A clip of Aaron Goldberg in a masterclass has been circulating through many of my friends’ social media channels recently, and in it he presents a black-and-white dichotomy of self promotion against a learning mindset as a musician that I’m not entirely in agreement with. I am not intending to bag on Aaron in any way - he is an exceptional musician at an incredibly high level of creative output - I just think his words in this particular clip deserve a bit of a reframe.

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Giant Steps has intimidated me for years, and in the past couple of weeks I’ve finally made the decision to tackle it. In this episode I go through a few ways I like to practice improvising over chord changes and internalizing song structure.

I think it was probably too early in the process for me to effectively use Giant Steps as a demonstration tool in a podcast episode, but that’s the spirit of Better Bass: warts-and-all slices of the learning process in all its horrific glory.

For the backing track I was playing over in this episode, check out Simon Peter King’s music and backing tracks! SPK is a bad mf’er of a multi-instrumentalist and an exceptional teacher to boot.

A side note after listening back to the master - holy s@&# I sound exceptionally terrible on this tune. I have a lot of work to do. Good thing I love practicing.

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The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!

Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.

Coming up with a title for this one was a huge pain in the ass. My good friend Gabriel Mervine released an incredible quintet album recently (Check it out on Spotify!) and I’ve been striking a gold mine of musical inspiration just from listening to this record - all kinds of good ideas (and a few half-baked ones) came out in the podcast today. Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!

The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!

Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.

I’ve spent a lot of time listening to & transcribing Pino Palladino. Pino continues to be one of my greatest inspirations in groove, sound, ideas, & tasteful accompaniment - in this episode I’m breaking down a few Pino-based ideas into digestible concepts that we can apply in the practice room.

Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!

The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying Better Bass, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!

Thank you for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.

“Shed it in all 12!” is one of the most common and most intimidating phrases spoken by improvisation-focused teachers everywhere. In this episode I’m having a crack at breaking down how to get started playing in all 12 and why it’s a super useful tool.

Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!

The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying Better Bass, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!

Thank you for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.

We all hate failing, but the important bit is learning how to fail without hating ourselves - especially when we fail at creating the art we’ve spent so much time refining and worked so hard to build. Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!

The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying Better Bass, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!

Thank you for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.

I’m listening back in the editing room and realizing pretty much everything I’m talking about this episode is very, very personal. This episode doesn’t match my usual “teaching” style, but I hope I can still provide some useful information & inspiration. Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!

The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!

Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.

Today we’re getting away from chords & soloing & all the fancy stuff, getting to our roots as bass players and talking about a few ways we can tighten up our grooves & develop pocket in the practice room. I’ve also got a couple improviser-centered hot takes to share! Hope y’all enjoy. Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!

The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!

Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.

I put a brand new set of strings & a fresh setup on the bass today, and it got me thinking about my own philosophy on gear, setups, basses, amps, etc. I talk about a few of my own preferences, why personal preference is important, and how to get the most out of the gear you already have. Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!

The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying it, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!

Thank you all for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.

Episode 10 is here! This one was fun. I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to toss up a mic halfway through my practice routine and share some of my improvisation process, writing, using the looper, and dealing with a challenging set of chord changes. Visit betterbass.substack.com and subscribe to never miss an episode!

The show is also streaming on your favorite podcast platforms - namely Spotify and Apple Podcasts. If you’re enjoying Better Bass, leave a rating on Spotify & Apple, and tell your friends!

Thank you for listening - I’m deeply grateful to be able to share my musical thoughts & musings with you all.