Without the bass guitar, would music still sound as pleasant to the ears? That is doubtful. It takes a person of great skills and dedication to the craft to play this instrument to create beautiful sounds.
A good understanding of your craft is essential to curve a niche for yourself in your band. Hours of practice and polishing your skills play an unparalleled role in taking you to the next level. Forget the words that others say about bassists. You are not a failed guitarist!
Mastering the bass guitar would be a good start. The bass guitar has had a big influence on rock and its subgenres, especially hard rock and metal music. A good bassist is always welcome in many rock bands because despite its close likeliness to the conventional guitar, mastering the bass is a different skill altogether.
However, if you have some experience with the normal guitar or the bass itself, you will find out easier to adopt the skills faster than an absolute beginner.
There is no shortage of good bassists who are willing to teach, the difference would be in the quality of the teachings. To play at the pro level, you have to master music theory and understand how to apply it to the instrument.
You will find several local teachers and schools, but then you have to balance your career and family schedules to accommodate the classes. The alternative would be online classes, which are more convenient.
They also come with the added advantage of a wider pool of talented bassists. You can learn from Grammy-award winners and music educators of prestigious music schools. Here are some classes that will take your bassist skills to a pro level;
10 Best Bass Guitar Lessons for Intermediate Online Reviews
1) ArtistWorks - Nathan East’s Rock Bass Lesson
Nathan East is a formidable bassist. He infuses his experience and skills into this class for beginner bassists, who wish to go up a notch. The legendary bassist has created topnotch online lessons on playing the electric bass guitar.
In this class, students can access video lessons. Other than that, bass guitar tabs are also available once you pay and register. Nathan filled it with plenty of backing tracks for gauging your progression too.
However, that is not all that makes the class exceptional. He allows students to present videos of themselves playing bass guitar for review. Students can do this via the ArtistWorks Video Exchange Learning platform.
He spends time reviewing each submission personally. Afterward, he records a video featuring his response. Moreover, all students can access its Video Exchange library to monitor and learn from each other’s interactions with Nathan.
Therefore, sign up for the class today after paying $105 for the three-month plan. You will then access lessons that you can follow at your pace, as you learn through the slow motion and looping videos.
2) Udemy’s Professional Bass Masterclass
Udemy’s reputation for providing high quality online lessons in various fields is unmatched. It has highly trained and accomplished teachers in different niches. The Professional Bass Masterclass is no exception to the rule.
Rajiv Narang designed the entire masterclass. For those who know nothing about him, Rajiv wears several hats. He is not only a creative director, but also a skilled writer, composer, producer, and bassist.
He has designed a class that teaches professional techniques. It also equips you with different tools that enable you excel in your craft. Rajiv imparts you with various methods of mastering the bass guitar. Use it to transition from a beginner to a professional bassist fast.
As you learn, you become a confident bassist when on the stage strumming the guitar. You will have no problem playing the bass guitar proficiently in various settings. Your ability to improve sharply increases too.
You must satisfy a few requirements first. A bass guitar is mandatory. You must love music and be ready to learn too. The instructor has condensed his 20 years’ experience into this powerful lesson.
3) Udemy - Learn Pentatonic Scale for Bass Guitar with Steve ‘Bside’ Burnside
Learning the pentatonic scale is crucial to taking your basslines, jams, and solos to a higher level. This is perhaps the most widely used scale in contemporary music in rock, blues, country music, and other styles.
This course will teach you the 5 shapes of the pentatonic scale. You will learn how to use them across the fretboard and get an understanding of where they can be used in minor and major music. This course assumes you have a familiarity with the bass guitar and can play notes on A, E and D strings.
This is a relatively short course with a sharp focus on the shapes of major and minor pentatonic. You will be introduced to the pentatonic scale, and then learn the minor pentatonic shapes starting from 5 backward to 1.
The shapes of the major pentatonic scale are learned in the same format as well. The final section has practice worksheets, exercises, pentatonic jams and tips on playing this scale. This course is taught by longtime bassist Steve ‘Bside’ Burnside.
4) Udemy - Learn African Bass with Edd Bateman
Are you a fan of African music and would like to jam to the tunes of zouk and Soukous? This course will teach you how to play the bass for Zimbabwean sungura style, Congolese soukous style, and the Caribbean influenced zouk style that is in many African countries.
You will master the 4/4 rhythm that is dominant in many African music styles and discover new bass grooves. There is music theory to teach you how to play scales on different positions of the neck. You will improve rhythm and timing, which are essential to good play on the bass.
This course touches on the history of different genres to give you a good background of African music. You will work on finger dexterity and thumb strengthening because the thumb is actively used in soukous. You will also have lessons on ear training for the Sungura style.
This is an intermediate course assuming that you have a working familiarity with the bass guitar. It is taught by Edd Bateman, who has been playing with various African bands in southern, eastern and western Africa since the age of 14.
5) Udemy - Learn African Bass with Edd Bateman
There are multiple types of guitar available in the market, and the musician would knowhow to hone them all. If you are trying to improve your fingers at the bass guitar, this course is a perfect fit for you. By taking this course, you only need to take out 3o minutes every week, and you will become the master of it.
There are over 60 students enrolled in the course, and you can make the team with them to create a learning layout. No matter if you want to play the guitar in complete arrangements or in a supportive role, this course will teach you all.
Intermediate players usually know the basics, but they aren’t aware of the hard rules. By taking this course, all the doubts will be cleared, and you will start acing the bass guitar with each passing lesson. There are over twelve video lessons in the course, and one of them teaches the introduction.
Also, there are videos with animated content to keep the content engaging for the players. These video lessons are divided into 33 lectures. So, through this systematic learning procedure, you will be able to gain the confidence to play!
6) Learn Bass on Jamplay
Learning the bass from a bassist with an iconic band like Megadeth would seem like a dream for an ordinary rocker, but this is what Jamplay offers. It is one of the biggest guitars learning online platforms in the world.
Jamplay was founded in 2007 and has grown to attract over 100 top artists, performers, and music educators, among them more than 20 core bassists, offering more than 450 on-demand courses.
You will find lessons by David Ellefson (Megadeth), Billy Sheehan (Steve vai), Evan Brewer (The faceless). Freebo (Ringo Starr), Robbie Merrill (Godsmack) and more from favorite bands. Jamplay rates its lessons from 1.0 to 5.0 for easiest to the hardest. Intermediate lessons are rated 2.5-4.0.
The lessons are offered in HD video shot from multiple angles; student view, strum hand view, dialog view, and first-person view. The lessons can be viewed on laptops, tablets, and smartphones. You can loop the video without loss of pitch and download for practice. You get interactive tabs and notations, a scale library, and become a member of a community of enthusiasts.
7) Bass Lessons on Bass Buzz
Bass Buzz is a bass resource for bassists to discuss techniques and gear. There are lessons for beginner bassists, which intermediate bassists can use as a reference as well. There is an interesting 17-point checklist for bassists to gauge whether they are at the intermediate level. The techniques to gauge yourself include;
1. Tuning the Bass
2. Fretboard Memorizing
3. Four Finger Fretting
4. Alternating Plucking
5. Playing with Metronome
6. Playing Legato
7. Muting
8. Basic Scales
9. Basic Rhythms
10. Knowing Your Gear
11. Reading Notation
12. Playing with Drummers
13. Jamming
14. Listening
15. 12 Bar Blues
16. Creating Bass Lines
17. Playing Full Songs
There is a YouTube video to help with your checklist. If you have problems with the techniques above, you are directed to bass resources for intermediate bassists. These are lessons on YouTube.
You can also refresh techniques with the free lessons offered; right-hand techniques, playing the 2-note power chord, and the simple blues grove that you can use in any blues song. There is a very active forum of bassists discussing all things bass including asking for help in solving personal learning hitches. Find these lessons on the website;
8) Bass Lessons with Scott Devin
Scott Devin has been playing the bass since the age of 18 and teaching for more than 10 years. He has also performed in international events, 606 club, The Vortex and other iconic venues alongside artists such as Dennis Rollins, Fred Wesley, The Drifters, The Four Tops, The Nolans, Martin Simpson, and Pee Wee Ellis among others. Scott set up Bass Buzz in 2010 to offer bass lessons for beginner to advanced levels.
As an intermediate bassist some of the lessons that will interest you include;
· Harmonic layering with chords, arpeggios, and scales
· Time and groove development for the bass
· Bassline creation and the R&B bass
· Ear training and intervals for the bassist
· Jazz tutorial for the bassist
· Sight-reading for the bass guitar
· Minor tonality and applying minor harmony for the bass
· Palm-muting technique
· A guide to fretless bass
· Gospel and R&B bass
· Tips, tricks, and techniques for the jazz bass
There are Masterclasses by guest bassists like Phil Mann, Michael Manring, Ian Allison, and Rich Brown and Sean Hurley. You can find these lessons on the website;
9) Bass Lessons on Study Bass
Study Bass is a bassist resource site aimed at beginner and intermediate levels. At the intermediate level, you will be introduced to chord tones and harmony. You will learn to combine chords and notes to make blues, which lays the foundation for learning other styles of music. You will also learn to memorize the bass fretboard. Some of the subjects covered in the curriculum are;
· The 7 major and 6 minor chords and patterns for the bass
· Reading music notation for the bass
· Major and minor keys
· Learning the Basic music structures with the 12-bar blues form
· Patterns, scales, and chords for the blues bass
· The Boogie Woogie old-school bassline
· Memorizing notes on the fretboard
· Finger control and exercises
· Muting
There are free videos discussing slides, pull-offs, hammer-on, plucking, fretting and Grace notes. There is a section discussing bass gear on topics like bass chorus and settings, bass flanger, and the bass frequency range. The website is continuously uploading bass lessons for genres like country, rock, and funk.
10) Bass Lessons with Daric Bennett
Daric Bennett says his teaching philosophy is that there is always room for a bassist to grow, and the best way to do it is by teaching others to do play the bass. Daric offers a mix of free and paid lessons on his website. Beginner lessons are free, while intermediate and advanced lessons are open to paid members. Some of the subjects you will cover as an intermediate include;
· Beginner blues- walking, triads and scales
· Maximizing bass practice
· Major pentatonic scale
· Developing chromatic dexterity including odd-time exercise
· Bass fretboard
· Introduction to chord symbols
· Creativity for the bassline
· Ear training for the bass
· Harmonic minor- arpeggios and triads
· The harmonic minor scale
· Developing fretting hand control
· Creating your bass riffs
· Exercises for weak fingers
· Practicing for C major chord
· Exercises for odd time signature
· Memorizing bass lines and building bass lines with chromaticism
· Hand exercises for dexterity and stamina
You will be learning with the help of popular pieces by musicians such as Stevie Wonder, Kanye West, and Snoop Dogg. Daric also discusses passions like bass gear and bassists that inspire him.
Choosing the Best Bass Guitar Lessons for Intermediate
The cello is a great choice if you are a fan of classical or orchestra music, but you can expand your repertoire to jazz, pop, rock, and funky tunes. You can advance your skills to play entertaining popular tunes with the distinct sound of the cello, which is very entertaining.
Advancing your cello skills will make you more marketable if you intend to play like a pro. The good thing is that after you master the cello, you can work on signature styles just like the great masters. It all depends on how far you intend to go, in your journey with this versatile instrument.