretch his fingers 2 frets wider than I could. He used to pull on my fingers to try to stretch them, so I could play his chords. It didn't work. lol

Great video! I was totally enthralled... John Paul Jones is the best all-around musician/composer/engineer... and a heck of a nice guy!

John Paul Jones makes the most interesting comments and gives excellent interviews when he is away from the other members of Led Zeppelin.

John Paul Jones, a great musician and amazing multi instrumental player. I started play bass listening your performance with L.Z. Thank you Master👍👍🤘🎸

Great sound, great technique... and superior note choice!! Most talented member of Zep. without a doubt!!!!

JPJ is one of the best ever! John Bonham and John Paul Jones were/are the backbone of ZEP. Still my favorite band ever. ZEP , together could do it all, musically

Such an important part of the band! Now if only Jimmy could make something like this for us guitarists. I don't even play bass and this is fun to watch!

Would've been incredible for Jack Bruce & JPJ to have jammed together!

I love this guy....He never took the virtuoso stance...always the simple side of the color and creativity. thanks for posting this amzing treat.

JPJ such a cool guy and so down to earth, I saw him play a mandolin the other ( a video) and he's so knowledgeable about all the instruments he plays.

5:17 I think he means to say.. Ramble On. Thats my favorite Zed Bass line.

Everybody love JPJones!! We love you dude!! Thank you for your amazing work!!You are tha'glue of Zep You held it all together...It woulda never been it without you Dont ever forget that!!😊🎧🎼🎶🎵🎶🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🇺🇸

an amazing.one of the best bassist's and keyboardist's ever.the unsung member of led zeppelin!a real musician's musician!

he sounds awesome even when his bass is unplugged

5:02 John your playing Ramble On , mate haha , it's ok call it what you want to , cause your the man !

JPJ, is a great all around musician and is great with arrangements. at 5:20 he mentions "what is and what should never be", but plays Ramble On.

Funny how most are so worried about "fret buzz":) John "wants" the fret buzz:)

Not only was the band very adept musicians, what non-musician types don't realize, is that all of the little nuances he's talking about here is what made Zep the best band ever!

Thanks so much for this!!! Priceless and timeless advice from one seriously cool guy....

It was'nt until I changed over to bass after drumming for 20 plus yrs did realize who really was the driving force in Zep, After focusing my attention on Bonham for 20 yrs it was like hearing them again for the first time when I began my journey on bass,It made me see them in a whole new light and appreciate them so much more,MAN what a supergroup they were,bands like that DONT EVER come around anymore,and if by chance it does again happen they fastly lose what got them there to begin with.

As bass player of ~35 years that's some of the best advice I have ever heard.

Best guy in the business alongside geddy lee.

The greatest bass player of all time; a true musician. every note he plays on bass is right on the money.

Such a beautiful and humble man...

This man is wonderful .... Legacy Bassist

WORD. He made Bonzo rock. People danced to Zep because of JPJ. I love the grooves he plays at the end of Gallows Pole. That white boys got soul....

I love John Paul Jones and am grateful to have been around to listen to one of the three greatest bands and two greatest bass players of all time, IMO.

@10:50-11:49 - Greatest advice ever. Spoken by a true bassist.

Some people judge pick bassists and finger bassists to be completely different, Proper bassists like JPJ will just say that it's about the style of music you've been asked to play or in his case to make better. As a drummer, this guy is my dream bassist to jam with, his understanding of music is just unparalleled. Amazing!

John Paul could make a peace of string sound unbelievable.

Triple tracked recorders/Motown-esque fingerstyle bass licks/reggae piano chops/analog brass classical solos/mandolin leads……the list goes on and on and on…John Paul Jones is not of this earth. I love that man 🎼

One of the most talented musicians of all time

was like discovering some lost treasure, please dont ever take it down. He's just incredible and much loved off to watch part 2 now

What a great musician! The best!

The Silent Assassin gets his due!!!

Rock music is thankful for this great player!

He’s so humble and friendly.

A very nice all round musician, the fact he likes to take risk and chances has been his success. Love his organ work and of course everything else as well. But his keyboard work adds to a bands dynamics second to none.

Easily the GREATEST ONLINE LESSON EVER

now with this 240p quality i can replicate JPJ's tone

Great interview. Thoughtful and intelligent questions received thoughtful and intelligent answers.

This is why ,for working musicians , a drummer with good time ,is the most important member of a great band . There's no "pocket " without one ,no matter how good the players are ! Bonham and Jones were a match made in Heaven !!!

What sage wisdom from such a bass sage!

The simple but not easy genius of that man.

Them Crooked Vultures should do another album!! It was so f...n awesome!

Such an amazing human being!!!

The man, the myth, the legend...

1 hell of a musician!

Awesome quality bro

@buryfc2010: Don't know if this was repeated here yet and I was surprised JPJ didn't think offer it but waaaay the hell back in '70 or so, I read an interview with JPJ in which he advised 'Don't try to make good music on a bad instrument - nuthin' will frustrate a beginner more than to try learning on junk'. It was one of the best pieces of advice I'd ever heard. Once I got rid of my new 'Sears' guitar and got a good used Fender...all the difference.Thanx for that (and Zep!) JPJ. A good bloke !

Thank you John Paul Jones!!!!!!! You are a great inspiration to me. Your playing is Strong, Tasty, and melodic! More, More, More. How about full length discussions on technique, theory, stories, any information you are willing to offer will be consumed with great appreciation!!!!! In fact i will be happy to produce it! Rock-On!

definately one of the greats. superb bass lines in those zep songs

Dang JPJ! Yr givin' away all our secrets! ;-] thank you for everything --Al the Bass Player, Austin, Texas

Rightly so. Regardless of the film quality it contains Greatness. Thanks for sharing.

That was awesome how he tricked out the Heartbreaker riff!!

We need a HD remaster of this historic video! Or a new interview with properly recorded sound. JPJ is still going strong.

John Paul Jones is a music genius 👏

Favorite bassist of all time.