Flea Teaches Hand Positioning on his Fleabass

[metalbassistjd]

that shirt disintegrated the minute the camera stopped. so did his hair

[MichiKlippenstein]

Anyone else notice that when he said 4th position he went up to 5th position?

[Basstard22]

@MichiKlippenstein Yeah, now that you say so, I did notice XD

[estivador64]

Easy

Medium

Hard

very impossible

God

Chuck Norris

FLEA

[blessed0708091]

flea = best bassit ever

flea = best teacher ever :P

[MultipleStairway]

Flea sounds like a Kindergarden teacher :D

[MEYERNET]

Thumbs up if you would be willing to face 1 year sexual abstinence to exchange it for 1 week intensive bass course with Flea.

[ciscco3750]

Well anybody to tell Flea to cut his nails as you do in comments to cover bass videos? XD

[Hobble]

I disagree that you should play in the lower register with one-finger-per-fret. Yes, it does become easier with time, however it's not very natural, it causes strain. I think a 1-2-4 approach is a lot healthier.

[MEYERNET]

@Hobble A guy who disagrees with Flea has no room!

[Hobble]

@MEYERNET Flea can be wrong.

[mikedrud]

He's a really good instructor in addition to being a phenomenal bass player.

[ParcourManiac]

heh I've been playing bass for about 8 years and I didn't know that was called the chromatic scale (I'm completely self taught don't blame me)

[AcexHawk]

@ParcourManiac i'm self taught (guitar though) and it's good cause you learn on your own, although for me i found it as a disability cause you dont get help from a teacher and you dont really know any exercises

[freakofutube]

If you were a great bass player, it wouldn't matter what bass you played. A great bass player can make any bass sound really good

[wheresthebasss]

@GrungeRox1990 ur gay

[PuffSmelly]

@GrungeRox1990 you wouldn't want to hug flea

[PuffSmelly]

i want to shake his hand...or give him a hug

[kowlim]

He would kick ass at a Spelling Bee

[amrasmord]

I wish Geddy Lee would do videos like this. How awesome would that be?? :D

[HumpDeBump100]

*looks down at gigantic fret distances on his squier*.. awww how come his frets are shorter! no fair!

[howdyhowdybucky]

Flea's a great teacher. It's cool of him to take the time to do this.

[martindavd]

Everybody has a different sound, depending on your nervous system...depends how hard you hit it and what kind of person you are

[BassMan21197]

I love you flea, your my idol, but this bass really does suck -__- wasted my money, lucky i was able to exchange it for a different bass

[fermosi88]

I'm a beginner with my shitty Squier P BASS, but i love Flea style, i try my best with my junky bass:)

[jimmyjams1995]

@fermosi88 Gosh dude, be grateful for what you have. You're a beginner. You don't need a top of the line instrument when you barely know how to play it.

[fermosi88]

@jimmyjams1995 I play bass for three years, but I consider myself still a beginner.

[jimmyjams1995]

@fermosi88 Well that's different then. Still though, Squier isn't a horrible brand. If you consider yourself a beginner, then you should be good with a beginner bass. As long as you can jam with it, you're good.

[FlyingVSnow]

Both Flea and Chad has have given out lesson-videos. But why cant John also give some?

[Jepson3000]

"Take pride in your sound" - Words any Bass player should treasure.

[ivegothairfordays]

I love the idea that the type of person you are could change the way the bass sounds. Like maybe if you were really cheerful each note would sound really bright.

[cranie4]

This is a guy that can be insanity incarnate on a stage but offstage he's a rational and apparently a very solid teacher.There will never be another Flea.

[dizrim]

starting to play bass? why not learn from the best

[leach258]

This makes me want to play my bass again

[junkayballs]

This video was shot in heaven. apparently, heavens grey

[lozarok]

Fkn AWESOME BRO !!!! Thanks for Sharing

[HarmonJuan]

i don't even play bass, i just fucking love flea

[BarnesFX]

@HarmonJuan same, i play guitar!

[J0SH2468]

i want your way!

[bassborat]

Flea is mighty good..thatz fact,...any question??

[dudiabih]

You are a god, Flea!

[Jdobbs909]

for some reason he so rather... nervous.... i cant understand why! he's amazing

[4ster15]

3:48 this was the 32nd time his fingers touched a g string that day

[hklausen]

Flea are just that kind person that a super band can be build up around ;)

[MsHallucinagenic]

On the first stay I started learning bass this was the exact exercise my teacher made me do, now I know where he learnt from haha.

[DWarrior4]

Flea TEACH ME!!!!!!!

[KingDavidANC]

Doesn't Flea sound like he's Canadian? Best bassist ever, though.

[MrMCLenin]

@KingDavidANC he´s an aussie

[KingDavidANC]

@MrMCLenin Really? I didn't know that.

[spartan3535]

flea basses are the awesome! great basses for the price!

[7credible]

Pause at 5:41.

[99lovaboy]

@squeman*

[99lovaboy]

@said an dude he's only like 49

[localskateboarding]

hey guys. I currently play guitar but want to get into bass. I have a guitar amp and stuff. Where can I get a bass for like 100 dollars? And I was told you can play bass on a guitar amp but its not as good. advice? Much appreciated!

[Piitschii]

@localskateboarding cort basses are great and very cheap. and you can play with every amp you want, but you have to use the clean channel. i play my bass through an lesley organ amp, so as you can see, you can use every amp you want! and if you already play the guitar, playing bass is very easy... ^^

[tinyindiandude13]

Gotta love Flea

[tub3scr3am3r]

C-H-R-O-M-A-T-I-C!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!

[tarceur]

flea rules !!!!! :D

[dannppp]

is that a 4 string or a 5 string

[TeTRoSeX]

@dannppp 4

[SqueMan]

flea is getting old ^.^ 

[SKAuthenticDank]

son of a bitch thinks i cant spell krumatich

[MrNick2D]

I would buy a Flea bass this second, but there not left handed! X"{

[blueman912]

i know how to play bass and ive been playing bass for years.

i just like watching flea talk about basses, its like musical porn.

[vsmcax1007]

someone taught me a long time ago to keep my fingers pressed down on the notes I had already played as I was ascending chromatically up the string (like my index would still be holding down F as I was playing F sharp and so on) it's not like that note (F) is going to sound out anyway...and it allows you to have more power over the string and build up strength faster..and it strains your hand less from not moving your fingers around so much.

[pashavanbijlert]

@vsmcax1007 That's not very good advice. If you keep them pressed down, not only will you have unnecessary tension, you'll also not learn how to use each finger individually. Using only one finger at a time would actually strenghten your fingers faster because the entire force has to be produced by one finger. And for fast scales (with proper technique), keeping the fingers pressed down will slow you down.

[CDI647]

way to spell chromatic! xD

kidding, kidding, but great exercise, though

[boxboy1111]

he should create like a full lenght dvd of learn how to play bass:the master class.

[helenplay111]

how can someone not love this man?

[suxdudemungus]

i usually have my right hand on my pickups when i am fingerpicking so i wanna know how i could do that on this bass, if anything i'll adapt to not having pickups for my hand to rest on. i hope someone else can relate to that 

[ClearNuke]

I keep plucking with all four fingers..how can I stop this?

[suxdudemungus]

@ClearNuke practice with two fingers, your pointer and middle finger

[ClearNuke]

@suxdudemungus Thanks, but I just mean it's like my fingers from both hands are in sync, if I hold down the string with my ring finger, my ring finger will play it. It's not me willingly doing it.

[suxdudemungus]

@ClearNuke well then i'm not sure try to adapt to play with one finger at a time with your right left hand ( or whichever hand is on the neck ) and practice with strumming with the two fingers

[ClearNuke]

@suxdudemungus Okay thanks.

[Str1keRS1R]

Flea has massive hands in proportion to his body.

[Miguelp1000]

c h r o m a t i c..... chromatic!!!!!!

[MrNeonDragonfly]

who is the gay 1 dislikerrr SHOW YOURSELF lollll :L

[rvchase609]

one person must God. 

[yekshemesh4alig]

Good lesson, although I'd suggest that beginners start off higher on the neck and gradually move down to prevent hand injury.

[tonyburger]

hands of god

[bayzplaya]

It must be so wierd playing for all those years and bieng so good then trying to explain it in baby words for beginners

[hatchmk3]

what a top bloke , good health and happiness to you flea

[giggs102]

flea. is amazing. and wow.. he takes time to teach beginers. amzing

[punjabimundia]

wow, i got a whole new kind of respect for this man... even after selling millions of records world wide he still takes time to teach beginners. much respect

[SIL3NT101]

I would love him as a full time teacher xD :D

[pcplus1993]

i kinda fell bad for Master Flea.... he kinda looks too skinny :/

[WiteBot]

Flea is such a good teacher too! I was like was it 'chromatic' ..'dramatic'??? And boom he spells it out C-H-R-O-M-A-T-I-C. !!!!

Ok, what is chromatic? And then he explains that too....its like he can read minds

[WiteBot]

0 people are haters.

[yourGothicfriend]

thumbs up if you instantly thought of around the world when he hit open E

[bizmarkfreak]

only thing I'd disagree with is trying to place 1 finger per fret for the fret closer to the neck (higher on the bass), the whole system is just for finger dependence, but some guys like to keep their fingers in place while moving the next, and for starters that can be painful. You should play like he does @00:50, and remember your thumb isn't an anchor, so you should move your hand if you can't reach the next fret instead of trying to stretch like Mr. Fantastic

[dustin102432]

@bizmarkfreak Yeah, I'll listen to u because you're in one of the best bands ever to exist, right? ha just playing, man your tip actually helped!

[DrColaless1]

No entiendo un choto de música, pero el simple hecho de escucharlo hablar me parece lo más grandioso del universo!!

[vsmcax1007]

maybe also leave your fingers pressed down on the string as you're ascending? It's not like those notes would sound out and you'd have extra strength over the string which would allow for better tone and less wasted movement of your fingers and hand?

Soul beats out technique in Flea's case! Whoo hoo!!!

[olflatop]

Sorry to have to correct the almighty Flea, but seriously kids, do NOT put your thumb parallel to the frets. That's a sure fire recipe for injury to the tendons. Keep your hand in a natural relaxed position with the wrist straight and the thumb pointing towards the headstock.

[bizmarkfreak]

@olflatop lol so holding a book, papers, letters, doing the dog shadow puppet and the like are all unnatural as well? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you place you hand in the same position to do all that stuff as well...

[olflatop]

@bizmarkfreak Well, you're right about the shadow puppet, but I'm not sure how you go through life holding things that way. But you know, to each their own. You can trust me though when I say sustaining an injury due to improper form is no day at the park. An opposable thumb is a terrible thing to waste. ;)

[9bogar8]

5=4, that's evident. just change positions of 5 and 4, and you'll see 

[9bogar8]

dah, so much fret buzz

[psmtheman]

Wow! I like flea's teaching style. He's not a total blow hard like alot of these famous musicians. I feel like he actually wants little kids to LEARN THE BASS!

[everlyredhot]

If Flea says that the 5th fret is the 4th , he's right and everything we learnt about the frets is wrong. Flea is god

[ahaaaaaaaaah]

@everlyredhot

So naive, hahaha! He's not a great bassplayer like many people think, he's a well-known bassplayer and that's something totally different! Seems like no one wants to discuss him, like you.

[KingdomEnd]

@ahaaaaaaaaah Die

[TheAmazingScotsman]

@ahaaaaaaaaah Fucking idiot lmao

[BassByTheBay]

@ahaaaaaaaaah

By all means, aha... let's discuss him. I'm betting you actually don't know much about him. He's a humble, talented musician who never professes to have the best technique. He's not a Wooten/Patitucci/Miller/[your favorite bassist], but he's not trying to be. What he *is* is a passionate musician who happens to play bass. Obviously, many people love what he does regardless of your assessment of his ability. He makes great music with his band. That's what matters.

[RHCP1031]

@everlyredhot He actually IS playing on the 4th fret because if you look you can see that the dot on the 5th fret is beside his hand. think a little

[No1RHCPfan]

@RHCP1031 he's talking about @ 5:42

[RHCP1031]

@No1RHCPfan ok sorry man.

[TheOnewcomb]

C-H-R-O-M-A-T-I-C Chromatic :) x

[brookeohyeah27]

Thanks Hillel, you taught Flea, and now he is teaching us:)

[flclbeans]

When he starts spelling "chromatic" I can't help but think like, "Man, not only is this guy like, an awesome teacher, but he's prolly a kickass dad!" (And then I got slightly jealous of his kids. Is that wrong?! lol)

[Anonymous1885]

Just a tip to beginners watching this... dont start practicing the chromatic scale from the first fret. Unless you have alien hands it will be very frustrating and perhaps even painful. Just find a spot you feel most comfortable playing and as your hands get used to it THEN you can move towards the 1st fret.

[smethious]

@Anonymous1885 who are you to give any tips at all?? this is Flea's tutorial and I think HE is perfectly qualified to teach... YOU on the otherhand , are a wanna be... so kindly STFU!

[Anonymous1885]

@smethious Haha! Im not sure wheteher youre trolling or not kid but I consider myself qualified enough (at least on the basics) based on experience.

I play bass and have been through all this. Theres no point in overreaching your capabilities... youre just going to hurt yourself that way.

Flea is a great bass player (and seems to be a great person in general) but dont take his every word or teaching as pure gold.

[smethious]

@Anonymous1885 I wil take fleas word over yours for the obvious reason,,,, he is who he is and well you are not

[Gaboncio100]

I love you Flea! I'm dying for a Fleabass

Karlo Schwebel

[darkdominator64]

The greatest is also a great teacher! It's almost too much. XD

[SuperBassplayer09]

'' and you will begin to rock ! '' this man is a real inspiration

[noobzorxz]

"and you WILL begin to rock.."

[dudonaut]

nice consistent tone. But it looks just totaly uncool!

[diamonddust22]

@dudonaut nah man that bass Rocks. Every video I've seen this thing has a great sound and a really awesome growl.

[Zychopathic]

My god he's such an inspiration! I promise that by the end of this year I will be playing bass, because of this man.

[yonda18]

1:00 what the HELL he doesn't have BIG hands?????  man i ready dont want a Slap from your hand to my face!

[moondrop1881]

he even makes scales sound amazing! haha

[DanTheBambooMan]

I have a much deeper appreciation of music thanks to flea. :D. I love flea.

[leakeg]

Do the profits of these go to charity or something? What's the dealio?

[SkateTS808]

@leakeg yup

[leakeg]

@SkateTS808 citation?

[SkateTS808]

@leakeg you asked me if the profits got the the school...Here's my answer: yes they do

[leakeg]

@SkateTS808 and I'm asking you where you may have found that information!

[SkateTS808]

@leakeg That school is a non profit organisation plus flea made a shitload of money i think he doesn't give a fuck about money. Is that good for you? fucking asshole

[leakeg]

@SkateTS808 Are you that moronic you can't have a proper conversation without acting like a 12 year old? Nowhere on the Flea Bass website does it say anything about the profits going to Flea's music school. You're making assumptions and spreading misinformation.

[leakeg]

@SkateTS808 ah no reply? That's what I thought.

[GI183rt]

Flea you're Amazing, please make more of these!

[francisco444]

Flea is so cool he makes the cromatic scale look fun. I've been playing for 3 years and this made want to pick my bass up and play cromatic exercises again lol.

[Stratocaster92]

5:47 XD

he's on the 5th fret, not the 4th XDDDD

[BoboSab3121]

@Stratocaster92 let the bass do the talking 

[Jordo1900]

@Stratocaster92 ok ok calm down

[rcboatdriver1234]

@Stratocaster92 flea is fried

[Azgher123]

Awesome initiative mr. Flea! ^^ Cheers!

[bouncyafro]

flea is a surprisingly good teacher. I would never have imagined it.

[Nastara]

tone does come from the pickups and strings. however, better tone comes with practice and style.

[wakomaniac45]

flea and youtube is a magic combination

[BassDude50000]

how does he get that tone? is it all in the bass? or strings? or amp?

[carlitochristyfan]

He should really teach music! I would love to be in his class.

[Lylodile]

@carlitochristyfan He already does lol.

[carlitochristyfan]

@Lylodile oh ok cool:)

[rushingspirit28]

@carlitochristyfan he does, he owns and teaches at a music school he created in California, for kids who are poor, more or less. its all free.

[carlitochristyfan]

@rushingspirit28 do you know the name of his school?

[rushingspirit28]

@carlitochristyfan the name of the school is the Silverlake Conservatory of Music

[zachacham]

what is the name of the song he play in the end?

[piepmaxx]

@zachacham i think it's an improvisation

[zachacham]

@piepmaxx no, I heard this before :D

[TheScootScooter]

Flea just ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCKS!!!! :D

[TACOMANSUPERFUNKY]

yay im learning about bass and how to spell!!!!!!!! xD

[BlackBandShirt]

I have TINY hands...if I can ever stretch across 4 frets I'll be amazed :P I can manage 3, but that's all I've been able to reach for about a year now

[ToguroKun]

i didn't know that hand movement had a name xD

[InuManiac906]

I love Flea. Freakn' NEEDLES!!! BTTF 2 and 3 was awesome

[robass5]

yee

[RaidenNoKishi]

I'd really like to find the short-scale Fleabass in a store. It seems like it'd make a great low-cost instrument to take to college where space is limited and one doesn't necessarily want to risk damage or theft of an expensive instrument.

[cchhuucckk12]

Great!!

[Popcornboy004]

FLEA IS A BEAST! I recently got a Fleabass.

[vizcacha5]

kewl