In this day it is sort of hard to get pass Youtube when it comes to finding good instructional value, so I couldn't skip the opportunity to share this one. This is a whole clinic on the Blueprint For the Working Jazz Bassist, delivered by nobody else but the legendary Ron Carter!
Even if you don't know who Mr. Carter is, but have any interest in jazz whatsoever, you owe it to yourself to watch this one.
Ron Carter Bass Clinic from Berklee on Vimeo.
First of all, yeah, a long hiatus... Moved to another country, and for a family man it entails loads of stuff to take care of. So, eventually managed to get back to the blog. To somehow compensate, I decided to cover a lot of topics at once, and fortunately it could be done through a single resource!
Todd Johnson is one of those players who don't get nearly as much recognition as they should for their work. If you haven't heard and seen him at it before, there is no other choice but to be amazed once you do.
As phenomenal as he is as a player, though, his real greatness (IMHO) lies in his instructional approach. Regardless of the subject taught, Johnson has really honed a truly excellent method of presentation, which he describes himself as "bite sized" chunks of information that are consumed one bite at the time. Now, many other instructors claim the same, but too often you end up with a pile of pieces that may indeed be easily digestible, but fail to come together as a coherent "full course meal". And a buffet offering is not always the the best way to have the best experience. Learning music is no different in this regard.
From that point, Todd Johnson is a master chef. Each course is prepared by using best ingredients and following a proven recipe. First of all, he knows what gamut of skills players need in order to have the ability of being a well rounded musician, ready to tackle any challenges that may be presented to them. Whether it is solid technique, building effective bass lines, executing meaningful solos, or performing specific tunes, you can rely on his instructional plan to get you going. And his menu won't hurt your wallet either. I know from experience, so let me review a few of those offers.
Now, each of the programs is a standalone piece that builds from the ground up, so take the following order as my personal choice, specifically this is the chronological order of my purchasing them. Besides, there is some overlap, too, in the sense that certain programs will by nature work on more than one aspect of your playing ability. You could and should choose in line with your own needs.
So, my first exposure to Johnson's educational output was Technique Builders. It has nothing to do with tapping, slapping or other fancy/flashy tricks. Instead, it is a thorough and gradual approach to building (or for those with some time on the instrument already - cleaning) a really good, functional physical command of the electric bass. In practice, it means the roles of the left and right hands in sound production (fingering; plucking), smoot movement on the instrument (finger independence and coordination; string crossing and skipping), sound control (muting) etc. To be specific, in my case it was of tremendous help in adapting my playing to a 5-string bass when I first undertook it, and made me adopt a different right hand technique, i.e. floating thumb method. Most importantly though, this video was my introduction to Johnson's teaching style, which I loved, thus nudging me to investigate his other products.
Next in line was Walking Bass Line Module System, because I was curious to see how he deconstructs and presents this topic. Non only did he not disappoint, but finally made me see the light at the end of the tunnel, i.e. perceive the undertaking of learning this style of playing as something doable. As a result, it boosted my motivation and joy of both practicing and performing in jazz bands. Even if you only stay with the first volume of the series (chord tones and approaches), you will be able to come up with good sounding lines and play with confidence. Including two remaining volumes (scalar lines and other stylistic devices) will definitely move you toward a more professional territory. This is definitely my "safety net" foundation.
Naturally, after excellent experience with the previous titles, I was eager try my hands at Johnson's Improvisation Module Method. Again, it features all the great features that I came to expect - detailed analysis, clear explanations, logical progression of instruction, supported by the enjoyable backing tracks. The lessons follow a similar approach as in the case of walking bass lines, in that they start with chord tones, then adding scalar passing and chromatic approach tones. Two things came as a great revelation and confidence booster here: understanding that you can get a lot of mileage from just a couple of notes when played with rhythmic interest (phrasing); this is a great ear training, too! The author calls his manner of teaching the "Karate Kid method", which may sound weird at first, but it is actually a fitting description once you get to it...and if you saw the original movies, of course.
Having taught you the ABC's and "grammar" of soloing, Johnson also shows you how to integrate the expressive means of the masters though his add-on module Major ii-V-I Vocabulary. Now, if you have the main modules under your fingers and in your ears, you are well equipped already, but tis module is a great way to figure out how to use and apply all those favorite cool sounding licks that we all have.
Finally, although it is advertised as more of a beginner/early intermediate material, the Bass Fundamentals Method: The Cycle is definitely a welcome addition to any bass player's vault of instructional material. Namely, I see it as an excellent compound workout, since following the program will give you a good coverage of technique, fretboard command, fundamental theory and ear training. Even if you are an experienced player, the systematic manner of practicing, as presented here, will probably take you out of the comfort zone, thus helping one's personal growth as a performer. The three different fingerings are presented for each type of scale and arpeggio shown, and then each is practiced in a consistent manner, thus helping diligent students to overcome obstacles and building confidence. I keep reiterating the confidence part, but it is the best way to enjoy one's music endeavors.
Some of the above programs are available as either a video/book combo or individual downloads and prints. As much as I love books, there is really no practical reason to get them (except maybe for collector's value), because Johnson accompanies all the videos with comprehensive PDF files, charts, transcriptions and explanations, along with audio backing tracks. In other words, the full package.
Besides those standalone, comprehensive programs, Johnson also offers a number of short, individual lessons on a selection of jazz standards, in a series titled Playin' Through the Real Book. Each tune is worked through three dimensions - bass line, solo, chordal accompaniment. As such, they are a great, and VERY affordable way of learning these pieces. Possibly most interesting feature of these is the chordal accompaniment. Namely, while Todd Johnson is widely acknowledged as possibly the authority on playing the bass as a solo instrument, especially the chord melody style, his instructional package (Fishin' For Grips) abut it has long been unavailable. Therefore these lessons may be a good way to dig into that aspect of bass playing, should you be so inclined.
In the end, I cannot emphasize enough how pleasant and encouraging Johnson's video personality is, which serves to further reinforce the phenomenal content of his instructional materials. No wonder then that he is one of the favorite masterclass instructors within the Scott's Bass Lessons portal and community, and a long time collaborator of the late Jim Stinnett. Honestly, if I were pressed to choose a single bass instructor to work with for the rest of my life, that would be a horribly difficult decision to make, but Todd Johnson would without any doubt be in the narrowest selection.
Saw an interesting poll on a Facebook group Bass Upfront, and basically the question was: if you could only play one kind (not label) of strings for the rest of your life, what would it be? The overwhelming majority of answers was - roundwound. Not unexpected, eh?
Well, yeah... I mean, that was my answer, too. That said, I do have flatwounds on one of my basses, and I like them, but the response was a no brainer. That, however, made me wonder why? After all, the flatwounds came first, being the standard on electric basses for more than a decade in the beginning. Innumerable popular smash hits were recorded on flatwound strung basses, often played with a pick (just ask Carol Kaye or James Jamerson). One would think that such a strong foundation would make everything else be secondary or peripheral, but the roundwounds really spread fast, once they appeared in 1962.
Now, the way I see it, such popularity may be rooted in a couple different reasons, probably working in synergy. First of all, they were endorsed by a hugely popular/influential player at the time - The Who's John Entwistle. Yet, on its own, it couldn't have been enough. After all, Paul McCartney wasn't playing them... Plus, Entwistle's playing style was unique, as was his gig, so it is not very probable that there was a huge percentage of bass players at the time fancied themselves as is next incarnation. There's gotta be something else to it.
Secondly, and probably more important was that one factor that in pre-MTV world of music "independent" of video was the main ingredient - the sound! Regardless of what or how Entwistle played, my guess is that legions of bass players back then thought their own playing, their own musical expression, would come through better with that roundwound sonic spice. Especially so with rock music, which was the staple of commercial entertainment business of the era from 1960's to 1990's.
Interestingly enough, as the trends come and go in cyclical manner, the old-school sound became popular again and increased the popularity of flatwounds (and various coated strings), but the roundwounds remain undisputed. One of the main reasons, I'd wager, that it is easier to get the emulation of flatwound sound from the roundwounds than the other way around. In a way, that makes the rounds kind of more universal, or at least suited to a wider scope of music styles, hence the enduring popularity.
Ultimately, though, you know what is the best part of that question at the beginning? That we do not have to make that choice :-)
When learning how to develop the walking bass lines over jazz standards or other music pieces that require this kind of sound there are two main approaches to doing it, although largely overlapping. One is concerned with the step-by-step method that starts at the bare basics of harmonic understanding and how to express it in music. The other uses the vocabulary acquisition method, i.e. selectin and teaching certain "cells" of bass lines which have been established over time as standard devices in the genre, used innumerous times by the professional players. If compared with methods of learning a foreign language, the first approach would be akin to teaching the student the grammar and other underlying principles of a given language, while the second might be seen as learning common phrases and expressions first, in order to start communicating as soon as possible. Ultimately, if the goal is a high level of functioning in the chosen language, the speaker will need the command of both aspects. Besides that, the first way may be more applicable to less experienced player, with second possibly leaning more towards those with some experience.
This time we are dealing with the latter approach. One of the excellent instructional tools that exemplifies the vocabulary method is a book written by Joe Hubbard, one of my favorite bass educators out there, who will be featured in some of the future reviews as well.
Although not a very large volume, this book manages to pack a lot of great information in a very effective and functional manner. (NOTE: on Hubbard's product page you will see a different cover, but when the order is delivered this is the one you will see). The author starts by identifying and explaining the components that make the ingredients of a good walking bass line, and emphasizes that "As well as the harmonic specificity, the rhythmic specificity must be adhered to in order to achieve an effective outcome with your bass lines".
He then proceeds to present and explain his selection of ten fundamental "phrases" that help to run a meaning full "conversation" within the context of jazz. Those include devices such as chord tones, passing and approach notes, scalar runs etc, along with harmonic adaptation and octave displacement principles that should enable you to make the lines smoother and fluid.
Hubbard explains the harmonic foundation of each of the ten cells and demonstrates how each is applied over a typical jazz blues chord progression. Finally, he puts together a matrix of those options for each of the chord types used, and writes out nine choruses of blues walking bass lines to show how they can be combined and matched in an actual playing situation.
Again, don't let the lean size of this manual trick you into thinking that it is not a big deal, because it does cover a lot of ground, and if you put in proper work it will give you a lot of mileage out of it. The best things that simultaneously you will get instant authentic sounding solution for all the common harmonic contexts, as well as the understanding that should enable you to adapt the lines to any other musical environment. As the matter of fact, once you understand what the ingredients are and how they are effectively combined, that knowledge ought to allow you to build good sounding lines in any situation, regardless of the style and genre.
While there is not really such thing as shortcut to jazz proficiency, this is as close as you can get to it - highly recommended!
Actually, when it comes to sound production on the bass, by far the grand majority of players are on the plucking side, i.e. using fingerstyle, as opposed to using a pick (plectrum) to put the strings into motion. Of course, the two approach are not mutually exclusive, and there have been phenomenal players featuring either of those. I tend to choose based on what sounds better in a given piece of music, all the more so since some styles of music are better suited for one or the other.. That said, the great Bobby Vega, one of the premiere proponents of the pick, says that "you can make the pick sound like fingers, but not the other way around".
Here is another excellent representative of the picking camp - Cody Wright - explaining the WHYs and HOWs of his approach. I find is particularly interesting because he is known for this ferocious funk playing, which is a style typically associated with fingerstyle or slap, but not so much with pick,
Hope this inspires you to look for and experiment with new sonic expressions on bass.
If you have read my previous posts about the subject of chord tones (you have, right?), the significance and benefits from studying it should be well established by now. So far, the instructional methods reviewed have been mostly concerned with the exact (diatonic) tones of a given chord, but that is not all there is to it. So, what is a good step towards the "next level" then?
Possibly the most concise work in this regard is the book Fretboard Arcadium, written by Scott Hubbell. The aim of this volume (something like 86 pages of solid information) is pretty good described in the foreword, done by one of the true masters of the instrument - Todd Johnson (watch for reviews of his publications in the future), who pointed that diligent work on this material should help you
1. develop your melodic sense
2. improve your ability to solo
3. improve your ear training
4. improve your fretboard knowledge...
So, how does Hubbel approach this task?
He starts, appropriately, with a quick review of the theory behind the building blocks of studying harmony in this way, i.e. vertically. Namely, he briefly explains how the chords are constructed and what their inversions are, as well as the concept of approach notes. And from there, the main portion of the book begins!
The first half of the book is dedicated to a thorough treatment of the four types of triads, each with 10 (ten!) different exercises, built on four main ways of approaching the notes within it. For the sake of clearer illustration of the material the author uses both the standard notation and tablature, but you don't necessarily need to stick to the shown fingering of each individual exercise. After all, the author says himself: "Take the exercises on the 4 note chords and change them around, make them yours".
Speaking of the 4-note structures, Hubbell addresses two types of 6th chords (major and minor), as well as four types of 7th chords (major, minor, dominant, half-diminished, diminished). However, his treatment of each, in terms of providing exercises, is not as step-by-step as the triads. That is because he relies on your diligence in covering the previous material, and applying the principles learned to the new lessons. Essentially, he shows the use of selected approaches to the new chordal structures, but it is up to the reader/student to figure out how all of the earlier explained steps need to be implemented in order to reap the full benefits.
While I do appreciate the methods that delineate every step of the way for the students, I have always preferred those that require the students to get involved on a deeper level, because in my case they help the better actual understanding and absorption of the lessons.
Now we come to the part of the story that sort of fits the mysterious tone of the book title... Namely, this volume, along with the authors other one (about scales) used to be available both in printed and electronic formats. But, while I was checking out the Internet for details to include in this review, it turned out that Hubbell's websites are no longer online, and the main distributor of his works (bassbooks.com) went under several years ago. Therefore, I couldn't contact the author, but the hardcopy version of the book can still be found/ordered if you search for it a bit, and still at a great price. For the value you are getting from the book, it will be time and money well spent.
There are probably a few words/phrases in the bass playing world, and particularly in the field of learning, that immediately evoke one of those "love it or hate it" feeling. And there is no doubt that walking bass is one of those.
Those who belong to the latter category mostly don't like the kind of music typically related to this sort of bass lines and feel, i.e. jazz and blues, but they actually fail to perceive this approach to building the foundation in other musical styles, such as pop, rock, ska etc.
In terms of learning bass, the "dislikers" tend to shun the thing for being tedious and lacking excitement. What they fail to see, however, is that both arguments are mostly applicable in the early stages of work, but in the long term it can be downright exhilarating. But, even more importantly, the overall learning benefits from embarking on this path are numerous and hard to reach otherwise. Without going into a long rant, the study of the walking bass will build your harmonic understanding of music as a whole, develop your sense of pulse and rhythm, propel the command of the fingerboard in a non-artificial way etc.
Now, while I plan to do some in-depth coverage of some excellent material available on the subject, there are a couple of very good free online resources that can give you a good start and form a solid foundation for any future study, should you decide to undertake it. If not, this could be enough to open enough doors to better understanding of what you are doing as a bassist in any other kind of band.
Let me begin with someone the readers of this blog are probably acquainted with - Posido Vega. He has what would probably be adequately described as extended lesson about the walking bass, covering all the necessary ingredients: chord tones, scale tones, chromatic approaches. Besides that, he also provides the recipe for putting it all together (i.e. how to organize your learning), as well as a handful of useful "cookbooks" (i.e. books by renowned authors). The lesson is presented in text, with music examples in standard notation and tablature.
The other, but by no means lesser, website that you should visit is the aptly titled Walking Bass Lessons by Tomasz Ziobro. He touches upon the same topics as in the previous case, naturally, but in a somewhat more comprehensive manner, with individual lessons on the abovementioned "ingredients", with the addition of voice leading. Another difference is the formatting of the material, where the underlying theoretical concepts are offered in writing, but the main segment is done in video. As the matter of fact, for the literary challenged, the videos are available on Ziobro's Youtube channel, along with a bunch of his other bass lessons.
So, there you have it! I hope this will both encourage you to tackle the interesting realm of walking bass and help pointing you in the right direction.
