Bass Solo Improvisation Lesson #1 - Getting Started

[@sniggity]

I've been a bassist for 25 years and just found your channel last night. I wish it existed 25 years ago, I'd be a lot better. Don't get me wrong, I'm good now, but I'm a "street player" with no music education. But now your videos are so educational that all I want to do is practice like I did when I was fifteen again. Thanks so much, you are a great teacher !

[@gregpruitt1647]

My thoughts exactly.

[@willliam5613]

you all probably dont care but does any of you know a method to log back into an Instagram account? I was stupid lost my password. I would love any tips you can offer me

[@haydencole6129]

@Will Liam Instablaster =)

[@willliam5613]

@Hayden Cole I really appreciate your reply. I found the site through google and Im in the hacking process atm. Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@bettygoldymolly4482]

After 5yrs of Learning bass, I wonder why I could be able to pay everything I was learning, this video is the reason why and thanks to talking bass channel

[@genobisceglia5629]

great lesson - just like you said," put that ego aside and start simpler". that's a great bit of advice :)

[@aryanagarwala2219]

Guys don't just memorise scales. As you play you'll start to kind of remember what each fret sounds like (more or less) and what notes sound good together. When you're listening to a song (While you're playing it or otherwise), always have melodies running through your head, they don't have to be insane Stairway to Heaven melodies but have some sort of melody in your head. Feel the song. If you go with the direction of the song, the solo will come naturally. Articulation is very important along with stage presence. Listen and watch John Mayer play live. Don't be rigid, let your body go with the flow of the song, it don't matter what you look like.

[@DonyaLane]

Mark, I dig you, man! It's one thing to be a solid player (which, you clearly are), but it's another thing ENTIRELY to be a great guru and instructor - and wow, you sure are! A great teacher knows the art of showing a student where to look, and that is PRECISELY what you are doing in this lesson. This style of teaching allows the student to find his/her own truth inside the music. Like a wee, little seed, it contains so much power that it can grow into an enormous tree.

[@fireflee111]

Thanks, I finally get it, I can work with this. After just copying bass tabs, I can do Something original.

[@2Langdon]

Absolutely brilliant lesson - refreshingly free of BS and marketing hype, this is truly excellent teaching. And it's inspiring too, because of Mark's insight into how music works and into how learning goes for most of us non geniuses. Mark's way shows you how to really get hold of the most basic building blocks of music and work from there on up. So your confidence increases and as you play you can risk those flights into the next challenging and exciting area. I'm a just a beginner and I am getting so much from these lessons, thank you Mark, very much indeed.

[@bassist41]

You are an excellent teacher! Thanks very much.

[@marcdidier495]

Playing Bass for three years now. This is by far the BEST LESSON I've ever listened to. Thank you so much. I am not what you would call a "native musician" ;-) and I was sure that my problem was playing the right notes. Now I have to realize that I can't even do it with one note. But I'm already improving. Thanks again.

[@grimmortal]

I maybe 5 years late to this playlist. But thank you very much Mark! You're truly an amazing teacher.

[@jeremiebrogniez9411]

Same here

[@sunjamrblues]

Subscribed! I'm pretty good on the guitar, but a total rank beginner on bass. This was the best explanation I've found for beginning my journey of learning bass improv. Many thanks, see you on your channel!

[@darbywest6742]

Big thanks Mark. I am a beginner of 6months about to start lessons with a tutor who has told me to learn modes because he only teaches improv! After your comment & this great lesson I feel better equiped to face the music lol 😂

[@kingmvp7355]

Ware have u been all my life. I been trying to learn to play Bass off & on for 30 + yrs. I found your video, watched two of them & I know way more now then I've ever. I finally feel like I can be a musician a Bass Player. Thank You so much ! You are a God sent. can't. thank u enough.

[@felipeplauska9054]

Watching an interview w/ Vic Wooten now in 2020 and he said exactly what was taught here "Bass players just need 1 note...cos it´s all about the rhytm". Thanx Mark, you´re such a teacher!

[@manasesflores1054]

Thank you very much, I've seen a bunch of classes about improvising and phrasing and didn't understood a word of what they were talking about, but this one, man it's the most efficient class I've ever seen... now I feel motivated and inspired to keep going forward on this road. Thank you very much, you're a great teacher. I've been playing bass for 3 years, but I feel I know nothing. Once again, I express my gratitude to you.

[@bluesnfire401]

Mark, thanks so much for your AMAZING lessons! I started out by watching your slap videos, as it was always something I wanted to be able to do but had no idea where to start. I can't believe how much fun I'm having slapping and how quickly my skills have progressed using your exercises. Since then, I've ventured into your lessons on getting to know the notes on the neck better, and now to this improvisation intro. EVERY lesson is GREAT, and this one on improv really drove home to me that you're the real deal, not just throwing licks and scales at folks who want to learn, but instead facilitating actual creative exploration in a way that is accessible and inviting. Yours are the best lessons I've found on the web! Thanks for all the accompanying material over on your website too. Very well put together in every way. THANK YOU so much for all the time and love you're putting into these lessons! It really shows. Thanks from across the ocean!

[@samuelcozens7639]

Your videos are indispensable; this is insanely useful advice!

[@wilfredovazquez2942]

There are a lot of bass players that are excellent musicians but, they can't transfer their knowledge to others. You my friend have both. An excellent musicians and a great teacher. Thank you.

[@bassisbosschannel6937]

Thanks for showing how to add the lower arpeggio notes and turn it into a nice phrase!

[@Hexenhammer]

You are a very thoughtful and comprehensive teacher, arguably the best on KZbin.

[@celorza]

I very much appreciate that you are teaching not just the technical aspect of playing but also the meaning of the language of music and the importance of not letting the ego get the best of the player! Great job!

[@MrReal209]

Learned so much from your videos. It's you open my eyes to new thing lololololol

[@TheBeebs999]

Nicely done lesson Mark. What bass are u using and what amp? Brilliant sound. Thanks Robert

[@mjxhonneux7281]

I lost interest in playing the bass after 2 years because it just seemed I wasn't getting anywhere with it. I learnt music theory and what have you but I just could not figure out how to improvise. Now this video really made the penny drop!! Thank you so much for this amazing explanation! I now can't wait to pick up my bass again and start practicing :D

[@张先生-l5j]

Start with simple notes, simple rhythms. After you can master the simple ones, you can add notes and change the rhythm, so that you can really progress step by step. If you play difficult melodies and rhythms directly at the beginning, even if you play nicely occasionally, it will depend on luck, and your progress will be slower. This is the tutorial I've been looking for for a long time, very nice tutorial. - A new fan from China stayed.😘😘😘

[@lixiaoming89]

Thank you so much for putting this out there! =)

[@douglasmonteiro9127]

Hi Mark, I have just found this amazing video and I have to tell... you are Great professor! Could you help me a little bit more? Where can I find backing tracks as the ones you use in this video? Thanks a lot for your help.

[@anandaurora]

great one Mark ! Really got going with the rhythmic feel with just one note ...brilliant progression of ideas from simple to more complex...just realised how much more fun it is when you are fooling around with the beats

[@chefsean4720]

After putting the bass down for about 5 years I'm picking it up again, I have to say Mark at talking Bass has taught me more in one year then I've learned in previous years combined. Thank you for all the videos and easy to follow instructions and down-to-earth attitude!

[@celaya40]

Awesome brother.. Very easy to understand. Now let's see if I got all the info. You used am A7 arpeggio you broke it down and played with it and add the notes on by one till you ended up using the 2 octaves. Is that right?

[@stevehussung2515]

I wish I had watched this around when I first started improvising--which was quite a while ago. Thank you so much for making this. :) It's so much more inspiring and doable to start small. It's intimidating to face the entire fretboard--and it's so easy to think that the pitches are all that's important. Limiting for the win. :)

[@scissoredR]

Thank you! Your lessons are great and very helpful. ~will carry on learning and playing bass more. Cheers!

[@RedbackBreeder]

You are an amazing teacher. Thank you always for great lesson vids.

[@terrimac7993]

Thanks Mark! This lesson is so helpful yet simple. Wish had learned this stuff years ago.

[@kivsa85]

Love the color of your Bass, beautiful

[@therealmarkperic6031]

I really developed my play from your lessons ,🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰💪

[@barberousseh8618]

very helpfull and very well explained ! thank you so much !

[@francrivera]

very nice Mark !! love it and thank you !!! my best !!!

[@JoyMaples]

Really appreciate your approach. Very nice.

[@jeanmosquea9539]

You are teaching skills are underrated

[@Kuuuks]

@talkingbass.net.........Less talk and straight to the point, my kind of teacher.....I want to buy your sight reading material, anyway you can have it in an app form like your scales one that I bought....?

[@naregb94]

This is AMAZING .. i absolutely got driven by this stuff .. its very VERY VeRy helpful .. tnx MARK . hope to see another videos in this field of music improv. ;) ..

[@thecuriousgardener]

Thanks, I like how clear you are and how quickly and simply you move through the info, even though I sometimes have to watch things more than once. Good approach and good teaching.

[@veera5464]

Very helpful, thank you so much!

[@paramotorfun9649]

Great video. Thank you.

[@shehantharaka2475]

Dear Sir u r great....... still im facing the same issue regarding improvising ..... im unable to think about a melody lines between cords..... bt i think this vedio might help me....

[@dougp2917]

Great lesson, awesome series, serious instructional; all meat & potatoes - no fluff here..will have to go back over & over the content here...nothing to glean. Thank You!

[@zacharymorin5696]

I had to start improvising basically from the beginning in my highschool Jazz class after I picked up bass due to lack of one (and now never want to go back). I have gotten some sheets to help, but they aren't super helpful, especially since I've only been playing for about 4 months. Thank you so much for the video!

[@spiritoftoad]

This is genius, Mark. Thanks! I've learned more from you in a few weeks, than years of trudging through on my own. Wish I had this kind of info years ago!

[@dumpstercast-refuseradio8429]

your smile is precious

[@Patrick33194]

Hello, I primairely play ellectric guitar, but i also got myself a bass a few months ago. I really like it, but when i try to improvise, i can almost only find melodic things. It's like i'm playing lead or rythm guitar on a bass, or i play very standard notes (like playing the root of each chord in the progression a couple of times and go to the next) Does anyone have advice how i can sound more like a bass player when imprivising/ jamming? (Besides listening to bass in music) Thanks!

[@siphonariusratingensis1729]

Do you have a source of MIDIs at hand, where to get those synth/drum sounds from? I'd like to use them for practice... btw: These first steps helped me in minutes to find a proper way into improvisation just by reducing it to the manageable minimum. :-) thx!!!

[@cutbyoccam1948]

Absolutely the best video I've seen regarding how to start improvising for beginners. Love it. 👍👍👍

[@marcopanichi]

Great approach to teaching!

[@mattgagen2959]

Everything fantastic until 25:42. Can somebody please explain me what he did here? I have played bass for 6 years and really find it hard to get this stuff around my head.

[@cmenacez8748]

Such a great building lesson, especially on incorporating arpeggios into improv. Awesome, Thank You

[@cesarmachado8864]

Thanks and congratulations for your didactic, from Brazil. Realy very good!

[@madelinecaples8141]

I really appreciate your explanation of improvisation, bringing in the explanation of tension with music theory and also bringing up the empty space as a part of the melody. The discussion is really in depth and also practical. I'm a classically trained violinist (and music theory nerd) trying to pick up bass, and I just found your channel. Excited to keep watching these lessons. Thank you for all the work you put into this!

[@pollystraub-cook6203]

Wow, thanks for this! I just joined talkingbass.net. I'm excited! I like what you said about not letting your ego get in the way of learning and being a beginner again. I've been playing a long time but I am still struggling with lead playing. This is cool.

[@YourTrustyHonkey9716]

So instrumental slang

[@Voljinable]

Sir, you deserve a medal! You just opened my mind and let me see things I never thought i would've seen or could've seen. The comparison of music as a language was amazing and will help me. With this connection i know where to start with becoming better at bassguitar. I follow no lessons and learn myself everything, so i never really learned all the notes on the bass. But all the notes are like the alphabet. and the scales could be the words. Thanks for this video, you've inspired me big time!

[@rob145]

another good video Mark

[@muredamitten]

Thank you so much for this video and your approach! I've been reading/replicating tabs for 13 years and I'm finally on to a new frontier thanks to this video specifically. Others delve too much into complicated theory and saying you NEED to know this stuff to be creative!

[@wesnercaries8286]

When I'm looking something to learn I just want to instructor to do it without talking but you are really different I can spend my time to listen to you without playing. Thanks you are number one

Top teacher

[@jharon11]

Brilliant! With a group I just started playing with, I was asked if I wanted to take a solo. I had no idea where to start. Thanks for this great combination of theory and application!

[@berrodude]

This... is... awesome. one of the best presentations, both in oratry and content, that i have seen to date. Thank You. I have been playing for about a month and made great progress thanks to these vids

[@ianjohnson4987]

Brilliant tutorial - thank you very much. I'm off to explore your channel.

[@aHalfaMongrel]

where do we get the backing tracks ? ive been out of bass for about ten years ! i quit out of frustration and the need to work and earn .. so much has changed in that time and there seem to be so many tools i didn't know about .. thx for the vid .. i'm now a subscriber . kudos to you and thx for the sharing

[@michelleduc7793]

I was going up and down the scale without good musical results. Now just starting with one note is fine, and then adding a second one and a third makes pleasant lines. Thanks.

[@othnielkouassi3603]

merci, je viens de decouvrir ta chaine et je crois que je serais un de tes plus grandabonné. thank you.

[@Pedozzi]

Wow, this is incredible, you are so skilled and so smart, thank you a lot

[@ashwinutamchandani955]

nice bass, what is it?

[@keenanmamashela3203]

Wow your videos are making me a profesional bassist thnx

[@lance1954]

thank you from this beginner. i was trying to do too much and sounding very foolish.

[@comicsgator]

You sir are a treasure trove of musical goodness. So glad to have found your channel. Thanks!

[@KikiikiKb]

you are amazing!!i have no words to thank u...best teacher ever!!

[@terrimac7993]

Thanks Mark! This lesson is so helpful yet simple. Wish had learned this stuff years ago.

[@davideboeuccvalbusa9212]

Thank you Mark, very kool stuff. Cheers

[@RaySareth]

I've been watch your lessons for days , it really helps me! thanks

[@janjohansson6730]

This probably the best Bass lecture I ever has come across. Thank's

[@ricardofiorani77]

Amazing!

[@DanVIXXX]

Wow, man!!! Very clear, concise!!! The BEST lesson we can find in KZbin! There is theory, there is musical perception, intervals, fundamentals, arpeggio... everything gathered in a very intuitive and progressive way! Congrats!

[@vanessareece1550]

you truly are amazing with your teaching!!!!!

[@francispiper2777]

Its like getting the last word in. LOL Brilliant Mate LOL

[@worldsamazingbassguitarist8303]

Beautiful lesson.

[@ranarony2194]

y8

[@christiangallery]

great lesson:) thanks :) GOD Bless you

[@piolovespunk182]

Great lessons Mark, you've helped me out tremendously! Question: How do you get such a great vibrato on the G string? I don't have any trouble w/ any fingers on the E, A and D strings, but when i try on the G string, either i don't get much vibrato, or I push the string off the lower edge of the neck.

[@talkingbasslessons]

Thanks a lot. To get vibrato on the G string just keep practicing and your finger strength will improve so the string doesn't seem too tight. I've got a video coming up next week on vibrato and other forms of styling your improv so stay tuned for that!

[@MikeNorth0101]

Very grateful for this Mark, cheers

[@ericclements9104]

at 17:10 that solo sounds very Marcus Miller!

[@edfono]

Hi! what is the model of this Ibanez?

[@killmeorikillyou1]

i asked for that - i got it

[@dennisweinmann4829]

Helped me a lot, thank you very much!

[@fabsanh]

Where can I get the back track?

[@m.a3711]

Fantastic lesson, thank you!

[@DAMAGNINO]

great lesson, useful as well as simple

[@demgolf]

Fantastic! Thanks so much!

[@luvalk7]

the best lesson about improv i ever seen!

[@TheEvilRaccoon]

help me a lot , thank you :D !! \m/

[@keytone62]

This guy is using Victor Wooten exact logic and words on Bass Improvisation...hummmmm?

[@talkingbasslessons]

Really? That's great. I love Victor and love his educational approach, but I've not seen him mention any of the stuff I cover in this lesson. What lesson/vid would that be? Also, even if I had, I don't mind anyway because this is a very basic approach I've seen covered in many colleges and general music lessons over the years. I personally first tried this as a way of teaching foundation level students in a music college and came up with it myself on the fly to get round a certain problem with a student but loads of other people teach exactly the same way. I don't teach anything special or original. We all usually teach the same old stuff that's been taught over and over again. The only reason you might prefer how I or Vic or any other player does it is because of presentation, manner or luck of stumbling on it. And I'm not comparing myself with Victor in any way. The guy's a genius.

[@stevehussung2515]

If you're referring to the fact that Victor Wooten writes about how some improvisers over-emphasize pitch and ignore phrasing, dynamics, rhythm, etc, then yes--I'd say he is mentioning some of the same things. But those aren't new ideas. Any good classical musician knows that you have to think about all of things to recreate beautiful music. Improvisation requires on-the-spot thinking, sure, but it's all the same stuff that musicians and composers have been using for forever. Sometimes we just need reminding. :)