NEW Program Alert: The Groove Accelerator is OPEN for enrollment! Limited Time Only —Join Now
How to Create R&B Bass Lines and Grooves with Danny Mo Morris
===
Lesson Overview
Around a year ago I was lucky enough to get introduced to Danny Mo Morris (one of the longest serving faculty members at the world famous Berklee College of Music… and one of my favourite educators).
We ended up hitting it off (a mutual love of groove!) and since then he’s become involved in what we do here at The SBL Academy in a big way.
He has a masterclass on R&B bass in the Academy course library, does regular live-stream seminars for the Academy students, and we’ve also just created a 8 week long online-bootcamp together (which right now is in it’s 4th week and going strong!).
When it comes to bass line and groove creation (something every bass player should be constantly working on) Danny nails it every time with his concepts and insights into how you should be approaching this invaluable skill.
As Danny says… “You jam, you play, you practice - but how do you focus on the creation of solid bass parts and vocabulary development on your own?”
Well, in this lesson Danny is going to show you how to that and how to use some key concepts including…
- Locking in with the kick-drum by using 2 and 4 bar phrases.
- How to “Frame” your bass lines.
- How to develop you vocabulary and “organisation skills” - something that everyone expects bass players to do, but for one reason or another is something that never get’s discussed.
PS. Danny’s bass tone is huuuuge! If you listen to this lesson through tiny phone or laptop speakers the bass will sound a little low in the mix as the speakers can’t handle the low-end - if that’s the case, use some headphones - you’ll love his tone! :)
Your Homework
More often than not this style of bass line is very syncopated, so it's a fantastic way of developing your overall groove, feel and pocket. Are you already transcribing R&B/Motown bass lines? If you are, which are your favourites and which have you found most challenging?
Let us know in the comments below!
As always, see you in the shed…
Scott :)
