Late beginner bassists
This class is for late beginner and intermediate players looking to get into jazz. You'll start with the basics and build up to complex basslines.
3 months
Corbin will guide you through 6 grades of step-by-step instruction with daily practice plans and assessments.
Swing with confidence
By the end of this pathway, you'll be able to build walking jazz basslines and improvise over classic jazz standards across styles and cultures.
Take the next step
Once you've mastered jazz bass, keep progressing with more challenges and guided pathways.
What you'll learn
Learn how to create basslines that swing and play the changes. This class will help you internalize the sound and feel of jazz.
- Craft walking lines that drive the groove
- Master the art of swing feel
- Take a tour through sub-genres of jazz
- Unlock your fretboard
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 go from learning the basics to confidently playing jazz bass in real musical settings. You’ll build the feel and vocabulary needed to hold your own on jazz standards and play the changes like a pro.
Intro to Jazz Bass
To kick off the class, Corbin will guide you through the fundamental techniques and vocabulary that'll get you sounding like a jazz bassist right away.
Across seven expertly paced lessons, you’ll learn to play with a swing feel, take the bass for a walk, and dial in the right tone. You’ll even start learning real jazz standards.
Chord Tones
Chord tones are a key ingredient that helps you follow the harmony as it moves.
In this grade, you’ll use them to map out your fretboard and smoothly connect your lines. You’ll also start working with the number system and the ii–V–I progression. By the end of this grade, you’ll have a solid foundation for playing the changes.
Scales
Next, you’ll learn how to navigate jazz chord progressions using more advanced vocabulary like Dorian, Mixolydian, harmonic minor, and more.
Then, you'll learn a simple 1235 pattern that'll help you lock in these new scales. From the ii-V-I to static minor tunes, this grade will prepare you to hold down the groove in any nearly any jazz situation.
Grade 4. Essential Jazz Bass Skills
Now that you’ve internalized the jazz feel and gotten essential progressions under your fingers, it’s time to separate yourself from other bassists and craft your own voice. You’ll unlock the fretboard, learn new bass moves, and even start improvising. Whether you’re on stage or in the studio, the skills you learn in this grade will stay with you throughout your entire bass journey.
Grade 5. Styles and Grooves
In Grade 5, you’ll expand on everything you’ve learned by applying it to different styles and grooves from around the globe. From gospel and gypsy jazz to bossa nova and samba, you’ll be ready to jam in any jazz setting with these grooves.
Grade 6. Learning Jazz Standards
By the end of Grade 6, you’ll have a solid repertoire of the most essential jazz standards for playing with others. Master holding down the foundation for each song, as well as improvising melodic solos when it’s your turn. This is where you can start calling yourself a jazz cat.
Grade 1. Intro to Jazz Bass
Jazz is all about that swing feel. In this opening grade, you’ll learn about the role that a bassist plays in a jazz group, as well as how to lock in with the drummer to build solid time feel. You’ll also learn how to start creating walking basslines and playing over the changes of Autumn Leaves.
Day 1. The jazz bass feel
Meet your new best friend: the drummer. Learn how to stay locked in with the drums and swing feel using ghost notes and skipped notes.
Day 2. The jazz bass tone
Learn how to create your ideal jazz bass tone. From upright bass and bright electric bass to a muted thumb tone, you’ll explore a range of tonal options for almost any occasion.
Day 3. Walking on changes
Learn how to propel the song from chord to chord using simple walking basslines over the common turnaround progression.
Day 4. Bb blues (2-feel)
The blues is jazz’s older sibling, so it’s essential to be able to navigate jazz blues tunes. You’ll learn how to apply a 2-feel over a jazzy version of the 12-bar blues featuring a turnaround.
Day 5. Bb blues (walking)
Build on your 2-feel with a walking bassline over our Bb blues track. Corbin has a super hip line for you to grab over the turnaround.
Day 6. Autumn Leaves
Autumn Leaves is a great entry point into many other jazz standards, so it’s vital to start learning it early in your jazz bass journey. You’ll use a 2-feel to play the major and minor ii-V-I progressions that make up the entire song.
Day 7. Autumn Leaves (walking)
For your final challenge of the grade, you’ll learn a walking bassline over the whole form of Autumn Leaves.
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 professional L.A. 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. Chord Tones
One thing that makes jazz bass so unique is that we outline each chord by targeting the individual notes within it. In this grade, you’ll learn how to speak the language of a professional bassist and use arpeggios to emphasize chord changes.
Day 1. Must-know chord tones
Chord tones are the notes that make up a full chord. You’ve already got the root and 5th down, so all we have to do is add the 3rd and the 7th to create a full arpeggio. You’ll learn major 7, dominant 7, and minor 7 arpeggios to cover most of the chords you’ll come across.
Day 2. Roman numerals and the turnaround
Learn the language that professional musicians use to communicate with each other quickly: the number system. You’ll apply this new language to the turnaround progression.
Day 3. The major ii-V-I
This is the bread-and-butter of jazz harmony. Corbin will guide you through a 3-step process for building basslines over a major ii-V-I.
Day 4. The minor ii-V-I
Use the same 3-step process as yesterday to create a totally different sound by making things minor.
Day 5. Autumn Leaves and song form
Finish learning Autumn Leaves and learn the form behind the tune.
Day 6. F blues with chord tones
Return to the jazz blues with a focus on chord tones and arpeggios.
Day 7. Chord tones workout
Break a sweat while you lock in these new progressions and chord tones.
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 L.A. 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. Scales
Learn essential scales and moves to create sophisticated walking basslines over jazz chord progressions.
Day 1. Must-know scales
By adding just three more notes to your arpeggios, you’ll have four scales to cover any ii-V-I.
Day 2. The 1235 move
Learn how to effectively outline chords using the first three notes of each chord scale plus the 5th. This will serve you in tons of musical situations.
Day 3. Expanding on the 1235
Using Take the A Train as an example, you’ll learn how to expand on the 1235 move to cover chords that move quickly.
Day 4. Minor scale explained
Learn how to play over a minor ii-V-i using the three most common minor scales: Dorian, Aeolian, and harmonic minor.
Day 5. The 1235 for minor ii-V-i
Corbin will show you how to highlight altered chords using variations of our good old 1235 move.
Day 6. Static minor walking
Learn how you can use the minor bebop scale and Barry Harris’ 6th diminished scale to keep a one-chord vamp interesting.
Day 7. Scale workout
Push it to the limit with a workout covering six scales in three keys.
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 L.A. 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.
Grades 4-6
These last grades are where true jazz cats are made. With the essentials mastered, you’ll start working on the skills that will set you apart from other bassists. You’ll memorize the most-called jazz standards and discover different rhythmic styles of jazz bass from around the globe.
Grade 4. Essential Jazz Bass Skills
In this grade, you’ll start building the skills that will help you craft your own voice. You’ll unlock the fretboard, learn new bass moves, and even start improvising.
Day 1. Positional playing
Explore more of the fretboard by learning how to play the same bassline in three different positions around the neck.
Day 2. Changing from Latin to swing feel
Focus on subdividing the beat to switch between Latin and swing feels within the same song.
Day 3. Guide tones
Seamlessly connect chords to one another like a pro through voice leading and guide tones.
Day 4. Chromatic approach variations
Turn the jazz vibes up to 11 by connecting chords through chromatic movement. You’ll work through exercises to learn all about 1-, 2-, and 3-note walkups.
Day 5. Stepwise ii-V patterns
Corbin will show you how to create peaks and valleys in your basslines by moving up and down the notes in a scale and targeting specific chord tones.
Day 6. Bassists can play the melody too!
Hone your tone and technique as you learn to play the melody of Sunny Side of the Street.
Day 7. Intro to improvisation
Corbin’s got a 4-step process that expands on a song’s melody and helps your solos command the audience’s attention.
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 L.A. 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.
Grade 5. Styles and Grooves
In this grade, you’ll expand on everything you’ve learned by applying it to different styles and grooves from around the globe. By the end of this grade, you’ll have more ways to bring excitement and infectious grooves to the bandstand.
Day 1. Soul jazz
Explore how soul jazz players simplified chord progressions and blended jazz with gospel-inspired grooves.
Day 2. Bossa and Samba
Learn how to combine traditional jazz and danceable Brazilian rhythms with Samba and Bossa nova.
Day 3. Gypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz rhythm sections usually don’t include a drummer, so you’ll learn how to join the guitarists in holding down the groove over this French-born genre.
Day 4. Ballad (Body and Soul)
Tap into the softer side of jazz with ballads like Body and Soul You’ll work on keeping steady quarter notes, using expressive dynamics, and creating support for the melody.
Day 5. New Orleans (When the Saints)
Learn how to play the street beat, which is the heart and soul of New Orleans jazz styles like Dixieland jazz.
Day 6. Shuffle
Leave the swing behind and dig into the jazz shuffle feel by emphasizing triplets and ghost notes.
Day 7. 6/8
Dip your toes into compound meters with the ever-smooth 6/8 time signature. Miles Davis’ All Blues will be our inspiration today.
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 L.A. 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. Learning Jazz Standards
In this final grade, Corbin will guide you through building your jazz repertoire by learning tunes the way real musicians do: through listening, reading charts, and playing. These are some of the must-know standards that will be called in most sessions.
Day 1. Saint-Tropez
Meet Corbin’s 4-step process for learning and memorizing standards, starting with Corbin’s contrafact of Saint-Tropez.
Day 2. Groanin’
Bring back the shuffle feel and learn how to play Moanin’ by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers in its entirety.
Day 3. Pickup, No Chaser
Learn how to play over diminished chords, as well as how to improvise with the blues scale.
Day 4. Rhythm Changes in Bb
Corbin will introduce you to the standard that was so popular, it spawned its own song form. With rhythm changes in your back pocket, you’ll unlock dozens and dozens of songs.
Day 5. Big Deal! (So What)
Immerse yourself in the Dorian mode as you learn how to play our version of Miles Davis’ So What.
Day 6. Blue Skies
Work up to a walking bassline over Irving Berlin’s Standard, Blue Skies.
Day 7. Someday My Prince Will Come
For your final challenge, you’ll learn to waltz with this Disney-inspired standard from Miles Davis.
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 L.A. 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?
Try free for 14 days
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.
