Solo Acoustic Bass Improvisation - Part I

[roamerreed]

noice!!! anyone know how to play what he's playing when he play's with his nail in the beginning?

[CcRftA]

would you recomend learning on an acoustic bass guitar?

[TrEuGolNiK1991]

Вот тоже на бас в музыкалку иду ток кларнет закончу.. Скора акустику курят (через 19 дней)

[JuanSandmanBass]

Are you using pick, or your nail?

[GBagley]

@JuanSandmanBass - Using my nail.

[Fenorn]

@GBagley Using nail? That's uncomfortable, how do you live with it? :D

[fossegrim91]

i'm thinking about starting to play bass. with a tacoma thunderchief, of course. this is sooo great!

[MrQuoteMan]

Anyone know where I could find a decent sounding acoustic bass for not too much money? I'm only 14, I don't have a very big budget here.

[dawgsfan514]

@MrQuoteMan: craigslist is a great option... i just got one for 100 bucks from a guy i met at ken stanton... just gotta shop around and you will get a good price

[MrQuoteMan]

@dawgsfan514

As a matter of fact, I already got my bass! My Dad bought me it for and early Christmas present. It's a Fender Kingman. I named her Lillian

[jacclar]

The finger style sounds so much better than the pick style!

nice bass video dude

[jacclar]

You play very well but the use of the pick (i'm not a pick hater) on acoustic just kills the tone in my opinion

[Holyhitman173]

duno why he said get a real one, thats awsome and sounds great

[rubanpwnage]

make a tab please i woud love to use this in a get to gether

[nudman]

get a real acoustic bass.

[GBagley]

@nudman - Explain to me how this isn't a real acoustic bass. Or did you mean to say 'upright'?

[MojoWorking415]

this reminded me of this incredible bass i saw. it was an acoustic/electric fretless bass for 300 bucks. i would've bought if i had the money lol. nice playing.

[CFLanger]

very nice

[BelleM44]

great stuff man, i'm diggin' the rhythms

[aukent]

Hey I'm a drummer hehe and I'd love to groove to that amazing stuff man that was funky excelent 5/5

[Zosoelliott]

Some of this reminds me of Steve Harris.

[NecroBurton]

what is that high pitched thing he does at 0:45 called

[Dialga205]

He just holds his finger lightly on the string, not pushing it down, pulling the string and letting it ring out.

[hecbiz75]

@NecroBurton Those are called harmonics. As Dialga205 said, they're done by just touching strings at a certain point (without holding the string down to the fret) and plucking. Harmonics happen naturally only at certain points along the lenght of a string. You could also do "artificial harmonics." For that, you fret a note, and then do the "finger touching" technique about an octave higher with your right hand.

[NecroBurton]

thank you very much you see i am a self taught bass player and well i have alot to learn ive only been playing for a year i incredibly have excelled at playing heavy metal bass and using my fingers to play but you i dont want to limit myself to playing just one genre and well that there harmonics has been something that has confused me since day one i never new what it was or what its called you thank you very much for you help

[panikattak14]

This is how bass SHOULD be played!

[carlmilton1]

nice playing dude.

[FatherCthulu]

Do you have a tab for this?

[GBagley]

Nope, sorry.

[FatherCthulu]

@GBagley You should definitely write one, because this is awesome.

[musicislife664]

brilliant. i love it... would love to be this good, i practise every day and i absolutely adore playing. how long you been playing for???

[musicislife664]

oh yeah, if you'd watch my video response, i'd appreciate it. it's not this good but yeah :(

[musicislife664]

why thumbs down :L

[GBagley]

Thanks! I've been playing a little over 10 years.

[bassattack12345]

i loved it! :')

[darkswim14]

very nice man. Just learning the bass and that was very inspiring! Beautiful!

[wordthatscool]

awesome

[LuraanDivTrasci]

Beautiful

[JoltMetalJosh]

how much was that bass?

[GBagley]

I don't remember exactly, but I got it used. You can look them up, it's a Tacoma Thunderchief.

[JoltMetalJosh]

alright

thanks for the update

[couchtomato12345]

wanna make a album containing your stuff, or just some recorded acoustic bass seh's, coz their awesome dude :)

[zabob276]

How can you strum on a bass?!?!?!?!? I play bass myself (not to good though, haven't recorded any videos either) and have never learn't to strum.

[GBagley]

You can strum, it's basically the same as on guitar, you just have to adapt the technique a little to make it work cleanly with bass.

[bassplayer489]

yeah bagley is right. its a slightly different technique, otherwise your wrist will give you hell if your playing faster music.  trust me lol.

[Joker5844]

great man!! i never listened an acoustic bass played like that in my life!!!

[XxsaintsblackxX]

Have you ever thought of composing a song based on 2:11-3:22? that would be a great idea and I'm sure everyone else here would love it.

Your Erykah Badu cover blew me away. Not only was it amazing, but It calmed me down so much i don't even feel like listening to Megadeth today. i am in such a mellow mood and i want to thank you for it :)

[GBagley]

That part actually is based on the chord pattern from one of my songs (embellished a little with the tapping). Check out my "Dream Within a Dream - Solo Acoustic Bass" video to hear it. Glad you like the Badu cover. Check out her live album if you haven't already. Some amazing basslines (and singing!) on there.

[UnderDarkSkys]

oh yeah, dude I had thought that it sounded familiar, I love Dream Within a Dream, great song! love it :)

[rainmaker113]

dude, you can never be too calm for megadeth, either way, this is a damn good solo

[aassyr1111]

man i really enjoyed that solo....man i like so much in arabic we say " MEEA MEEA" means well done.

:)

Greeting from Iraq

[JacobsBassWorld]

So you're self-taught.

But do you have backround with any other instruments or musical theory?

[GBagley]

I know a bit of music theory, and I studied music at Cornish for a year. I've played other instruments, but Bass has always been #1.

[C33Four]

Do you major in music, or study any forms?

[GBagley]

I went to Cornish college for a year, studying music.

[lilfili123]

im also self taught and hopefully going to college to study music for 2 years i hope one day im as good as you

[Evin07]

I know it's a crazy question but do you take lessons or are you self taught?

[GBagley]

I'm self-taught.

[METAL4EVER911]

Absolutely fantastic playing. Would you happen to know of a good acoustic bass to buy that has a reasonable price range? I'm looking to pick up an acoustic and am not sure what to get.

[GBagley]

Depends on what you consider reasonable I guess. But the Tacoma Thunderchief is one of the best 'standard' acoustic basses you can get. They're not too expensive if you get one used.

[thenameiwantedwasnta]

i recommend ibanez ewb

[necro8bit]

whats the point of acoustic basses

there way harder to play then electric and sound even worse they dont sound good at all ud play that solo alot better on electric bass dude and it would sound better why u usin acoustic?

[myspacceer]

they have certain tone, they're good for playing with acoustic guitar players as well as electric players (if its an electric/acoustic), and they sound somewhat different, thats the point of acoustic basses

[tgun5000]

whats the point of you posting

there simply a different instrument and sound awesome they dont sound bad so long as its a quality instrument and he is playing that solo just fine why u cant use a little grade school grammar?

[GBagley]

They aren't really any harder to play than an electric. Of course, you probably wouldn't know that if you've only ever played the crummy ABGs that Guitar Center usually keeps in stock. A well built and properly setup acoustic bass can have a vastly different tone and feel than an electric bass.

[tgun5000]

Damn right.

I got a ABG to run around with while working out of town. It's a cheap Stagg short scale I eventually became unhappy with, so I decided, rather than sell it, to experiment with defretting. Really glad I did. One of my favorite axes now, even if it is cheap. Awesome videos by the way, GB. Inspires me to practice more often.

Why haters feel the need to post their asinine comments all over youtube, I'll never know.

[necro8bit]

ooo

dude y isnt ur face in any ur vids?

[GBagley]

My face isn't doing anything interesting, I assure you. If you really want to see my face, you can look up my myspace or facebook acount (Greg Bagley).

[necro8bit]

o cool ill have to look it up

[VanishingDigital]

how old are you?

[GBagley]

I'm 22.

[VanishingDigital]

Not you, but fantastic playing. :p

[klickBG]

GOOOD PLEASE LET ME PLAY LIKE THIS

:(

[547soo]

by what scales are you going here?

[GBagley]

It's mostly in Em I guess, but I'm not usually thinking about scales while I'm playing. I'm just playing whatever sounds good!

[nachobassman]

Great!!

[Guyverhoeven]

True artist at work.

[suicidaltiger101]

Nice harmonics at the cut.

[AndreaFranchitti]

4.22 mins of peace

thanks

[patriotsdaniel]

great use of pick and fingers

[UK2AK]

Wow, this got a LOT better once you got rid of the pick. I almost didn't continue listening but then came the cut and the 2nd playing style. GREAT job!

[Takahama]

omg...its amazing man! good job!

[hahabass]

Dude, you crazy!... Great skills man.

[FalconMasterII]

"new" cliff burton?

[ALMYCorporations]

better than that.

[MEecrobTV]

what are you talking about?

[zeroliser]

cool!!

[bruuutal]

amazing job man, you're without a doubt one of the top people i look up to when i play. thanks for all your amazing music.

[zoinkz112]

It's hard to believe that this was all improve. I see that your in the Seattle area, you should met me at bass northwest and teach me your mad skills :D

[shortscalebass]

Absolutely brilliant! Thanks for sharing!

[Baujioss]

Amazing sound, man.

[khund03]

Alright "G", there's nothing left for that bass!! I lost count of how many techniques I saw you employ on this poor... ABG!! You should just send it to me, so it can rest and relax after that. I promise it wouldn't get worked nearly that hard here in Denver.

Just Awesome!!! =)~

[scarred2112]

Great tone, fabulous playing, and an awesome bass! I own a Taylor AB-2 (search "Bryan Beller" for an example - he's an clinician for Taylor) which was a recent purchase, one I'd never thought I'd find given the small amount made, and always said that the Thunderchief was the only ABG in the same league and the one I'd pick up if I never found a Taylor.

Viva la ABGists! :D

[GBagley]

Thanks. I've been lusting after a Taylor AB2 for a long time! They're definitely one of, if not THE nicest ABGs out there. Expensive though! I came close to buying one, but ended up deciding that the Tacoma was just as good for my needs, at only 1/4 of the cost. Would still love to own a Taylor someday though...

[MLGWizzle]

You are an amazing bassist dude. I'm not worthy! lol

[renaudbassplayer]

new bass ? niice playing by the way !

[GBagley]

Yep, this is the latest. Lovin' this bass!

[SchizophobicBand]

Nice!

[tanker667]

i would trade my tanglewood for a thunderchief, they have awesome tone and the only acoustic bass i ever played that was loud enough to compete with an acoustic guitar without amplification

[Jhonmayer1]

yessss!

awesome, makes me want to pick up the bass!

[RlDEtheLIGHTNING]

ur amazing

[GoigleBassguitar]

Awesome