For bass players who want to...
Learn The Secret Language Of Bass - That The Pros Don't Want You To Know!
Introducing The 80-20 Device Method - Level 1
There's a secret language for bass lines that all the pros use...
But that language is not taught anywhere.
I recently purchased a "groove book" from a well known bass educator which has a number of study pieces in the styles of bass greats. When I got the book I looked through two or three of the study pieces - specifically the ones by my favourite players - and while the study pieces were fine in themselves (if a bit repetitive), the main thing that I noticed was that the study pieces were chock full of the devices that make up the DNA of the vocabulary of the bass.
Yet I've never seen this "educator" mention them.
Not once.
The Way To Learn The Secret Language of Bass
This is how I learned the secret language of bass once I became aware of it in the fall of 2010.
I started out with a bunch of songs. And basic devices. Devices like the major and minor triads. Roots and 5ths. Roots, fifths and octaves. And I started analyzing my library of transcriptions, finding these basic devices and highlighting them on my study scores.
Sidebar: if you want to do this work for yourself, here's a list of 100 songs as a suggestion to get started with - https://how-to-play-bass.com/100-songs-analyze
Then I looked at the scores at the sections that WEREN'T highlighted to see what was going on. And I found a bunch more devices.
Pride And Joy (Stevie Ray Vaughan/Tommy Shannon) was particularly an a-ha/Rosetta Stone moment as that crystallized the concept of modifying devices for me, plus Tommy Shannon uses between 15 and 20 devices in that bass line that are both the majority of his vocabulary, plus a great foundational vocabulary for every bass player.
The bottom line is: this took the best part of a decade and involved analysis of over 1000 songs.
What If There Was A Better Way ...?
Imagine that you wanted to learn to play golf and someone suggested this as your method of learning:
- Pick up the different clubs and swing them around a big.
- Watch golf tournements to see what the pros are doing.
- Copy what the golf pros are doing when you play.
You'd probably tell that person they were an idiot and book a lesson with a golf pro. And then go practice.
Unfortunately bass education hasn't got to the point where what the experts are doing and why has been deconstructed, codified, and put into a teaching system that you can learn from in a sequential manner.
That's what the 80-20 Device Method Level 1 is all about.
Giving you the devices and rhythms and chord progressions that you need to get started with the ideas that the pros use every day but don't seem to want to share.
They Laughed When I Got Up To Play...
That's a classic advertizing headline from the 30s that I like to 'borrow' from time to time.
Imagine the scenario though: you're in a band in front of an audience who are having a great time. Screaming. Dancing. Yelling. And you're confidently holding down the bottom end and providing the platform so that the 'show offs' (guitarists/vocalists etc) can do their thing.
I've often said: being in a great band playing great music in front of a great audience is the most fun you can have that's legal.
Only two of those needs to be right - provided the audience is one of them - for that still to be true.
Sidebar: This is the reason why so many musicians have addiction problems....they can't play every night, and they miss the dopamine rush they get from a raving audience that they look for other ways to compensate.
Point is, once you've learned the foundational devices taught in the 80-20 Device Method Level 1, and once you've learned how to create lines out of them using deliberate composition, you've done the kind of work that's needed to confidently get up in front of an audience of your peers and friend - or even more nerve wracking, a room full of complete strangers - and play your ass off.
And make yourself a great part of the 'being in a great band' side of the equation mentioned above.
There's a degree of work needed to get to this point though.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that I've done the years of analyzing and identifying the devices used by all the great players whose shoulders we stand on. Not only have I done the 'identifying' part, I've also codified everything AND turned it into a sequential learning system.
The starting point is the 80-20 Device Method Level 1.
Why Should I Listen To You?
Here's A Picture Of My Amazon.com Bookshelf (end Nov - 2022)
Since July 2021 I've been turning my years of teaching into books. So far I've written 15 (the next books will go live towards the end of Jan) - my latest book hasnt yet been added to the gallery above.
My advice: click this link for LEARNING FROM JAMES JAMERSON VOL 1 and then check out some of the reviews. That will tell you more about my teaching than almost anything, though there are some testimonials below too.
One other fact to consider about this: Amazon's data says that most books get 1 or 2 reviews per 1000 copies purchased. Jamerson Vol 1 currently has 188 reviews on Amazon.com and it's not quite sold a 1000 copies since its release in August...so the fact that it's getting 50X the number of reviews that Amazon's own data suggests it should be getting tells its own story.
What Will I Learn?
Here's What You'll Learn In The 80-20 Device Method Level:
The 10 Most Common Devices In Rock and Pop
The devices taught in the 80-20 Device Method Level 1 are the ten most commonly used devices found in rock and pop. These are foundational devices that every bass player needs to know thoroughly – there are examples of bass lines created using these devices in the last three lessons in the Method.
Although there are ‘sexier’ sounding devices in the bass vocabulary you have to have these basic moves down before you can move on. Remember the Bruce Lee quote: I fear not the man who has practiced 1000 punches, but I fear the man who practiced one punch 1000 times. The same idea is at work here. These foundational devices will ALWAYS work and you’ll find these devices in the bass lines of bass players ranging from McCartney and Jamerson to Jaco and Pino.
The10 Most Common 8th Note/Quarter Note Rhythms In Rock And Pop
As well as a harmonic vocabulary for bass – that’s the devices – there’s also a rhythmic vocabulary. Learning to play devices using the 10 most common 8th Note/Quarter note rhythms makes your practice much more relevant to playing in real world situations (gigs, rehearsals, jams, open mic nights, etc).
The 10 Most Common Chord Progressions
If you analyze a thousand (or more) bass lines not only will you find common ideas (devices) and common rhythms, you’ll also start to see common chord progressions. The heavy lifting of that analysis has been done and summarized for you in the 80-20 Device Method and the 10 most common chord progressions are hard wired into the course.
That leads to….
the 10 x 10 x 10 Framework
There are 10 devices, 10 common rhythms and 10 common chord progressions. That gives the 10 x 10 x 10 Framework for creating practice exercises designed to be as real world as possible.
Do you have to create 1000 practice exercises? No, but if there’s a specific key area that you’re weak on, or a specific device that you want to practice, or a specific chord progression that you want to explore….the 10 x 10 x 10 Framework allows you to develop a practice framework that’s immediately relevant to real world playing but is directly impacted by your practice goals
Deliberate Composition
This is the secret sauce. Anyone – ANYONE! – is capable of creating their own bass lines provided they understand the concept of devices, understand how to execute devices with different rhythms, and understand how devices lead the ear through chord progressions.
Deliberate Composition is the start of the journey to creating your own bass lines spontaneously at performance tempo. Using deliberate composition you’ll create your own lines and build your understanding of how good lines go together. (Note: you don’t have to read notation for this – you could use rhythmic tab – but it is an advantage.)
What Other People Say?
Here's What Bass Players Just Like You Say About My Teaching - here's Rodi:
And Paulia:
And Rob (and Goran):
What Do I Get?
Here's What You Get When You Join The 80-20 Device Method:
45 Individual Lessons
25 of those lessons are already waiting for you in the members area. And the remaining 20 will go live in 30 days time to prevent overwhelm. Each lesson has its own PDF that you can download to cross reference on your own device. Or go old school and print out. Each lesson is approximately 10 to 12 pages long and covers the amount of material you’d expect to cover in a 45 minute face to face lesson with a bass teacher. Implementation of some lessons WILL take multiple days of practice to thoroughly cover.
Streaming Video Of Every Example In Each Lesson
Each lesson has its own dedicated web page. And pretty much every example in every lesson has been filmed at two tempo levels, edited with picture in picture technology (so you can get close ups of fretting hand/plucking hand) and is embedded adjacent to the example it demonstrates.
Downloadable MP3 Tracks
As new chord progressions are introduced to make up the 10 x 10 x 10 Framework, practice tracks become available to download to assist you with your practice. All 12 key areas are covered as well as multiple tempo levels so that you can find a tempo that suits your level.
There are over 650 practice tracks in tthe Method.
The Technique Side Effect
Practicing all the devices with the different rhythms and different chord progressions will improve your technique as well as your Bass IQ. You’ll be more confident around the freboard. Your proficiency will improve – you’ll be doing the kind of practice that elite tennis players and golfers do, where they isolate a shot or a stroke and then work on it thoroughly. When you’ve got the exercises down cold you can either use them to build your tempo levels by pushing the tempo levels in your practice, or you can use them to work on your inner clock by using a harmonic metronome and slowing down the tempo. (That btw is another of the 8 big ideas….)
Bonus - Technique Builders (value $77). As a bonus for enrolling on The 80-20 Device Method you'll get access to Technique Builders.
This is a collection of technique lessons taken from the first iterations of my How TO Play Bass In 50 Songs course - which has now moved to book format. So while the 80-20 Device Method will teach you WHAT TO PLAY, this bonus will allow you to identify any issues with your technique and apply an appropriate fix.
There are three main types of lessons in Technique Builders:
- Fretting Hand Exercises
- Plucking Hand Exercises
- Fretboard Familiarity
The Million Dollar Question - How Much Is Enrollment?
Before we look at the cost, I mentioned that every single lesson in the program contains at least as much material as you'd get in a 45 minute face to face lesson with a teacher. If you can find a good teacher - and good bass teachers are rare as hens teeth! - you'd be lucky to get away with paying $50 or less for your lesson.
So that's 45 x 50.
That's the equivalent of $2250 in value without factoring in opportunity cost of travel time and travel costs.
Add in the TECHNIQUE BUILDERS bonus - another $77 in value.
Fortunately I'm not asking anything like $2350.
Not even half of $2350.
Not even a TENTH of $2350.
Your investment today is.....
15 Day 100% Money Back Guarantee: This is a unique approach to learning the bass that's based on both years of study of bass lines and years of study of deliberate practice. As such I'm 100% confident that not only will you find the information in the course highly valuable but that the implementation process that you go through will make a massive difference to your bass playing.
I want YOU to be just as confident with your purchase though, so there's a full 15 day no questions asked guarantee period.
If for whatever reason you're not satisfied, all you have to do is drop me an email and let me know. I'll refund your purchase ASAP with no hassles and no hoops to jump through, and we can part as friends.
Big Call To Action. Click on the big yellow button below and you'll be taken to the enrollment page on the 8020bass.com site, where the 80-20 Device Method Level 1 is hosted. If you've signed up there before, just log in and then complete enrollment. If you're new to the 8020bass.com site (which is a different website!) then just enter your best email and a password as part of the enrollment process.
Once you've enrolled, you'll be added to the 80-20 Device Method Level 1 and sent a welcome email. If you don't receive that email for any reason, then don't panic, simply send me an email and I''ll work out what went wrong in the process and get you added to the site manually. So go ahead. Click the big yellow button below and JOIN NOW.
P.S. There Are Now Four Possible Courses Of Action Open To You
1. If you want to carry on playing the bass without knowing any of the secret language of bass, then simply click away. (And if you're on my email list, you should probably unsubscribe too).
2. If you want to study the language of bass yourself, then scroll up and click on the link to the 100 Songs To Analyze...and start buying transcriptions, transcribing and analyzing.
3. Let me do the heavy lifting and get you started on the road to learning the secret language of bass....the journey to learning the 10 most common and foundational devices (and 10 most common 8th note/quarter ntoe rhythms AND the 10 most common chord progressions in rock and pop) are literally only a couple of mouse clicks away. Starting with the JOIN NOW button above.
4. You're interested...but you've got questions. If so, just email me and I'll answer them as quickly as I can.