Bass for Guitarists Learning Pathway

We're with you every step of the way in this Learning Pathway. In every lesson, Jonathan will break down a new concept and run through mini drills with you so you can lock it into your muscle memory. To cap off each day's work, you'll put what you learned in a musical context with a guided jam session.

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‍Day 1. Play bass, now!

Today, you’ll start creating low-end sounds with the use of a guitar pick. By starting with familiar guitar skills, we'll get you grooving right off the bat before diving into bass-specific techniques.

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‍Day 2. The neo-soul thumb mute

On Day 1, we got you playing right away with a pick. On Day 2, we’ll show you how to get an iconic bass tone by playing with your thumb (just like legendary bassists Pino Palladino does).

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‍Day 3. Introducing the octave

At this point, you’re still super early in your bass journey, but you’ve already got some neat-sounding essentials down.Today, you’ll learn how to use the octave, which is a great way to hold down the groove without muddying up the harmonic waters.

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Day 4. Floating on your E string

Today, you’ll learn the floating-thumb technique, which encourages your fingers to get involved. Take it nice and easy and you’ll be walkin’ the bass in no time.

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Day 5. A string

Bass players have to think about thumbs and fingers more than any other stringed-instrument player. Today, you’ll incorporate the A string into your string-plucking palette.

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Day 6. D and G strings

So far, your main focus has been on the low E and A strings. In this lesson, you’ll work on the D and G strings.
The low E and A strings often ground the root and 5th. D and G play a slightly different role.

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Day 7. E-string workout

Hit the gym as you internalize the notes on your low E string.

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Performance pieces

Perform songs that incorporate the concepts you just learned in a purely musical context. Here, you'll have the opportunity to jam with a live-recorded band of pro musicians. You can submit your performance to the Pickup Music team for personalized video feedback – who said online learning wasn't interactive?!

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Final quiz

Cap off the grade with a quiz to make sure you've adequately absorbed the core concepts involved.

‍Day 1. The box shape

Just like the guitar, the bass fretboard is much easier to conquer when you map it into patterns and shapes.
The box shape is a visual map that you can use for creating basslines and highlighting chord tones. You'll get to know it intimately today.

Day 2. How bassists use the major scale

Bassists have a slightly different relationship to the major scale. They don’t need to use the full extent of the scale like guitarists might. This lesson plants seeds that will blossom into sophisticated musical trees later on in this Learning Pathway.

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Day 3. Power sweater (Weezer)

Today is all about triads, which are useful for a number of reasons. Bass players use triads by shifting them across the fretboard, to highlight a chord progression without playing chords, and as a starting point to craft basslines.

Day 4. 2 to 3

Using slides in your bass playing allows you to add a different rhythmic component to your playing and kill a note’s attack. This is a key step to sounding smoother and creating more interesting moves – today, you'll incorporate this between the 2nd and 3rd scale degrees.

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Day 5. 5 to 6

In this lesson, Jonathan will step up the tempo by introducing you to a new slide option that you can include between different note intervals.

Day 6. R to 9

Today, you’ll face your final slide challenge: the octave-to-9th slide.

Day 7. A-string workout

Cap off your hard work with a brand-new workout that'll help you internalize A-string notes.

Performances‍

Solidify your learnings with songs that'll apply what you learned in a musical context.

Get feedback‍

Get personalized video feedback on your playing from the Pickup team.

Final quiz‍

Make sure you're ready for Grade 3.

‍Day 1. Intro to disco bass

When it comes to disco, the bass gets to dance as well. Today, you'll dive into this bass-prominent genre (and have a ton of fun exploring it).

Day 2. Adding octaves

Octaves are great – you’re playing a different pitch, but the note remains the same. Injecting them in your playing makes your basslines more interesting without covering up too much sonic space. We'll explore octave playing in today's lesson.

Day 3. How to play blues as a bassist

Have you ever thought about what the bassist does during a guitar solo? If not, you're gonna learn today! As usual, the blues is a fantastic platform for us to explore this valuable concept.

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Day 4. The moveable minor shape

Have you ever hummed a bassline that got stuck in your ear? Most likely, it was a line that went beyond roots, thirds, and fifths. Today, you'll learn how to outline minor chords to get some minor melodic sweetness in your playing.

Day 5. The sacred drum and bass relationship

There’s nothing quite like the magic of a great drum and bass relationship. Today, we’re giving you a cheat sheet on what to play when presented with an existing drumbeat.

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Day 6. Your first classical piece

If you’ve played muted notes on guitar, ghost notes will be a piece of cake. Ghost notes inject character into your groove by adding a rhythmic component without harmonic content. Today's lessons is all about ghost notes (you'll learn them just like groove master Joe Dart from Vulfpeck).

Day 7. D-string workout

It’s the end of the line for Grade 3. We can’t let you move ahead without another pulse-pounding single-string workout with Jonathan "Richard Simmons" Colman.

Performances‍

Demonstrate what you've learned in a musical context by learning original songs.

Get feedback‍

Get personalized video feedback on your playing from the Pickup team.

Final quiz‍

Make sure you're ready for Grade 4.