Bass

There are a number of attributes which all accomplished based players share: an exacting time awareness, a harmonic awareness, and an awareness of the particular needs of the individual song. In the Professional Certificate for Bass, students will learn the foundational knowledge necessary to become an accomplished bass player in the focus areas of Rock, R&B, and Jazz; create bass lines and solos in any genre of their choice, and gain the skills to handle any gig that comes their way.

The program begins with Bass Performance 101, which focuses on the four key foundations of great performances: time, tonality, timbre, and taste. You値l learn to apply theory to create and perform your own unique bass lines in a variety of different styles. You値l study the techniques and unique playing styles of bass masters including Roger Waters, Paul McCartney, Carol Kaye, James Jamerson, Chuck Rainey, Pino Palladino, Paul Chambers, Dave Holland, Stanley Clarke, Ray Brown, and Charles Mingus. You値l also delve deeper into bass performance to learn pentatonic, blues, major, and minor scales; diatonic harmony; ostinato bass lines; groove and time feel; and compositional techniques, such as tritones, pedal points, and double stops.

With that foundation in performance, you値l move on to an in-depth survey of the genres most important to bass. First, in Rock Bass, learn how to affect and contribute to a song rhythmically, harmonically, and melodically through practice lessons covering phrasing, feel and improvisation. Throughout the course you'll study Berklee's bass method to Rock, Blues Rock, Delta, Chicago, and Texas blues, as well as more advanced techniques such as playing with odd time signatures, modal bass lines, and the open "jam style." Weekly lessons cover scale exercises, listening, performing transcriptions, and studying the work of legendary players like Geddy Lee, Jack Bruce, Paul McCartney, and Chris Squire.

R&B Bass explores the evolution of bass playing techniques from the early "jump blues" period through the Motown era, and focuses on how you can incorporate these techniques into your own playing. The course begins by examining the rhythmic and harmonic characteristics of early R&B through the use of practice exercises involving steady syncopation, arpeggio patterns, and modulation. You'll study the key ingredients of an effective R&B timbre, from the proper equipment to the right techniques, such as muting the strings to deliver a punchier sound. The course delves into individual artists and their "trademark" concepts庸rom Duck Dunn's use of repetition and root and fifth lines, to Willie Weeks' melodic lines and rhythmic variation, to Chuck Rainey's motif development, to James Jamerson's infectious syncopation and use of harmonic devices like chromatic approach notes to create forward motion. You'll learn classic R&B bass lines from songs like Aretha Franklin's "Respect," Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On," Donny Hathaway's "Everything is Everything," and many others, and how to internalize the concepts used in these songs and make them your own. The goal of the course is to give you the tools made famous through R&B music to expand your bass playing in the context of a professional, live music performance or recording session.

Jazz Bass begins by exploring "money notes"葉he notes most valuable to a bass player to support and influence the band. You will play simple and functional walking bass lines over the blues and then progress to more sophisticated lines over jazz tunes, using chord tones in conjunction with half-step approach notes in multiple keys. You will learn to recognize common chord progressions in jazz standards and play them effectively. The course highlights famous recordings from jazz greats耀uch as Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, Ron Carter, and Christian McBride預nd teaches you strategies for modeling their performances. You will explore right- and left-hand techniques for both acoustic and electric bass, in addition to topics such as substitute chords, melodic development, and turnarounds.

You値l finish up your studies with a course in Basic Improvisation. In this course, you値l learn step-by-step how to develop complex solos starting with just a few notes, from 12-bar blues to rock to jazz. You値l check out the work of a wide range of great improvisers, including Stevie Wonder, James Brown (who was a very skilled keyboard player!), Charlie Parker, and many more. With their solos as a guide, you値l learn to recreate and perform the sounds you hear in your head蓉sing chord tones, pentatonic scales, chord scales, and all the notes in between. You値l look closely at phrasing, the balance of sound and silence, contrast and repetition, and other characteristics of a good solo. Helpful tips and techniques along the way will help make you a more confident and creative soloist.

By the end of this certificate program, you値l have developed real-world skills that are directly applicable to a bass performance career. The command of rock, jazz, R&B and improvisation in bass will propel your bass performance career options and provide you with have confidence to play professional bass lines and articulate solos in any given style of music!