How to Play Hysteria on Bass (10 Simple Steps + Tabs)

Sick of struggling to play Hysteria? This step-by-step lesson will take you to the finish line and level-up your overall playing.

There’s a moment in every bassist’s life when we decide we want to learn Hysteria - but why do we struggle with it so much?

In this lesson I’ve broken the Hysteria bass riff into mini step-by-step challenges, so by the end of this video you can glue them all together and legit play the whole riff.

The first couple challenges will focus on your plucking speed and endurance, which is the engine that drives the Hysteria train. (okay, enough of that analogy)

Then we’ll go through some of the easier fretting pieces, training up on the “open string bounce,” followed by some of the gnarlier notes with plenty of fretting advice.

Getting the Hysteria bass tone is half the fun of playing this tune, so our final challenges will cover how to do a decent Wolstenholme impression.

Then we’ll wrap it all up, playing the challenges in sequence until we get to the final form of the riff. (and don’t miss the secret boss level at the very end)

#Muse #HysteriaBassLesson #NoobJoshApproved

[BassBuzz]

What challenge have you made it to so far? Update us on your progress as you work towards Wolstenholme beast mode. 👹

Timestamps for this lesson:
0:00 - Noob Josh can’t play Hysteria
0:35 - Speed Blasts
1:22 - Challenge 1
3:09 - Challenge 1 Playalong
4:04 - Epic Endurance
4:24 - Challenge 2
5:09 - Challenge 2 Playalong
6:09 - Open String Bounce
7:28 - Challenge 3-5
8:21 - Challenges 3-5 Playalong
8:51 - Fuel Efficient Fretting
10:05 - Challenges 6-8
11:44 - Challenges 6-8 Playalong
12:06 - Tone Aficionado
12:24 - Challenge 9
13:17 - Challenge 10
14:03 - The Final Showdown
14:32 - Final Showdown Playalong

[JuicyLyricsHungary]

I swear every bass tutorial on youtube should be like this one, honestly it is a massive help for anyone who is learning bass by himself

[joshpalmer]

This is a man who understands practice and educational theory and applies it instead of just showcasing notes/chords for easy content. Bravo sir

[souvikchatterjee]

So far no one has covered this bassline in this much details until Josh

[battlewizardcastingspells]

me when i get a notification that bassbuzz has uploaded:
*happy bass noises*

[WalleyeGuy]

I already learned how to play Hysteria but I still clicked because this is the best bass channel next to Charles Berthoud. Great tutorial.

[ariffrahman]

Best hysteria bass tutorial out here !!

[ElliYeetYT]

I love how Chris makes it look way easier than it is live. Honestly, Chris is one of my favourite bassists of all time.

[Islander]

Hundreds, if not thousands, of bassists (myself included) are all gonna be playing Hysteria whenever someone asks, "Can you play me something?" 😄

[niveKOnBass]

THIS is why i chose his bass course. all of his lessons are similar to this teaching style. I'm not the best bass player in the world from his course and I didn't expect to be, but man Josh knows how to teach people. If you are at stage 0 beginner, go with Josh's course.

[marc-andregagne]

Josh this is really one of your most awesome videos yet. My kids were watching with me "wow dad this guy is awesome and you suck".

[Stne]

The tip about isolating the specific part that you're struggling with so you can improve that part faster has made such an impact on my progress. Always such good little tidbits sprinkled in there between the actual lesson, you always come out of the end of one of Josh's videos with more than what you came for. Dude is such a gifted teacher

[Receipt]

I'm about 40 lessons deep in the Beginner to Badass course, I was not paid to say this, and I'm here because I feel confident that I can slow roll my way through this, thanks Josh!

[noahdunn]

the fact that davie just uploaded and you means it is BASS day

[Raydia]

this video couldn't have come out at a better time! I've been talking with some classmates at my music school about playing this song together and I've been struggling a bit with learning this part. Thanks so much for the tips!

[MonsterJuiced]

I think one of the most important things to remember about this riff is that you should start with your middle finger on your plucking hand. If you start with index, bar 2 will screw you during the last 6 notes and put you in an awkward position for the rest of the bars. Start with your middle finger!

[samraffertymusic]

Yessss, this has been one of my goals for a while now. Thanks for this!

[stevengonz]

This was a riff I never thought I’d even attempt to learn, but thanks to this video I just learned it in about and hour 😁😁😁

Not very good at the 16ths but it sounds just as good to my ear with a bunch of hammer ons! Thanks for this!!

[hannahc]

I’m a beginner and hysteria is my absolute bass goals! It’s going to take me a while but you bet I’m gonna work my way through these challenges. Thank you :)

[deafdrums]

I'm playing bass since about one year. In the beginning just a bit for fun, but after I broke my right foot and couldn't drum for a while, so I started exercising seriously. When I saw the bass line for Hysteria for the first time, I thought I'd never ever be able to play this song. Then I found your tutorial, dared myself to start - and after the first day I'm at challenge 3. Your way of teaching bass and motivating people to play even those songs that seem unplayable is incredible. Thank you so much for this great inspiration - now I believe that in a few weeks or months I'll be able to play this song.