Five Essential
Techniques for Bass
BY JANEK GWIZDALA
Janek Gwizdala has been on the international
music scene for more than 15 years. His tour-
ing, recording, and production credits range
from being musical director for V.V. Brown
and Delta Goodrem, to working with such jazz
legends as Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, Randy
Brecker, Hiram Bullock, and Wayne Krantz.
Janek has been a clinician the world over,
giving lectures at leading music schools and
conservatories. For more information, visit
janekgwizdala.com.
CHOPS: Intermediate
THEORY: Intermediate
LESSON OVERVIEW:
• Learn exercises to improve
right- and left-hand technique
• Work musical ideas through
the cycle of fourths
• Resolve diminished-7th
arpeggios to minor key centers
Click here to hear
sound clips of
these examples
Iwant to share some things with you that have been incredibly useful in my development as a bass player over the past 15
years. The title says it all: What are the five
technique-builders you can’t live without
as a bass player? Well, by no means am I
about to tell you these are the only things
you need to work on to become a great bass
player, but these simple ideas have helped
me improve consistency in my time, sound,
fluidity, and other fundamental aspects of
my musicianship. Essentially, this is a brief
look inside my general warm-up and practice routine. I think it’s important—no matter what style of music you play—to have
a solid control of the fundamentals of harmony, rhythm, and melody. The examples
in this column not only focus on these three
aspects of music, but they can really enhance
your basic command of the instrument.
Let’s start at the beginning and take a
look at an exercise I’ve used for a decade
or so, and continue to use to warm up
whenever I pick up the bass. The major-
7th arpeggio ( 1–3– 5–7) is the basis for
Fig. 1, which is in the key of C. As with
all of the practice ideas I’m laying out
here, I recommend you play this example
slowly at first, perhaps with a metronome
if you need some enforced discipline in
your routine.
Fig. 1
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Fig. 2
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