Posts by Ian Partanen

During my 16 years' of playing the bass I've learned that many believe it to be more expensive to be a bassist than a guitarist. However, I've found that this answer generally doesn't apply to most...

Slapping, using a plectrum, or playing with your fingers are the most common ways to play the bass, However, as demonstrated in my guide on using a coin as a bass pick, there are other options. One...

The minor scale is easily the scale I`ve played the most on my bass. This is because, despite all the different scales and modes I`ve learned, I always gravitate back toward jamming in minor keys....

The major scale was the first scale I learned to play on the bass. I still remember how it wasn`t that difficult to learn. However, in hindsight, I didn`t understand much about what made the scale...

There are 88 notes on a 4-string bass with 21 frets. However, memorizing each one of them is both tedious and unnecessary. In my experience, it is much preferable to memorize a handful of key notes...

Coming up with bass lines is difficult if you don`t know where to begin. Thus, learning some easy bass patterns is a good idea, as these will give you a helpful starting point. These are sets of...