Episoder
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Most of us have had the use of the metronome in the practice room bashed over our heads since our first lessons. But there are more ways to use a metronome to improve your time than just playing rote exercises with a quarter note click.
Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
In the longest ever episode of the Better Bass podcast, we’re talking about some simple and not-so-simple ways to improve your sense of time and rhythm without leaning on a click track. I’m also going through the latest version of my signal chain and how I’ve been changing my sound lately.
Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
Manglende episoder?
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Practice and learning are often about making temporary compromises to achieve permanent results. Today we’re applying this philosophy to the bass guitar.
Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
I’m back from my brief hiatus, feeling fresh and ready to put some good energy into my practice & my music. Listening to John Scofield playing the melody to Falling Grace has me inspired tonight, so I’m playing a little bit of the track and talking over some abstract ideas about compelling performances - what makes music interesting & engaging. Very abstract & subjective topic for an episode, but it’s very thematic to my recent grappling sessions with my own musical philosophy.
Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
I need a short break to reset my creative process and get some new inspiration into my practice & performance. My mind has felt incredibly jumbled every time I’ve picked up the bass lately, so I’m sending my listeners off with an in-depth harmony lesson on triads and I’ll be taking this Friday off from the podcast. And for the umpteenth time - a massive, massive thank you to all my subscribers, listeners, and everyone who has supported this podcast & supported my creative efforts in any way.
Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
One of the OG Better Bass Podcast subscribers & fans recently left me a comment that helped me realize something very important - while my bass practice process might be at an all-time high in terms of maintenance, efficiency, and technique, in recent months I’ve really lost touch with the reasons I have for making music in the first place. Today I’m talking about that.
Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
Pedals are awesome, sonic exploration is awesome, making noises that the bass guitar was absolutely never intended to make falls under the category of cool as hell, to me anyways. On today’s Better Bass podcast, we’re talking about how to practice with effects, and some of the things I’m working on to make these crazy sounds feel good in a musical context.
Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
I hate generalizations about art. “The 80% rule” was such an unproductive and broad generalization that I’m surprised I even let it slide by myself. But we learn from our mistakes, we refine our process and our mindset as we refine our bass playing, and we continue to move forward & grow. Today’s episode is about minimizing emotion in the practice room, staying objective, and focusing on the details and specifics that make good music & good bass playing.
Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
With the new year I’ve been bringing a fresh mindset into my practice, keeping it performance-oriented and sticking to my paradigm of being a more tasteful bassist, while breaking down some personal psychological barriers that might be preventing me from becoming the musician I want to hear. In true podcaster fashion, I even invented some b******t terminology in this episode to take my mindset and make it catchy.
Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
A clip of Aaron Goldberg in a masterclass has been circulating through many of my friends’ social media channels recently, and in it he presents a black-and-white dichotomy of self promotion against a learning mindset as a musician that I’m not entirely in agreement with. I am not intending to bag on Aaron in any way - he is an exceptional musician at an incredibly high level of creative output - I just think his words in this particular clip deserve a bit of a reframe.
Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
Giant Steps has intimidated me for years, and in the past couple of weeks I’ve finally made the decision to tackle it. In this episode I go through a few ways I like to practice improvising over chord changes and internalizing song structure.
I think it was probably too early in the process for me to effectively use Giant Steps as a demonstration tool in a podcast episode, but that’s the spirit of Better Bass: warts-and-all slices of the learning process in all its horrific glory.
For the backing track I was playing over in this episode, check out Simon Peter King’s music and backing tracks! SPK is a bad mf’er of a multi-instrumentalist and an exceptional teacher to boot.
A side note after listening back to the master - holy s@&# I sound exceptionally terrible on this tune. I have a lot of work to do. Good thing I love practicing.
Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
Coming up with a title for this one was a huge pain in the ass. My good friend Gabriel Mervine released an incredible quintet album recently (Check it out on Spotify!) and I’ve been striking a gold mine of musical inspiration just from listening to this record - all kinds of good ideas (and a few half-baked ones) came out in the podcast today. Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
I’ve spent a lot of time listening to & transcribing Pino Palladino. Pino continues to be one of my greatest inspirations in groove, sound, ideas, & tasteful accompaniment - in this episode I’m breaking down a few Pino-based ideas into digestible concepts that we can apply in the practice room.
Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying Better Bass, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
“Shed it in all 12!” is one of the most common and most intimidating phrases spoken by improvisation-focused teachers everywhere. In this episode I’m having a crack at breaking down how to get started playing in all 12 and why it’s a super useful tool.
Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying Better Bass, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
We all hate failing, but the important bit is learning how to fail without hating ourselves - especially when we fail at creating the art we’ve spent so much time refining and worked so hard to build. Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying Better Bass, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
I’m listening back in the editing room and realizing pretty much everything I’m talking about this episode is very, very personal. This episode doesn’t match my usual “teaching” style, but I hope I can still provide some useful information & inspiration. Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
Today we’re getting away from chords & soloing & all the fancy stuff, getting to our roots as bass players and talking about a few ways we can tighten up our grooves & develop pocket in the practice room. I’ve also got a couple improviser-centered hot takes to share! Hope y’all enjoy. Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
I put a brand new set of strings & a fresh setup on the bass today, and it got me thinking about my own philosophy on gear, setups, basses, amps, etc. I talk about a few of my own preferences, why personal preference is important, and how to get the most out of the gear you already have. Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
Episode 10 is here! This one was fun. I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to toss up a mic halfway through my practice routine and share some of my improvisation process, writing, using the looper, and dealing with a challenging set of chord changes. Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying Better Bass, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe -
In episode 9 we’re taking a deep dive into how a “practice routine” actually comes together, - when maintenance stops and music begins. Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!
The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying Better Bass, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!
Thank you for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.
Get full access to Better Bass at betterbass.substack.com/subscribe - Vis mere
