coffell
Verified buyer
12/14/25
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50 Bass Grooves You MUST Know
Essential collection of bass grooves you must know
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David Santos
Educator
Genres
About this course
The rite of passage for members of the Satere-Mawe tribe of Brazil requires wearing a glove filled with bullet ants, whose sting is often compared to being shot by a gun. Thankfully, the rite of passage for contemporary bass players preserves both hands and is a lot more fun. If you're drawn to any modern style of groove-based music, you're required by law to assimilate the collective wisdom of classic soul, funk and R&B bass players whose timeless grooves power virtually every popular style of music today.
Your groove witch doctor, David Santos guides your rite of passage expertly with 50 Bass Grooves You MUST Know. Electric bassist, touring and session musician, songwriter and producer, Santos has fired up the groove with some of the world's most prominent superstars including Crosby Stills & Nash, Stephen Stills, John Fogerty, Billy Joel, Elton John, Phoebe Snow, The Neville Brothers, James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett.
David cherry-picked 50 of the most versatile, most potent grooves -- immortal bass lines one and all -- to share with you in this collection. "I've studied and pulled lines from countless blues, soul and R&B recordings, all of which have inspired my own playing. These 50 grooves personify the music of James Brown, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Muddy Waters, Big Joe Turner, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, The Meters, BB King, Howlin' Wolf, King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Guitar Watson, Sly and The Family Stone, Cornell Dupree, Booker T and The MG's, Little Milton and many, many others."
David has prepared an extraordinarily engaging learning experience for students of bass guitar. No tedious theory or boring exercises to struggle through here -- you will groove your way through this course. In fact, you'll have trouble putting it down.
Each of the 50 grooves is presented in a lesson set that includes a demonstration of the groove by David performed over a killer rhythm track, a note-by-note, technique-by-technique breakdown of the groove, the rhythm track for you to work with on your own, a text narrative, tab, standard notation, and Power Tab files.
David's educational approach in this course goes way beyond just learning bass lines and grooves. "It's important for players to learn the entire shape of a piece of music, note-for-note, from beginning to end. The memorization process of learning complete songs, with a beginning and an end and some twists and turns in the middle, will develop the ability to play and work in the real world of the working musician." Learning the 50 mini-songs that David has prepared for you will get you well on your way to that real world.
Pack your bags, stir your soul and grab your bass -- your rite of passage begins right now with 50 Bass Grooves You MUST know!
Your groove witch doctor, David Santos guides your rite of passage expertly with 50 Bass Grooves You MUST Know. Electric bassist, touring and session musician, songwriter and producer, Santos has fired up the groove with some of the world's most prominent superstars including Crosby Stills & Nash, Stephen Stills, John Fogerty, Billy Joel, Elton John, Phoebe Snow, The Neville Brothers, James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett.
David cherry-picked 50 of the most versatile, most potent grooves -- immortal bass lines one and all -- to share with you in this collection. "I've studied and pulled lines from countless blues, soul and R&B recordings, all of which have inspired my own playing. These 50 grooves personify the music of James Brown, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Muddy Waters, Big Joe Turner, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino, The Meters, BB King, Howlin' Wolf, King Curtis, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Guitar Watson, Sly and The Family Stone, Cornell Dupree, Booker T and The MG's, Little Milton and many, many others."
David has prepared an extraordinarily engaging learning experience for students of bass guitar. No tedious theory or boring exercises to struggle through here -- you will groove your way through this course. In fact, you'll have trouble putting it down.
Each of the 50 grooves is presented in a lesson set that includes a demonstration of the groove by David performed over a killer rhythm track, a note-by-note, technique-by-technique breakdown of the groove, the rhythm track for you to work with on your own, a text narrative, tab, standard notation, and Power Tab files.
David's educational approach in this course goes way beyond just learning bass lines and grooves. "It's important for players to learn the entire shape of a piece of music, note-for-note, from beginning to end. The memorization process of learning complete songs, with a beginning and an end and some twists and turns in the middle, will develop the ability to play and work in the real world of the working musician." Learning the 50 mini-songs that David has prepared for you will get you well on your way to that real world.
Pack your bags, stir your soul and grab your bass -- your rite of passage begins right now with 50 Bass Grooves You MUST know!
What you'll learn
- Navigate chromatic walk-ups from the third to fifth of chords
- Apply two-measure phrase construction over I and IV chords
- Execute root-octave-fifth patterns with strong downbeats
- Master syncopated sixteenth-note rhythms with tied notes
- Develop the ability to lock into a half-time shuffle groove
Release date: 12/11/2012 • 4h 08m runtime
Sample lessons
Shuffle in G
Bass Line #1
Upbeat Funk
Bass Line #2
Chicago Shuffle
Bass Line #13
Funk Off
Bass Line #17
What's included
52 lessons • 50 charts • 50 Jam Tracks
50 Bass Grooves
Hi I'm David Santos and welcome to 50 Bass Grooves You MUST Know!
We're going to talk about many different styles, grooves and bass lines that I feel will greatly enhance your bass playing. I will play each piece for you and then discuss the techniques and musical knowledge that will help you add these lines, and others like them, to your playing, in order to help you create your own unique bass lines in the future.
There are subtle differences within many of these passages that you may think, at first listen, are not so important, but as you dig deeper, you will find that these differences contain much information for you to develop and add to your bag of tricks. Let's get to it!
We're going to talk about many different styles, grooves and bass lines that I feel will greatly enhance your bass playing. I will play each piece for you and then discuss the techniques and musical knowledge that will help you add these lines, and others like them, to your playing, in order to help you create your own unique bass lines in the future.
There are subtle differences within many of these passages that you may think, at first listen, are not so important, but as you dig deeper, you will find that these differences contain much information for you to develop and add to your bag of tricks. Let's get to it!
Shuffle in G
This song demonstrates that not every blues song will be conceived and realized in the form of a standard 12 bar blues. Often a song is written with a blues form in mind while altering it to fit the composer’s vision. In Shuffle in G a bass line is stated for the G7 chord for 8 bars, and the same motif continues on the C7 chord for 6 bars. A turnaround, which is devised of an Eb7 chord for two bars, and a D7 chord for two bars, is then utilized. A quarter note triplet is employed on the D7 chord as a rhythmic device to return to the G7 chord. The band then vamps for 12 bars on the G7 and ends on a sustaining whole note.
Upbeat Funk
This is a very funky and useful bass line in an old school rhythm and blues style. It is a repeating 2 bar phrase that can be used for connecting two dominant 7th chords that are a fourth apart. This simple form is comprised of a G7th and a C7th chord, identified as the one and the four chord in this example. The bass line utilizes many noteworthy components included in the example and discussion for the player's development of concept and technique.
Walkdown Funk
This descending line is based on an Eb7th sound. A portion of the major pentatonic scale is used as a pickup to the downbeat on the "and of 4" of the second measure of this two measure phrase. Using a two bar phrase and altering the rhythmic placement of the notes in measure two is very effective while utilizing the same descending melodic information in both measures. The flatted 7th of the blues scale is used in both measures as an important harmonic and melodic sound while the natural sixth of the major pentatonic scale is also used. This dance between the major pentatonic scale and the blues scale is found in the playing of many great blues players and is a very useful device to develop.
Church in the House
This line utilizes a major pentatonic pickup on the "and of 4". It is a two measure phrase performed in staccato 8th notes. The phrase consists of a funky trill or hammer-on from the minor third to the major third on the G string in measure one. A low minor third on the E string is used in measure two as an answer to the high trill of measure one. Home base for this line is the F sharp on the D string 4th fret. The lower F sharp on the E string is used as well in measure two of this two bar phrase, primarily to set up the low A note on the E string (the minor third) which is an answer in this call and response dialogue between the high trill of the minor to major trill on the G string and the non-trilled lower minor third of measure two on the E string.
Hold the Groove
This bass line is a two measure phrase and could be described as a dominant 7th arpeggio. An Eb7th. Many funky upbeats are utilized in this line. The tempo is relatively fast. The snare is felt on beats two and "the and of three". Concentrate on holding the groove down and playing very steadily.
Hold the Groove-Bridge
This is an 8 measure phrase consisting of three identical two bar phrases for measures 1 through 6, and a variation of this phrase for measures 7 and 8. The form alternates harmonically between Eb7 for one bar and Ab7 for one bar throughout the entire 8 bar phrase. Ab7 is approached by a half step in measure one on beat three (G, which is also the third of the Eb7). A walk up from the third of the Ab7 (C and D flat on beats three and four brings us back to Eb7). Repetition is employed as this phrase repeats three times. The fourth time it varies, for measures 7 and 8, as the walk up of measure 8 is fully chromatic for the first time and utilizes 4 quarter notes to walk back to the beginning, and again we repeat our 8 bar phrase.
+ 45 more lessons
Reviews
15 results
chippawajoe
Verified buyer
06/18/25
Great So Far
I'm only up to #5, but I'm finding it both challenging and useful so far. David does an excellent job of explaining the how and the why. And the practice tracks help reinforce the lessons.
MFC1
Verified buyer
08/22/24
Perfect class!
5peter5000
Verified buyer
12/27/22
For me as newcomer in bass playing as a complement to the guitar this kind of course gives a quick start
emsonast
Verified buyer
12/12/22
Interesting and varied course
David Santos is very clear and brings a good balance of background for each exercise, practical tips and relevant music theory (without going overboard). The examples are varied, allowing the student to gain exposure to many styles and techniques. Not for the beginner but very rewarding for both intermediate and experienced players.
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