How to Build a Groove in 7 Days
Learn to craft basslines from the ground up.
Beginner bassists
This class is for late beginner players who know the basics and are ready to start building their own basslines.
7 days
Keith will guide you through 7 days of step-by-step instruction with daily practice plans and assessments.
Build basslines for any song
You’ll leave this Challenge with the skills to create lines that serve the song with great rhythm in any genre.
Take the next step
Once you've mastered this class, keep learning with more Challenges and guided pathways.
What you'll learn
Your low-end guru Keith Karman is here to help you create basslines that are versatile, musical, and uniquely yours.
- Make the most out of simple bass parts
- Understand what makes a great groove tick
- Develop your sense of pocket and time feel
Curriculum
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
Your guided learning experience
In this 7-day Challenge, Keith will teach you how to hone in on the nuances of melody and articulation to sharpen your groove skills and hold down the rhythm in any situation that comes your way.
Fundamental grooves
This class is about making simple ideas sound powerful. To kick off the Challenge, you’ll dive into a workshop on time feel and tone to take your rhythmic foundations further.
You’ll start by drawing maximum musicality from a single‑note groove, then move on to eighth‑note rhythms to build coordination between your plucking and fretting hands.
All about the box
With your groove foundation locked in, we'll dive into a compact fretboard framework that serves as the building blocks for countless grooves: the box.
You’ll start by reviewing the shape, then build on it with techniques that add flow and efficiency.
Style-specific grooves
Next, we'll shift focus to how the bass operates across different genres. These lessons are all about sharpening your rhythmic precision and expanding your technique.
You’ll dig into tight 16th‑note patterns that demand control and groove, then explore a hip‑hop‑inspired approach that deepens your pocket and introduces new tools like raking.
Playing with time
In this final lesson, you’ll experiment with timing and strengthen your sense of rhythm by separating your internal clock from what your hands are doing.
Performance pieces
To cap off the course, you'll take what you learned and apply it in a purely musical context with two original tracks by Keith.
Days 1-2.
If your rhythm isn't on-point, it doesn't matter what kind of vocabulary you're playing with. To kick off the class, we'll use one note to dial in your timing.
Day 1. Single-note groove
Sometimes, just one note played the right way can be extremely impactful. In this first lesson, you’ll learn how to extract as much tone and beauty from one note as you can.
You’ll test your patience and timing by waiting to hit right on the 1. To add a little tonal spice, you’ll work on shaping your sound through muting.
Day 2. 8th-note groove
Keeping with the theme of simplicity, you’ll step up your groove game with a basic 8th-note pattern. This lesson will help you build flexibility and coordination in your fretting and plucking hands.
Continuing the work from Day 1 you did on muting, you’ll hone your dead notes to add rhythmic texture to your groove. Keith will also show you how to alternate plucking fingers to play faster basslines.
Days 3-4. All about the box
In these lessons, we'll focus on the the box: a simple and versatile shape that'll give you ton of groove mileage.
Day 3. Simple box rock
What if we told you that there’s one super simple shape you can learn to play that will unlock your fretboard and pretty much any song? Well, that simple shape is real, and it’s called the box.
The box is a small but powerful chunk of fretboard that covers just three frets and three strings. It includes all the notes you need to craft impactful basslines right away. Keith will show you how to find the root, 5th, b7th, and octave within the box.
Day 4. Expanding the box
Now that you have some simple box skills down, we’ll strengthen them by exploring slides and finger rolls. While these techniques add flair to your playing, they are also essential for navigating the fretboard efficiently.
You’ll learn how slides let you explore different box positions across the neck without losing the groove. You’ll also use finger rolls to limit movement and stay locked into the groove.
Days 5-6. Style-specific grooves
Now that you’ve built your box and honed your rhythm technique, it’s time to apply these new skills to a variety of musical styles.
Day 5. 16th-note funky groove
There’s arguably no genre more bass-friendly than funk. This lesson will help you get comfortable with fundamental subdivisions. Once you have these locked in, you’ll have the rhythmic control to make every note count.
Day 6. Below the A-string box
It’s time to connect with the drums and start thinking like a beatmaker. This hip-hop-inspired groove will let you hone your control and time feel while opening the door to a new rhythmic vocabulary.
In addition to working on finger rolling and alternate plucking, you’ll also develop your raking technique. This will be vital to descend the strings during fast lines.
Day 7. Playing with time + final performances
Playing with time is a key concept in popular genres and styles like neo soul and lo-fi music. You’ll learn how to master the groove first before you take some creative liberties.
Day 7. Playing with time
As bassists, we have a lot of control over the vibe of a song. In this final lesson, you’ll work on feeling the groove first, then finding fun ways to be more unconventional with time.
By the end of this lesson, you’ll know how to shake things up rhythmically by placing your notes around or on the beat. For example, if you want the song to feel laid-back, you’ll place your note slightly later than the beat. On the other hand, if you want to drive the song forward, you’ll hit just a fraction before the beat.
Performances
Now that your rhythm skills are dialed in, you’ll get two chances to apply them to genre-spanning tracks. It’s time for your hard work to pay off.
FULL REFUND, NO QUESTIONS ASKED
Improve your playing or get your money back
We’re so confident that we can improve your playing that we’re underwriting your membership with a 60-day satisfaction guarantee.
Your Instructor
With 20+ years on stage and in the studio, Keith knows how to write basslines that stick. In his 7-day Challenge, you'll learn how to craft grooves in any style.
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