Written 20 min read
Bass Scales – 5 Families – The Complete Map
Every bass scale that matters, on one map: the five families, two positions each in notation and TAB, the riffs they power — and why these five run popular music.
Free Online Bass Lessons
29 free online bass lessons to watch or read — technique, music theory, walking bass and how to practise — from Pete Lindemere, B.Mus (Hons), PGCE.
Everything here is free to watch or read. There are also free tools — tuner, metronome, groove trainer, ear trainer — and printable charts and lesson handouts.
Written 27 min read
History of the Minor Scale
The history of the minor scale from ancient Greece to the charts, why minor sounds sad, and all 13 minor-family scales with notation, TAB and shapes.
Written 15 min read
The Complete Pentatonic Scale
The bass pentatonic scale explained: all five modes, the semitone-counting trick that makes them stick, four exercises, the blues scale and two free PDFs.
Written 13 min read
The Complete Guide to Tetrachords
What is a tetrachord? Four stepwise notes spanning a 4th — and the key to 49 scales. The four diatonic shapes, every major-scale mode, and two free PDFs.
Written 23 min read
Developing Timing and the Inner Clock
How to practise bass with a metronome: interactive click settings, pushing and pulling the beat, and the no-instrument drills that build your inner clock.
Written 9 min read
What Does Diatonic Mean?
What does diatonic mean? The major scale and everything built from it — the three-part formula that decides what counts, and why melodic minor doesn't.
Video 1 min watch
How to Use Your Picking Fingers on Bass Guitar
How to use your picking fingers on bass: the first thing to get right — angle, contact and consistency — for a clean fingerstyle plucking sound.
Video 1 min watch
Why play melodies on the bass?
Playing melodies on bass builds your ear, your fretboard knowledge and your musical freedom — Pete makes the case for making tunes part of your practice.
Video 1 min watch
The 12-Tone Chromatic Scale on Bass
The 12-tone chromatic scale on bass guitar: all 12 notes and their names, and how the entire fretboard is built from one repeating pattern of semitones.