greghagger Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 Hey Bass-chatters, If you could have any resource to help you to learn how to improve your Blues bass playing, what would it be? For example, backing tracks, video instructional course, coaching, etc. Also what is your preference with styles of Blues? American or British Blues? Or do you just love it all like me? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 I think looking at the style of particular players is a good way to go. My two favourite, blues centric bass players (at least they have been in the past) are Roscoe Beck and Tommy Shannon. Roscoe’s work with Robben Ford and Tommy’s with SRV are worth a look. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greghagger Posted April 7, 2021 Author Share Posted April 7, 2021 1 minute ago, ezbass said: I think looking at the style of particular players is a good way to go. My two favourite, blues centric bass players (at least they have been in the past) are Roscoe Beck and Tommy Shannon. Roscoe’s work with Robben Ford and Tommy’s with SRV are worth a look. Great, they are both particular favourites of mine too. Saw Roscoe Back with the Blue Line back in the late 90’s and I was blown away by his tone and lines. As for Tommy Shannon, he’s such a powerhouse and love his ‘Texas Shuffle’ line on ‘Pride and Joy’! Solid suggestion to study the playing styles of Blues bass players 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 I’ve saw Roscoe with Robben at the Jazz Café in Camden. I was upstairs in the restaurant part and he was eating his pre gig meal a couple of tables away. If I hasn’t been with Lady Ez, I may well have had to be the total fanboy and bothered him for a chat (I’m glad I didn’t). Roscoe’s CV is obviously far beyond just jazz tinged blues, but that’s where I discovered him in The Blue Line and then with another of my guitar heroes - Eric Johnson. Roscoe’s instructional video is still one of the best all round bass resources I’ve seen. Tommy is the king of the shuffle and what impresses me most is his (and Chris Layton’s) ability to be just behind the beat, giving that lazy/dirty feel, even during extended fills, Pride & Joy being a prime example. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 The blues scale was the first thing I learned when I started playing at 14 , my bass tutor was a blues player , it’s a great genre, so much feel , a good video I have saved is this one by Scott Whitley 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 And part 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greghagger Posted April 7, 2021 Author Share Posted April 7, 2021 15 minutes ago, ezbass said: I’ve saw Roscoe with Robben at the Jazz Café in Camden. I was upstairs in the restaurant part and he was eating his pre gig meal a couple of tables away. If I hasn’t been with Lady Ez, I may well have had to be the total fanboy and bothered him for a chat (I’m glad I didn’t). Roscoe’s CV is obviously far beyond just jazz tinged blues, but that’s where I discovered him in The Blue Line and then with another of my guitar heroes - Eric Johnson. Roscoe’s instructional video is still one of the best all round bass resources I’ve seen. Tommy is the king of the shuffle and what impresses me most is his (and Chris Layton’s) ability to be just behind the beat, giving that lazy/dirty feel, even during extended fills, Pride & Joy being a prime example. Ah cheers, didn’t know Roscoe had an instructional video. That will be interesting to look at. I think we have similar tastes. Tommy’s feel is just so on the money! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greghagger Posted April 7, 2021 Author Share Posted April 7, 2021 12 minutes ago, Reggaebass said: The blues scale was the first thing I learned when I started playing at 14 , my bass tutor was a blues player , it’s a great genre, so much feel , a good video I have saved is this one by Scott Whitley I love his background on the video and it’s a nice lesson. I agree that Blues is a great style to use to learn bass. It has a lot of transferable musical ideas and techniques. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greghagger Posted June 28, 2021 Author Share Posted June 28, 2021 I’ve finally got round to making and releasing the Blues course! https://gregsbassshed.com/walk-the-blues-bass-video-course 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 Playing behind the beat is a skill you and any drummer you play with need to master. This a VERY extreme groove but is a great example of this style of playing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greghagger Posted September 14, 2021 Author Share Posted September 14, 2021 On 28/06/2021 at 23:21, gjones said: Playing behind the beat is a skill you and any drummer you play with need to master. This a VERY extreme groove but is a great example of this style of playing. Great point! I always find this is a tricky skill for students to get their heads round initially. I love this groove too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 On 28/06/2021 at 23:21, gjones said: Playing behind the beat is a skill you and any drummer you play with need to master. This a VERY extreme groove but is a great example of this style of playing. Rubbish! A few bottles of Jack and that's dead easy 😉 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 I would say most people new to playing blues could probably do with understanding some of the conventions. For a start the 12 bar isn't a rigid structure always to be followed. Cover some of the popular variations in length and chord sequence. Note that many songs will change to a 'more standard' 12 bar for a solo. Understand the difference between major and minor keys, things that rapidly give away the key and how this influences how and what fits. Things to play until you suss the key if jamming... Different turnarounds 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted September 14, 2021 Share Posted September 14, 2021 (edited) On 07/04/2021 at 10:06, greghagger said: Ah cheers, didn’t know Roscoe had an instructional video. That will be interesting to look at. I think we have similar tastes. Tommy’s feel is just so on the money! I have it actually https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ultimate-Beginner-Series-Blues-Bass-Basics-Beck-Roscoe-Good-Condition-Book-/133775010841?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0 irs very playalong in a good way and I notice something new each time I watch - the other musicians are good too Greg - where can I get the pdf for your bluegrass vid ? The chord chart in particular Edited September 14, 2021 by Geek99 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greghagger Posted September 16, 2021 Author Share Posted September 16, 2021 On 14/09/2021 at 21:37, Stub Mandrel said: I would say most people new to playing blues could probably do with understanding some of the conventions. For a start the 12 bar isn't a rigid structure always to be followed. Cover some of the popular variations in length and chord sequence. Note that many songs will change to a 'more standard' 12 bar for a solo. Understand the difference between major and minor keys, things that rapidly give away the key and how this influences how and what fits. Things to play until you suss the key if jamming... Different turnarounds Cheers @Stub Mandrel I’ve finally made the Blues course now (I called it ‘Walk The Blues’) and I made a bonus Blues Jam Survival Guide to focus on all the extra bits involved in turning up and jamming Blues. it was a great help having everyone’s suggestions to make sure I didn’t miss anything important. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greghagger Posted September 16, 2021 Author Share Posted September 16, 2021 On 14/09/2021 at 22:28, Geek99 said: I have it actually https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ultimate-Beginner-Series-Blues-Bass-Basics-Beck-Roscoe-Good-Condition-Book-/133775010841?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0 irs very playalong in a good way and I notice something new each time I watch - the other musicians are good too Greg - where can I get the pdf for your bluegrass vid ? The chord chart in particular @Geek99 Great, just ordered that to have a look. These are the links to the Bluegrass PDF’s. All the links to the relevant PDF’s are under the YouTube videos in the description if you need any others. TAB PDF: https://gregsbassshed.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/PDF's+50+onwards/How+To+Play+Bluegrass+Bass+-+TAB+(Greg's+Bass+Shed).pdf STANDARD NOTATION PDF: https://gregsbassshed.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/PDF's+50+onwards/How+To+Play+Bluegrass+Bass+-+Standard+Notation+(Greg's+Bass+Shed).pdf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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