funkstar650 Channel profile Videos

• Profile
• Videos
• Favorites
• Playlists

Music lover & Funkateer. Just an ordinary 'dude' who loves to play bass on an amateur level. I am 44 years old and I have been playing bass for about 20 somewhat years now. I never studied bass or went to school for it. I think I am just 'blessed' (or whatever you may call it) with a good set of ears, patience, persistence and supportive people around me. Why these video's on YouTube? Just for fun. NOT to show off or something. Hell, there isn't much to show off since there are so many bass cats out there who play much better then me. But it's just to show how I think things are played. My own interpretation, my own hands and my own ears.One of the inspirations I found on YouTube is MarloweDK who has a magnificent set of video's everyone should see. My hat is off to you MarloweDK!For the rest I won't make any real training video's. Like I said, MarloweDK has several of those and he is really good at explaining things. I can't add anymore to his set of instructional video's. And he has a good variety of songs he plays along. From pop to funk and rock. I mainly stick to the funk parts since that's where my roots come from. I always listen to heroes like Jaco Pastorius, Marcus Miller, Nathaniel Phillips, Mark Adams, Louis Johnson, Skeet Curtis, Victor Bailey, Larry Graham, Bootsy Collins, Bernard Edwards, Jara Harris and a lot of other funk players that are out there. Tips for beginning players: If you wonder how to play these kinda basslines and songs start listening to them real carefully. Put down your bass and just listen. Try to remember the lines and licks. Once you got the main line into your bass head, try to SING it. Really, I mean it... SING it. Or at least hum it if you don't dare to sing :-).Don't be shy, but just try to sing (hum) the line so you will know for sure you got the bassline right and where the accents go etc. Once you got that down it's time to pick up the bass and turn off the iPod/CD player or whatever you use to listen to. Just try to find the notes you are singing or humming on your bass 'til you got it right. Start S L O W... and I mean S L O W! Be patient and just keep on trying... Once you found the right notes you can try to put them into a certain groove and speed it up a little. Just a little until you got it all down.When you feel confident enough it's time to turn on your music player again and try to play along. And stick to the basic lines first. Accents, fills, licks and riffs will follow later as soon as you got the basics right.Well that's about all the advice I can give you. Believe me, it works!And now for all you pro-players and advanced players:Don't listen to the advice I just gave the beginners. :-) I know it's best to go to a music school or conservatory but when someone just wants to have fun on the bass (like me) then there is no need to go to school to learn how to play. But it's ALWAYS good to practice scales, chords and progressions. Only then you start to understand WHY things are played and that everything makes sense. I do understand some musical theory but I never had any training or went to school for it. I just learned to 'play' by ear and picking up things or reading books. So anyways, for all who is interrested in learning how to play: good luck with practising and let me know how things are progressing OK? Peace and keep on playin' that bass!George