In this video course we’ll be looking at a typical example of Mark King’s live bass solo from the classic Level 42 track ‘The Chinese Way’. When the band were playing this track in the late eighties/early nineties, the tempo was significantly higher than the original recording, and the arrangement was altered to include solo […]

‘Sandstorm’ is the opening track on the first album that Level 42 recorded – The Early Tapes. This is one of the band’s best-known instrumental pieces and was a key part of their live set during their formative years. Written by Mark King and Wally Badarou, the track features some classic Mark King grooves, which […]

This course will show you how the fretting hand can be used to perform ghost note slaps. Doing so adds an important rhythmic device to the slap bass toolkit, and allows for more complex, syncopated linear slap grooves. If you require additional help with any of the techniques used in this piece, the following courses […]

Tenths are a very popular musical device for bass players to use as they help to clearly define harmony. Tenths are by no means limited to slap bass, and you’ll find a use for them in all areas of your playing. When playing slap bass grooves, tenths are often used in place of octaves. This […]

This course covers an unusual rhythmic device known as the ‘machine gun triplet’. This is essentially a very fast triplet, made possible by splitting the work between the two hands. Machine gun triplets have been used by many bass players over the years, but are probably most closely associated with Mark King, bassist with Level […]

This course will look at ways in which double stops can be incorporated into slap bass grooves. A double stop is simply two notes – any two notes – that are played together. They can be used to add more character to a line and to reinforce the harmony. Simply put, they are a great […]

Chord strumming is a relatively simple technique to add to your repertoire, but as you’ll discover from this course, it can add considerable scope to your slap bass grooves. All of the most influential slap players have used strumming at some point, and so in this course you’ll learn how to incorporate this new concept. […]

This video course covers bass grooves that are played with a swung sixteenth note feel. As you will discover, this is a very different feel to the straight sixteenth note feel, but it’s an important one for a bass player to be comfortable with. The exercises that are covered here are not particularly difficult from […]

This video course will examine the challenges of playing slapped lines over the shuffle feel. Shuffle grooves are based on a triplet subdivision, where the beat naturally divides into three, rather than two or four. This gives the music a very different feel. For examples of slapped shuffle grooves, listen to ‘Higher Ground’ by Red […]

This final section features a series of exercises that utilise all of the techniques that have been covered. These include fretting hand slaps, machine gun triplets, tenths, double stops and chord strumming. If you require additional help with any of the techniques used in this piece, the following courses (all included in the monthly subscription […]