Jonathan Colman
PRESENTS

Bass for Guitarists Pathway

Take the first step in your low-end journey.

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WHo it's for

Bass beginners

This class is perfect for qualified guitarists who want to transfer their six-string skills to the bass.

Time

3 months

Jonathan Colman will guide you through 6 grades of instruction with daily practice plans and assessments.

Outcome

Groove like the greats

Stop playing bass like a guitarist. This class will equip you with authentic bass skills to fit any musical scenario.

Keep going

Live-band experience

Apply what you learn in a musical context by jamming out with a live-recorded band of pro LA musicians.

What you'll learn

In this Learning Pathway, you'll adapt your pre-existing guitar knowledge to think and sound like a real bassist.

  • Learn how to craft your own basslines
  • Ditch the pick – start playing with your fingers
  • Play like Pino Palladino, Joe Dart, and James Jamerson
How it works

Your guided learning pathway

In this 6-week program, low-end wizard Jonathan Colman will guide you through the core skills you need to stop playing bass like a guitarist. You'll tackle fundamental bass techniques, learn how to craft your own basslines, play like iconic bassists, and even start slapping bass.

Play Bass Now!

To kick off the pathway, we'll get you playing bass right away.

You'll learn which techniques transfer over from guitar and address the biggest difference between guitar and bass: your plucking hand.

Shapes and Moves

Now that you’ve got some bass-ic bass technique down, you’ll work on mapping out your fretboard and moving creatively across it.

You'll use these quintessential shapes and moves throughout the rest of your bass-playing days.

The Bassist's Mindset

In this grade, you’ll go beyond the basics and learn how to infuse your playing with attitude.

You’ll dive deeper into the drum-bass relationship, learn how to excel at playing in the pocket, and lock down your rhythm with ghost notes.

Grade 4. How to Craft Basslines

Next up, an exploration of how to add movement and melody to your basslines. You’ll go beyond the root, explore alternative note choices, and build out your box to speak freely on the bass.

Grade 5. Time and Feel

This grade is a rhythm deep dive. We want you to feel super confident when it comes to writing rhythmically-impactful bass parts and playing live alongside a drummer and the rest of the band

Grade 6. Technique Toolkit

You’ve come a long from ditching the pick playing and committing to finding an authentic bass sound. To cap off the course, you'll tackle slapping & popping, extended techniques for both hands, chords on bass, and overall songwriting tools.

Curriculum

Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.

6-Week Plan

Grade 1. Play Bass Now!

Transfer your guitar skills to bass and start grooving ASAP.

We're with you every step of the way in this Learning Pathway. In every lesson, Jonathan will break down a new concept and run through mini drills with you so you can lock it into your muscle memory. To cap off each day's work, you'll put what you learned in a musical context with a guided jam session.

Day 1. Play bass, now!

Today, you’ll start creating low-end sounds with the use of a guitar pick. By starting with familiar guitar skills, we'll get you grooving right off the bat before diving into bass-specific techniques.

Day 2. The neo-soul thumb mute

On Day 1, we got you playing right away with a pick. On Day 2, we’ll show you how to get an iconic bass tone by playing with your thumb (just like legendary bassists Pino Palladino does).

Day 3. Introducing the octave

At this point, you’re still super early in your bass journey, but you’ve already got some neat-sounding essentials down.Today, you’ll learn how to use the octave, which is a great way to hold down the groove without muddying up the harmonic waters.

Day 4. Floating on your E string

Today, you’ll learn the floating-thumb technique, which encourages your fingers to get involved. Take it nice and easy and you’ll be walkin’ the bass in no time.

Day 5. A string

Bass players have to think about thumbs and fingers more than any other stringed-instrument player. Today, you’ll incorporate the A string into your string-plucking palette.

Day 6. D and G strings

So far, your main focus has been on the low E and A strings. In this lesson, you’ll work on the D and G strings.
The low E and A strings often ground the root and 5th. D and G play a slightly different role.

Day 7. E-string workout

Hit the gym as you internalize the notes on your low E string.

Performance pieces

Perform songs that incorporate the concepts you just learned in a purely musical context. Here, you'll have the opportunity to jam with a live-recorded band of pro musicians. You can submit your performance to the Pickup Music team for personalized video feedback – who said online learning wasn't interactive?!

Final quiz

Cap off the grade with a quiz to make sure you've adequately absorbed the core concepts involved.

Grade 2. Shapes and Moves

Work on integrating the box shapes then get creative with them.

Day 1. The box shape

Just like the guitar, the bass fretboard is much easier to conquer when you map it into patterns and shapes.
The box shape is a visual map that you can use for creating basslines and highlighting chord tones. You'll get to know it intimately today.

Day 2. How bassists use the major scale

Bassists have a slightly different relationship to the major scale. They don’t need to use the full extent of the scale like guitarists might. This lesson plants seeds that will blossom into sophisticated musical trees later on in this Learning Pathway.


Day 3. Power sweater (Weezer)

Today is all about triads, which are useful for a number of reasons. Bass players use triads by shifting them across the fretboard, to highlight a chord progression without playing chords, and as a starting point to craft basslines.

Day 4. 2 to 3

Using slides in your bass playing allows you to add a different rhythmic component to your playing and kill a note’s attack. This is a key step to sounding smoother and creating more interesting moves – today, you'll incorporate this between the 2nd and 3rd scale degrees.


Day 5. 5 to 6

In this lesson, Jonathan will step up the tempo by introducing you to a new slide option that you can include between different note intervals.

Day 6. R to 9

Today, you’ll face your final slide challenge: the octave-to-9th slide.

Day 7. A-string workout

Cap off your hard work with a brand-new workout that'll help you internalize A-string notes.

Performances

Solidify your learnings with songs that'll apply what you learned in a musical context.

Get feedback

Get personalized video feedback on your playing from the Pickup team.

Final quiz

Make sure you're ready for Grade 3.

Grade 3. The Bassist's Mindset

Learn how to infuse your playing with attitude, dive deeper into the drum-bass relationship, and learn how to excel at playing in the pocket.

Day 1. Intro to disco bass

When it comes to disco, the bass gets to dance as well. Today, you'll dive into this bass-prominent genre (and have a ton of fun exploring it).

Day 2. Adding octaves

Octaves are great – you’re playing a different pitch, but the note remains the same. Injecting them in your playing makes your basslines more interesting without covering up too much sonic space. We'll explore octave playing in today's lesson.

Day 3. How to play blues as a bassist

Have you ever thought about what the bassist does during a guitar solo? If not, you're gonna learn today! As usual, the blues is a fantastic platform for us to explore this valuable concept.


Day 4. The moveable minor shape

Have you ever hummed a bassline that got stuck in your ear? Most likely, it was a line that went beyond roots, thirds, and fifths. Today, you'll learn how to outline minor chords to get some minor melodic sweetness in your playing.

Day 5. The sacred drum and bass relationship

There’s nothing quite like the magic of a great drum and bass relationship. Today, we’re giving you a cheat sheet on what to play when presented with an existing drumbeat.


Day 6. Your first classical piece

If you’ve played muted notes on guitar, ghost notes will be a piece of cake. Ghost notes inject character into your groove by adding a rhythmic component without harmonic content. Today's lessons is all about ghost notes (you'll learn them just like groove master Joe Dart from Vulfpeck).

Day 7. D-string workout

It’s the end of the line for Grade 3. We can’t let you move ahead without another pulse-pounding single-string workout with Jonathan "Richard Simmons" Colman.

Performances

Demonstrate what you've learned in a musical context by learning original songs.

Get feedback

Get personalized video feedback on your playing from the Pickup team.

Final quiz

Make sure you're ready for Grade 4.

Grade 4-6.

Take your bass playing to new heights, then cap off the pathway with advanced bass techniques.

Grade 4. How to Craft Basslines

This grade will set you up to write the perfect bassline to fit your music. You’ll move beyond the root, explore alternative note choices, and build out your box to speak freely on the bass.

Day 1. R&B chromaticism

We'll kick things off by learning how to sound like a legit R&B bassist by connecting your major triads with chromaticism.

Day 2. Getting tones at home

Today, you’ll learn how to craft the perfect bass tone for writing and recording at home.

Day 3. Getting beastly in the box

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to get busy using the box in a funky, modern, Vulfpeck-friendly way.

Day 4. To root or not to root

Here, you’ll explore the power of using pedal tones and bass notes that are not the root.

Day 5. To 3rd or not to 3rd

Today, you’ll learn how to use major and minor thirds to add intention to your box shape and interact with the specific color of chords.

Day 6. Filling it in

In this lesson, you'll learn how to let it rip and bust out some bass fills (tastefully, of course).

Day 7. G-string workout

Internalize the G-string notes across your fretboard with a guided workout session.

Performances

Learn songs to lock in what you've learned in a musical context.

Get feedback

Get personalized advice on your playing from the Pickup team.

Final quiz

Make sure you're ready for Grade 5.


Grade 5. Time and Feel

This grade is a rhythm deep dive. We want you to feel super confident when it comes to writing rhythmically impactful bass parts and playing live alongside a drummer and the rest of the band

Day 1. The grid

The grid is handy a way to visualize a beat and its subdivisions. It's extremely helpful to have a visual way to understand what a rhythm sounds like. Today, you'll learn how to understand and internalize the almighty grid.

Day 2. 16ths on the grid

Here, you dive deep into 16ths! You might get away with eighth notes if you want to play blues, country, and dreamy pop music, but there simply is no funk without 16th notes… and a world without funk is a sad world for a bass player.

Day 3. Note placement

Note placement plays a massive role in the interaction between an bass and drummer. In this lesson, you'll learn how to manipulate the feel of a song just by changing where you place your notes in relation to the drums.


Day 4. Dotted rhythms

Today, you’ll learn how to understand and play dotted rhythms by subdividing the beat.


Day 5. 6/8 feel

Do the math and you’ll quickly realize that 6/8 is the same as 3/4 but the feeling of these time signatures is quite different. Today, we’ll focus on the 6/8 which has the feeling of a pendulum swinging back and forth.

Day 6. Swung vs. straight

One of the best ways to practice swung rhythms is to juxtapose it with playing straight. That’s exactly what you’ll do in this lesson.

Day 7. B-string workout

Get sweaty, and dial in your B-string familiarity with a guided workout video.

Performances

Tackle new tunes to apply what you've learned in a musical context.

Get feedback

Get personalized advice on your playing from the Pickup team.

Final quiz

Make sure you're ready for Grade 6.

Grade 6. Technique Toolkit

At this point, you'll have come a long from ditching the pick playing and committing to finding an authentic fingerstyle sound. The toolkit of techniques found in this final grade will add to your sturdy bass-playing foundation and give you even more options to turn to when crafting your parts.

Day 1. Intro to slap Pt. 1

Today, you’ll receive a gentle introduction into the magically funky sound of slap bass playing.


Day 2. Intro to slap Pt. 2

The slap madness continues! Today you’ll work in finger pops to complete the slap bass basics.

Day 3. The finger roll

Learn how to effortlessly play the night away with an easy-to-move and essential fretting-hand fixture, the finger roll.

Day 4. The rake

Today, you’ll learn a plucking-hand hack that’ll enable you to quickly move down your strings: the descending string rake.

Day 5. The wonderful world of 10ths

Today, you’ll venture beyond single notes and enter the realm of double stops via 10th chords on bass. The interval of a tenth is simply a third above the octave.

Day 6. Tonal gravity

Today, you’ll expand your ears with some deep listening and tune into your tonic to strengthen your songwriting skills.

Day 7. The circle of 4ths workout

In this last workout, you’ll work through one of Jonathan’s favorite ways to integrate new shapes and explore the fretboard: moving through the cycle of 4ths.

Performances

Demonstrate what you've learned in a musical context with two new tunes.

Get feedback

Get personalized advice on your playing from the Pickup team.

Final quiz

Cap off your hard work and make sure you're ready to move on to new and exciting things.

Student stories

Learn how Bass for Guitarists Pathway has helped real guitarists break through their playing plateau and realize their potential.

“My favorite part about Pickup Music is probably nerding out in the forum with everyone. Just knowing you have a creative community to reach out to if you have any questions or you're stuck in a rut.”

Vicki Huang

United States

"I would highly recommend Pickup Music to pretty much anyone who has been playing for a few years and doesn't feel like they are getting better any more."

James Harrod

United Kingdom

“One of the things that's been the most fun for me has been the SongSquad challenges... connecting with other people in the Pickup Music community on Instagram and just encouraging each other as we're learning songs and practicing.”

Vin Thomas

United States

"Pickup Music really helped me push my musical boundaries."

Wytse Hokwerda

Germany

REAL students

Don’t take our word for it, take theirs

What guitarists love about this course

Read more reviews

What’s in every Pickup Music membership?

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We’re so confident that Pickup Music can help you get better at guitar that we’re underwriting your membership with a 60-day satisfaction guarantee.

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Annual Plan

$179.99

/yr

Works out to $15 a month

Monthly Plan

$29.99

/mo

a

Included in your membership:

All-access pass

Learning pathways that get results

Video feedback on your playing

Practice with a live band

Weekly live lessons

New releases every month

Included in your membership:

All-access pass

Learning pathways that get results

Video feedback on your playing

Practice with a live band

Weekly live lessons

New releases every month

60-day money back guarantee

How your free trial works

Today: Unlock instant access

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Day 14: Trial ends

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Plus 60 days worry-free

Don't make progress as a guitarist? Get your money back with our 60-day satisfaction guarantee.

Frequently Asked Questions

If your questions aren’t answered below, please chat with us.

Is Pickup Music right for me?

Are you a guitar player who feels like you haven’t made progress in a few months… years… or even decades? 

You’re probably stuck in what’s called the ‘intermediate plateau’. This is very common and can be very frustrating.

What’s the cause? Well, it’s pretty easy to learn the basics on guitar. Learn a few open chords and you can play Wonderwall and hundreds of other songs. Learn a couple of scales and a few licks and you can play some lead. 

But what then? Triads? Modes? Arpeggios? The phrygian scale?!

Without a clear plan and learning system you fall back to playing the same old chords and licks over and over again. Or you bounce around free lessons online but nothing seems to stick. It’s a recipe for a lot of practice without much progress. 

That’s where Pickup Music can help. We specialize in taking players stuck in a guitar rut and turning them into advanced guitarists.

We do this through Learning Pathways that take you on a step-by-step journey towards fretboard mastery. We give you a highly structured system that shows you exactly what to work on each week to make serious progress. 

These Learning Pathways take the guesswork out of your practice routine. You are guided through a proven grade-by-grade system with daily lessons, play-along practice exercises and interactive workouts. 

But it’s not all about theory. We apply everything you learn to real music. That’s why every grade of our Learning Pathways build up to performing a song with a live backing band. This simulates what it’s like to play a real gig, with real musicians. It’s the absolute best way to learn. 

You also get 1:1 video feedback on your playing from our expert instructors and can attend weekly live lessons. This personal feedback makes Pickup Music the closest thing to taking in-person lessons, but at a fraction of the cost.

So does this method actually work? Will you see results in your playing?

The most common thing we hear from new members is that they’ve made more progress with Pickup Music in a few months than in years of teaching themselves. As one member recently told us, “I'm finally seeing progress for the first time in many years”.

Want to hear about other members’ experiences with us? Read our independent Trustpilot reviews.

Is Pickup Music worth the money?

Private guitar lessons will cost you about $50 per lesson or $2,600 a year. 

Going to a music academy will cost you about $40,000 a year.

A Pickup Music membership will cost you  just $180 for the whole year. 

That works out to 50 cents a day! 

But it’s not just about the money. It’s about not wasting your precious time. It’s about making actual progress on this beautiful instrument. 

By following our proven Learning Pathway system, you can stop wasting your time and effort trying to guess what you should practice next. Our guided programs eliminate the guesswork so you know exactly what you need to focus on each day and week to make lasting progress with guitar.

What makes Pickup Music better than other guitar lesson sites?

Most online guitar lesson sites are very good at teaching one-off songs and licks. Or they get super famous guitarists to record one-hour video lessons talking at length about their particular style and career.

The problem is that these approaches don't stick. They don’t help you to actually get better as a guitarist. You can waste a lot of time bouncing around these types of unconnected, one-off lessons. It’s a recipe for a lot of practice without much progress. 

Pickup Music takes a different approach. We give you a highly structured system that shows you exactly what to work on each week to make serious progress. We take you beyond the basics through a step-by-step journey towards fretboard mastery. 

By following a Pickup Music Learning Pathway, you are getting the most guided way to learn guitar. Over 6 grades, you are taken through daily lessons and practice exercises that carefully explain what’s going on behind the music. 

Each grade then builds up to song performances that apply everything you’ve learned with a live backing band. These challenges - where we simulate what it’s like to play a real gig, with real musicians - is the absolute best way to learn. 

The Learning Pathway method takes the guesswork out of your practice routine. Most guitarists start to see a rapid acceleration in their progress in a matter of weeks.

You can also get 1:1 video feedback on your playing and weekly live lessons. This personal feedback makes Pickup Music the closest thing to taking in-person lessons, but at a fraction of the cost.

Want to hear about other members’ experiences with us? Read our independent Trustpilot reviews.

What exactly do I get from a Pickup Music membership?

When you become a Pickup Music member you get unlimited access to our huge library of lessons:

  • 13 Learning Pathways giving you step-by-step instruction over 3 months
  • 47 Master Classes going deep into different styles over 2 weeks
  • 500+ original songs from some of the world’s best modern guitarists 
  • 100+ essential lick packages to add new flavors to your playing
  • 200+ 5 minute lessons for bite-sized learning. 


You get to enjoy amazing features that create a premium learning experience:

  • day-by-day lessons
  • 1:1 video feedback on your playing
  • weekly live lessons
  • progress tracking
  • interactive TAB
  • multiple HD camera angles 
  • play-along practice exercises
  • downloadable course notes and diagrams
  • quizzes to test your understanding
  • jam tracks with the Pickup Music Live Band
  • exclusive members-only forum, contests and giveaways.

How do the Learning Pathways work?

Learning Pathways are kind of our special sauce here at Pickup Music. They take all the guesswork out of what to practice. 

You get day-by-day lessons, play along practice exercises with your instructor, interactive jams with the Pickup Music live band and you can submit videos of your playing for feedback from the Pickup Music team. 

We designed this system so that you will know exactly what to practice every time you pick up the guitar. This means that even if you only have time to practice with us once a week, you will still make great progress by following a Learning Pathways. 

How often do I need to practice to see results?

Ideally you would practice about three times a week for 30 minutes at a time. But we know that life gets in the way sometimes! So here’s the good news: deliberate practice matters so much more than how often you practice.

After working with thousands of guitarists, we’ve found that the most important thing is to know exactly what you’re going to practice before you pick up the guitar. Even if you can only use Pickup Music a few times a month, you will still make really good progress if you stick to the step-by-step structure of our Learning Pathways.

How long are the lessons? 

Pickup Music's lesson plans are designed to suit the amount of time you have available to practice.

  • Only got a few minutes? Try our 5-Minute Lessons to quickly add a new skill to your toolbox.
  • Got half an hour? Try one of our Essential Lick Packages or original Songs  to expand your vocabulary in different genres.
  • Got a couple of days? Try a Master Class with one of our world-renowned artists. Each class is broken up into short, digestible modules focused on one topic. 
  • Ready to really commit to a multi-week program? Try one of our Learning Pathways. Over 3 months and 6 grades of learning, these detailed courses will take you on a day-by-day journey to master each level in the genre. Learning Pathways include daily practice exercises so you know exactly what to focus on. These courses are the best way to make lasting progress.

Whichever approach you choose, we recommend building the exercises you learn into your daily practice schedule. The best way to improve as a guitarist is through a consistent practice routine rather than sporadic, longer sessions. Learning guitar is a day-by-day, life-long journey.

Can I take the lessons at my own pace?

Everything on Pickup Music is designed to be taken at your own pace. There are no deadlines, so you can work at your own speed. You can stay on a topic until you really understand it before you move on.

While we divide our Learning Pathways into ‘days’ - this is a suggestion only. Some learners might take a few days in one sitting, while others will spend a few sessions on a single day. You can go at the pace that feels most comfortable to you.

How does the 1:1 video feedback work?

We want our members to get the closest thing possible to in-person lessons but at a fraction of the cost. That's why you can now get individual video feedback on your guitar playing from our team of expert instructors.

Here's how it works:

  • Choose a performance piece to learn at the end of each grade of a Learning Pathway.
  • Upload a video of yourself playing the performance piece.
  • An expert instructor from our team will review your playing and send you back a detailed video on what you're doing well and what you need to work on.
  • Repeat for each grade of the Learning Pathway.

Want to see a sample? Check out this recent video feedback from Pickup Music instructor Jack Handyside.

Is Pickup Music good for beginners?

Absolutely! We make learning the guitar fun and simple – the way it should be.

Too many people get frustrated with guitar because they develop bad habits and poor technique. Avoid these costly and time-consuming mistakes by taking Pickup Music's structured and step-by-step approach to learning guitar.

You'll start with Pickup Music's introductory program Beginner Learning Pathway. Over three weeks, we break down everything from simple chords and melodies to rhythm and lead playing. By the end of the program, you'll be able to play any simple pop or rock song (and even write your own).

Most importantly, we make sure you don't get stuck in the beginner's plateau - a common pitfall for guitarists who are just starting out. You'll keep making progress through Pickup Music's guided Learning Pathways. These programs are designed to quickly take you from a beginner player to an intermediate one who feels comfortable across the whole fretboard.

Is Pickup Music good for intermediate and advanced guitarists?

Pickup Music is the best platform available for intermediate and advanced guitarists. Our courses take you beyond the basics to advanced concepts like the CAGED system, triads, arpeggios, modes and improvisation.

The biggest trap for intermediate players is bouncing around from lesson to lesson without a plan or structure to get to that next level. We are known for taking intermediate and advanced players who have hit a ceiling and busting through until they reach the next level.

Am I too old for guitar lessons?

Many of Pickup Music’s members are in their 60s and 70s and have seen amazing success with our programs. Our platform is designed to be user-friendly for all ages and skill levels. And our supportive community is made up of guitar learners of all ages, cheering each other on.

How does the 14-day free trial work? 

When you first sign up to a Pickup Music membership, you enter your credit card but it will not be charged for 14 days. That means that if you decide to cancel within 14 days of signing up, you won't pay anything. 

And we send you a reminder before your trial is about to end so you don’t forget about it. 

If you decide to cancel after that, you won't be charged at your next billing cycle. That means: if you’re a monthly member, you won’t be charged for the next month. If you’re an annual member, you won’t be charged for the next year.

How does the 60-day money back guarantee work?

In addition to the 14-day free trial, we offer a 60-day money back guarantee. If you’re not satisfied with your progress in the first 60 days of your membership, we will give you your money back - no questions asked.

Is it easy to cancel?

Absolutely! You can cancel at any time (although we'd be sad to see you go). Cancelling is easy, no tricks. Just go to your account page and click a button.

You won't be charged anything if you cancel during your 14-day free trial.

If you cancel after your 14-day trial, you won't be billed again at your next billing cycle. Your membership will remain active until it expires on the day it was originally set to renew.

Note: Once your membership expires, we'll save your progress on your Dashboard if you decide to rejoin at a later date.

What’s the difference between the annual and monthly plan?

The only difference is the price. The monthly membership is $29.99 charged monthly and the annual membership is $179.99 charged once a year. 

That means that if you select the annual plan you will pay 50% less and save $180 over a year compared to the monthly plan. 

We'll also send you reminders before we bill you each year so that you don't accidentally forget about it.

We give such a big discount for annual members because it aligns with our long-term vision to inspire and support lifelong guitar learning.

Can I buy lessons individually?

We don’t sell lessons individually. But the good news is you get access to every single lesson on Pickup Music through the one membership. If you’re only interested in one lesson, you could purchase a monthly membership and cancel when you’ve finished it – we have a hunch you’ll want to stick around though :)

How do I restart my membership?

It’s easy to rejoin Pickup Music and we’d be thrilled to have you back! We even saved all of your lessons for you while you were gone on your Dashboard.

To restart your membership, simply head to this page, select the plan of your choice, and sign up with the email address you used to sign up the first time around.

Start free trial