Beginner Blues Bass 'Survival Shapes” (Simple Method for 12 Bar Blues)

Nail the blues in 15 minutes with this no-fluff beginner blues bass lesson. By the end, I’ll have you playing a 12 bar blues, even if you just started playing bass.

I’ll show you two easy “Blues Survival Shapes” that’ll help you get around a blues in any key without getting lost. I’ll show you how you can use those shapes to play blues bass lines ranging from super simple to pro level lines.

Once you’ve got the shapes under your fingers, I’ll unravel the theory behind why they work (without making your brain explode).

Then we’ll walk through the 12 bar blues form, which is crucial no matter what style of blues you want to play. I’ll show you how that fits into a couple popular blues songs.

We’ll pull the shapes and the 12 bar form all together when we play along with Howlin’ Wolf and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

#beginnerbluesbass #12barblues

[sandrabeaulieu]

I may be 79 but being retired have time to learn something new. My guitar teacher passed away this year. After 15 years of lessons with him. I miss him and have been "lost" without him

[jameso]

This does a better job of explaining 12 bar blues than any guitar lesson I've seen tbh

[trim]

I'm a self-taught bass player and I have a lot of lacks. Thanks to you, I'm learning so much in a short time.
I love you

[CosmicLeche]

My bass teacher gave me the homework to come up with a 12 bar blues bass line pretty much out of the blue (pun maybe intended) and I was honestly stuck with it until I got reminded that this channel exists and has a video about pretty much everything my beginner self would possibly need and, of course, I immediately found this vid. There's a special place in my heart for this channel because of helpful gems like this one.

[murrayfreedman]

Hi Josh, At 71 years, I just bought my first bass - Hofner violin style and I was looking for an online teacher when I came across your YouTube videos and I was blown away by how clear and easy you make it seem. I was inspired by the Rolling Stones early albums and then Clapton, (until he started believing his own publicity), and then Gary Moore and as far as bass is concerned, I love the bass riffs from some of Queen songs. I will look into BassBuzz further as it really gives me a BUZZ!! Btw, I had face to face lessons pre covid, with 2 guitar teachers - they could learn a LOT from you about teaching.

[diebum]

Josh, it's so cool that you give us those free bass lessons! For me you are such a great teacher... I really enjoy your teaching and it's easy to follow your instructions. Your such a positive and funny guy. And what I really like about you and your videos are the setup. Last week I purchased your beginner course "Beginner to Badass" and what should I say... It's awesome! The free lessons are a great example for the course videos because you use the same setup and that's really great! Your play alongs - fantastic. Love the bassline in M5L2.

Keep up the good work and your positive attitude! I hope you get all the subscribers and clicks because you deserve it!

Cheers!

[ozbassplayer]

I've been playing bass for nearly 30 years, and blues for at least 2/3 of that. In that time I've realised that you never stop learning, which is why I watched your video from end to end, and still picked up a couple of good tips. I wish I'd had this video to watch 30 years ago - I may have ended up a better player for it!
Thanks - I'll keep a look out for your stuff in the future and pass it on to a couple of my students.

[paulxaviercyr]

As a little kid in the 80's, Stevie was my reason for wanting to play music.
With a few adults around that played guitar, I picked up harmonica as a way to play along. As a teen, my part time job afforded me a MIM strat and at 17... I thought I was going to learn every SRV song.
After Highschool, I wanted to play with friends but nobody played blues, nu-metal was the thing.
I picked up a bass, joined a cover band and stumbled across a love for low-end rhythm. All the cool licks, bends and slides I learned noodling on guitar made bass even more fun.
The band split, marriages, kids, work, life... Instruments collected dust, gear got sold off, a chapter closed.
Now, kids grown, divorced, got some free time, a house, a 401k... Lol
Pulled my old crate amp out of the closet, fresh strings on my old P-bass and these weathered fingers are finding their way. Lol
Your videos are very informative and entertaining, your method is fantastic. Thank you.

[UpRoaryus]

Dude, your videos are the MOST PRACTICALLY USEFUL OF ALL, ON ANY TEACHABLE TOPIC, NOT JUST BASS. The time invested in the watch is rewarded with value in utility that is almost mind-boggling. You have an incredible talent for distilling the vast knowledge of theory into a handful of tools that are not just exceptionally useful, but also simple and easily digestible enough to be immediately applied to improve both my understanding of the basic theory as well as my practical technique.

I have found the perfect combination in your videos together with my weekly in-person lessons with Valda, as just by accident the information is so complementary. I feel a real excitement about this instrument that is very different from previous years of taking lessons in piano, or violin...I set out to "learn to play the bass, " with that concept as preparation for tedious exercises in fingering and note pattern memorization and drudgery in the beginning as I forced myself to practice with a more enjoyable end goal that I might eventually be able to really play it by ear or on the fly without preparing each song first.

I am shocked at how quickly I am seeing a real ability to toy with this instrument, and now the only difficult part of practicing is making myself wait until I have done other things that need doing because once I pick up my bass, I am always loathe to put it away again, even if I have to because some of those things I have to do are REALLY IMPORTANT - like sleeping. Or eating. Or peeing. Or bathing. ...

Between sessions, I can actually feel that I am not just "learning how to play bass so that I will someday be good at it", but already really becoming a bass player right NOW, with literally less than 10 formal lessons under my belt. Maybe it's just that I have finally answered a calling to the instrument that was meant for me, or me for it. OR I just happened to get lucky enough to find teachers who could make it more accessible to me than theory courses alone or years of learning to perform classical piano pieces by muscle memory ever could....

[NMranchhand]

That was a very professional and well organized lesson. The focus on the quick-start without diminishing the importance of theory was outstanding.

[chrispether]

This is the one video that made me feel that I can master the bass. Thank you!

[Herehear]

Great player, excellent teacher and a winning sense of humor.

[fs]

One of the best blues bass lessons for beginners. I am serious because I have looked for a long time and you explain it so simply but properly. Thank you so much.

[Shelsight]

I'm sadly old enough to recognise the Stray Cats' Strut from the UK chart... :) But Josh, you're a damn teaching genius - on both these videos and Bass Buzz. I started the lessons year ago, then stopped as i got pretty sick, then started again recently and love it. You, Mark & Luke are exceptional teachers and guys. Thanks again.

[JasperVanMarcke]

Been playing for some years and still learned something from this, awesome content!

[qumefox]

To show how good these lessons are, i've gotten more out of them as a keyboard player for coming up with interesting left hand bass lines than I have most keyboard videos. Especially the funk lessons.

[GodlogicProject]

Just bought my first bass (Ibanez SR305e - I'm 53 years old) and I'm loving this channel!!! Thanks for taking the time to do what you do. God Bless!

[soultabs]

That fender with maple neck and flatwounds sounds superb

[JohnDoe-xfew]

You're honestly one of the only reasons I was able to progress on bass as much as I have, though I do watch a lot of digital lessons yours are the easiest to understand and the most enjoyable to watch.

[Wise]

I was getting the Blues then I clicked SUBSCRIBE, now I feel much much better!