Bass Soloing Studies Vol. 2

Creative & Harmonic Approaches for Soloing on Bass Guitar

Marty FriedmanTommy EmmanuelSteve VaiEric GalesEric Johnson

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Bass Soloing Studies Vol. 2

About this course

In this second module of Jeff Denson’s Bass Soloing Studies series, you will greatly expand your palette of colors when improvising with pentatonic scales (make sure you’ve worked through Volume 1 before digging into this module!).

"Jeff is an exceptional musician who is a creative force on the double bass and has an original approach and voice on the instrument. He brings a fantastic sense of composition to his improvisations that allow him to transcend the role of the bass and make many unexpected choices. He is always thinking outside the box and bringing his musicality and lyricism to all of his work.” — Lee Konitz

In this course, Jeff will show you how to take the pentatonic shapes that you’re already familiar with and use them on other notes of the chord, in addition to the root note. This creates a whole new harmonic universe to explore.

Jeff will also demonstrate how to add increasing layers of color to your solos and improvisations by mixing colors with one another.

You’ll play your way through dozens of study sessions and improvise over a variety of chord changes and styles including soul, neo-soul, blues, and jazz.

Jeff will explain and demonstrate all of the key concepts and approaches along the way. You'll get standard notation and tabs for all of the key studies. Plus, Jeff includes all of the rhythm tracks for you to work with on your own. In addition, you'll be able to loop or slow down any of the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace.

Grab your bass and let's solo with Jeff Denson!

What you'll learn

  • Execute scales in multiple rhythmic subdivisions (quarters, eighths, sixteenths)
  • Create tension over altered dominants that resolves to the tonic
  • Think melodically rather than relying solely on scale shapes
  • Understand the construction and function of B7 altered chords
  • Understand which chord tones are present in the 6th-root pentatonic
Release date: 01/24/2019 • 1h 34m runtime
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Sample lessons
D Minor Pentatonic: The Root
D Minor Pentatonic: The Root
Solo Session Demo
E Minor Pentatonic: 9th Root
E Minor Pentatonic: 9th Root
Practice Session
G Minor Pentatonic: The Root
G Minor Pentatonic: The Root
Practice Session
Bb Minor Pentatonic: Flat 3 Root
Bb Minor Pentatonic: Flat 3 Root
Practice Session

What's included

55 lessons • 27 charts • 8 Jam Tracks

Bass Soloing Studies | 2
Hi, I'm Jeff Denson and welcome to Bass Soloing Studies Vol. 2! In this course, we'll be expanding on what we learned in the first course, Bass Soloing Studies Vol. 1, by seeing how we can increase our palette of colors with pentatonic scales by exploring these same shapes, but by starting them on different notes of the chord.

We'll play our way through dozens of study sessions and improvise over a variety of chord changes and styles including soul, neo soul, blues and jazz. Whatever style you play, you'll find this course invaluable. So, grab your bass and let's get started!
SECTION 1: Quick Review
This video gives a run-down of the course. We'll be discussing minor pentatonic scales and three chord types: minor seven, dominant seven and major seven.
Pentatonic Basics Review
In this video, we'll review the fingerings for one and two octave E minor pentatonic scales. This is the scale that we'll be using from different starting notes in the chords throughout the course. If this scale is new to you, then you may want to check out the course that precedes this one, Bass Soloing Studies Vol. 1., because there, I go into great detail about minor and relative major pentatonic scales and investigate the same notes in "different shapes" up and down the entire neck.

If you've already worked through the first course, this will be a review for you.
Chord Qualities Review
In this video, I discuss the three chord types we will be working with throughout this course: the minor seven, the dominant seven and the major seven. I'll discuss where they are found in major diatonic harmony.
SECTION 2: Minor 7 Colors
In this section, we'll be looking at using three different minor pentatonic scales over the same minor seven chord: from the root, from the 5th and from the 9th. The fourth and final example in this section will be mixing all three pentatonic scales together to get the maximum amount of harmonic variation (or "colors") in your solos.
D Minor Pentatonic: The Root
In this video, we'll be discussing what you "get" harmonically out of using the minor pentatonic from the root on a minor seven chord. For example, in this demonstration we'll be discussing what notes of the chord you find when you play a D minor pentatonic scale over a D minor 7 chord.

When using a minor pentatonic scale based off of the root of a minor seven chord you get the following notes: the root, the minor third, the eleven, the perfect fifth and the flat seven.
D Minor Pentatonic: The Root
In this video, we'll be practicing playing the D minor pentatonic scale in three different rhythmic subdivisions (quarter notes, eighths and sixteenths) along with a play-along track.

+ 48 more lessons

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Reviews

7 results

rsgoldsmith

Verified buyer

04/28/23

The exercises are great. Wish the solos were taught in small segments

Joël J.

08/11/21

Really inspiring

Jeff Denson"s teaching is unique and motivating, a "must-have" !

SleepyJ

Verified buyer

04/10/21

A must for the aspiring bassist

Jeff Denson's insightful teachings takes the learner to places in harmony where he can find the tools for meaningful and sophisticated bass soloing

rduda

Verified buyer

04/14/20

Super Ideas

As an beginner I often have no Idea what is 'playable'. What I mean is, playing a pentatonic scale, because it's there and easy to reach is probaly not enought. Combining Bars and resolv the notes from one to another to give the whole 'story' a type of sense, is very difficult for me - I have no music theory backround at all. In this course Jeff Denson offers a toolbox of working solutions and encourages to extend them. Sorry for my bad english. (._.)

Jeffrey0

Verified buyer

11/14/19

Very informative. I need to buy Vol.1 now

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