Bass improvisation, made practical
Think less. Hear more. Play freely.
You can know the notes and still struggle to use them. I teach bass players how to hear more in what they already know and turn it into phrases they can play.
Shape to Statement
Start with what you know.
Turn the shapes you already know into musical statements.
Start with familiar shapes. Learn to hear the ideas inside them, turn them into phrases, and vary, answer, and develop what you play.
What’s a shape? A familiar pattern under your fingers—a scale, triad, arpeggio, melodic fragment, or chord grip.
- Part 1
- Available now
- 55+ minutes
- Streaming video
- $24
- Early-access price
Buy Part 1 for $24 and get all future Shape to Statement lessons and updates at no extra cost. Part 2 is in development. The price increases for new buyers as the course grows.
Hi, I’m Posido, a bassist who teaches what I had to figure out the hard way.
After years of playing less and less, I returned to regular bass practice in 2024. I’d kept teaching, writing articles, and making lesson videos, but my own playing had taken a back seat.
As I rebuilt my practice, I began with what I could hear rather than reaching for theory first. That approach shapes these lessons for bass players who know their theory but still freeze when it’s time to say something.
- Teaching bass
- Since 2007
- Playing bass
- Since 1995
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Think less.
Theory is a map, not the trip. Use only as much as you need to move.
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Hear more.
Build a clearer connection between what you hear, imagine, and play. Ear first, fingers second.
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Play freely.
Start with a small musical statement. Vary it, answer it, and keep it moving.
Feedback on my teaching
I've been trying to play simpler, shorter phrases lately and it's made all the difference, but your idea of moving towards certain points in the phrases really helped it all come together…
Adam
This is information I can use right now. I like the way you cut to the chase and don't bury stuff in fancy jazz-speak.
Mick
…your explanations are some of the clearest and most concise I’ve seen.
Dell
Choose your starting point
What are you working on?
Find a lesson, a practice tool, or personal guidance for the next step in your playing.
Find something to practice
Explore your fretboard, familiar shapes, and new ways to phrase the notes you know.
Make more of the phrases you learn
Explore transcription and ways to develop musical ideas from what you hear.
Work through a phrase in smaller pieces
Capture a recording, split a phrase into chunks, and practice building it progressively.
Get help with your playing
Bring your questions and the musical material you’re practicing. Work through it with me.
Ideas in practice
Something to explore in your next session.
Three lessons to help you make more music with what you already know.
You Know Your Scales. So Why Don’t Your Lines Sound Melodic?
Give your lines direction by hearing notes as destinations inside familiar shapes.
Music Transcription Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect to Be Useful
Break a phrase into smaller ideas and learn from its sound, even before you have every note.
You Don’t Need an Hour to Build Your Musical Vocabulary
Explore how one phrase can become a useful practice session when you only have a few minutes.