The SNEAKY Trick Every Pro Bassist Uses

The 3-Fret Rule is something I cover on day 19 of my 21-Day Beginner Bass Challenge, so if you want to check out the rest of the challenge, the link is right here: becomeabassist.com/products/beginner-bass-challeng… EDIT - Quick correction! At the 6:57 mark, the top graphic should say that you should approach major chords from BELOW, not above. Thanks to @swagner89 for pointing it out.

Within the first three minutes, you described the only bass chops I have! 😁 Chromatic runs from one root note to another is about all I got! I'm usually playing hard rock, so pumping the root is what the rest of the band want, the runs at the chord changes are what make me sound like I know what I'm doing.

This is a brilliant way of introducing people to walking bass lines. I particularly liked the Carol Kaye example.

I learned this rule from the start of Smoke On The Water. It only does it that once to introduce the bass but it's so badass. It's the best part of the song.

Great stuff. Love using approach notes to outline chord changes. Noticeably drives the rhythm of the song. Really a mood changer.

And then there's the John Entwistle 3 frets down, 12 frets up, 6 frets down, 8 frets up, etc with harmonics rule. Thanks, excellent stuff!

Target chord, approach notes, something I never saw until I started studying jazz bass. It was a huge revelation that a note might be tied to what is coming and not what was.

Chuck Rainey on Quincy Jones' "Streetbeater (Sanford & Son Theme)" goes crazy with this trick.

Yikes! I'm 1,000 years old and played bass for around 900 years. I have made a living not having a clue what I'm playing. Only the root and the 1. You have just taught an Old Dog (and Old is Gold) a new trick! The Force is with you & I tip my hat 😮.

This technique is the whole of the Sanford and Son theme song and Barney Miller as well. The beauty of this idea is that you can translate the coming idea/chord to anyone with good ears and they can hear where the song is going next. Pay attention guitar players, this is how the smart old guys expect you to pick these things up. Don’t follow your band. Drive with them. These musical moves are your roadmap. If you shut up and listen, a great band is telling you musically where to go. Then how you arrive is up to you. Not blind luck. Excellent explanation of a sophisticated method to keep everyone on track! Greetings from New Mexico!

Somehow the YouTube algorithm bumped me into your channel and I am ever so grateful. I have played bass for 50 years as a second instrument to my guitar playing, and have always tried to separate the personalities that are required to avoid cliches in my recordings. So now I’m watching all your videos as a refresher course on everything back to the basics! Wow! A perfect balance of theory, both musical and artistic, is excellent! And then you have simple ways for beginners to understand and play quickly. Amazing! Thanks so much for sharing your talent and teaching!

i think the walking up to the minor chord in "i wish" works because the song is in dorian mode...it uses the natural sixth rather than the flatted sixth, so the bassline going 6-b7-7-8 works well in that context. great video!

Amazing content as always. This is really helpful for me. Thanks!

It gives your lines that forward motion feel and is so simple to do and thank god for that!

Very cool lesson! Thanks, Luke 😎

Glad to see you back!

great lesson, so easy but adds so much spice, thank you!

Thank you Luke, this was really useful ❤❤❤❤

Been doing that since forever but didn't know it was "a rule" ! Great rundown of the idea.

It might be interesting to put the chords in a progression context rather than a chromatic up the neck move. Like Beginner level being I - IV - V - I. Add a 6th to tonic and a seventh to V. Then intermediate level would be close to the same thing but at a iv chord and perhaps a ii7 sub for IV. And the advanced level use I - viio - iii - vi - ii - V7 - I (add a little 'amen' at the end to include all the diatonic chords). There are hundreds of variation to these chord and finger exercises, but I personally feel that having a tonal center to the basic exercise and then moving that around the circle of fifths doesn't make the exercise more difficult, and it does teach the neck in a more musical context. Also, repeatedly moving around he circle of 5th (or 4ths, however you like to look at that) is a great foundation for further music theory training.