"Zero-Scale" Bass Solos: How To Start Improvising On Bass [No Scales Needed]
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ม.ค. 2025
- Taking bass solos; improvising on bass - it can be scary, right?!? Nobody wants to take a bass solo and sound like a fool, but how do you even get started? Is it even possible to learn how to improvise on bass?
Do you have to learn a whole bunch of scales that don't make sense? Do you learn all of the arpeggios and use the notes in them? Do you just use the roots of the chords? Or just play the same bass line you've been playing the entire song?
No! You don't have to do any of these. In fact, there's a simple way you can start taking beautiful simple bass solos that you KNOW are going to sound good. You're guaranteed to never get lost and you can be sure that you'll never hit a wrong note.
After all, improvising on bass is supposed to be fun, right!? Using the method in this video will take all the stress out of it so you can have a ball making up your own bass solos and have the confidence to do it over and over again.
Now while you don't NEED to know any scales to improvise on bass, they can certainly help you to create more complex and more interesting bass solos.
It can be so confusing navigating all the scales and modes - especially if you're just starting out. That's why I created the Ultimate Guide To The Modes For Bass. It will show you exactly what you can play in nearly any situation, without confusing you with technical jargon. Having just a little bit of this knowledge can take your bass solos to the next level.
The guide also comes with 24 practice tracks you can use today to start your journey towards mastery over the modes and learn how to improvise on bass. To get started, just sign up right here:
becomeabassist....
The guide will be sent straight to your inbox.
Of course if you have any questions about the lesson, just let me know. I'd be more than happy to help out.
Good luck and happy bass soloing!
Cheers,
Luke
P.S. The track that was used in this lesson can be found right here:
• Isn't She Lovely- Stev...
![Advanced Bass Improv - Playing Outside The Harmony [Bass Solo Lesson]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vHcjI0HxN7o/mqdefault.jpg)
![Advanced Bass Improv - Playing Outside The Harmony [Bass Solo Lesson]](/img/tr.png)
One of the most common questions I got about this video was, _"How can I learn the melody of a song?"_ and a lot of the time, you may NOT be able to find tabs or notation for it. But what you *can* do, is try to learn it by ear and I show you how to get started with that process here: th-cam.com/video/K2zDO2ITmvs/w-d-xo.html
"Playing wrong notes gets everyone's attention"
-Victor W.
It's funny that in this context it is a bad thing, but outside it is quite desirable
@@ye_boi - Disagree. Each “bad” note resolves into a good one. This adds wonderful tension to a bass solo.
🤣🤣🤣
Watched his video where he said there are no wrong notes xD
at last someone who makes sense without confusing things (without feeding cats or talking to much about something completely different(sorry scott your amazing at bass but drag things out)) everything you say makes sense and isn't intimidating at all. taking out the stress of scales means a bassist can progress and get there as and when their ready while getting the confidence needed to move forward. good job buddy
Nice
Nice
Yes! This approach is more intuitive, IMO
Been playing bass on worship teams for many years (I don't consider myself a really great musician) but I must say that this is some of the best advice I've ever heard. What a great teacher!
the better you get at bass the worse scotts bass lessons channel becomes. this is something that cant be explained more like, you just have to have enough perspective to see how he doesnt really provide any beneficial content in any way
he can use video editing, bring on any random guest famous or not, to try to get reactions out of people
he can make tip videos and lessons, but they usually only involve very surface level information
he is much more focused on aesthetic than anything. gets a lot of attention for just having a hand condition that doesnt effect his playing, "he wears a glove, this guy must be good" eh...i havent heard anything intriguing come from those hands. if he does he definitely doesnt see it important enough to make videos about.
overall just an absolute waste of time, he tries to attract beginners who want to watch content about bass, thats about it. almost every other "guidance" bass channel is worth more
even davie504 (i think thats how its spelled) has pretty good old tutorial videos up, short and simple excercises miles more useful than a single thing ive ever heard from the sbl channel
everytime i see that guys name i want to take a big dump on it sbl bs talk talk talk talk, he plays like a caucasian cooks hththhthththththhthtthh
Long time bass player and I say salute to you for taking the mystery out of good solos
Out of all the bass lessons on TH-cam Yours have been the best Quality and most helpful
Luke, you've really helped me take my playing to new levels. I had to laugh on the second example, the "delayed melody". It's one of the only times I've seen your "bass face". We all have one. Mine is comical, frankly. But it always shows up when I'm concentrating really hard. Thanks for showing me that even seasoned pros, still strive to crush a groove. Cheers!
Haha! The bass face is so real!!! I’m always doing weird stuff with my mouth without realising it. I’m glad the video helped get your playing to new levels Tim - that’s really great news!
2:30 "We're not going to use any of this, at all" Thank God!! :D
Haha! It makes way more sense to start at a simpler place and work up to using all the complicated stuff than starting complicated and working your way back to simplicity.
What an eye opener, thanks a million Luke. Now I feel like I can become a bass player, a musician even, and achieve my ambition to play jazz. What an inspiration.
You’re a great teacher-great delivery, and you take what others would complicate, and simplify it- great channel!!
Glad you think so Jason! I always try to make things simple to follow and get started. I can't tell you how happy I am to hear this from you!
Become A Bassist - truth is truth: you know your stuff, you’re a player, and you teach the way it should be taught- hope you reach a million subscribers!
To be honest, I prefer bass solos where the bassist still keeps the groove.
Different styles of music though
If the solo doesn't match or fit the groove the bassist is only showing off.
A great bassist will always think he is just ok. Stay humble and remember the bass is to fill in the octaves the guitar can't reach. Fill the spectrum before the ego.
@@silencedones4421yall putting rules on music
It’s crazy how we are all different right. I prefer to keep playing the bass line, but maybe with a little extra sauce. I love hearing other cats go crazy tho
Watch my nerd ass play the groove and a solo at the same time
Love this lesson and your humility, being able to laugh about making mistakes while learning!
What a bunch of cool ideas to work with! I will try them immidiately.. Thank you so much!
Awesome Anne! Let me know how you go with them!
Interesting; when I did a run through of a guitar on scales when I was 13, it helped know where every note’s at on the fretboard. Ever since that day improv has been a strong suit & best friend to my playing today!!
Just wondering how did you go about it? For me pentatonic shapes are easy. I'm looking to get all mode shapes down.
ionian starts in the 1(tonic) dorian starts on the 2 etc...major scale starting on the different degrees of the scale
Thank God
I've gotten so frustrated looking for the right bass lesson channel and had been watching another very popular ( full of suck up subscribers and comments) teacher whom spazzingly yacks your ears off for the first 3/4 of the video about nothing to do with learning bass which damn near had me ready to smash my bass into my iPad or stoke the fire pit!!
2 minutes into your lesson I have happily subscribed! Thanks for your content! I am again inspired!!!!! Whew!!
Haha! Awesome Richard - so good to hear! I'm happy my approach works for you.
This approach was super useful to know which notes to play and then remixing them. Thank you!
Fantastic to hear! I'm glad to hear you found it useful!
Thank you for this video!! Tonight at church, I was put on the spot for the first time in my short bass playing career. I just kept playing the bass line, lol, but next time I’ll be ready!!
You can do it @AL The Free Man!
Great work and inspiration, am an intermediate bass player. I can identify with your advice, actually after all this theory we learn, the most appealing this we can do is to have a great melody going.
Totally - Melody is the key. Nothing works without it!
Thanks for these vids, Luke. I knew some of these concepts but this s great, real-world stuff that I can use within days.
That's awesome William! Let me know when you're able to apply some of it. I'd love to hear about it.
Thank you for this video. I've been guilty of overthinking it. It's such a great tip to just revert back to the original melody. You can embellish and play around the melody easier than you can think of chordal tones of each bar. It makes it more organic too, rather than just a mathematical solo
great work buddy, I am gonna understand all the videos you made, improve my bass skills and my English :) keep enjoying the bass, greetings from Turkey
This is great. I've been scratching my head, trying to work out how to improvise solos. The way that you gradually took us from the idea of playing the basic melody through to the true improv ideas at the end really gave me a light bulb moment. I'm really enthused about trying out this method to some of the songs I love. Cheers!
Wooten: if you hit the wrong note, either add it to the loop; or move up/down just 1 fret and you're back in key
Thanks for the tip. I never actually thought about that, I'm working on a bass solo at the moment for a song that already have a 2min bass solo. Due to technical reason I couldn't play the whole solo exactly the same so I have to improvise something to make it sound good but not too sluggish. I dig myself a hole to try learn all the chord scale and link them together without thinking how it sound. Maybe I should look at all the notes on the existing piece that I can play and mix them to try things out.
Its easy overthink things all way around until You arrive at the solution You ruled out as being too easy in the first place . Anyhow, you’ll figure it out! Good luck
Wonderful as always Luke! You have a natural teaching style that simply explains things and makes them easy to understand. And I love how you leave your mistakes in there. Cheers!
I Luke I've been whatching your videos for quite some times now , and I must admit that I love the way you explain the use of the differents components of music applied to the bass playing.
Stay as clear and simple as you are.
Thanks Luke for another lesson that makes Bass playing much easier
So far so good,you are the best I have encounter so far.Keep it up
Cracked it Luke , thank you , been learning the Modes , so not only did I get the solo , I saw the modes you put up and even though you said we are not using scales , I ran the track , saw the modes you had used " Bingo " all fitted , bass solo fitted , got the whole thing . Thank You.
That's amazing work @Russell Smith! Huge congratulations!
Epic video! That note “A” actually can work if it is sustained and depending on what follows the note. At that point in the song, if I’m not mistaken, the note “A” is in the next chord or at least the next phrase etc. So sustaining the note, though “wrong”, can be a leading tone to the next phrase.
That's great information. Thanks for taking the time to make this video Luke. This helped me immensely to understand how to begin constructing a solo. AWESOME STUFF keep it coming!
It took me a minute to realize but I’m playing this same song and trying to improvise a solo for it right now
Very informative lesson. And anyone that's played live has to appreciate the story at the end :) Thanks for being so straightforward and honest Luke, as a teacher and a human being. Keep up the great work!
Hey Luke! I just want to say thank you to your awesome technique for making bass solo.
It is super helpful, keep on the great work
Thanks for the free content and for explaining the topic so clearly!
I see a problem here. The bassist is hot, but he's also a bassist. So does he get chicks or not?
Sorry friend - I'm taken.
so you get... chick
Bassest are the hottest!
@@CuteSceneChic good to know lmao
Ask Bill Wayman too.
You are a very good and a talented teacher and a good mentot
You just have This calmness humbleness in your voice lol 💖🙇♀️
This is a powerful concept. Should be obvious and common wisdom but it's not. Tim Pierce gives the same advice for his quite musically advanced audience, but most lessons on improvisation will focus on scales and arpeggios. Needless to say, learning to play iconic melodies is an effective way to learn how to write your own, on the spot.
Definitely! The scales and arpeggios can be useful, but the goal for me is to make melodies. They might contain scales and arpeggios, but a lot of the time, I'm not thinking in those terms. I wish I'd listened to the 'learn to play melodies' way earlier in my life. It would have made a huge difference to the younger me.
It's time for a rousing Tuba solo!
Wow ! You just open up the door to soloing for me , thank you so much .
As i progress in learning to play bass .. I come back to more advanced stuff like luke's and that AHA moment where the last time it may have been too advanced for me at that time but it makes sense now .. And now im ready to learn this lesson as my understanding of the bass over 7 mos allows me this..i have memoried and can find the notes...say a Bb ... I can move to a higher or lower Bb string sizewise. A C for instance may not sound correct or deliver the emotional in the wrong octave so when im learning strictly by chords i can get to another octave as nesessary to make practicing a true learning experience mood
You are so great Luke.Because of you, i had my first fan , on my solo.🤪
Really? That's awesome @PapCoin! Congrats! Tell me the story of this fan though - what did they like about your solo?
I can feel how you love it..it makes the video really instructive..thank you
this is sooo good, even the solo you pulled off in the vid
Love it! Very helpful
I was always afraid of how complex soloing is, but now I see that it can be quite simple and fun! Thank you for this video💪👌😊
What I like about this guy is he gets straight into the lesson. Other guys on here talk too much or clown around too much.
That shirt is too funny! Really great tips on these videos. Thank you.
Glad you like the shirt AND the videos! Haha!
Thanks for your videos - very helpful. Great stuff
Pure genius the writing is right there on the wall
I mentioned Andy Fraser of the band Free in another video comment section. Have you ever heard the bass solo at the end of the live version of Mr Big by Free? It’s my all time favourite bass solo. Another favourite is the bass solo intro to N.I.B by Black Sabbath. Simple but effective. Good on ya Luke. Keep it up. 👍
thanks Luke McIntosh Your approach sure sounds good to me since I want to get started playing a bass. Great knowing there are ways to learn without making it so mentally stressful or not attainable. .
I'm glad you like it - and you're 100% right. It doesn't have to be complicated to get started. In fact, a lot of the time, the simpler it is, the more impact it has!
Thank you sooo much!! You really helped me. I got stuck preparing a solo for Treasure by Bruno Mars which contains slap-style. You gave me some great inspiration.
Yeah! Yeah? Great lessons yeah. I’m glad I found this channel yeah.
Yeah?
method #4, i. e. playing notes from melody in different order is 100% playing scale notes
however it's true that many teachers don't explain what are scales for and how to use them and which notes are more universal (1st, 5th, 3rd, 4th) and which are more "specialized" (2nd, 6th and 7th)
My eyes opener was to learn that when a song is in key C-Major, I can use any high register note from C-major scale at any time and it will fit, no matter what chord is being played - as long it's diatonic (i. e. consists of C-major notes, like Gmaj7 or A minor or B diminished etc)
Good video anyway
Great concepts .... Liked & Subscribed!
Excellent video as always.
11:00 (the wrong-note-problem): A friend of mine was told by T.M. to just play that note again. Louder. With more self-consciousness. „It‘s Your f***ing solo, not anybody elses. And whoever thinks, that he can do better, should prove himself on stage“
Haha! This is very true - often the people doing the loudest criticizing are the ones with the *least* skin in the game.
Luke you're great! Thanks from Argentina!
You’re welcome Christian. Thanks for checking out the video
I've liked and subscribed. Do not take this the wrong way. Do a video on bassplaying farmers in Australia. Maybe skip over to New Zealand as well, yeah? Bungyjumping. Or Basejumping!
Do you know a lot of bass playing farmers in Australia? I don’t think I know any.
A well done video that's well worth watching. - Thanks for your 'Honesty' as well(well,...well,...well,...).
The wedding gig story gold! Happens to the best of us! Well done to get one clap. I reckon even Jaco would struggle to get a clap during the dinner set hahaha
Great video Luke, thank you!
I know what your saying Luke, I tell students to learn the melody like you said but know it inside out. Then embellish it rhythmic ideas etc. Also use the bassline of the song and mess with it. Ultimately learn the chord tones and the scales that apply.
Took me the whole video to finally get the t-shirt reference... 🙃
Great video too... I've got a long way to go...
Great alternative.Thank you!
.
That’s very useful! Thanks!
Good job dude .... and thanks!
Really usefull example. Thanks!
thanks for sharing! good lesson...
That's a beautiful bass you've got there!
What brand is it?
it looks like an ibanez and those pickup shapes appear to be bartolini. Not 100% tho
the secret to knowing what to play: context
haha but youre right, utilize the melody
but is this good improvisation advice for this situation or for most situations
how can i improvise better when its just me, a nice drum pedal, what do i do when im alone? :(
You are awesome. Thanks a lot for your great work. I love ur videos.
Awesome lesson!
Can u plzz make a video on how to choose notes (scales) for a bass solo/groove.
When he said “Calm your farm” I laughed
What's the meaning of it?
thanks its great.
You help me a lot
Thanks Luke, makes sense - now when I think about, doesn't the bass solo in 'Brown Eyed Girl just mainly play the melody?
If I remember right, the bass just plays the regular bass line rather than the vocal melody, but that’s also an option if you’re really stuck and don’t know what to play. It’s already a part of the song, so you know it’s going to work well.
thanks for the lesson on walking bass line .it help m
That's a great step 2 for me. Step 1: how do I play the melody instead of just the root notes?
Great question Daniel. There are a few ways. You can try to find tabs for the melody itself, but a MUCH better way would be to figure it out yourself.
Start by singing along with the melody and get really comfortable with that. Once you can do that pretty well, sing JUST the first note of the melody and keep it in your ear. Then, start searching around for it on your bass. At the start, this is going to feel weird and 'wrong', but keep at it. Eventually, you'll find the note on your bass that matches with the note of the melody.
If you wanted to check your work and make sure you got it right, you could use a free tuner app, sing the note of the melody into it and it will tell you what the note is. Then play the note on your bass. If it's the same note, then you're golden! If not, then you might be hearing things differently, so you go back to the start.
Over time, this process will become easier and easier. Rather than taking a long time to get a single note, it'll just take a second or two. Then instead of just focusing on one note at a time, you'll find yourself doing 2, 3, then 4, and eventually entire phrases at once.
By the way, you don't have to have a good singing voice to do this. You just have to work on your ability to match pitch. I talk about this kind of thing in this lesson, although it's not exactly what I'm talking about for learning melodies by ear.
th-cam.com/video/ZXuRaC8ZjxY/w-d-xo.html
Does this make sense Daniel? I may have to make a lesson about this exact thing.
It makes sense for the most part! Actually I didn't know about voice tuners, this is something that will really help me.
How do I know if the note I'm singing is the same as the note I hear in the song? If I know what note the song is then I should just be able to find it on the bass.
At the start, before your ear is well-developed, you'll probably end up guessing. Sometimes you'll be right and other times, you'll be wrong. And that's great! Every mistake you make is a chance to learn how to do it better. Over time though, you'll start to get a sense for when you're singing the melody vs. something else.
In the meantime, if you know any musicians who have a bit more experience than you do, you could record yourself playing along with the melody once you figure it out. Just using the voice recorder on your phone would be fine. Show it to them and they should be able to tell you whether the notes you chose are actually the ones on the recording.
If you do this with 3 songs and really go deep with them, your ears will start to separate the melody and the chords and the bass line and whatever else is in the song.
Thanks for the advice!
No worries. Let me know how you go with it!
Do you have any idea how awesome you are?
The scruff suits you, Luke. Thanks for the lesson and stay righteous!
Haha! Thanks Scott. Glad you like it! (The scruff - I guess the lesson too!)
Great lesson, and what a simple but powerful idea!
I think you should be playing a Beatle Bass though.
Thanks Phillip - glad you enjoyed the lesson! Why a Beatles bass though?
Because of the beetle t-shirt!
Haha!!! Of course! I almost forgot I was wearing that shirt in this video.
Thank you so much for the video
You're welcome! I'm glad you like it.
what kind of bass is that! it very nice
In this video, it's an Ibanez SR1000
Nice Beatles shirt!
Any advice on soloing in a song which just uses a simple 4 chord progression? I love the stevie wonder example but not all songs have such a clear melody line like that
Doing a gig of 40 jazz standards where you don’t know any of the melodies ,let’s see him solo to them. 😂
Yes Chris just use the vocal melody as the melody if the song doesn't have a distinguishable or memorable melody. BTW that Stevie wonder tune is a 4 chord song. At least the main chord progression is. So is the bridge actually just replaces two of the chords from the main progression with other chords
Thanx a lot! Another great lesson! 😀👍
Wow, that's a nice looking bass! What kind is it?
I will learn bass with you
Thanks a lot ... please continue that videos
Is it just me, or did anyone else expect that the backing track in Luke's link would be minus the Bass?? Other than that, thumbs up.
From memory, that backing track was one that I found, not one that I made myself. Although if you're using the track to practice improvising rather than practicing in 'bass line mode', it's totally fine if there's already a bass part in the track.
Ok thanks.
The people i play with want me to improvise over beastly, any tips on that? The «melody» would be the bass riff, and repeating that would be really boring i think
@kingofpenguins4157 - This is a great question, so I recorded a quick explainer video for you breaking down how Joe Dart does the exact thing I talk about in the video. Here it is: www.loom.com/share/a02b8b16f8454a7d9570b2b0659abb65?sid=6b85ebf8-0e4a-40a8-ade8-6ff094dbc118
And here's a video I mention when talking about the blues scale that could be helpful for you: th-cam.com/video/qA_W8yes0Fk/w-d-xo.html
And if you _really_ want to go a bit more 'all out', then you could go beyond the blues scale and use a kind of 'hybrid' funk scale, which is a lot of what Joe does in the original Beastly: th-cam.com/video/OTCJsFjRYkw/w-d-xo.html
Let me know if you have any questions about anything.
@@BecomeABassist thank you so much! I really appreciate it, this is gonna help me out a lot.
edit - honestly, "a lot" doesn't cover it. Massive respect to you for finding a comment on a three year old video, and not only responding to it, but also making a whole video to help out. You are the GOAT
again, thank you so much, you have no idea how much this helps out.
Hi, did you memorize all the notes on the fretboard??
I did @Zandra Romero and I have a few videos about that exact process. You can find the first one here: th-cam.com/video/ceKR8IFMCdo/w-d-xo.html
@@BecomeABassist wowww how long did it take?
I'm gettin a bass next month and im thinking of these steps:
1. Memorize the notes on fretboard
2. Learn Music theory
3. Be fluent in reading tabs
4. Write songs with my bass
5. Make my own riffs
6. Learn how to do improv on bass
What do you think? :))
THANK YOU SO MUCH
very good lesson also nice bass like the color what brand is it
Happy to hear you like the lesson Ken. The bass in this video is an Ibanez SR1000 from around 2007.
Become A Bassist thanks for response I thought it look like a ibanez , what did it cost and did you buy it in 2007
No worries. I actually had an endorsement deal in 2007 when I bought it, so I got it at cost, but I can't remember exactly how much I paid. It was my first 'serious' bass though.
Become A Bassist I've been playing many years working on my own music
So I'm not the only one who pulls out my tongue while playing
Oh no - you're definitely not alone there...
The first song is called Isn't she lovely by the way. i love that song lmao
I knew it would be a mistake I got that the , I got the numbers on the tab board , 3rd fret fine 4th fret fine but in between there’s number 10 don’t get it . Could you help cheers Greg
Can you please teach numbers for the ppl that use number instead of the c d e
I do have this video: m.th-cam.com/video/sVTiW4dC5NU/w-d-xo.html I should warn you though, there’s a lot of talking in it.
@@BecomeABassist Thank you so much