This great song appeared on Emergency on Planet Earth, the band’s debut album, and the world’s first introduction to the bass work of a young Stuart Zender. This is one of the more complex basslines on the album: it’s busy, heavily syncopated, and there are many variations on the main themes. In short, there’s a […]

‘Easy’ is the fifth track from Nik Kershaw’s second album, The Riddle, which was released in November 1984. This song is notable amongst bass players as it features Level 42 bassist Mark King. King plays a powerful slap groove throughout the majority of the track, switching to the fingerstyle technique for the tricky melody that […]

‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’ was written by songwriters Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1966. It was recorded by several artists signed to Berry Gordy’s Motown label. The first version of the song was recorded by The Miracles. Gordy initially rejected it for release, but in 1968 it was included on their album […]

The eighties were an exciting and varied time musically and were notable for the rise of synthesisers and drum machines. Although the decade is often associated with flamboyant haircuts, New Romantic attire and lots of makeup, many great bassists were also able to make an impression during this time. Among them were session legends Pino […]

This song was written and recorded by Jocelyn Brown back in 1984 and has since become a disco/funk classic. It’s not clear who played bass on the original recording, but whoever it was, they did an amazing job: this song is well-loved by bass players all over the world thanks to an effective – and […]

This song was recorded in 1975 by James Taylor. A cover of the Marvin Gaye original, Taylor’s version appears on his album Gorilla and quickly became one of his biggest hits. This version of the song features a simple but effective bass part from session legend Leland Sklar. Sklar, who has spent much of his […]

This course builds on everything that was covered in the intermediate level course. The sixteenth note-based lines that you’ll learn here are complex and will require a thorough mastery of the concepts covered in the earlier courses. Don’t forget to hit the Download Resources button above in order to download the PDF worksheet and audio […]

This video course is the first of three that will focus specifically on a single genre of music. First up: rock and metal. These exercises cover a wide range of styles, including classic rock, punk, funk rock, alternative rock and more. Rock and metal are perfect genres for getting stuck in with the plectrum and […]

This video course features a selection of pop basslines. Like rock, ‘pop’ is something of an umbrella term that encompasses many subgenres. You’ll therefore find lines here that have elements of funk, rock, reggae and more. Don’t forget to hit the Download Resources button above in order to download the PDF worksheet and audio files […]

This course contains a series of funk grooves. Funk might seem an unlikely style of music to play with a plectrum, but as bassists such as Carol Kaye, Anthony Jackson and Bobby Vega have proved, it’s actually a style that’s extremely well suited to the technique. Many of the exercises in this chapter are built […]