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Bass Guitar

Hi there. My name is Travis and I am a professional bass player. I am very fortunate to make a living playing the instrument I love here in the great state of Arizona. I have had the chance to play with many great performers and song writers over the years and have learned countless lessons from those experiences. I love to share the knowledge that I've learned over 20 years of playing music and help others in their own paths they wish to follow in their music careers.

We go over the complete basics. Starting with the parts of the instrument, history of the instrument, and its place in the modern music world. We begin with getting the instrument in tune, playing some basic bass lines, posture, and fundamental techniques to get you started on your bass playing journey.

Bass Playing Fundamentals

Beginner

Intermediate

Advanced

Professional bassist on a roster of a leading talent company in Phoenix, AZ. My job has be playing with duos/trios/quartets/etc. I perform on bass guitar as well as upright bass.

Professional Bassist

Freelance bassist for performances, recording projects, and more.

I first approach bass guitar lessons by teaching fundamental techniques for the beginning bass player. Whether it be basic skills and knowledge needed to be prepared to play in a band, or music theory knowledge that will help the bass player be able to write their own parts for their own songs or the songs of others efficiently. For players that already have bass playing experience, I can help refine and fine tune what is already known, and/or expand into new areas of bass knowledge. For example, knowledge that could be a new genres of music, or new applicable techniques. 

No matter what skill level, I can share the professional knowledge I've acquired in my 20+ years of playing music. Not only can I share knowledge that allows players to improve upon their bass guitar skills, I also love to teach the inner workings of the bass guitar. I can also include lessons on how to set up a bass amplifier, and how to make an amplifier sound the best it can for the desired particular style of music. I teach how to use various effects to alter the fundamental sound of the bass guitar, and I teach basic care and maintenance of the bass guitar, as well. I especially love to record music, and can help beginning and existing bassists set up their own recording equipment to be able to record music in their own home environments. All these parts are incremental to truly be the best bass guitarist that you can be.

I look forward to working with anyone who is interested in my unique and understandable approach.

My daughter was 13 when she started taking bass guitar lessons from Travis.  She has learned so much from him, not just about performing well, but also great life lessons like how to recover when (not if) you screw up.  The confidence she has gained has been a wonderful thing to see.  She is 15 now and plays in front of hundreds of people at our church.  And she rocks it!! But only because Travis taught her how.

I took lessons with Travis for nearly 2 years straight in person. After the start of the pandemic we switched to online lessons. Both were great ways to learn As a person who came to playing guitar and bass guitar late in life it was great to have someone like Travis to support my learning path. I will be resuming lessons in the coming year if I can get time with him. He brings a professional players attitude and joy to these lessons and is always inspiring for me.

Have you though about getting into the world of synthesizers? You should, especially as bass guitarists we can easily incorporate small keyboard synthesizers into a performance and give sounds not possible on our bass guitars. 

Intro To Bass Synthesizers

This is a detailed walkthrough of setting up a combo amplifier for use in any performance situation. A lot of times beginning players may not be familiar with what the knobs on an amp do and can unintentionally have a undesirable bass tone. This advice will help get you started in using your amp to it's fullest at a live performance.

Setting Up A Combo Amp For A Live Performance

This video builds off lesson sample #8 and shows a few different ways you may see 7th chords written on a song's chord chart.

Lesson Sample #9 - Intro To Chord Charts (7th chords)

This is one part of a series of video I am uploading that addresses some very easy to learn techniques for adjusting and setting up your bass guitar to play it's very best. In this particular video we take a look at setting up intonation, or basically how to get each and every note on each string as in tune as possible. Just grab a screwdriver and you can follow along, I promise it's not too hard. (Please excuse my arm sometimes obscuring the view, the camera angle wasn't thought out fully)

 Bass Guitar Repairs: Setting Up Intonation

In this video I give a brief introduction to the fundamentals of slap playing. I also go over what I call "pseudo" slap playing, or basically a hybrid of finger style and slap playing techniques combined. I end with some suggestions on setting up a bass amplifier and bass guitar itself.

Intro To Slap Playing and "Pseudo" Slap Playing

This video gives general advice on how to set up a bass amplifier. In this video I use a pick and set up the classic SVT-VR amp but the advice given can be applied to a wide range of amplifiers. There will be several more videos of this nature that will include other amplifiers and using fingers instead of a pick for playing. I strongly recommend viewing this video with headphones or good quality computer sound monitors. 

Setting Up A Bass Amp 

This is an overview of the music theory that's needed to play chords on a bass guitar. I also show a very hand chord shape for major and minor chords and how it can be moved around the bass fretboard.

Playing Chords On Bass Guitar

This video is designed to give advice to players entering the realm of music performance. The information shared is a little geared towards the bassist (but also any musician) that's entering the professional realm, but also can still apply to players in an original band as well.

Preparing For Live Performances

In this video I take a look at using a pick on the electric bass guitar. Though a lot of bass playing utilizes what is called finger style, using a pick has always been a popular alternative way of playing. Using a pick allows for a wider range of sounds on the bass guitar.

In this video I take a detailed look at a couple key examples. One is palm muted 8th note playing with a pick. The main one (which we work up to) is what I call “strum picking.” This type of playing allows you to play aggressively all the while retaining more control over what notes are voiced and more importantly which ones are not.

I also give suggestions on setting up your amplifier to allow for a better tone while playing with a pick and other suggestions like left handed (fret hand) muting and choking of notes.

"Strum" Picking On Bass Guitar

Intermediate lessons are where we expand upon basic knowledge learned in beginner lessons where we learn memorized shapes and patterns, but the difference is know we take a look at why said patterns and shapes work they way they do. 

Bass Playing Fundamentals - Bass Guitar Class

About Travis S.

Travis's Bass Guitar videos

Intro To Bass Synthesizers

Setting Up A Combo Amp For A Live Performance

Lesson Sample #9 - Intro To Chord Charts (7th chords)

Bass Guitar Repairs: Setting Up Intonation

Intro To Slap Playing and "Pseudo" Slap Playing

Setting Up A Bass Amp

Playing Chords On Bass Guitar

Preparing For Live Performances

"Strum" Picking On Bass Guitar

Lesson Sample #4

Lesson Sample #2

Intermediate Lesson Sample #2

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