Fingerstyle Synergy: Bass & Melody

Twenty-five-year-old Joe Robinson won the Australian National Songwriting Competition at age 13. Joe went on to win Australia’s Got Talent television series competition when he was 16. Over the following 9 years, Joe’s instrumental and singer/songwriter music has earned him countless accolades including Guitar Player magazine’s Top 50 Best Guitarists and a reader’s poll Best New Talent.

At the core of Joe’s fingerstyle guitar virtuosity is the astonishing synergy of his bass and melody lines. We’re thrilled to welcome Joe to the family with his first TrueFire course, Fingerstyle Synergy: Bass & Melody, which reveals the creative and technical approaches that power his unique voice on the instrument.

”I’ve crafted 10 etudes with very distinct bass lines and simple catchy melodies that weave together in a contrapuntal fashion to display the potential in crafting fresh and compelling sounding fingerstyle arrangements. After learning these short pieces, you’ll have a basic, foundational understanding of how to simultaneously play two separate lines - the technical achievement of which will reverberate through every aspect of your guitar playing and musicianship.”

For each of the 10 etudes in the course, Joe will present a series of 5 video lesson segments. Joe will first perform the etude in its entirety in the first segment. He will then isolate and demonstrate the bass and melody parts in the following two lesson segments.

In the fourth lesson segment, Joe breaks down the full performance slowly, note-by-note, move-by-move. In the fifth and final segment, Joe presents an embellished performance to give you something to work towards once you’ve mastered the fundamentals. Ten etudes, five lessons segments for each — 50 video lessons segments in total.

You’ll start the course off with a simple study in the key of E. Next you’ll work on a repetitive bass motive with a bluesy melody on top, followed by an etude focused on a walking bass swing feel. Joe then guides you through a study in the key of A, which is focused on counterpoint. You’ll work through a funky study, a chromatic jazzy study, and an etude focused on a syncopated rhythmic feel.

Joe also guides you through three studies featuring sections from his original tunes. You will deconstruct the main theme from Strutting It, examine the main theme from Daddy Long Licks, and finish up with the main section of The Gremlin.

With an eye (and ear!) towards sparking your own synergistic compositions, Joe also includes two bonus performances. ”Byron's Bounce is a fun tune that I'm hoping will inspire you to create some of your own pieces that incorporate bass and melody synergy. Flea Bites was recorded back in 2008 and it uses a walking bass line, lots of movement, and some intricate melodies.”

All of the performance studies are tabbed and notated for your practice, reference and study purposes. You’ll also get Guitar Pro files so that you can play, loop and slow down the tab and notation as you work through the lessons.

Grab your guitar and let’s synergize with Smokin’ Joe Robinson!