Bass Player is the world's most comprehensive, trusted and insightful bass publication for passionate bassists and active musicians of all ages. Each issue delivers the latest tips and techniques that are guaranteed to make you a better player.
Faith No More, Kings Of Leon, any number of bands currently rocking stages near you—all of these will cite the bass playing of Peter Hook as an influence. His haunting, high-register work in Joy Division and New Order in the Eighties and Nineties, both outfits ultimately doomed in various ways, has made him nothing less than an icon. Now leading his own band, and executing major celebratory events year on year that remind us exactly of the remarkable things that he’s done with his life, Hooky welcomes us into his world in this issue for a wide-open chat. Read and learn—we certainly did. We also sit down with a wide range of other stellar bassists, from established celebs such as Troy Sanders of Mastodon and the great Bobby Vega, via…
MILLER TIME Bassline Publishing, headed up by bassist and educator Stuart Clayton of this magazine, has announced the release of Marcus Miller—Highlights from Afrodeezia, a book of six songs from Miller’s 2015 album of the same name. The book also contains a biography, information about the instruments Marcus uses, and a detailed analysis of his playing style. Each transcription is written in both standard notation, and tablature and has extensive performance notes. The book contains the following pieces: ‘Hylife’, ‘B’s River’, ‘We Were There’, ‘Son Of Macbeth’, ‘Xtraordinary’, and ‘Water Dancer’ and costs $21 plus shipping. www.basslinepublishing.com KRUEGER COOL Veteran amp-makers Gallien-Krueger have announced their new Legacy amp head series. As the company tells us, “The Legacy Series represents 50 years of design, innovation and industry experience at Gallien-Krueger. Bob…
NEW ALBUM Jeff Hughell, Sleep Deprivation (2019) Insane levels of bass mastery from Six Feet Under’s seven-string maestro. Put aside half an hour for stunned silence after listening. OLD ALBUM Steve Lawson and Michael Manring, Language Is A Music (2012) Available from the boy Lawson’s website, this feast of duelling fretless basses is an object lesson in musical telepathy. REALLY OLD ALBUM Johann Sebastian Bach, St. Matthew Passion (1727) The best bass in history was the late JS Bach’s left hand. Luckily, it’s available on modern wax cylinder, and possibly even 78rpm LP.…
Welcome back to Low Life! This time around, I’ll be talking about what to do when the structure of a track becomes compromised in a live setting. Let’s face it, it can be easily done. With multiple band members, there is certainly the capacity for someone to take a wrong turn or miss a section change—especially if new material has just been introduced into the set, or you have a new band member. Even competent structural navigators can suffer from a mental blank from time to time, so in order to get you and your band out of structural limbo on a gig, have a read through these top five tips… LEARN TO IMPROVISE This is a key skill as a musician. Not only for soloing purposes and bass-line creation…
NO TREBLE KEVIN JOHNSON What can the internet do for bass players? One of the greatest things about the internet is the proliferation of educational resources, and as bassists, we now have tons of access to lessons and music that was once hard to find. Those two aspects come together in the beauty of isolated bass videos, which let you hear your heroes in their rawest form to analyze their playing. Now you can more easily discern more difficult passages, pick up on techniques, or find that you’ve been playing your favorite bass line incorrectly your entire life. No Treble re-shared its top 10 isolated bass clips as part of our tenth anniversary celebrations. The most viewed was a spine-tingling version of Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ featuring only the…
The bigger the risk, the bigger the pay off. After leaving his day job to become a luthier, with no experience of any kind, Jim Fleeting has been living the dream for past fifteen years, doing as he damn well pleases. We’ve all had those moments in our lives where we’d like to just pack up our bags, quit the soul crushing nine-to-five grind, and pursue our dream job. Enter luthier and repair man extraordinaire Jim Fleeting. A man who at age twenty-eight had no experience in woodworking; no background in luthiery; just a keen ear for basses and what felt right, dropped everything to study in the US to follow his purpose in life. “I was a young man, nothing to spend my money on and basically living in…
