Home  |  Music & Dance  |  Instruments  | 

The Bass for Beginners

Beginning Bass Playing

To properly view this site, javascript must be enabled and Flash version 9 or higher must be installed.
Get the latest Flash player

View Comments (Add Comment)

  • TCulley77 Flag

    Sign me up!
    No kidding I'm new to Monkeysee and this is the most well rounded video I have seen yet. Not only did they use precise multi-camera views but the lighting was good...as was the bassist and a nice bass in the demonstration. The makers of this video deserve a lot of credit as does the bassist. Kudos!!!!!! If i had to make a suggestion perhaps a lil background "rights free" music during the beginning. food for thought would be a bass line this guy may have wrote that you didn't find time to u

Percy White
http://www.myspace.com/percythebassist  
 

Percy White is a professional bassist living in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. He is originally from Philadelphia, Pa. He started playing bass when he was 10 years old after trying unsuccessfully to play guitar. As he puts it, "It just made sense. The bass has four strings and I have four fingers to play them with." He started playing by ear but after hearing Stanley Clarke he realized that he had to take lessons and so he did. After graduating high school, he joined the U.S. Navy's Nuclear Engineering Program but his musical education also continued with his study of jazz and music theory. After serving in the military, White moved to Chicago to begin an engineering career that was short lived due to his love of music. He began taking bass lessons with Nick Schneider (former bassist for the Tonight Show Band) After playing in numerous jam sessions, he began his career as a full time musician. He played with notable jazz artists like Ramsey Lewis, Oscar Brown, Jr, Roy Ayer s, and Ronnie Laws. He has jammed with Buddy Guy at his famous blues club in Chicago. White has been a founding member of two rock bands, two blues bands, one latin/jazz band, and one contemporary jazz group. He has played for the Chicago City Colleges Jazz Band, and was a winning member of the 1996 Chicago Blues band competition. In 2000, White relocated back to the east coast to broaden his musical experiences. He shares his musical knowledge by teaching privately in the DC area. After one of his outstanding performances in DC, White was asked to audition for the 257th Army Band and he recently joined the ranks of the elite performers of the Nation's Capital Army Band. White feels it's an honor to serve his country through his musical talents and is glad to have the opportunity. Although his full time occupation is being an application engineer for a worldwide water treatment company, White can still be seen playing in the Washington, DC area at least five nights a week doing what he has been doing for the last 30 years.

Beginning Bass Playing

These series of videos will take the beginning student from purchasing the correct bass to playing and practicing the basic techniques and exercises to get the student out and playing in a band situation. These lessons explain the proper hand and finger positions as well as basic scales used in all types of music. There are right and left hand techniques that are demonstrated and applied to show how to implement them in a song. These lessons are designed to get the beginning player out and playing in a short amount of time. Have fun and practice, practice, practice. "Remember practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect."

This series: 93,978 views

Download to Mobile Device
Tags:

Music

,

Bass

,

Beginning

,

Upright

,

Acoustic

,

Four

,

String

,

Six

,

4

,

6

Comments:

1 (Read Comments) (Add Comment)

Print

Transcripts

Percy White: Hello and good morning and good afternoon. My name is Percy. I am a professional bassist. I am here to show you different things on how to play electric bass from picking up the right bass, playing and technique and so forth. I will give you little bit information about myself. I have been playing bass since I was ten, which means I have been playing for a long time. I am originally from Philadelphia, started playing base, well, I start up playing guitar and then realized that I didnt have the dexterity so I want to be playing bass which made a lot more sense to me and I have been doing it ever since. I have played in large bands, small bands, jazz, combos, rock, blues, funk, Reggae, gospel. I currently play for the Army Band in DC and I have done several recording projects, jazz projects, rock projects, you name it, I have done it.

So, I am going to show you basically some techniques. Ill show you how to develop good playing form, how to pick out a good bass and to do all the things that you need to do to be own call, first call, well rounded bass player. Hope you enjoy it.

Other Videos

  • Ballroom Dancing - How to Foxtrot

    Ballroom Dancing - How to Foxtrot

    In this video, Terry teaches the basic patterns and techniques of the Foxtrot, and provides the fundamental knowledge you need to get started with this smooth dance of the forties, reminiscent of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. This video series is designed for the beginner, but there are techniques that the intermediate dancer will find useful as well. Terry demonstrates exercises to help get ready your body for dancing and teaches the basic pattern of the foxtrot. He shows the techniques that provide the charm and allure of the foxtrot, and finally adds variations that will make dancing the foxtrot quite enjoyable.
  • The Drums - How to Play an Old Blues Beat

    The Drums - How to Play an Old Blues Beat

    Learn to play the drumset from the beginning utilizing the step-by-step instructions contained within the video clips covering: - How to hold the sticks and strike the drum (don't take this for granted!). - Ergonomic set-up of the drumset. - Basic sticking patterns all drummers need to know. - Subdivisions, upon which all rhythms are derived! - Rock technique development - Jazz technique development - Fills! - Advanced studies, and more!
  • Advanced Jazz Dancing

    Advanced Jazz Dancing

  • How to Play the Saxophone

    How to Play the Saxophone

    The basics of getting started with the saxophone, demonstrated by one of the Mid-Atlantic's premier professional saxophonists, Seth Kibel. Topics covered include basic instrument assembly, care and maintenance, reeds, and the fundamentals of producing a pleasing tone.
  • Beatbox Bass Drum

    Beatbox Bass Drum

    This video will show how to do the beatbox bass drum.
  • Learn "Open The Eyes Of My Heart" on the piano

    Learn "Open The Eyes Of My Heart" on the piano

    Learn "Open The Eyes Of My Heart" on the piano