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- AboutScott Devine… Scott Devine is one of the most versatile and in demand bass players on the UK scene today. He has performed, recorded, shared taxis, vans, planes and boats with players such as, Adrian Ingram, Martin Simpson, Gary Boyle, Neil Brocklebank, The Drifters, The Four Tops, The Nolans, Marisa Turner (Prince, Chaka Kahn), Peter Grant (top 5 jazz artist), Spyro Gyra, Ogie Alcasid, Vina Morales, The Jeff Andrews band (Mike Stern) and has performed at venues such as Ronnie Scotts, Pizza Express (London Soho), The 606 Club, The Vortex, Dubai International Jazz festival and Montreal grand prix. Currently Scott is Musical Director for platinum selling Polish artist Tatiana Okupnik. Alongside side teaching at several Universities within the UK, Scott is writing a set of Bass guitar method books covering a wide range of topics due for release in 2011. He is also busy recording his debut album, which is due for release in 2011.
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Category Archive for: ‘Improvisation’
2 ways To Make Your Bass Solos Sound Awesome!
In this bass lesson I’m going to show you two awesome techniques that will literally bring your bass soloing alive! By using linear lines in conjunction with intervalic scale sequences your bass solos will start to become more dynamic and give you an almost never ending supply of ideas! Now grab your bass and get in the shed! Scott ;)
Bassists – Soloing Bad habits
Pretty much ALL of my bass students suffer from, or have suffered from the same bad habit when trying to solo over chord changes. But, it just so happens that I have an ‘awesome sauce’ exercise to stop YOU doing the same! To find out what that bad habit is, and how you can stop yourself from falling into the …
Shape Shifting Over Chord Changes
Improvising over multiple chord changes can be a daunting task. It can be challenging to be creative when playing over only one chord, but when there is 2, 3 or even 4 chords it’s easy for your mind to get tied in knots – and instead of making great music, being melodic and hitting some sexy notes ;)… you’re too busy …
Major Scale Improvisation Exercise #2
In this bass lesson you’re going to learn how to use intervalic shapes and patterns within your bass solos, and how important they can be. When you listen to a great bass player soloing it can seem effortless, almost like the notes and ideas are just flowing out of them. Well that’s true to a certain extent, but there is …
Major Scale Improvisation Exercise #1
In this bass soloing lesson I’m going to show you an exercise that’s not only going to radically improve your soloing facility on the bass, but it’s also going to improve your phrasing and overall musicianship too! It’s one of the best exercises I ever give to my personal students so I know you’re going to get some great tips …
The Importance of Melody
This lesson is all about melody! As bass players, we generally play… bass lines most of the time, rather than melodies. So if you’re not used to soloing, it can be a pretty scary experience at first, because you’re not used to playing melodies. Even if you know all your scales, arpeggios, etc. you probably won’t know what to do …
The Gary Willis Approach #2
This is part 2 of my bass lessons about what I call ‘The Gary Willis approach’, in which I’m talking about a specific lesson Gary and I went through together when I was studying with him. If you haven’t seen the 1st part of this lesson, please go check it out, otherwise you’ll most certainly wonder what on earth I’m …
The Gary Willis Approach # 1
Gary Willis has to be one of the most virtuosic, original and unique sounding bass players of the last twenty years. From his early work with Wayne Shorter, the groundbreaking fusion band Tribal tech through to his more recent projects like Triphastic, his bass playing is never less than breathtaking. I was lucky enough to study with him in Barcelona …
Gary Willis Style pentatonic Lick
The legendary bass player Gary Willis is in my opinion one of the most unique bass players out there. He has his own unique approach to the bass guitar, not only in the way he plays but also his sound. He is one of the few bass players that is instantly recognizable when you hear him play. I was actually …
Using Pentatonic Scales on the Bass #4
In the previous lesson, I began to talk about learning your pentatonic scales in different positions –on your bass, I mean, not sitting and standing ;). And this is really important because, as with any scale, if you know it in only one position or pattern, you’ll get stuck!!! So you have to learn them starting from different positions / …
Using Pentatonic Scales on the Bass #3
In this third lessons about using pentatonic scales on the bass, I’m taking another lick that can be played over our chord sequence, which was: A minor / Bb Major / C Major (2 bars). Actually, it’s a really common lick that you’ve probably heard on several funk records! But still, it sounds good, and, like the previous one, it …
Using Pentatonic Scales on the Bass #2
This is my second lesson in this series about using pentatonic scales in your bass lines. Because of the tonality of these five-note scales, pentatonics are very versatile and can be used in all sorts of ways and styles of music –pop, rock, funk, jazz… you name it. In the previous tutorial, we took a very simple chord sequence that …
Using Pentatonic Scales on the Bass #1
Pentatonic scales are widely used in almost every style of music, so much so that they’re often called the ‘bread and butter’ of the bass player! In this lesson, I’m showing you how you can get pentatonic scales into your bass lines and what they are good for. I’m also discussing how to adapt them, depending on the style of …
Jazz Phrasing Bass Lesson #2
This is my second bass lesson in this series about phrasing. If you haven’t watched the first one, please check it out here! In this lesson we’ll go on working with Blue Bossa which is very well-suited for our purposes. So let’s see how we can develop our phrasing on this tune, keeping in mind that all this information is …
Jazz Phrasing Bass Lesson #1
Today I’m gonna be talking about jazz phrasing in the context of bass soloing. But what is… “phrasing”? Well, to put it simply, it’s just like when you’re talking: there’s what you say, the words you use, etc. and how you say it –rhythm, intonations, breathing… Have you ever ever been told “It’s not what you say! Its HOW you …
