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Developing Rhythmic Independence

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This video course will cover the fundamental rhythmic independence techniques required for ‘contrapuntal’ playing. Playing contrapuntally means to play rhythmically independent lines with each hand. For example, your fretting hand might play a bassline, whilst your picking hand plays a melody, or some chords. This is a skill that pianists develop through the natural course of studying their instrument but is not one that most bassists will ever require. The course that follows this one will cover contrapuntal playing in a variety of different musical styles, and the exercises presented in this course will help you to develop the rhythmic independence required to play them.

This course contains ten exercises for you to work on. The first five of these consist of only one note in each hand – a G. This is because the focus here is going to be on rhythm, rather than pitch. These exercises may seem simple, but you are likely to find that they are deceptively difficult.

Don't forget to hit the Download Resources button above to receive the PDF worksheet that accompanies these lessons!

This course contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:

1. The Basics of Rhythmic Independence

In this video I’ll be discussing the basics of playing different parts in each hand, then demonstrating the concept with a simple exercise.

2. Exercise #2

This video contains another simple exercise that will help you work on developing rhythmic independence in each hand.

3. Exercise #3

This video contains a third exercise that will help you work on developing rhythmic independence in each hand.

4. Exercise #4

This exercise features a dotted quarter note-eighth note rhythm that makes the coordination of the two hands more challenging.

5. Exercise #5

This exercise introduces some sixteenth note rhythms.

6. Exercise #6

This exercise is in the key of G and follows a simple I-V-IV chord movement - G, D and C. The two hands play the main chords together and in the second and fourth bars there are simple melodic pickups played with either hand.

7. Exercise #7

This exercise is also in G and this time follows a I-vi-IV-V chord progression - G, Em, C and D. The fretting hand plays a root-fifth bass line here, while the picking hand plays a simple melodic phrase over the top using long notes.

8. Exercise #8

This exercise has a bossa nova feel. As is typical of the style, the bassline (played by the fretting hand here) follows a root-fifth motion for each of the chords. The picking hand plays a simple melody across the top.

9. Exercise #9

In this exercise the fretting hand plays a root-fifth-octave figure for a Bm chord and the picking hand adds a very simple melody above it. In the second half of the exercise, the bass notes change whilst those in the picking hand remain the same, an effective harmonic technique that is often used in tapping lines.

10. Exercise #10

This exercise is a slow, bluesy shuffle in 12/8 time. The picking hand plays a simple, repeating melodic figure that begins on the second eighth note of the fourth beat - remember that in 12/8, the beats divide. equally into three rather than two. Underneath this melody the fretting hand plays a common shuffle groove.