3 Exercises Every Bass Player Should Try

In this video, you'll learn three left-hand technique exercises that will supercharge your bass playing. The first exercise is a simple shape that can be played across all strings, helping you build strength and confidence in weak finger pairings. The second exercise focuses on accurate position shifts and spread triads in all their basic inversions, while the third exercise pairs major and diminished arpeggios to help you work on crossing strings, changing chords, and resolving from a V chord to the tonic. The key to seeing improvement is committing to repetition and using a metronome, as well as recording your practice to refine your learning process. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below. Don't forget to hit the like button and subscribe to help us reach our goal of 100,000 subscribers by April 2023.

[JFS]

Fantastic tips!
I love it when you share your practice routine

[neildamato]

Very new to your teaching and vids. Very inspiring Janek. Thank you for what you do

[RDog]

Janek, thank you so much. These exercises look to be very useful, and I can’t wait to incorporate them.

[bass.]

I’ve used the #1 exercise for my students. But love seen Masters and the way they apply them to their practice routine.

I’ve know the main chords for a while but I just started in trying to apply to a practice routine. Thanks for suggesting adding the inversions.

[richardkrainak]

This is one of my favorites of your tips.

I can see (and feel) how this strengthens each finger in the process of making it smooth, and how it would convert to music.

Thanks.

[tommullarkey]

Great clip. I suggest more short-ish clips that reference exercises in your books (especially the less popular ones) – it’s a great way to spark interest. Looking forward to the Giants Steps book – please don’t start off too difficult so us mid-level players can get a foothold.

[stevep]

And I must say, your video quality / production has leveled up. Spot friggin on....

[JuanoBass]

Compared with all brands the Janek used in the past I have to admit the tone of that FBass is superb!!! The most perfect warm sound feel like it was extracted directly from a tree. Precise intonation and that B string is so fat!! Love it!. Great pick!.

[edunogues]

Man this is THE BEST bass channel, love every vid! :)

[wallace_nelson]

Love it! I have some new concepts to master. Thanks

[jaroffiles]

Agreed. We are our own worst critic. Recording and listening to ones self on a regular basis allows the mind to understand what technical changes made on the instrument sound like on the other side, as a listener. Just as our voices sound drastically different to us recorded than they do through our own hearing, so do the sounds we produce on our instruments. Listening in the 3rd person and positively critiquing what we produce is, Imo, one of the best resources for attaining the sound we wish to achieve.

[MrPrincebass]

This is great. Thanks, Janek. Having to relearn technique as some rehab after CTR surgery on my right wrist. That was 1 1/2 yrs ago and my hands are not working fluidly enough. Kind of a struggle.

[pearl]

Dzięki Janek! Nie myślałem nigdy by tak ćwiczyć jak pokazałeś. Zawsze używałem pierwszego i trzeciego palca. U Ciebie widzę, że robisz wszystko grupami, dzięki czemu ręka jest bardziej wyćwiczona a co za tym idzie, zdobywasz o wiele swobodniejszy i bardziej kontrolowany ruch palcami.

[Bassgroover]

I enjoy these quick videos…. A lot of bang for the buck!

[Sakezaf]

I feel like the most underrated piece of equipement when practising is a camera (alongside the audio recording) :D
Recording your hand like this is a huge help (for me at least).

[ctodd]

Thanks again for the valuable lesson. I especially like the bite-size lesson on chords with the music/tabs. It was also nice to see at the end of the third lesson ending on a chord from the second (if I'm not mistaken).

[glennhm]

I love these short lessons, exercise 2 is a new one for me and I can see how valuable it can be in my practice. Glad you mentioned thumb position is it is something I neglect as it ends near the side of the neck and not in the center.

[Ryan_TheBold]

I’m just getting over a wrist injury on my fretting hand and these are gonna BURN after not playing much for a few weeks. Gotta get back in fighting shape one way or the other! Thanks, Janek!

[halcleggz_]

Really helpful man. My left hand is feeling smoother already!

[timothylarson]

Thanks. I will start working this into my practice routine.