Playing the Bass Guitar Video (DVD)

Your music teacher is Henry Thomas, a musician who has collaborated with greats such as Billy Ocean, Chris de Burgh, Herbie Hancock, Randy Crawford and Van Morrison. In this DVD, Henry gets the student intimate with their instrument by showing them the parts that make up a bass. He covers how to choose a bass, what amplifiers and speakers are best and how to replace strings. Henry's program explores how to hold the bass both classically and in rock posture, tuning the bass manually, how to pluck and fret the strings and using both left and right hands for fingering. Henry teaches also skills for notes and intervals, how to bend notes and use vibrato, diagrams for chords and keeping time, learning scales, what triad arpeggios are, movable shapes and how to improvise bass lines and explore rhythms. One of the basic but most difficult lessons Henry teaches is how to play the blues -- fundamentally the basis of all modern music and an invaluable skill for any budding musician. The DVD ends with a performance by Henry Thomas himself. (84 minutes)