I am a proud man.

I remember being about 17, at school, having just purchased Rage’s first album. This must have been about ‘93 time. I remember carving Anarchy symbols into the back of school desks, even though I had no idea what it really meant.

I remember arguing with the head of year and prefects about their tastes in music that dominated our six form social area stereo.

90’s dance music, with ugly bursts of Madonna and the like in-between.

I remember breaking that stereo.

Back then, we were the minority. The long-haired ones that would do nothing with their lives. The ones that would probably be in a band that would do nothing, or something. Probably nothing.

Well, they were right.

And they got stronger and stronger, and bigger and bigger, as the industry adjusted itself, Whilst our types and our types of music just got weaker and weaker…

But there was something that they always seemed to miss. And it’s the same thing that supporters of the programmes like the X-factor seem to miss as well.

There is more to music than gain.

And since those days, my friends have lived and breathed music. Played it everywhere we could. Played it in forests, woods, on beaches, on hills. Done thousands of gigs. Laughed, jammed and cried. We’ve lost soldiers, we’ve gained soldiers. Every part of our lives has been about it. Playing, inventing, sharing. There is no money here. There are no big lights. There is no backing track to sing along to. We are the backing track. Ever since those days of broken stereos, we have done this. And we will continue to do so. It’s dirty, noisy, emotional, and most important of all….it’s real.

And now, i’m thirty-something. I still have the same passion I had for it than when I was seventeen. I’ve seen the industry turn uglier than it ever was. I’ve seen it become a characature of itself. I’ve seen it spoonfeed the masses. I’ve seen it lie.

But yesterday, Rage against the machine were announced number one in the U.K for Christmas. Beating, the X-factor winner Joe cliche. All on the back of an internet campaign that one guy started. The internet, being used as a communication tool of those people that share the same as I have written above. All of us, coming together as one.

Look. At. What. We. Achieved.

To say that i’m proud is an understatement. I have a brand new daughter, and when she looks back at the Christmas number one when she was born, it’ll be “Killing in the name of”. The band her Daddy was so passionate about for all those years. The mindless sheep I saw yesterday buying Joe Cliches single at Sainsbury’s, whilst discussing what happened in Eastenders last night have, for once, been silenced.

Now, we have the choice to further this. To keep it real. These…are exciting times…

Excuse the noise, but we had just heard some great news…

I love playing Bass.

It’s always been the exciting instrument for me. For many people, it’s guitar, and that is the instrument that a lot of people head for, when picking one.

It’s been that way for years…

But these days, i’m noticing a lot of people heading towards the bass as their prefered instrument. It used to be the case that bands needed a bass player, so some poor soul would be lumbered with it, whilst secretely wishing he could play guitar. It used to be the un-cool choice. The “sit at the back and be a good boy” choice.

But it’s come so far, you know? The electric Bass is such a young instrument. In it’s infancy, it’s number one ability was to sit back, hold time and maintain the low. Now, it’s still like that, don’t get me wrong, but we’ve come to realise that there are many ways of achieving this…

Tapping is still a new technique being used on the bass, and we’re finding out new things, daily. In my interview with Jean Baudin, he says it’s his favourite technique, because there is still so much to be found. Very true. Slapping and popping is a pretty new technique as well, pinoeered by Larry Graham. We are playing melodies now as well, just like in my video here. Again, people are doing more and more different things with it. We are adding more strings, more effects. We are experimenting.

These are exciting times to be a Bass player.

So when that lead guitarist tells you you shouldn’t be playing slap and pop, because it takes the shine off his solo, tell him it’s evolution. And when the old-school dinosaurs tell you not to experiment with your Bass, and keep it traditional, tell them it’s evolution…

As long as we maintain the low, and keep good time, we can be allowed to dream…

So that’s why I love playing Bass. Why do you?

(If you like this post, please tweet it, or post it around your favourite forums etc)

The Evolution of our free YouTube riffs!

These exercises have been created by me, and have been tried and tested with all my students. A lot of those guys (and Gals!) are now out gigging, and are at a very good standard…

In this lesson are eight exercises to get you slapping and popping like the pro’s! They come as one video file that is about fifty-five minutes long. This package also comes with seven drum tracks that progress in speed.

Here is a brief summary of what we cover:

Exercise one:

Similar to our youtube video, but with a lot more groove, and a little harder. We start with a double slap, and incorperate pops, hammer-ons and mutes later. Also advice on the psychology of practice, featured here.

Exercise two:

An exercise designed to gain finger strength. More slaps and pops but also double popping as well as barring (or bridging) with the fretting hand. More advice on muting and the economy of motion, here.

Exercise three:

A cool line with a nice use of slides. A funky one, which is one of my personal favourites. Has a primus-like feel to it.

Exercise four:

A great exercise that can be changed to the users personal preference. Again, this exercise was created to build strength, but it’s main purpose is to build up speed and efficency!

Exercise five:

An exercise and discussion on the role of the Bass player, and how slap and pop fits into that role. Also, an exercise with a pocket played slap and pop groove, and how it applies to the role.

Exercise six:

Another groove based exercise that we move around onto different frets.

Exercise seven:

A percussive exercise that will speed up your slap and popping! A cool little exercise that also covers timing.

Exercise eight:

Another percussive lesson/exercise.

In this lesson, we cover the “Up-down” method of pick playing. I also cover tonal opportunities when playing in different places, as well as discussions on pick thickness and uses.

After this, I move onto an exercise. There will be more and more of these.

Here is the initial discussion video (click).

And here is the Intro and exercise:

Regarding effects that I use in my vids. I review the Korg, here (clicky).

If you look over there on the right hand sidebar, you’ll see a nifty little bass tuner!

It’s at standard-E-A-D-G, you you’ll have to find your own B if you have a five string.

It’s been really handy for me. I don’t need to go any further than my own blog now I have it! Hoorah!

Here we have a slap exercise that has a consistent and constant rhythm throughout.  The mutes and nature of the slap are creating a rhythmic feel about the line.

This exercise will give you a good sense of timing if you play it along to a beat or a metronome.

Try and keep everything as tight as possible!  Remember, be strict with yourselves…:)

G||———————1-x——x—x-x-1-x-x-x-x—
D||—————————1-3——————–
A||————————————————–
E||-1-1-1-1-1—————-1———————-

The Video

Heya, guys.  Check out this drum track generator I found.  I’ve only had a little play of it, but it seems pretty good for people that just want to practise their timing.  It’s a little more fun than a metronome, as you can program the thing yourself…

They also have an online beat library.  Enjoy!

(This would be perfect to use alongside my Beginners Bass Evolved lesson)

Was just jamming to my daughter (Melody) as it sends her off to sleep. This is what I jammed…

And here we have another exercise created by me to perfect your finger funkiness.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Playing funk with the fingers is all about a quick and snappy attack, and hitting those notes true and with precision. You have to be on the beat, and in the pocket.

At the moment I’m telling people that these exercises are for intermediate players. Now, the newer guys don’t understand this, because the lines themselves are quite easy to play.

But it’s not the line that makes it for intermediate. You have to ask yourself (and be strict) “can I play this line, in time, perfectly with no timing errors, technique errors, or anything else that sounds bad?” Be honest. If you can play these lines perfectly, then yes, I would say you are well on your way to becoming intermediate.

That’s the difference!

Enjoy…

G||—-5—————–5—————–
D||—4–0-7-5———4–0-7————-
A||————0-3-4-5———————
E||–5—————–5——————-

As an alternative, try muting those open strings:

G||—-5—————–5—————–
D||—4–x-7-5———4–x-7————-
A||————x-3-4-5———————
E||–5—————–5——————-

And here we have the first in my tapping exercises! Woot!

If you have no idea on how to tap, or what it is, check this lesson out. In it, we go through the motions, and you end up playing a nice little line at different speeds. Come back to this after!

I tabbed this video, but they kept on saving differently than I wanted. However, Garth at my forums was kind enough to tab it over there. Click here for it!