Steve makes a very important point. If you are a new bass player do not fall into the trap I did. I wasted years and wheelbarrows of money paying a “teacher” who only taught me tab. Sure I could mimic a song if the tab was in front of me. But the embarrassing truth came out when a guitar player who is well known in our area dropped in to visit my nephew who was visiting me from Boston. My nephew plays in a jazz band. They decided to jam and my nephew said “Eric plays bass let him set in” I realized I had no clue how to play a bass when he said what chords they were playing and counted off and I just sat there…… it was the most humiliating moment of my life. After that I got very angry at my bass teacher. He was collecting my money to show me how to do tab. If you can’t find the G C F D or root fifth on your bass and you are taking instruction quit now and find a teacher like Steve…
Sorry to hear you had that experience brother. That's one of those bad memories that sticks. We've all had them. Learning to play songs is good... it exercises a player's memory and you can learn about song structure, but it shouldn't stop there. Like I said, there are 2 types of players... players that can just play songs, and players that know what they're doing. The thing is, learning the basics and about theory is pretty easy. Once it's learned and put to practice, it's a piece of cake. Hope you stuck with playing Eric and create some great memories with it.
@@stevekonbass Yup I’m still playing. I have a mentor at Tone Tailors and he is a lot like you. I think in the near future I’m gonna get a lesson from you.. I now can get on the app Chordify and play bass by seeing the guitar chords.
.Hey Steve, I'm a 70 y.o. beginner. Although I have been playing acoustic guitar since I was 11, I haven't learned how to play. Your method has given me the inspiration to have another go at it. Wish I had the internet years ago. I believe your teaching style will help pull it all together. I do have a lot of trouble with the long 4 fret reach of a bass. I have watched many people on Y T and you make much more, clear. Thank you.
That's great! Once you get some theory under your belt, and the hand coordination grows, things get easier. If you practice every day, and apply what you learn, things will really start to click.
Those that can mimic, and those that understand how to play…. I had this realization earlier this evening when I discovered this channel. Yes, tab can get you playing some of your favorite tunes that are already in your head. But understanding the rules of the game opens up your abilities to make music. I’ve done many searches to try and unlock what notes you would work with on a given cord progression and Steve is laying out there for us. Good stuff.
Yep, knowledge frees a player up. Here's a video that might help to understand chords more: ruclips.net/video/1mK1wTjnFjA/видео.htmlsi=vH5ADi4G4PVsFF9l
By watching this video, then applying the ‘shape’ I used it and figured out my favorite boogie-woogie progression that I used to play on the piano. Thank you!
Man... we cook big meals every night, lol. I watched your video on "gluttony" and said, "That's me." Ahh... I'm not too bad I guess. I'm keeping it at about 210 lbs.
@@stevekonbass I was at 210 but have gotten a little out of control and I’m back up to 222-225. I am cutting back. Only been a week or two. I need to start working out again. My joints ache, so makes it kind of not fun.
We have a little work out room in the house with equipment I've been dragging around since 1994. I hit the weights 3 or 4 times a week but I need cardio. I'm holding my breath when I put my socks on, lol!! Chasing the dog on the lawn and I'm winded.
Thanks Steve for your efforts. Somehow for some reason I thought this song was more complicated but like you said, break it down and experiment. Fun song
You The man steve I've been playing for 30 years but I was just a player of songs.And i would create my own music also by ear. All the Scales, I learned when I was younger now I see how to use them. your a good teacher bro Time to take it to the next level. I had fun playing songs though and it took me far..
Yeah man, it's another tool in the tool box. The scales and a bit of theory will open things up for you. Here's another video I'd recommend: ruclips.net/video/1mK1wTjnFjA/видео.htmlsi=y7DzlZgDkLRsCk4_
Hey Steve, Butch here, great way to build on those 3 chords! I learned this song a while back but I really like the improvising approach, keeps it more fun for sure. Thanks!
@@stevekonbass Doing OK, I retired last year and this year I've had both knees replaced. One knee in March and the other in June, both required 6 weeks of PT, 3 days a week. Hard to get through but I'm glad I did it! How are you? Are you playing lots of gigs these days? Are you still rocking the Rumble 500? Such a great amp!
Congrats on retiring and the new knees!! That's great! All good over here. Not gigging just giving lessons. Yes, still have the Rumble. Keep rockin' Butch.
Many thanks for this. Perfect timing. Talking to my housemate who is an accomplished musician asking him if he can teach me how to read musical staff. He said as a bass player I would be better off learning how to read the chord outlines and learning to improvise over it than reading notes off a page. A couple of days later I am watching this video and starting to understand what he was telling me over some wobbly pops. I guess great musical minds think alike. You should have more subs for real. Your lessons are very good.
Glad the lesson helped Richard. Please share it with your musician friends if you can. Here are 2 lessons that I know will help you from what you wrote: ruclips.net/video/vg9rOPD1ByA/видео.htmlsi=UF-L8QeNCOxLrRKQ ... and this one: ruclips.net/video/ryPrD1vxCG8/видео.htmlsi=8xOSPZQWjiN3bpWS
Great advice. I always push improvising on my students. Anyone can learn a song but when it comes to improvising you definitely need to know some theory.
I watched this lesson and applied it to this week's homework groove in the Bminor scale. It helped big time. I keep it rather simple in one register but each loop sounds smoother than the last one. Thx!
I've just found this video, awesome information. I became obsessed with singing each note name which slows down practice tremendously. In the real world it's not really practical to think when playing you need to just do. So although I enjoy learning the notes I'm going to put a lot of time how sounds & patterns co exist. Thanks Steve I've subscribed
Thanks for the sub! Yeah, knowing where the notes are is a good thing. It'll help you navigate the neck. Concentrate on the groove of the song and complimenting it. Using the triads is a good place to start.
Similar to walking the bass am doing that need a bit more speed otherwise am playing it all tnx for one more good video Stevo best regards as always I play this tmr morning ✌️🤘
Can u do a video on the ideal seamless setup how to play bass with songsterr,headphones or bluetooth speaker and the bass...ad of now...theres a lot of wires running around for my practise
I never saw Songsterr but I've heard about it. I'm not a big fan of TABS because they don't really teach you anything except how to play a song. To me TABS are a tool to assist, but not the way to learn. But as for practice tips... play to a drum machine or metronome. Learn theory. Learn where the notes are on the bass. Record yourself playing so you can listen back and hear what you're doing good and what's not so good... Now, it seems most people nowadays just use a phone or laptop to listen to music, not like people my age who had stereos with quality speakers. If you're learning bass, you need good speakers or headphones to hear it. Listening on little dime sized speakers won't cut it because the bass won't cut through like it was meant to.
You can play it just as I used the triads in this video. For a general idea of how to use triads over any chord progression, watch this very first video I did for beginners: ruclips.net/video/1J1EwJ5JpQE/видео.htmlsi=kDY2Cmqzsap0mJeB
If you're playing over a minor chord could you still use the minor triad plus the 6, or would you add a different scale degree since its a minor chord?
So, in we were playing in the key of A minor and playing an A minor chord, the minor triad is ACE. The 6th would be F which would sound okay if used as a quick passing note, but you wouldn't want to linger there. Try using the minor 7th, which would be G.
i developed interest in Bass guitar because of your lessons...big up man....can you also do a video of how to improvise with ARPEGGIOS over a chord progression
That's great! Here are 2 other videos that might interest you: ruclips.net/video/ryPrD1vxCG8/видео.htmlsi=WOnZRAM3X0AZXySA ...and ruclips.net/video/vg9rOPD1ByA/видео.htmlsi=p4XrC40ivTDAWkUD
Hi Steve, very important questions, at least for me. Would not be smart to learn all songs in mayor keys in the key of C and all songs in minor keys in Am? if the relationship of in the notes and chords (gravitational tendency of notes and chords to move in specific directions) are the same in any key right? It means that it will be able to harmonise or play any melody or chords progression using only those twee tonalities (C and Am). Will this strategy help me understand how music works, sounds and feel? because learning to play in all keys takes a lot of time.
No, I wouldn't recommend doing it that way. Remember, this lesson is about improvisation. Not all songs are songs you'd improvise, see here: ruclips.net/video/OaFWglMEJ_E/видео.htmlsi=fCs-8GySkqB_5gA3 It's best to learn basic theory and then learn to apply it. For instance, learn the A major scale and triads/chords that live within that scale. Then take a song like Tennessee Whiskey, which is in the key of A major, and consists of 2 chords A major and B minor, and try improvising over that. Once you get the gist of it, the key of a song won't matter.
Hi Steve, thanks for your replay. i ask the question on the wrong video i think. i was not thinking on improvisation but in general. in any key if i move from the tonic to the dominant to the subdominant and back i will feel some musical resolution that is the same in any key. if a play the melody of happy birthday in all keys i will be able the recognise the melody. I just wanted to have your opinion about the idea that came to my mind. 😊
Steve makes a very important point. If you are a new bass player do not fall into the trap I did. I wasted years and wheelbarrows of money paying a “teacher” who only taught me tab. Sure I could mimic a song if the tab was in front of me. But the embarrassing truth came out when a guitar player who is well known in our area dropped in to visit my nephew who was visiting me from Boston. My nephew plays in a jazz band. They decided to jam and my nephew said “Eric plays bass let him set in” I realized I had no clue how to play a bass when he said what chords they were playing and counted off and I just sat there…… it was the most humiliating moment of my life. After that I got very angry at my bass teacher. He was collecting my money to show me how to do tab. If you can’t find the G C F D or root fifth on your bass and you are taking instruction quit now and find a teacher like Steve…
Sorry to hear you had that experience brother. That's one of those bad memories that sticks. We've all had them. Learning to play songs is good... it exercises a player's memory and you can learn about song structure, but it shouldn't stop there. Like I said, there are 2 types of players... players that can just play songs, and players that know what they're doing. The thing is, learning the basics and about theory is pretty easy. Once it's learned and put to practice, it's a piece of cake. Hope you stuck with playing Eric and create some great memories with it.
@@stevekonbass Yup I’m still playing. I have a mentor at Tone Tailors and he is a lot like you. I think in the near future I’m gonna get a lesson from you.. I now can get on the app Chordify and play bass by seeing the guitar chords.
That's great! Here's a little easy exercise you can try to improvise over: ruclips.net/video/T6z3ia8qStE/видео.htmlsi=l6vBvD-IOkAkfM3B
@@stevekonbass that’s awesome! Thank you
You're welcome.
This is THE BEST channel to learn bass on RUclips. Steve is the best here
Thank you!! I appreciate that.
Such an amazing Teacher Sir keep it up your rewards are in God hands blessings on you❤
And you too. Thank you!
Great lesson Steve. You know exactly how to make it simple and clear. Thank you
Thanks Gal.
I've been trying to learn how to improvise for a long time. This lesson was the clearest simplest lesson that I have found. Subscribed!
Thanks Sterve!
You're welcome Keith.
Love how you teach in shapes!
Thanks!
.Hey Steve, I'm a 70 y.o. beginner. Although I have been playing acoustic guitar since I was 11, I haven't learned how to play. Your method has given me the inspiration to have another go at it. Wish I had the internet years ago. I believe your teaching style will help pull it all together. I do have a lot of trouble with the long 4 fret reach of a bass. I have watched many people on Y T and you make much more, clear. Thank you.
That's great! Once you get some theory under your belt, and the hand coordination grows, things get easier. If you practice every day, and apply what you learn, things will really start to click.
Those that can mimic, and those that understand how to play…. I had this realization earlier this evening when I discovered this channel. Yes, tab can get you playing some of your favorite tunes that are already in your head. But understanding the rules of the game opens up your abilities to make music. I’ve done many searches to try and unlock what notes you would work with on a given cord progression and Steve is laying out there for us. Good stuff.
Yep, knowledge frees a player up. Here's a video that might help to understand chords more: ruclips.net/video/1mK1wTjnFjA/видео.htmlsi=vH5ADi4G4PVsFF9l
I stumbled onto your channel last night. Loving your content.
Thanks Dean!
Great lesson Steve. Thank you for sharing. Aloha from Hawaii 🤙🤙
Thank you and "Hello Hawaii"!🤙
Steve is a real bass guitar teacher
Great lesson. You take Jedi magic and make it understandable
Thank you! The magic, is actually pretty easy. It's just a matter of having the patience to play with it and put it to use.
Great teacher....this is the answer that I have been waiting for ....thank you.
You're welcome Wendy!
By watching this video, then applying the ‘shape’ I used it and figured out my favorite boogie-woogie progression that I used to play on the piano. Thank you!
Great! I love boogie-woogie stuff.
Real world bass, from a cool guy. Thank you.
You're welcome.
Excellent lesson! Well done.
Thanks! 😃
Another very cool lesson Steve.. Thank you for all you do.
Thanks John. Happy Easter to you and the Mrs.
@@stevekonbass thanks brother. Happy Easter to you guys as well. Going to cook a big meal?
Man... we cook big meals every night, lol. I watched your video on "gluttony" and said, "That's me." Ahh... I'm not too bad I guess. I'm keeping it at about 210 lbs.
@@stevekonbass I was at 210 but have gotten a little out of control and I’m back up to 222-225. I am cutting back. Only been a week or two. I need to start working out again. My joints ache, so makes it kind of not fun.
We have a little work out room in the house with equipment I've been dragging around since 1994. I hit the weights 3 or 4 times a week but I need cardio. I'm holding my breath when I put my socks on, lol!! Chasing the dog on the lawn and I'm winded.
Thanks Steve for your efforts. Somehow for some reason I thought this song was more complicated but like you said, break it down and experiment. Fun song
Yep, it's an easy one.
Love From Nepal Steve. Thank Yo For What You Do.
Back at you and "Hello Nepal".
A good teacher makes you dig a little. Thanks, Steve!
My pleasure, Delilah. You've made great progress since you started!
You The man steve I've been playing for 30 years but I was just a player of songs.And i would create my own music also by ear.
All the Scales, I learned when I was younger now I see how to use them.
your a good teacher bro Time to take it to the next level.
I had fun playing songs though and it took me far..
Yeah man, it's another tool in the tool box. The scales and a bit of theory will open things up for you. Here's another video I'd recommend: ruclips.net/video/1mK1wTjnFjA/видео.htmlsi=y7DzlZgDkLRsCk4_
Best friends with Dave Gandia. Used to watch you play from time to time. Glad i stumbled on your very informative videos
Dave's a great dude. We had a lot of laughs when we were gigging. I think I might've met you at a gig we had at The River's Edge.
@stevekonbass indeed. Haha the razors edge
Another awsome lesson
Thank you!!
Hey Steve, Butch here, great way to build on those 3 chords! I learned this song a while back but I really like the improvising approach, keeps it more fun for sure. Thanks!
Hey Butch! How have you been? Yeah, those little 3 chorders are fun to improvise with.
@@stevekonbass Doing OK, I retired last year and this year I've had both knees replaced. One knee in March and the other in June, both required 6 weeks of PT, 3 days a week. Hard to get through but I'm glad I did it! How are you? Are you playing lots of gigs these days? Are you still rocking the Rumble 500? Such a great amp!
Congrats on retiring and the new knees!! That's great! All good over here. Not gigging just giving lessons. Yes, still have the Rumble. Keep rockin' Butch.
Many thanks for this. Perfect timing. Talking to my housemate who is an accomplished musician asking him if he can teach me how to read musical staff. He said as a bass player I would be better off learning how to read the chord outlines and learning to improvise over it than reading notes off a page.
A couple of days later I am watching this video and starting to understand what he was telling me over some wobbly pops. I guess great musical minds think alike.
You should have more subs for real. Your lessons are very good.
Glad the lesson helped Richard. Please share it with your musician friends if you can. Here are 2 lessons that I know will help you from what you wrote: ruclips.net/video/vg9rOPD1ByA/видео.htmlsi=UF-L8QeNCOxLrRKQ ... and this one: ruclips.net/video/ryPrD1vxCG8/видео.htmlsi=8xOSPZQWjiN3bpWS
Just subscribed. Making it look so easy. Thank you for the video lesson!
Thanks for subscribing. Here's a playlist of all the video lessons:
ruclips.net/p/PLsFosTB39eVBVllLkZP_RAIjNmviv8nYe
This was very helpful to me, Thank You 🙏🏾
Great to hear it helped.
Great advice. I always push improvising on my students. Anyone can learn a song but when it comes to improvising you definitely need to know some theory.
Nice lesson 😎
Thanks Jill.
Awesome video ❤❤
Thanks 🤗
Thanks man! Love your vids!
Glad you like them! Thanks for tuning in.
I watched this lesson and applied it to this week's homework groove in the Bminor scale. It helped big time. I keep it rather simple in one register but each loop sounds smoother than the last one. Thx!
Great lesson.
Thanks! 😃
Thanks. Very helpful 👌
You're welcome!
Thanks. Good lesson. Needed little something else
Glad it was helpful!
I've just found this video, awesome information. I became obsessed with singing each note name which slows down practice tremendously. In the real world it's not really practical to think when playing you need to just do. So although I enjoy learning the notes I'm going to put a lot of time how sounds & patterns co exist. Thanks Steve I've subscribed
Thanks for the sub! Yeah, knowing where the notes are is a good thing. It'll help you navigate the neck. Concentrate on the groove of the song and complimenting it. Using the triads is a good place to start.
Subscribed excellent video
Thanks and welcome.
Similar to walking the bass am doing that need a bit more speed otherwise am playing it all tnx for one more good video Stevo best regards as always I play this tmr morning ✌️🤘
Let me know how you make out with it.
my pinky is doing the mess :D@@stevekonbass
Amen!
Can u do a video on the ideal seamless setup how to play bass with songsterr,headphones or bluetooth speaker and the bass...ad of now...theres a lot of wires running around for my practise
I never saw Songsterr but I've heard about it. I'm not a big fan of TABS because they don't really teach you anything except how to play a song. To me TABS are a tool to assist, but not the way to learn. But as for practice tips... play to a drum machine or metronome. Learn theory. Learn where the notes are on the bass. Record yourself playing so you can listen back and hear what you're doing good and what's not so good... Now, it seems most people nowadays just use a phone or laptop to listen to music, not like people my age who had stereos with quality speakers. If you're learning bass, you need good speakers or headphones to hear it. Listening on little dime sized speakers won't cut it because the bass won't cut through like it was meant to.
Please teach how to use those triads when we play the song with others who plays guitar.
You can play it just as I used the triads in this video. For a general idea of how to use triads over any chord progression, watch this very first video I did for beginners: ruclips.net/video/1J1EwJ5JpQE/видео.htmlsi=kDY2Cmqzsap0mJeB
If you're playing over a minor chord could you still use the minor triad plus the 6, or would you add a different scale degree since its a minor chord?
So, in we were playing in the key of A minor and playing an A minor chord, the minor triad is ACE. The 6th would be F which would sound okay if used as a quick passing note, but you wouldn't want to linger there. Try using the minor 7th, which would be G.
i developed interest in Bass guitar because of your lessons...big up man....can you also do a video of how to improvise with ARPEGGIOS over a chord progression
That's great! Here are 2 other videos that might interest you: ruclips.net/video/ryPrD1vxCG8/видео.htmlsi=WOnZRAM3X0AZXySA ...and ruclips.net/video/vg9rOPD1ByA/видео.htmlsi=p4XrC40ivTDAWkUD
What?! Did i miss the part where you play with the tune? I want to hear your improvise.
lol, you heard it, but without playing to the recording.
Hi Steve, very important questions, at least for me. Would not be smart to learn all songs in mayor keys in the key of C and all songs in minor keys in Am? if the relationship of in the notes and chords (gravitational tendency of notes and chords to move in specific directions) are the same in any key right? It means that it will be able to harmonise or play any melody or chords progression using only those twee tonalities (C and Am). Will this strategy help me understand how music works, sounds and feel? because learning to play in all keys takes a lot of time.
No, I wouldn't recommend doing it that way. Remember, this lesson is about improvisation. Not all songs are songs you'd improvise, see here: ruclips.net/video/OaFWglMEJ_E/видео.htmlsi=fCs-8GySkqB_5gA3 It's best to learn basic theory and then learn to apply it. For instance, learn the A major scale and triads/chords that live within that scale. Then take a song like Tennessee Whiskey, which is in the key of A major, and consists of 2 chords A major and B minor, and try improvising over that. Once you get the gist of it, the key of a song won't matter.
Hi Steve, thanks for your replay. i ask the question on the wrong video i think. i was not thinking on improvisation but in general. in any key if i move from the tonic to the dominant to the subdominant and back i will feel some musical resolution that is the same in any key. if a play the melody of happy birthday in all keys i will be able the recognise the melody. I just wanted to have your opinion about the idea that came to my mind. 😊
Wow, that 6th breaks the boring triad sound apart into music.
My problem is that I have a very poor memory. I can’t memorize scales. So, I can never remember what a 3rd or 5th etc. is of a particular chord.
This is a college course contained in a 9-minute video