Overview

The objective of our bass guitar program is to help our students to understand the unique role that bass plays in making music and to encourage the development of sound technique, confident sight-reading, and the ability to play in a wide range of musical genres.

Requirements

Prerequisites

A willingness to learn and the ability to make time for practice. The minimum should be three days a week at 30 minutes per day. There should also be an area to practice with a chair and music stand (or some equivalent means of sitting and placing a book for reading).

Equipment

The student will need to have access to a bass guitar with strap and tuner along with a method of amplifying it in their private practice. This can be a bass amplifier, soundcard, or headphone amplifier.

Textbook

The required text is the “Hal Leonard Bass Method, Complete Edition”. This can be purchased online or at Music Mart.

Syllabus

  1. Playing positions

  2. R.H. & L.H. Technique

  3. Open Strings

  4. The rake technique

  5. Using the shift

  6. 12 Bar Blues

  7. Notes in the 1st, 2nd & 3rd position

  8. Playing Octaves

  9. Classic Rhythm

  10. Shifting through positions

  11. The box shape

  12. Understanding Tablature

  13. Major & Minor scales

  14. The Blues line

  15. The major & minor triads

  16. The shuffle rhythm

  17. The chromatic walk up

  18. Seventh Chords

  19. Minor Pentatonic scales

  20. Hammer-ons and pull-offs

  21. Slap and Pop