5 secret ways to tell if a bass player is a BADASS

So, I get asked this question all the time.

Do you need to “know somebody” or somehow “get lucky” to make it as a professional bassist? While the music industry can be pretty competitive, standing out from the crowd as a bass player isn’t always as hard as it may seem.

In today’s new video I’m going to show you (with a little help from Jaco, Pino Palladino and Michael League!) what to look out for when you’re trying to figure out if a bass player is ready for Jedi bass knighthood.

As always, see you in the shed…

Scott :)

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[TheMytherian]

Wife just walked into the room and said: it always sounds like you’re watching the Gordon Ramsay of bass education when you watch this channel XD

[MMiler]

Every time Scott does a high pitched "Oooh" in response to a tasty lick / bit of harmony he has to pay Oteil Burbridge 5p. True story.

[bigfootlover]

Biggest struggle: translating what I hear in my head to actual sounds on the fretboard

[MrKinggot]

Biggest struggle: I get lost when playing a jazz standart. We need more Jazz-oriented courses on SBL!

[AradianWycliffe]

Biggest Struggle: Playing fast accurately and consistently.

[sesionessjv]

He looks like one of James McAvoy´s personalities from "split"

[porkbelly]

Biggest Struggle: I watch many bass videos but I don't have a bass

[pedalvarado]

I'm struggling traveling up and down the neck trying to figure out how to do a walking bass line

[leeroysilk]

Singing whilst playing bass is challenging. :)

[joachimvanzoelen]

Mitch Friedman was a perfect example for dynamic playing - and for having his right thumb absolutely glued to the neck pick-up ;-)

[BrandonTClem]

Biggest struggle: I have ALL of this, but understanding music theory and grabbing onto all the different scales and modes is like rocket science to me. I can fool people into thinking I know what key we're in, but I know I'm missing out on a LOT of funky notes I could be adding into my own on-the-fly playing.

[Godofigueiredo]

My biggest problem now is the "ghost notes" no real groove without them...

[UnkaDon]

Scotty! You are the best bass professor on line and probably in person. Though I'm easily 20 years older than you, to prevent fossilization, I keep trying to learn. Besides your skills, your enthusiasm for our instrument of choice is unparalleled.

[goncalomarques]

Hard for me:
Transcribing by ear... I can do it, but very slowly. I don't know how to get "faster" and feel more secure about what I'm transcribing/learning by ear. It's like if been stuck in this phase for years now

[dunce]

The thing I struggle with the most right now is the percussive patterns of my slap. I have been used to playing the same percussive pattern and I feel like expanding that range could do me good.

[SideSwipe]

I struggle myself with diversifying my walking basslines. I find a groove get comfortable and only change a few things here and there. When I would like to invert things and not play root notes all the time, its the barrier of not knowing the entire fretboard that stands in the way of both of these things I struggle with.

[chrisggoodwin]

I always say I paid for 24 frets, may as well use them 😉 I love to color over quiet spaces in songs with chords and lines above the 12th fret. My big struggle is being able to focus on honing in on becoming a better bass player. I also play guitar and drums (I'm a drummer in a band) so I tend to focus on one instrument in clumps of time rather than dividing my time equally, or working on techniques shared between guitar and bass. Thanks Scott!

[digitalneko]

Back in 2006-2008, I was a bass player with my trusty Musicman 5 playing live at local wine bars and pubs with a very experienced guitarist/singer. I was heavily influenced by Stanley Clarke's bass playing and that landed me a gig, giving my guitarist a break from solos, and keeping my playing "out of the box" That was fun. Well, it's 2020 and just bought me a new bass guitar and need to relearn the bass all over again as been playing the electric guitar ever since. So I'm here to learn from you. Thank you!

[jimtoderton]

Memorizing songs. I’m good enough with tabs but it’s just the memory part. Love the video!!!

[justinpayne]

Stage clothes. We need to bring back that Paul Young/Seinfeld pirate shirt style. Finding the right one is my biggest struggle.