Nathan East's Tips for Playing in the Pocket

ArtistWorks electric bass master Nathan East shares his tips for an essential bass technique - playing in the pocket. Get free bass lessons: artistworks.com/freelessons

[@tapangaur]

With a voice like his, you don't even need a bass. ✨

[@arpansaha4218]

,m

[@hotmetalslugs]

Didn’t.

[@JeyFor]

Best lesson ever for any bassist

[@wrobinson1702]

Great quote: "It's more difficult than it seems to lock in with the click." No kidding! Concentration is key. Virtuoso bassists (like Nathan) get to the point where they can do it without really thinking. I always struggle NOT to go too fast when playing complex 8th or 16th notes. Good lesson.

[@2204JCM]

Even Billy Sheehan puts lots of time practicing playing quarter notes just like we see here.

[@ChickenMcFuggets]

Even Nathan wasn't "locked in" he was kind of bouncing around the click not exactly on it or the same time around it each time

[@matthazelby506]

​@@2204JCMBecause Billy Sheehans all about groove.😂😂😂😂

[@posecoach]

Hey Nathan! Met you at one world theatre in Austin a decade ago or so. As bass player I REALLY appreciate your free lesson! You were such a treat to meet and listen to. Many thanks! I gonna try these exercises

[@woodprogrammer]

this makes me want to take up the electric bass. saw him with clapton and knopfler a long time ago. so good

[@tsmerk]

I used to enjoy listening to Nathan many years ago at Fat City in San Diego. Still one of my faves!

[@Marleytrue]

2:26 "If I could reach the stars... [Change the world, I would be the sunlight in your universe] 🎶🎶 Loving the Clapton vibes , what an excellent tutorial! 🙏🏼🙂

[@blackcatjazzin]

Nathan, thanks for this tip. You are right, it sounds easy but not quite to maintain your musicianship to ‘merely stay in the pocket’, . P.S. you are legend and a treasure sir………

[@kpec3]

He's a bad dude, with credits like Kenny Loggins, Phil Collins, Clapton, he's elite. Listen to what he has to say.

[@funmakers2093]

You can say to play in the pocket. Teaching it to someone as a whole other story.

[@kpec3]

@@funmakers2093 Yeah he's a master.

[@shkyrbty]

This is cool, thank you for the great practicing tips!

[@jameskowalkowski2308]

The best POCKET explanation!!

[@RWoods_music]

I tapped each leg to that metronome too, nathan east is an OG. great lesson

[@mikestampede77]

Great video, the random aerial shot was the icing on the cake!

[@LorenzoDeLeon]

😂

[@maxisotelo9348]

Great lesson!thanks for this!greetings from Bariloche,Argentina

[@juniorsimmons6174]

It is still hard to believe that the Basslines for Barry White was played by a teenage Nathan East. Salute to you sir!!!!!!

[@lemon__j]

I didn't know that. Cool!

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

Barrow Wight

[@BassPotter46]

Thanks Mr. Nathan! Longtime fan!✅

[@jvossobass]

Gracias Excelente me encanto saludos de Argentina

[@kabutoid]

I move my head up and down when he demonstrates the upbeat practice

[@oteiri78]

I like how playing in pocket actually means that the note starts to ring behind. And even then that's in the pocket. Bass isn't the hammer of the bassdrum. It's the vibration which comes slightly after the hit.

[@wootube]

Yes! I see from the comments that lots of people missed this point. (But to be fair, for some reason Nathan doesn't explicitly mention this... in a video about playing in the pocket lol)

[@2204JCM]

The bass has an attack at the head of the note. It needs to line up with the attack of all the other instruments such as drums and guitars. This is what you hear Nathan doing with the click track. The actual note (pitch) comes immediately after and sustains.

[@AllanGildea]

Thank you Nathan!

[@billrobinson1250]

Hey Mr East ...Bill "Smooth" Robinson lll" outta Texas our friend Bryce whom sent me photos of you two before heading to LA. Thks for your videos and playing in the pocket keeps everything simple alittle flare here there...but staying in the pocket is what my brother Larry "Sweet" Robinson (drums) is a preacher of!!! 😊We bassist drive the Bus and The Pocket is a must to forming any arrangements and keeping a groove thks Sir all the way from DFW!!! 🙏🏽❤️

[@wscme]

Thank you so much!

[@ChristosBassCovers]

Smooth Bro ... Sounds Great. So completely agree with you that this needs to be a bass player's primary focus. So may want to slap and scale to impress ... if they cannot play in the pocket, they will have a hard time working with a band. Also also applaud your comments on playing with a click. Profession studio or large-scales concerts will likely always have click. These scenarios will require playing with a click. If you are on stage, the click will be in your ears. It's often mixed into the supplemental tracks so you can't simply have it taken out in your ears.

[@jul1an77]

Nathan East the Beast!!

[@raysaade]

Man that "Change The World baseline" intro is so iconic

[@chrisbirdsall6055]

That is one luscious sounding low E string!

[@fieldagent59isintheforest32]

In 1986, Nathan asked to borrow my bass for about an hour, at the Whisky a GoGo in Hollywood one afternoon during our soundcheck, he was helping an Older artist perform for industry people at an audition... I was in a prog pop band at the time.. but I knew his name and who he was...I wonder if he would even remember ...

[@michaeldemertzi5973]

But what is prog pop 😂

[@kakashi392]

I too wonder about Prog Pop. That sounds neat. Especially if you lean into heavy FX

[@john-ic5pz]

when I was a teenager, I got caught playing in the pocket... mom made me go to confession 😢

[@eagletown8977]

Did it involve a g string?

[@derickdoveglass]

Thank you sir 💚🤘

[@mikehess4494]

Thank you

[@juniorsimmons6174]

It is sorta like basketball. There is a drill where the good coaches will have you shoot from side to side starting from right under the basket. This is done just to make sure that your form is correct. Same thought process for music. My college band director made a tune out of a simple scale to determine if everyone was tuned up and to make sure that we were in pocket. It works. I am not usually a fanboy but I am a big fan.......

[@tasteapiana]

Fascinated by how he leads with his right index finger and then switches up to use his middle finger for reaching on the D and G as if his brain says ''Ooops, gotta do M>I now because I>M might goof us up''. I can pluck I>M but it just doesn't feel right to me on any string enough to do it dominantly, even how Nathan does it in string groupings (I>M for E and A but M>I for D and G). I can grasp the approach he uses, it makes sense to me, but it just isn't structurally how I view the right hand functioning - it seems more of an upright/fretless thing than a method applicable to thumping or running lines like Jaco. It's more of a patterned thing, a reliable thing that follows specific rules and I just can't go there, don't even want to, but I appreciate that he is that regimented of a player. To me, it's what makes his playing identifiable. Left hands are important but unless note choice and tonality are your ''thing'' it's all about that right hand, that's how we become identifiable. I just won't believe that Nathan East is relied upon so much because of his note choice or his sound, cats hire him because of his feel and his solid regimented tact. That's right hand all day long, baby.

[@clouds7705]

@@bryansavedra2623 don’t be sorry

[@charlieb8735]

Trying to force an index first pattern at all times feels very unnatural to me. Personally, as I have gotten older and perform more regularly, I’ve put specific work into flexibility and consequently taking the approach of treating my I/M fingers as L/R sticks and trying to incorporate phrasing from drum rudiments. I’m short my thinking is that it’s good to have default rules in your playing but like any musical rule, the greatest benefit of understanding the rule is your certainty of when and how to break it.

[@TKOthunder]

And this is the next phase of my bass playing journey. I personally think that Billy Sheehan and Geddy Lee basslines are easier to do then mastering the pocket like Mr. East. Respects to all of them, I'm speaking about myself and my bass guitar growth.

[@williamcobbs3606]

Thank you Mr.nate

[@frankgoodwell1261]

Thanks !

[@aussiecoastie72]

Great player

[@TheWizardOfGore89]

I want that bass!

[@Frederer59]

One of my teachers said to clap with the metronome. If you were precise, the click sound would disappear because the clap was louder than the click. And the ultimate is to put the click on 2 and 4.

[@lashlarue7924]

Thank you, I don't even own a bass and I still bassed out to this. 😎

[@jimdep6542]

Now you'll have to get one. Your life will never be the same.

[@frankciambra7380]

thank you

[@oliviermeunier7077]

Makes playing with to a click sound fun

[@xtenkfarpl]

Playing with a click track is excellent practice, especially to be ready for studio work. But how do you know how well you're dong? The only way is to record yourself along with the click track, replay it and listen. I've been doing this recently and it's embarrassing how sloppy my technique has become (well, I hadn't been playing for a couple of years)... excuses excuses... I need to start doing more exercises... Cheers Nathan!

[@TheHorseRaddish]

You can record it and check visually in your DAW

[@peterg5383]

How well you're dong?

[@spatnaspolecnost]

@@peterg5383 A simple typo. Most people would just ignore it and pay more attention to what he's saying instead. Not you apparently.

[@peterg5383]

@@spatnaspolecnost: A simple correction. Most people would just ignore it and pay more attention to what he's saying instead. Not you apparently.

[@spatnaspolecnost]

@@peterg5383 I see you're providing real public service here

[@johanneslaudi6184]

its also good to record yourself when practicing with metronome and then play back the recording. usually you dont realize your mistake until you hear your own recording.. i thought i was really on beat with the metronome, until i listen to my own recording..

[@bigkeezo]

Wow good idea I’ll have to do that. Thanks sir

[@mikecappadocia5959]

2:25 I'm like, "that sounds like Change The World, by Clapton". Then i look at your face again, "hey that's Clapton's bassist. That makes sense" lol

[@user-cg8nf8zk9l]

Thanks 😉😊

[@garethde-witt6433]

Dig the life in the fast lick 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@mikecappadocia5959]

As far as keeping time with the 8th note patterns, i try to emphasize the 'on' beat. And the 'and' comes in naturally. It still takes focus though.

[@linkedup7346]

These are the best bass lessons. Stay with the click.. Notice Nathen says "I'll try to do it this way", being very humble. Some of us are very good but not all of us had the opportunity to play with famous people. What are the chances of Stevie Wonder walking in while you're practicing before the show? Is the answer just being in the right place at the right time? Sometimes I really think it is.

[@andrebenevides7]

Nathan, vi você tocando com a banda TOTO. Foi só uma participação ou estão tocando juntos?

[@weeraugsornpinit9984]

Cool.

[@H4nsoftheHearts]

cool😎

[@Dhakadice]

1:33 sounds like "The Family And The Fishing Net" by Peter Gabriel. :D

[@simonsimon325]

Felt like this was just, listen to me play great, now go do that.

[@RascalMendes]

Should be required viewing for all bass players!

[@prograven4844]

cool tip,so its about fine tuning the right hand, without the bass is it ok to tap fingers on right hand to a click?

[@gsxerwhite]

1:40 dope

[@species138]

This is a great lesson. So simple and yet not.

[@matthewcummings9024]

Was thinking RATM

[@MsMusicman56]

Don't forget to add, tapping yr foot/feet to help keep in the groove

[@julzmuzik9464]

Nathan bEast!!

[@Noone-of-your-Business]

Some visualizations would _really_ help here.

[@dancassidy7471]

Hitel California is in the pocket yet OMG not what was on record/ recording but correct it will❤ get one by

[@leoray1234]

which model is that bass he's playing?

[@Napalm6b]

Yamaha BB 434 or 424, the older version, great basses at a reasonable price

[@ObeseChess]

Given that Nathan is an endorser - and a fairly wealthy man - I’m inclined to think it’s the BB2024X, the Japanese made deluxe version of the bass mentioned above. The whole series of basses is great, though.

[@trance9158]

He also has a Yamaha signature series bass that's awesome. Based off these older BB series basses.

[@bassturbant]

"Nothing more than a quarter note.." And this is how it's done kids!

[@JohannesLabusch]

So ... this is not Nathan's signature Yamaha bass. Anyone know the model name or number?

[@timbailey4055]

If I could change the world

[@lucascecconi258]

HOLLY MACARONI THATS GOOD

[@_Majoras]

the equalizer sharing his bass knowledge

[@gostunsky]

3:20

[@jj-eg5up]

The off beat is where things can get messy fast.

[@Farewelltokingz]

Subdivisons with a metronome on beats 2 and 4 practice is amazing exercise.

[@LorenzoDeLeon]

There’s this drummer guy, Benny Greb, who shows in his DVD how he performs the same groove on the beat, then off beat, then with the metronome being on any 16th note (2nd or 4th). I guarantee if you can do this, you’ll be safe in any live situation - but your mind will be blown in pieces 😂

[@midknightsinn2068]

can someone tell me whats the title of the intro

[@GalenWillettMusic]

“Change the World” by Babyface featuring Eric Clapton. Enjoy

[@Denver_Risley]

Who else went, "LIFE IN THE FAST LA-ANE..."?

[@ipevatetahio3968]

What does it exactly means "playing in the pocket" ?🤔

[@PixelCultureMedia]

I didn’t know Denzel Washington played bass😂

[@zappa66]

Oh. The Equalizer plays bass 😂

[@kenkauffman8342]

so in one song you can play all that stuff as long as you re on the click

[@Chrisrib]

if you drag this to your DAW then we see that his notes are played a little behind the click. So: first click impulse an then a gap and then the bass note

[@duncanmcneill7088]

You shouldn’t need to put this into a DAW to see/hear this? It’s painful to listen to for me.

[@wootube]

Yes, it is super audible how he plays behind the beat instead of on top of it. The key though is that while he’s consistently behind the beat, he is not dragging (slowing down!) The skill to put notes around the beat without rushing or dragging is exactly what sets apart the grooviest players. I guarantee that he has the ability to play right on top of the beat if the song calls for that feel. To wit, Stewart Copland always played right on top of the beat (slightly ahead of it) and it added this propulsive energy to Police songs. Conversely, playing behind the beat like in this video gives music a laid back feel.

[@lowstringc]

The same could be said for world-class violinists and intonation. If you measure against an equal-tempered ‘tuner’, they’re always “out of tune”. This is because they’re tuning functionally (smaller or bigger steps/intervals depending on the function of the note in a phrase/harmony). Funnily enough, that sounds more in tune than the unnaturally “tuned” by the “tuner”. Same with rhythmic feel. Playing behind or ahead IS the feel, and this is contextual and functional. He could certainly play dead center, but then he’d lose the feel he’s portraying here. Today it’s too easy to try to measure against what we think are standards of “perfection” and never understand that those standards are shallow and counterproductive. I’ve done masters work in audio production - how often we try to snap everything to the grid to “improve” it, when we’re really just dipping it in bleach and hanging it out to die. I’m not advocating for “sloppy”, but this groove is intentional and tight, despite the claim that it doesn’t line up.

[@wootube]

@@lowstringc100%. I’ve played violin since I was a kid, and when I picked up the guitar, I couldn’t figure out why guitars always seemed out of tune to me. I’d tune the guitar so that an open C chord sounded good, but then the barre chord would sound off. (Add distortion, and it was even more obvious!) It drove me crazy until I realized that intonation is all about compromise with a fretted instrument. (I was so used to making intervals sound tight and perfect on the violin that this never occurred to me)

[@duncanmcneill7088]

@@lowstringc - while I agree with much of what you have said... (I played fretless bass professionally for many years and currently am currently heavily involved in the use of microtonal scales and tunings in my compositions) - the consistency with which he is playing behind the beat leads me to conclude that the problem is with some synchronisation issue during recording. For example - when I first started recording in Logic everything sounded behind the beat - just like this. When I recorded the click that I was playing to back into Logic and lined up the tracks, the CLICK was also recorded late. This is a known issue and there is a feature in the Logic “audio preferences” to compensate for this “recording delay”. In my setup this is 59 samples. I know because I’ve measured it. Now when I record, there is no such delay and I hear back the performance I intended. I believe something similar is happening here.

[@carpo719]

I never had lessons, so I was always all over the place. But recently my brother told me the last 3 bass players he had in his band could not play one song that he and I played together. It is almost as if having training can limit your creativity. He says he still loves my bass the most, even though I hardly play. And never learned. It's strange to me because i feel like I suck. :)

[@carloscuegarcia9600]

En Argentina jamás ha habido democracia alguna,jamás. Democracia=representación política+separación de poderes.

[@LucaLindemann]

Eagles?😊❤️

[@kevinmontgomery5749]

The easiest stuff is the hardest stuff because you must discipline yourself to play it it's so easy

[@IgorNorable]

5:31 Eagles?!..

[@vasprov]

Никогда не считал его басистом. Послушайте и сравните Victor Wooten, Belly Sheehan, Jaco Pastorius, Flea, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, Stuart Hamm, Sting.... И кто такой этот типок?

[@sixsentsoldiers]

...years of doing it live.

[@gregoryarrington5948]

I'm not even 5 minutes into the video and it's already in the pocket with the simplest. ☝️I feel where you coming from Back to the study 🤔

[@duncanmcneill7088]

I’m surprised that so many people can’t hear that he’s playing behind the beat. Everything is dragging. I assume because of some technical issue in post production. This really isn’t a good example of “playing in the pocket”.

[@wootube]

He is “playing behind the beat” but it’s not dragging because he’s not slowing the tempo down. I guarantee he can put the note anywhere he wants around or on the beat as required.

[@Fastvoice]

I bet it's not a "technical issue" - it's deliberate.

[@jacksonrussellband]

When your toe starts tapping to bass and a metronome you know you're grooving...👍

[@jasoncabral8732]

The click doesn't drink at practice either 😢

[@artysanmobile]

A click is the hard stuff. Playing with a solid drummer in free time is far easier. Never record with a click unless the musicians literally need it. Clock music is the bastard child of great time.

[@CarnyChic]

…and then I……say it

[@musamusashi]

I wish more bass players (and drummers) would focus on the groove, the pocket and playing for the song, rather than displaying technique and chops that have no musicality.

[@willrobinson4089]

Denzel Washington?

[@edjefferson9175]

Unfortunately playing in the pocket is not possible with most drummers.

[@lahondafolk4334]

Fortunately I don’t play with MOST Drummers...lol Most of the ( LESS?) drummers I play with are all about the pocket too.

[@brentperez4700]

Makes it seem so simple… The great ones always do, right.

[@dennisestessr918]

Just once.. before I die... I want to experience the following situation in front of some chicks; Chicks: "Can you play guitar?" Me: 5:30

[@mirak63]

Guitar ??

[@denisblack9897]

what song is it? i have this lick playing in my head for all my life edit: relaxed a bit and it came to me - it's living in the fast lane

[@john-ic5pz]

bass guitar!

[@bluesmanshoes]

Is it just me or is he slightly laid back on his first "on-beat" thing? It grooves of course but is not "on".

[@tommj4365]

In the pocket doesn't mean absolutely on the beat. It's more of a groove thing, a consistency thing. Playing slightly after a beat gives a laid back feel. He didn't really explain it well, but he played a great groove

[@chaosopher23]

Any drum will work. I think cowbell will work. Time to stop typing and practice!

[@NelsonMontana1234]

Jeff Berlin disagrees.

[@mathewmarsico1841]

What does he disagree with

[@NelsonMontana1234]

@@mathewmarsico1841 It's a famous controversy. Jeff doesn't like the use of metronomes.

[@bepitan]

confused ...his hands never went near his pockets?

[@crungefactory]

Sadly, he's not in the pocket at all.

[@user-hz3df8qd4k]

nice lesson Mandingo