Beginner bassists
New to bass? You’re in the right place. This class is for total beginners. Grab your axe, and we'll show you how to groove.
3 months
Corbin will guide you through 6 grades of step-by-step instruction with daily practice plans and assessments.
Rock-solid fundamentals
You'll leave this pathway with a solid technical and rhythmic foundation to support your growth as a bassist in any genre.
Take the next step
Once you've mastered the bass-ics, keep progressing with intermediate classes and guided pathways.
What you'll learn
This pathway gives you everything you need to build a rock-solid bass foundation while keeping things fun and musical from Day 1.
- Learn the art of rhythm by grooving through real songs
- Build a foundation that'll set you up for success in any style
- Develop vocabulary to craft your own basslines
- Build proper technique to sidestep classic beginner pitfalls
Curriculum
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
Your guided Learning Pathway
In this 3-month Learning Pathway, Corbin Jones will help you build the technique, timing, and musical instincts you need to play bass in any style.
Grade 1. Fretboard Foundations
To kick off the pathway, you’ll get comfortable with your bass by learning essential techniques and terminology.
This grade is all about helping you power through the beginner learning curve while having fun. You’ll learn how to groove through music-first exercises to keep things motivating and get you playing bass right away.
Grade 2. Intro to the Box
Next, you'll learn the most important shape on your fretboard: the box.
This simple pattern is key to visualizing your fretboard and building your own basslines. It'll help you learn songs and navigate your bass with confidence.
Grade 3. Styles and Grooves
Whether you’re funkin' it up with slap bass or getting jazzy with walking basslines, every style demands great rhythm.
In this grade, you’ll use your new fretboard skills to capture the sound of different genres by exploring funk, rock, bossa nova, and beyond.
Grade 4. Rhythm and Feel
As a bassist, you and the drummer are the rhythmic glue that holds a song together. In Grade 4, you’ll unlock a treasure trove of groove concepts as you explore new time signatures and deepen your connection with the drums.
Grade 5. Expanding Your Fretboard
In Grade 5, you’ll start crafting melodic basslines that sound anything but basic. Corbin will teach you four essential scales so you can groove to any chord progression and start writing your own parts.
Grade 6. Bass Techniques
To cap off the first leg of your beginner journey, you’ll tackle expressive techniques that bassists use to stand out on stage. The skills you learn here will help you to find your own sound and add some flair to your playing.
Grades 1-2
Kick off your bass journey with the absolute fundamentals. Do you dream of playing in a band? Want to record music in your bedroom? Whatever your goals, the foundation you build in these first grades will set you up for a long life of bass enjoyment.
Grade 1. Fretboard Foundations
Your low-end journey begins here. To kick off the class, Corbin will run you through essential concepts and proper technique so you can avoid the pitfalls that slow beginners down.
Day 1. Getting started
Learn the different parts of the bass and how to hold your instrument comfortably. Begin finding your way around the fretboard to learn your first riff. That’s right, we said it. By the end of the day, you’ll know your bass better and how to play a bassline without tension.
Day 2. Note length and muting
Just as important as knowing how to play a note is knowing when to stop playing a note. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to mute your strings to control note length and emphasize the rhythmic nature of the bass.
Day 3. Groovin’ on the A string
Believe it or not, you’re ready to start preparing for a performance piece at the end of the grade. You’ll learn how to play on the A string and fret notes with your pinky finger. We’ll also go over essential plucking-hand techniques like where to anchor your thumb and how to pluck.
Day 4. Combining strings and reading TAB
As a beginner bassist, TAB will be vital for you to learn new basslines and write down your own ideas. Corbin will show you how to unlock thousands of songs through the magic of TAB. You’ll also work on moving from the E string to the A string efficiently.
Day 5. Groovin’ on the D and G strings
Learn how to play on the two remaining strings. Corbin will show you where to anchor your plucking-hand thumb to mute unwanted strings. He’ll also show you how to fret with your middle finger.
Day 6. Combining strings and how to practice
Now that you’re more comfortable with all four strings, it’s time to combine them. Then, Corbin will introduce you to the Pickup Practice System. Know what you’ll practice and understand your goals each time you sit down with your bass. This lesson will help you cultivate a healthy practice routine for years to come.
Day 7. Workout
Put those new calluses to the test with a fun workout designed to strengthen your rhythm skills and put everything from Grade 1 together. Pickup Music workouts make for great daily warmups.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 1 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro-LA musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro bassists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 2.
Grade 2. Intro to the Box
The bass fretboard is conveniently laid out in shapes or patterns. Perhaps the most important of these patterns is the box. This useful shape contains all the notes you’ll need to play thousands of songs. Corbin will guide you through building the box to play genres like blues and Latin jazz.
Day 1. R and 5
The box is the ultimate cheat code for the beginning bassist to unlock the fretboard, whatever genre you’re interested in. To start your box studies, Corbin will show you the R-5 move. This simple shape is all you need to start creating your own basslines today.
Day 2. R, 5, 8
Learn about the next most important note in the box: the 8th, or octave. This is the same note as your root, just moved up in pitch. Adding the 8 to your R-5 move will really expand your groove possibilities.
Day 3. Building out the box
Complete your box by adding the 4th and b7. These notes will help you keep the groove while adding harmonic complexity and emphasizing chord qualities.
Day 4. Box blues
With your box built up, you can now use it to cover different chords across a song, no matter the key. Corbin will show you how to apply the box to a standard 12-bar blues.
Day 5. Below the A string
Move your box shape up to the A string to unlock the 5th below (in pitch) the root and a new note: the 6th. You’ll use a Motown-inspired track to apply your A-string box and new notes.
Day 6. Latin jazz box
With our full A-string box fully filled, we can play some sweet basslines starting in any key. As further proof of how versatile the box is, we’ll apply it to a Latin jazz groove.
Day 7. Rhythm and counting workout
No better workout than boxing. But put those gloves away because we’re talking about the box on the bass. Corbin will guide you through a guided workout to review your new box knowledge.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 2 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro-LA musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro bassists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 3.
Grade 3. Styles and Grooves
In this grade, you’ll apply the fretboard fundamentals you’ve been working on to different styles: from funk and disco to Latin music and beyond. While exploring these iconic genres, Corbin will introduce you to a new set of techniques that'll further develop your rhythmic foundation.
Day 1. Open-string riffage
Give your fretting hand a break while adding more variety to your bassline with open strings. Corbin will also introduce you to the idea of counting and understanding rhythms.
Day 2. Disco vibes
Disco is a super funky dance genre. The bass in disco makes great use of octaves to create momentum and get those toes tapping.
Day 3. Starting riffs with the pinky
That’s a nice box you’ve built, but now it’s time for Corbin to show you how to step outside it. By starting a riff with your pinky, you change what’s called the scale position. This alters the whole approach to building basslines and seeing the fretboard.
Day 4. Funky vibes
There’s possibly no genre more bass-friendly than funk. That’s due in part to the prevalence of syncopation. Corbin will show you this rhythmic technique for playing offbeats and adding extra funkiness to your lines.
Day 5. ‘90s rock vibes
Learn how to create an infectious rock sound by locking in with the guitarist’s rhythm. Corbin will also show you how to play the same riff in different parts of the neck. This is a vital skill for any bassist because it lets you choose the right tone for each song.
Day 6. Latin vibes
Learn a bossa nova R-5 bassline to cap off Grade 3 lessons. Bossa nova is an extremely popular Brazilian genre that fuses pop and jazz chords with traditional Brazilian rhythms.
Day 7. Workout
Let’s pump up those bass biceps with a workout to test how well you’ve memorized the notes on your E string.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 3 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro-LA musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro bassists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 4.
Grade 4. Rhythm and Feel
No matter what level you’re at as a bassist, it’s essential to have a strong rhythm foundation. Grade 4 will introduce you to the tools and time signatures used by professional bassists in the studio and on the stage. By the end of these lessons, you’ll know the most important rhythms and how to apply them in almost any musical setting.
Day 1. The grid
To start off Grade 4, Corbin will help you understand the rhythms you’ve already been playing using the grid. This is one of the best ways to understand rhythms, and it’s used by producers and composers to create tight grooves and keep everyone in time.
Day 2. The sacred drum and bass relationship
As a bass player, you’re a member of the rhythm section, along with the drums. You’ll learn how to lock in with your rhythm partner by listening carefully to and playing with the drummer.
Days 3 and 4. Time signature
Besides 4/4 time, two of the most used time signatures in all of musical history are the 3/4 and 6/8 time signatures. From Mozart to John Mayer, these times have been used to create dreamy ballads with a waltz or shuffle feel. Corbin will guide you through the basics of these essential times.
Day 5. Swing feel
Learn how simple it can be to flip a groove on its head using the swing feel. Whether you’re playing jazz, neo soul, or pop ballads, adding a swing feel can give the track a laid-back vibe. Corbin will help you feel the difference between straight and swung 8th notes.
Day 6. Deeper into the grid
Yes, the notes you play are important, but just as important are the notes you don’t play. You’ll learn how these non-played notes (or rests) make your basslines more impactful.
Day 7. Workout
Your bass coach Corbin will help you lock in with the drummer while grooving on the A string. This one will really test your counting skills.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 4 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro-LA musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro bassists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 5.
Grades 5 and 6
You’ve laid a rock-solid foundation. Now, it’s time to start building on those skills and adding some color to your playing. In Grade 5, you’ll learn four must-know scales to craft melodic basslines and explore more of the fretboard. In Grade 6, you’ll learn intermediate techniques to add style and depth to your groove. By the end of these two grades, you’ll be well on your way to finding your unique voice as a bassist.
Grade 5. Expanding Your Fretboard
Mastering your fretboard is a major step on your bass journey. From outlining chord progressions to improvising basslines, there are so many useful skills that you unlock when you know your fretboard. Corbin will show you the most important scales and techniques to unlock fretboard freedom.
Day 1. Slides
Before you master the fretboard, you gotta learn how to traverse it with style. Slides help you add more interest to the way you arrive at notes. Corbin will show you how to add slides to your bass arsenal.
Day 2. Major scale
Regardless of what instrument you play, the major scale is the most important scale to know. Learning it lets you write your own lines and understand how harmony works. Don’t be intimidated by the theory, though. It’s just seven notes, and Corbin breaks it down into an easy-to-remember formula.
Day 3. The major triad
Bassists don’t tend to play whole chords like guitarists do. Instead, they play single notes that outline chords. In this lesson, you’ll learn the essential building block of chords: the triad. With just these three notes, you’ll be able to outline major scales with precision.
Days 4 and 5. Pentatonic
The major and minor pentatonic are must-know scales that contain just five notes and will serve you in nearly any musical situation. Corbin will show you how to play the major scale using an easy system we call the 3:2 system.
The minor pentatonic fits nicely in our box, and all you’ll do is move the 3rd down one fret. This is a great scale to play over minor chords, as well as dominant 7th chords.
Day 6. Approaching the root
The root is arguably the most important note we can play, so we want to make it as impactful as possible. Corbin will show you how to lead into it with approach notes for maximum impact.
Day 7. Workout
Your toned bass coach Corbin has got another workout for you. Review your scales and triad shape, then test how well you know your D-string notes.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 5 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro-LA musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro bassists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 6.
Grade 6. Bass Techniques
You’ve got all these notes, now learn how to give them character with techniques that help you rise above the beginner crowd. Corbin will introduce you to ghost notes and slides, as well as pick-playing and hammer-ons. The skills you learn in this grade will help you make your basslines unique.
Day 1. The swoosh
The swoosh is a go-to move when you want to mark an important part of a song, such as the beginning or start of a new section. You’ll learn how to use the swoosh in moderation to add flair to a song without sounding corny.
Day 2. Intro to ghost notes
Add personality to your basslines with ghost notes. These semi-muted notes add rhythmic expression without pitch, so they work almost anytime and anyplace.
Day 3. Hammer-ons
Give your plucking hand a brief break with hammer-ons. These help you play faster and more smoothly, and they just sound awesome. Corbin will show you how to implement them in your playing to add even more flavor.
Day 4. Bass players can play the melody too!
While we bassists are a key part of the rhythm section, we can sneak in melodies from time to time. Learn how to know when to step out and play a melody. You’ll be moving up to a higher register for this lesson.
Day 5. Neo-soul thumb
R&B fans, this is the lesson for you! Corbin will show you how to get that warm and tubby tone synonymous with neo soul. You’ll learn how to mute with your palm and pluck with your, you guessed it, thumb.
Day 6. Playing with a pick
Many bassists prefer to use only their fingers, but the truth is that there are genres that cannot be properly played without a plectrum. Corbin will help you learn this cool-looking technique to achieve a driving sound and become a well-rounded bassist.
Day 7. Workout
For your final workout of the pathway, you’ll review ghost notes and hammer-ons while focusing on learning the notes on the G string.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 6 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro-LA musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro bassists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to new challenges.
FULL REFUND, NO QUESTIONS ASKED
If you don’t get better, we’ll give you your money back
We’re so confident that Pickup Music can help you make progress that we’re underwriting your membership with a 60-day satisfaction guarantee.
Your Instructor
Embark on a journey to low-end mastery by learning fundamental skills from one of the hardest working bassists in the biz.
Explore LessonsWhat’s in every Pickup Music membership?
Get my learning plan
1,000+ Lessons
All skill levels
Interactive TAB
Track your progress
Daily practice plans
Live lessons every week
Limitless learning.
All-inclusive access to every course.
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a different question? Message us in the chat pop-up.
⚡️ Getting started
Is Pickup Music right for me?
Are you a bass player who feels like you haven’t made progress in a few months… years… or even decades?
You’re probably stuck in what’s called the ‘intermediate plateau’. This is very common and can be very frustrating.
What’s the cause? Well, it’s pretty easy to learn the basics on bass.
But what then? Triads? Modes? Arpeggios? The phrygian scale?!
Without a clear plan and learning system you fall back to playing the same old lines over and over again. Or you bounce around free lessons online but nothing seems to stick. It’s a recipe for a lot of practice without much progress.
That’s where Pickup Music can help. We specialize in taking players stuck in a bass rut and turning them into advanced bassists.
We do this through Learning Pathways that take you on a step-by-step journey towards fretboard mastery. We give you a highly structured system that shows you exactly what to work on each week to make serious progress.
These Learning Pathways take the guesswork out of your practice routine. You are guided through a proven grade-by-grade system with daily lessons, play-along practice exercises and interactive workouts.
But it’s not all about theory. We apply everything you learn to real music. That’s why every grade of our Learning Pathways build up to performing a song with a live backing band. This simulates what it’s like to play a real gig, with real musicians. It’s the absolute best way to learn.
You also get 1:1 video feedback on your playing from our expert instructors and can attend weekly live lessons. This personal feedback makes Pickup Music the closest thing to taking in-person lessons, but at a fraction of the cost.
So does this method actually work? Will you see results in your playing?
The most common thing we hear from new members is that they’ve made more progress with Pickup Music in a few months than in years of teaching themselves. As one member recently told us, “I'm finally seeing progress for the first time in many years”.
Want to hear about other members’ experiences with us? Read our independent Trustpilot reviews.
Is Pickup Music worth the money?
Private bass lessons will cost you at least $50 per lesson or $2,600 a year.
Going to a music academy will cost you about $40,000 a year.
A Pickup Music membership will cost you just $180 for the whole year.
That works out to 50 cents a day!
But it’s not just about the money. It’s about not wasting your precious time. It’s about making actual progress on this beautiful instrument.
By following our proven Learning Pathway system, you can stop wasting your time and effort trying to guess what you should practice next. Our guided programs eliminate the guesswork so you know exactly what you need to focus on each day and week to make lasting progress with bass.
What makes Pickup Music better than other bass lesson sites?
Most online bass lesson sites are very good at teaching one-off styles and techniques. Or they get super famous bassists to record one-hour video lessons talking at length about their particular style and career.
The problem is that these approaches don't stick. They don’t help you to actually get better as a bassist. You can waste a lot of time bouncing around these types of unconnected, one-off lessons. It’s a recipe for a lot of practice without much progress.
Pickup Music takes a different approach. We give you a highly structured system that shows you exactly what to work on each week to make serious progress. We take you beyond the basics through a step-by-step journey towards fretboard mastery.
By following a Pickup Music Learning Pathway, you are getting the most guided way to learn bass. Over 6 grades, you are taken through daily lessons and practice exercises that carefully explain what’s going on behind the music.
Each grade then builds up to song performances that apply everything you’ve learned with a live backing band. These challenges - where we simulate what it’s like to play a real gig, with real musicians - is the absolute best way to learn.
The Learning Pathway method takes the guesswork out of your practice routine. Most bassists start to see a rapid acceleration in their progress in a matter of weeks.
You can also get 1:1 video feedback on your playing and weekly live lessons. This personal feedback makes Pickup Music the closest thing to taking in-person lessons, but at a fraction of the cost.
Want to hear about other members’ experiences with us? Read our independent Trustpilot reviews.
What exactly do I get from a Pickup Music membership?
When you become a Pickup Music member you get unlimited access to our huge library of lessons across both guitar and bass.
You get to enjoy amazing features that create a premium learning experience:
- day-by-day lessons
- 1:1 video feedback on your playing
- weekly live lessons
- progress tracking
- interactive TAB
- multiple HD camera angles
- play-along practice exercises
- downloadable course notes and diagrams
- quizzes to test your understanding
- jam tracks with the Pickup Music Live Band
- exclusive members-only forum, contests and giveaways.
How do the Learning Pathways work?
Learning Pathways are kind of our special sauce here at Pickup Music. They take all the guesswork out of what to practice.
You get day-by-day lessons, play along practice exercises with your instructor, interactive jams with the Pickup Music live band and you can submit videos of your playing for feedback from the Pickup Music team.
We designed this system so that you will know exactly what to practice every time you pick up the bass. This means that even if you only have time to practice with us once a week, you will still make great progress by following a Learning Pathways.
How often do I need to practice to see results?
Ideally you would practice about three times a week for 30 minutes at a time. But we know that life gets in the way sometimes! So here’s the good news: deliberate practice matters so much more than how often you practice.
After working with thousands of bassists, we’ve found that the most important thing is to know exactly what you’re going to practice before you pick up the bass. Even if you can only use Pickup Music a few times a month, you will still make really good progress if you stick to the step-by-step structure of our Learning Pathways.
Can I take the lessons at my own pace?
Everything on Pickup Music is designed to be taken at your own pace. There are no deadlines, so you can work at your own speed. You can stay on a topic until you really understand it before you move on.
While we divide our Learning Pathways into ‘days’ - this is a suggestion only. Some learners might take a few days in one sitting, while others will spend a few sessions on a single day. You can go at the pace that feels most comfortable to you.
How does the 1:1 video feedback work?
We want our members to get the closest thing possible to in-person lessons but at a fraction of the cost. That's why you can now get individual video feedback on your bass playing from our team of expert instructors.
Here's how it works:
- Choose a performance piece to learn at the end of each grade of a Learning Pathway.
- Upload a video of yourself playing the performance piece.
- An expert instructor from our team will review your playing and send you back a detailed video on what you're doing well and what you need to work on.
- Repeat for each grade of the Learning Pathway.
I'm brand new to bass. Is Pickup Music the right choice for me?
Absolutely! We make learning the bass fun and simple – the way it should be.
Too many people get frustrated with bass because they develop bad habits and poor technique. Avoid these costly and time-consuming mistakes by taking Pickup Music's structured and step-by-step approach to learning bass.
You'll start with Pickup Music's introductory program Beginner Learning Pathway. Over a few weeks, we break down everything from simple chords and melodies to rhythm and lead playing. By the end of the program, you'll be able to play any simple pop or rock song (and even write your own).
Most importantly, we make sure you don't get stuck in the beginner's plateau - a common pitfall for bassists who are just starting out. You'll keep making progress through Pickup Music's guided Learning Pathways. These programs are designed to quickly take you from a beginner player to an intermediate one who feels comfortable across the whole fretboard.
Is Pickup Music good for intermediate and advanced bassists?
Pickup Music is the best platform available for intermediate and advanced bassists. Our courses take you beyond the basics to advanced concepts like triads, arpeggios, modes and improvisation.
The biggest trap for intermediate players is bouncing around from lesson to lesson without a plan or structure to get to that next level. We are known for taking intermediate and advanced players who have hit a ceiling and busting through until they reach the next level.
Am I too old for bass lessons?
Many of Pickup Music’s members are in their 60s and 70s and have seen amazing success with our programs. Our platform is designed to be user-friendly for all ages and skill levels. And our supportive community is made up of bass learners of all ages, cheering each other on.
Do I get access to the guitar lessons as well?
Yes. You get unlimited access to all of our guitar and bass lessons under the one membership.
💳 Pricing and plans
How does the 14-day free trial work?
When you first sign up to a Pickup Music membership, you enter your credit card but it will not be charged for 14 days. That means that if you decide to cancel within 14 days of signing up, you won't pay anything.
And we send you a reminder before your trial is about to end so you don’t forget about it.
If you decide to cancel after that, you won't be charged at your next billing cycle. That means: if you’re a monthly member, you won’t be charged for the next month. If you’re an annual member, you won’t be charged for the next year.
How does the 60-day money back guarantee work?
In addition to the 14-day free trial, we offer a 60-day money back guarantee. If you’re not satisfied with your progress in the first 60 days of your membership, we will give you your money back - no questions asked.
Please note: The 60-day money-back guarantee does not apply to app purchases made via Apple.
Is it easy to cancel?
Canceling is easy. It’s just one click of a button on your account page.
You won't be charged anything if you cancel during your 14-day free trial. We also send you a reminder before your trial ends so you don’t accidentally forget about it.
If you cancel after your 14-day trial, you won't be billed again at your next billing cycle. Your membership will remain active until it expires on the day it was originally set to renew.
What’s the difference between the annual and monthly plan?
The only difference is the price. The monthly membership is $29.99 charged monthly and the annual membership is $179.99 charged once a year.
That means that if you select the annual plan you will pay 50% less and save $180 over a year compared to the monthly plan.
We'll also send you reminders before we bill you each year so that you don't accidentally forget about it.
We give such a big discount for annual members because it aligns with our long-term vision to inspire and support lifelong bass learning.
Can I buy lessons individually?
We don’t sell lessons individually. But the good news is you get access to every single lesson on Pickup Music through the one membership. If you’re only interested in one lesson, you could purchase a monthly membership and cancel when you’ve finished it – we have a hunch you’ll want to stick around though :)
How do I restart my membership?
It’s easy to rejoin Pickup Music and we’d be thrilled to have you back! We even saved all of your lessons for you while you were gone on your My Classes page.
To restart your membership, log in with the email address you used to sign up the first time around and then select the plan of your choice.
