Let's take the Guesswork
out of Learning
Here at Ari's Bass Blog, we take your progress very seriously.
And to help you most effectively, it's important to sus out where you stand!
So, what's
This test takes less than five minutes and recommends specific courses for you.
Click the levels below to learn more
Get level specific recommendations, check expectations and more
Remember: it's just a label to help find your starting place!
Riff Rookie
Assumptions about you:
You know
- How to find the E A D G strings
- What frets are and how to count them
- The fingerings 1234 of the fretting hand and the plucking fingers i (index) and m (middle); if you use a pick, it's upstroke and downstroke;
- What a beat is - though you may have trouble keeping it (typical)
Terms we will use:
- index finger, middle finger on the plucking hand
- 1234 fingers of the fretting hand
- If you want to prepare, read the chapter on How the Bass Works and How Notes Work in the Theory Book. (No perfection is required, just basic understanding. Trust me, those note-naming drills are hard for most, so we practice them step by step!)
As a Riff Rookie, your focus is:
- Basic theory, putting the pieces together
- Getting used to playing songs
- To build a solid foundation
- To understand rhythm and bring it into your body
- To get your fingers moving and to develop a feel for music and the instrument
- Understanding what practicing means and how to do it effectively
Bass Explorer
Bass Explorer 😎
Assumptions about you:
You know
- How to find all notes by name on the fretboard (it's okay if it's not super fast)
- Basic scales, key signatures
- How to play sixteenth notes at tempo 60 to 80
- Have basic rhythmic sensibility (you can keep a nice groove, count yourself off;
- At least a few songs in a variety of styles (or many songs)
Terms we will work with/expand on:
- Intervals
- Major scales, minor scales, modes
- Chords, such as C major triad, C#m7, C7b13, Csus
- Basic rhythms (shuffled versus straight, subdivisions, rhythms in various styles)
- Blues, Pentatonics, Dominant Pentatonic
- Creative terms such as: "driving the groove forward", "bringing it home in the end", "substituting in the turn around"
As a Bass Explorer, your focus is:
- Becoming solid putting all the pieces to creative use
- Learning the elements of music all across the fretboard
- Going beyond just learning the song and learning from the song
- Coming up with your own bass lines, variations, and fills
- To Improvise with confidence
- Upping your tempo and refining your technique
- Phrasing and feel
- Regular ear training
- Expanding your stylistic repertoire and hitting some milestone pieces
- Developing your own voice on the instrument
Bass Boss
Assumptions about you:
- You have been playing for a while
- You can develop your own grooves, fills, and solos, but you want to improve your musicality, virtuosity, and expression.
- You have solid rhythmic sensibility and good timing and always want to improve it!
- You are interested in the finer points of your own musicality.
- You are ready to up your speed and improve your phrasing!
- Ready to learn advanced playing techniques (harmonics, tap, thumb, slap, using pedals, solo bass)
Terms we will work with/on:
- Modes, scales, common chord progressions "2516", "turnaround," "Jazz Blues," "Rhythm Changes," Coltrane Changes
- Beyond-the-basics Theory: "extension," "alteration," "enclosures," "modal interchange," sequencing, symmetric scales, modes of the melodic, and harmonic minor
- Functional and modal harmony
- Polyrhythms, odd meter
- Dynamics, Density, Range, Phrasing (how notes connect to create musical meaning)
- Form, Arrangement, Melody, Harmony, Interplay with other instruments
- Mental practice, inner hearing
As a Bass Boss, your focus is:
- Developing your personal musicianship
- Reading and writing charts
- Transcribing and learning milestone tunes
- Soloing
- Learning melodies and chord playing
- Special techniques
- Solo bass
- Composing
Frequently Asked Questions about LEVELS
What one would call advanced may be foundational for another. It also depends on the musical style, expectations, and setting.
Consider some typical examples:
- An incredible thumb player cannot walk a bass line of a standard.
- A theory wiz has bad technique habits (and hence bad tone), which makes it hard to bring their musical ideas to life.
- A player has the most beautiful musical ideas, but because it's not grooving, everyone tells them to "play less."
- A classically trained player can read for breakfast but struggles to improvise even a short fill.
Why we test for levels in the context we test in and what it means
The reason we are interested in a level categorization is simple: to make sure we place you best and recommend the best courses for you. We strictly define the terms beginner/intermediate/advanced for our contexts so you don't end up in a class where you are encountering concepts you don't know yet. (You can read about it here, click on the various levels to learn more)
You might be an amazing player, but if I talk about "Pattern III" or "dorian" in a class and you don't know what to do with that, I am not helping you most effectively.
We are systematic and strategic about the learning process... so if you thought you are "Advanced" and the test said "Beginner" look forward to how you can use your advanced skills (I believe you!) in our classes that will fill some holes in your foundation and put theory and the fretboard at your fingertips in a whole new way.
If you've advanced, look forward to training your musical mind with us. As we all know, that path has no limit!
What influences our basic rating:
-
Your ability to operate the bass
(technique, rhythm, groove, edge speed, milestone repertoire...) -
Your familiarity with basic musical terms
(theory and how to use it) - How familiar you are with Ari's methods
We teach a wide range of levels here. From complete beginners to very advanced players, we have a host of learning paths for you.
Some of our courses are designed so they work for more basic players as well as advanced bassists. This is why this works: A lot of our drills involve improvisation. If you don't have a lot of facility yet, you will focus on the basics while a player with more experience can bring all their skill to make it rip. Both players will learn as they fulfill the requirements of the skill.
Another reason why this works is that in many courses we have more basic and more advanced versions of the same topic.