Grooving And Soloing AT THE SAME TIME! 2 Instant Upgrades (Mega Easy)

I think you will probably find Victor Wooten on not only most bass player's top ten list, but on most musician's.
There is something so deep about his energy that makes the bass secondary to his music, despite being one of the most recognizable voices the instrument has ever known.
I'm extremely proud to call him a friend, and always come away from any time we spend together having learned something I never saw coming.
Having spent my entire career listening to and learning from his music, there is a huge amount of it in my playing (even though I'm not known for slap bass at all), and that's what I want to share with you here: 2 simple concepts that, when brought together, can help you take a step towards the greatness that is Victor's unrelenting pocket no matter what the context.
If you want to dig deeper into the book mentioned in the video, you can check it out here: janekgwizdala.com/store
There are a limited number of signed copies that are shipping worldwide, ebooks that you can enjoy immediately, and they all come with standard notation, bass TAB, play alongs and videos where applicable.
Join my Newsletter if you want more free content like this: janekgwizdala.substack.com/
#victorwooten #bassguitar
0:00 Intro
0:50 Custom Book Signing
1:25 Victor Wooten's Pocket
2:04 The Concept
2:29 Performance
3:04 The Big Question
3:23 The Real Test
3:46 The Bass Line
4:38 The Melody
5:20 Slowing It Down
6:54 Picking Hand
7:57 The Upside
9:21 Confidence

[@agcbass]

Buy this man's entire book collection. If you're serious about your bass education, you won't regret it.

[@benaberry578]

I’ve got two so far , loving em

[@wallace_nelson]

I have 5. Working on the complete collection. Love this guy!

[@michalkbass]

I'd love to but I can't read sheet music, just tabs

[@wallace_nelson]

@@michalkbass He does have BASS PLAYER'S GUIDE TO SIGHT-READING which is one that you can find on the his site. I'm not the best either so I know what you mean. But KZbin is full of free resources I plan on investing it all of his books.

[@agcbass]

​ @michalkbass Every single one of his books also includes every exercise in tablature. The tabs are in their own section in the back.

[@BastardBrad]

Stoked I found this channel! Thanks Janek! Grabbing that book here soon!

[@EricRunquistBass]

Always such a great job putting this together. So great to see you grow and develop as a player, and entrepreneur. Your hustle is the most inspiring

[@rickmyers1652]

Amazing content Janek! Keep going, it is worth it and is making a difference in all our lives!

[@argelinC]

So helpful so musical and so inspirational. Delivered with love and integrity from Janek. Thanks man.

[@building436]

There is something special... The opportunity to improvise on this is enormous!

[@mr.force1036]

Hey thanks man, good work. Can’t afford your books but I love your style and commitment. Very inspiring. 😎

[@PoteatMusic1]

Received my book a couple of days ago. Can’t wait to dive into it!

[@jamesgalway8814]

Thanks again for sharing.. always an eye opener from the Song Smith

[@user-ct9id3cq4j]

Fantastic book! Got it and Iconic lines. Brilliant job

[@michaelanthony9068]

Great lesson. Thank you Janek.

[@MrShippens]

Thank you Janek. I'm so happy to found your lessons. I love your playing (saw you first playing with Benny Greb at Drumeo Festival and then with Steve Smith, Awesome!!! ) Now i try to learn from you and it makes fun. thanks for sharing your knowledge 🙏

[@PV184bass]

Love the content and the sound of that bass 🤤

[@AdamZuk1982]

Świetny vlog Janek :) , dziękuję.

[@tmvps]

Thanks Janek you keep making me better bassist and are a constant source of motivation

[@skiphoffenflaven8004]

Wicked! Thanks so much.

[@aleksanderboczek5712]

great advices, boy this bass looks gorgeous

[@jordanwhittaker3520]

I recently bought your ii-V-I book. I thought I knew a decent amount of ii-V-I vocab but playing out the exercises that are "outside" the key centre really kicked my butt! Even some of the more basic exercises did as well! Love your stuff. Definitely want to look at your other books and content.

[@WrobelMichal]

Thanks for your advice / video Bro !! This is very inspiring !! You are amazing !

[@andyejembi7531]

Janek seems to care about my playing, although he hasn't met me. But I've met you Janek, and your content has been, and is still very helpful. Thank you.

[@fight-centermunster8198]

And once again incredibly helpful tips! I have several of your books and can only recommend it if you want to improve your bass. Thank you for your support!

[@christophercheney1006]

Love you dawg, you always have such wisdom. I have that book and I'll definitely dig into that ish. I play in a duo with a singer songwriter and she's always throwing me solos. It's effing terrifying! I'm still trying to find that sweet spot between King Edward and Bootsy. Cracking into this exercise will definitely remind me of how important it is to get and keep them booties shakin'!

[@siriuscentauri7969]

One of the best examples of grooving while soloing (or viceversa) is Willie Weeks on Voices Inside, from Donny Hathaway Live!

[@wallace_nelson]

I have 5 of your books. 1st one I got was this one. Working on the entire collection 🎉🎉

[@soundcanvas1450]

What an enjoyable bass line.to play . CoOL 👍👍

[@deermeadowhomes]

Janek found you a couple weeks ago. My playing has improved all ready. Just got your Pentatonic book. So excited! Thanks

[@janekgwizdala]

That’s awesome to hear!

[@stevereedy420]

How do you like the Pentatonic Book? I'm going to order it soon.

[@Ulloy777]

Amazing pocket! Thats some handsome Bass!

[@LEVALmusic]

The double p though 👀👀👌👌

[@benhamilton3835]

Book ordered 🙏

[@nonohmic766]

Whatever that new bass is sounds great. Simple and bassy clean af.

[@angrycarebear8631]

It’s an RKM bass

[@victord6333]

Hello Janek, great lesson enjoyed it a lot. Just wondering as a beginner could explain a little more about how to create a melody or what book explains it. Really appreciate the time that you give. Thank you

[@janekgwizdala]

Melody is all around us. All you need to do is turn on the radio, or find a random spotify playlist. I got my ability to be melodic as a musician by listening. There is no "method" to creating a melody, just the same as there is no method to "Creating" vocabulary. The english language for instance, is pretty much all set with words at this point. The only way we learn to use the words within the framework of the language is initially by listening as an infant, and then slowly assimilating, repeating, and then creating our own thoughts and phrases once we have sufficient information. Music and melody is no different. You won't learn it from a book, no matter what anyone tells you. Are there books that help exercise that muscle? Absolutely. I've written over 20 of them. But every book i write focuses on listening first, and "learning" second.

[@ChesterRodriguez]

That's inspired me to buy the book. Thank you.

[@allpass91]

Thank you Janek! You're always the inspiration that motivate me to push myself further and further and further. Does it offer international shipping by any chance perhaps? Thank you!

[@janekgwizdala]

International shipping is on this page: janekgwizdala.com/store/international-book-shipping 👍👍

[@brunoflokati4437]

Hi Janek! Thanks for the post! I have a question about your books: do they build on each other and what is the best order to go through them?

[@janekgwizdala]

They call all be used independently, and each cover quite different topics. Where certain topics make sense together, we’ve bundled the books with a discount for buying more than one.

[@ivyxhazel]

Breaking down how to get used to solo with grove is very helpful… lots of bass players go straight for the chops once the have a chance to solo Is that the bass you were playing at the namm show? I saw a post about you becoming a RKM artist

[@janekgwizdala]

I’m not sure about being an RKM “artist”. I’m not even sure what that would me to be honest. But the bass is amazing, it was a wonderful gift from RKM, and it’s something I will play on a very regular basis whenever I need an incredible P to play on records, videos and gigs. There is some talk about doing a limited run collaboration with them. But let’s see what happens. I’m just very happy to have this bass in my studio. It’s a serious piece of equipment that I connected with right away.

[@Julesplaysbass]

Good stuff! Is that one of the RKM basses from namm?

[@PV184bass]

Yes! Thats the double pbass that was on the booth. I played that bass and it sounded really good.

[@Julesplaysbass]

@@PV184bass nice! I played a bunch of their basses, they were great. I’m still daydreaming about getting one of the short scale jazz basses they had!

[@janekgwizdala]

Sure is. Very nice instrument. Connected with it as soon as I picked it up.

[@Julesplaysbass]

@@janekgwizdala nice! I really enjoyed their stuff, I’m talking with them about getting one of my own. Glad you’re enjoying yours!

[@EricDobko]

I've always wanted that reversed pickup position, seems like the only thing Leo Fender got wrong with the precision bass.

[@IanMartinAllison]

Dig!

[@MichaelWilliams-lo3ix]

Brillant

[@dand5990]

What's the music starting around 9:10 and going into the outro?

[@janekgwizdala]

Just stock soundtrack music. Nothing specific.

[@dand5990]

Got it. Sounded very familair to something I'm sure I know but can't remember for the life of me, so thought gonna ask just in case hah @@janekgwizdala

[@Troblack]

I have to ask, is your strap set high? I’ve noticed your bass doesn’t really rest on your knee all the time. I have the hardest time getting mine set like that.

[@janekgwizdala]

Well in this video I’m not using a strap at all, and it’s sitting 100% of the time on my left knee. Just remember that your knee needs to be raised to find the right balance point. I use a classical guitar foot stall, but anything that gets your foot a few inches off the ground will work. The balance of your instrument is also very important. If you have a neck heavy bass you’ll find it far more difficult.

[@Troblack]

🤙🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾

[@bassist2514]

It's a bit of a random question... how can I incorporate the use of compression on bass???

[@janekgwizdala]

plug that shit in and crank it up until it sounds good... That's kind of a crass answer, but it's also kind of accurate. get a compressor, and watch one of the million and one videos on youtube about how a compressor works. Or... do what I do: Get a compressor, never learn how it works, but turn the knobs until I find a sound I love.

[@bassist2514]

@@janekgwizdala love it!🤣 Thanks!

[@EricRunquistBass]

Janek! Which bass is this? I need to get one

[@janekgwizdala]

RKM from Mexico. Amazing bass!

[@EricRunquistBass]

@@janekgwizdala looks cool, sounds great! Been wanting to add a dual P to the toolbox for a while. Thanks m8

[@robertoepiscopo6558]

I have it already, should I take the second just for your autograph?

[@mud69]

colab with scotts bass lessons dude!

[@leighvallely9752]

How am I supposed to describe those pickups, double p, p jazz? Either way sounds great in those hands

[@bap6te557]

pp

[@ethanlocke3604]

Super p

[@janekgwizdala]

I think of them as double P as it’s two sets of p pickups.

[@martinheath5947]

Double reverse P

[@ZhaoYan-jz8yx]

I would like to buy , but I don’t know how to read, I know the tabs !

[@janekgwizdala]

All of my books have TAB. Just like in the video.

[@ZhaoYan-jz8yx]

Got it, I will buy it 😊

[@MrSnivs]

Do I spy a pair of Lusithand beauties there on that cab?

[@janekgwizdala]

You sure do! I'm getting ready to shoot an episode of my "Pedal Studio" series with them tomorrow.

[@benchinho]

What is this bass??😮

[@janekgwizdala]

RKM “Double P” from Mexico. Brand new for me this week.

[@benchinho]

@@janekgwizdala thanks. Looks great. Sounds like they all do, when you Play them...

[@NelsonMontana1234]

The worst thing about bass solos is that most other rhythm section players don't know how to back it up. They don't realize that like every other instrument, it needs support. It needs a foundation. That's what the bass provides for everyone. So what do they usually do when the bass stops doing that? They DROP OUT! That leaves the bass player with his pants down. Your example works well with a groove, but on a swing tune, not so much. As for Victor Wooton, he plays pre arranged solos.

[@janekgwizdala]

Couple of things that need addressing in this comment... I definitely agree that bass players get hosed sometimes when the rest of the band drops out for the bass solo, but the concepts I'm talking about in this video absolutely work for walking lines, and Victor Wooten does no play pre-arranged solos when he improvises. He plays soloistic bass compositions as part of his shows, but he is also a world class improvisor when it comes to soloing.

[@NelsonMontana1234]

@@janekgwizdala Well, "pre arranged solos/soloistic bass compositions" -- same diff. I'm sure in that little tidbit where he's using the harmonics, he's worked that out in advance. Still great though -- but also, it's got a beat. Never heard Victor solo over walking changes without accompaniment. Few people pull that off well. Christian, Scotty, Jeff Berlin. The nature of the register of the instrument alone does not make it conducive to a large audience as it is, even if someone is good at it. So why make it worse? On my recordings I play the drums and piano when I play a bass solo so I'm sure to get something that works. : ) Anyway, I like your playing and videos by the way.

[@EricRunquistBass]

Ok guess you have a video about said bass…

[@Lord_Hiram]

I feel like I’m a good groove player but I’ll never be a good soloist

[@janekgwizdala]

The great thing is, you can be both without ever calling it “being a soloist”. The smallest of melodic hints in your groove can go way more than most “soloists”. Freddie Washington, pino paladino, mike league, Abe Laboriel… all people I don’t consider soloists, but I would listen to their playing over so many “jazz” cats any day.