1/16th note ‘rock’ bass solo… :-)
Ok… In today’s mini-lesson we’ll quickly go over a bass solo from a Christian rock styled song…
This is something a customer specifically wrote in asking for me to cover and he was nice about his asking :-). Whether you play ‘Christian Rock’ or not, you should give this a shot and see how how your 1/16th-note-string-crossing technique is 
SideNote: In case you’re wondering, the “1/16th note” reference is to the ORIGINAL version of the song that has a different drum groove to what I used in the video.
Enjoy!
PS. Don’t forget to look at yesterday’s lesson! Click here if you missed it!
January 9th, 2009 at 12:28 am
It is beautiful the way that you break a song down. Very Helpful Alex, you rock…
January 9th, 2009 at 1:09 am
Hi Alex,
Don’t know the tune at all, but it is a nice solo and it shows how easy it is to adapt your FBF system to any genre. I think you have put us all on the same page when you talk in degrees. You are the best bass tuitor on the planet.
January 9th, 2009 at 7:38 am
Great lesson, over the top of my actual skills, but very nice to see !
January 9th, 2009 at 8:04 am
another great lesson Alex. Thanks for the help!
January 9th, 2009 at 8:34 am
Hey Alex, you make it look so easy… we did nail this song BTW!
but my picking fingers got a HECK of a workout… but worth it! We did slow the song down a few BPM’s but is still sounded good. THANKS again for your help, and breaking it down here on your blog. YOU ROCK! Mike
January 9th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Excellent. Thanks!! This motivates me to get back to learning/practicing after a long hiatus.
January 9th, 2009 at 8:38 am
Sounds more like “techno” than “christian rock” to me, but I don’t normally listen to either genre, so I could be wrong.
However, the chords you played are beautiful and it does look like an excellent exercise for string crossing, fingering, and timing.
Thanks again for a great mini-lesson.
January 9th, 2009 at 9:17 am
I need to work less and play more!
Thanks for all the lessons and insight.
January 9th, 2009 at 9:59 am
This is awesome stuff, Alex. You break it down so well. I’m still digesting the BGS course. The fretboard formula course is going to be my next course!!!!!!! Keep it coming with the blog videos, brother!
January 9th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Nice! We were scheduled to play this song at church a while ago, and for the first time ever, I had to bail… I just couldn’t get my fingers moving fast enough.
The octive string jump in the intro was just too long of distance in too short of time… and the solo… forget about it.
Excellent break down here though. Perhaps we can revisit this challenging song after I work through this excellent tutorial!
January 9th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Very nice Alex, thank you!
Having played drums for 30+ years prior to picking up the bass, one thing I would like to add is that the best way to tackle repetitive 16ths is SLOWLY at first and using your metronome!
I only speed up when my fingers are comfortable at the tempo that allows me to play the groove without fumbling! It takes some shedding to develop your kinesthetics (muscle memory) as well as your endurance before you get to the point where playing the groove takes less effort. Once I get “there”, then I know I’m ready to kick up the metronome a few BPM at a time.
This one is a fast and fun groove to play.
Peace,
Randy.
January 9th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Cooo-l! - Cheers Alex - you’re keeping us on the edge of our seats waiting for the next one!
January 9th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
the song is called salvation is here by hillsong,
January 9th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
this intro of this song is also hard i think, i hear you gotta use you ring finger to pluck to be able to do the intro perfectly
January 9th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Yeah great song Alex, its sounds awesome when it drops into the bridge with just the high register bass solo. We play it at our church in New Zealand as well. Nice to see it broken down like that. Thanks God bless.
January 10th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Great job. Don’t know if it just my computer but I would like to see you left hand also. Is that possible?
Thanks
~Steve
January 10th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Sorry…I meant right hand
January 11th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
A great little excercise,I love it.more more more.thanks Alex.
bob
January 11th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Very Sweeeet!!! Taking this info and utilizing BGS # 54 (Wicked Beat) I picked it because it was the slowest tempo (75) and have been appling some elbow grease.
It’s not perfect but slowing it down really helps my fingers in my right hand too lock down on the 16th notes.
Thanks Alex, all the best too you and your crew. Wishing the best Year ever!!
aka - Marcus (Not Miller) ; )
January 12th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Thanks Alex!
I didn’t expect you to be covering a christian band from Sydney, Australia!
I used to play heaps of their songs in churches around Brisbane and it was a real spin out to see it was todays lesson!
Good on ya mate, keep it up!
Tim
January 12th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
Alex,
These lessons are just awesome! Keep them coming, please!
Tim G
January 14th, 2009 at 6:31 am
realy do enjoy that keep it going god bless
s 2009
January 14th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Alex’O your a Whizzzz Kid broe, thanks for sharing your talent, the bible said that “To him that more is given, more is required”
God bless,
Iyke.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:26 am
Alex i like ur lessons but am a new bass guitar learner, pls help me out wit some
lower lessons, may GOD grant u more wisdom just to share wit we BASS learners.
January 19th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Alex,
Thanks for the breakdown. We did this at my church a couple times in November and December and your video lesson would have been a HUGE help to me back then. There was no way I was about to attempt doing it the original way, so I came up with an alternative that didn’t sound too bad. I wish I would have had this lesson to help me work it out, but even if I knew all the notes, I’m not sure if my fingers could have pulled it off! I’m going to sit down to work on this one and try to get those fingers a movin’!
Thanks again and God bless,
Brian
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Hello Mr. Alex I love the way that you explain what you are doing and then is able to demostrate exactley what you just explain. just thought that i needed to say these thats.
June 4th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
can you play this on a 4 string bass????
September 12th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Alex,
your’e deffinately the funk master!,You got skills my brother,and I’m revamping my technique because of you.
GodBless you
Jason
January 1st, 2010 at 11:22 am
Fantastic! This is making me want to explore the chords that I know and apply what you show here on that. Thanks for sharing