I agree. I know a reasonable amount of music theory from my piano playing days but I'm completely new to fretted instruments. I've been taking note of the shapes different chords and progressions seem to make so it's good to know experienced players do this!!
OMG brilliant I have ran from being a learned muscian because all the thinking makes my head hurt trying to learn scales, arpeggios. You are a genius and master teacher. I play with shapes all the time but to connect them to explaining scales????????? I love you mann. Big thanx.
ur a genius scott... im a keyboard player but i play bass and this lesson of shapes is my little secret that most people dont know.... its all about the shapes and keep grooving :)))
I've been playing bass guitar for a little over a year. I've been playing by ear. Since I started watching your videos a month ago, I have tripled my playing abilities! I love you for that!!! Thank you so much!
This is fantastic. I started playing bass at 15 nearly 30 years ago and struggled with learning scales etc.. a friend's dad who was in a local band told me "just play the boxes and let one lead to the next, you'll always have the root, 3rd and 5th". Was the best advice I ever had and this video sums it up perfectly.
After learning these simple shapes, my bass playing has improved. Most importantly is my bass no longer hates me anymore.Thanks Scott for reuniting us. :)
I never really liked playing or learning scales, but rather teached myself patterns like in this video. People always say it is important to learn scales but i think learning patterns is much more practical.
Still 2 weeks to go before I get my Bass (Squire Jazz Bass) delivered, but man... I am rearing to go!!! What a GREAT tutorial, Scott! Thank you! *said the almost 61-year old.... 😀
This lesson to me by far, is the most helpful one I've ever seen by anyone, anywhere.. If you know a little bit, (like me) you will be able to play just about anything after you see this..Memorizing notes, was killing me.. and frustrating the heck out of me.. My brain wasn't working fast enough while I was trying to play to remember all the notes.. But using shapes and transferring them up and down the neck made all the difference to me...
You are the absolute best, Scott. As a guitar player turned bass enthusiast, I've been using these "boxes" and other shapes for years, but the way you present the concept, I just enjoy the reinforcement. Fan for life. Thank you.
I have played for over 40 years and after watching this video it hit me that without really thinking or being aware of it I have learned and played mostly using the visualizing shape method! Some of the songs moved so rapidly I would always crumble trying to read and play millisecond occurring notes so I would visualize shape and path on the fretboard to accomplish playing complex music! It really works!
Truly one of the very best lesson that I have ever taken or seen. First you showed me the three shapes. Giving examples of how one could use them. And you explain what we have been using is a Pentatonic scale. Now that is a lesson my friend. And something that you can be assure that I will using on a regular basis. Thank you Scott. Much appreciated my bass brother.
As a guitarist who recently started playing bass in a band, I was much like the guy you were teaching. I have been approaching the bass as modes/arpeggios and ending up with a jumble of notes that were too much. This is one of the most informative lessons I have ever had. Thanks
Thanks Scott! I've been working with shapes for ever ,never realized I was . I have my scales and cords I go to right away when improvising ,never did I realize I was making shapes a hole new way of looking at things .Thank you Scott
This stuff is fantastic. For years, I've felt like I've plateaued as a bass player and now I'm going through a phase of not so much money so plenty of spare time and I'm planning to use your wisdom to improve. Baby steps, every day, for a long period of time. Here's hoping it gets me somewhere and whether it does or not, I won't ever forget to thank you for teaching me!
Scott, I want to thank you so much for all of your videos. I've been playing bass for a few years now and am almost entirely self-taught because I've never liked how people want to teach, it was never helpful to me. Your videos, however, have been one of the main inspirations and teaching tools that I've found. They taught me all the little gritty things in techniques that really take the playing from playing notes to playing _bass._ Even if I don't entirely do what some of these videos suggest, they have always given me the inspiration to practice new/unique things that I don't "need", listen to nuggets of wisdom, and always practice things to make my bass playing better and better. I want to sincerely thank you for all of these, because without them I don't know if I'd've ever gotten the exposure to the higher level of things that you give, much less a _guide_ on how to do them. You have a really cool personality, too. Thanks.
So clear lesson, showing something from a different point of view can make us understand something we're stuck in for awhile. Definitely expend that kind of lesson
Scott, thank you so much for posting this vid. You are a natural teacher and as a musician but absolute beginner on the bass I found the idea of chord shapes very useful. Please keep up the good work. Baz
Great lesson! The crazy thing about this is that I've been playing guitar for probably 30 years now, and this is the way I learned to visualized things while soloing or improvising over progressions. Over the years I've played with professionally trained guitarists who can read sheet music and play classical music and such, yet they could hardly improvise and when asked how I come up with solos I was always ashamed to explain that I use shapes and patterns and that I didn't always think about the notes or theory. I feel justified in seeing such a great musician as you using the same technique. Thanks for the Videos!
Hi Scott I am a new bass player and I think your lessons are great. I play mostly blues shuffle so far but after seeing this lesson on simple shapes to create bass lines it is opening up some new doors for other music. I'm really looking forward to leraning more from your RU-vid lesson. Happy Grooving Garry
Amazing! Insight into the mind of an expert is so valuable! Let's not assume that others think the same way we do. This was the motor of your great lesson!!!
Just bought the Jazz set from your site and now realise i need to learn a lot more before attempting the lessons. You have got me hooked, brilliant lessons and easy to follow.
scotty devine,you are the man..as a 59 year old novice on the bass, i have learned more from you in a couple of your lessons that all of the others put together.scotty you are defined by your distinct individualism.so scotty keep up the great work.pay no attention to you know who.he could not teach a dog how to piss.
Great exercise. I have experienced that by restricting to a couple of notes tends to give better results than trying to fit a full fingerboard filled with notes in a single line or bar.
as a guitarist for the last 20 years I guess I already new this lesson BUT haven't really thought about it while playing... This is very helpful as I JUST started playing bass in our band after losing a bass player.. I have to say playing bass is very different than guitar and guitar habits are hard to break....I'll be watching ALOT more of you videos Scott! Thanks !!
wow, Scott! I thought I was strange for using the "boxes" when I was teaching myself how to play in the 80's. I've never learned my scales, the names of the scales, or even how to really read music! I had no idea that with the boxes I used, I was actually playing pentatonic scales! I'm so thankful for this video, and all of your videos, brother! Keep up the great work, sir!
Scott I have seen a hell of a lot of lessons online since beginning learning the bass but without a shadow of a doubt that was the best. I hope you do expand on what you talked about here because I feel for the first time it may enable me to create my own free flowing bass lines. Thankyou so much.
I'm a veteran sax and keyboard player. But, guitar is my first love. These lessons have inspired me to pick up the bass. Thanks for sharing your knowledge!
Great lesson Scott. I have been playing for 25 years in various bands and never really had the confidence or the get up and go to learn how to solo. This is the best learning tool ever as I have found it so easy to visualize the shapes of sounds instead of trying to understand the whole theory and notes behind every chord. Keep up the good work.!!!
amazing guy! I have been playing for over 20 years and I have been learning so much form Scott! cant say how wonderful these lessons are. Thank you for all you do my good sir!
Even though I had heard this concept before, the way you explained it changed my playing over night! I immediately pulled up a backing track and started jamming. I look at the bass in a whole new way.
relatively new player here, this lesson make a ton of sense to me. already a competent keyboard player and am learning bass. thanks very much for sharing your expertise.
