Drills

Every drill below shows the notes in TAB. Press Play to hear it, then play it with the track. One job per block. Stop if the forearm burns.

TAB is standard bass (G D A E top→bottom). Numbers are frets. x = ghost (mute, no pitch). Full shape lab: Shapes · more loops: Practice gym.
Ready

1 · Position drills (4-fret cages)

Keep finger 1 on the start fret of the cage. Play along with the example, then alone.

Position I · frets 1–4 chromatic

Your job: Play this TAB with the track. One finger per fret (1–2–3–4). Even i–m. Mute strings you are not on.

G|-1-2-3-4-----------------4-3-2-1-
D|---------1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1---------
A|---------------------------------
E|---------------------------------
   (then same idea on A and E — Play does all four strings)

Position V · frets 5–8 chromatic

Your job: Same pattern, cage starts at fret 5. Finger 1 stays at 5.

G|-5-6-7-8-----------------8-7-6-5-
D|---------5-6-7-8-8-7-6-5---------
A|---------------------------------
E|---------------------------------

Position VII · frets 7–10 chromatic

Your job: Cage at 7–10. Do not rush; same evenness as Position I.

G|-7-8-9-10------------------10-9-8-7-
D|----------7-8-9-10-10-9-8-7---------
A|------------------------------------
E|------------------------------------

Connect · V → VII → V

Your job: Two bars in Position V (root E fret 5 only, quarters), shift, two bars in VII (E fret 7), shift back. No buzz on the shift.

G|----------------|-----------------|
D|----------------|-----------------|
A|----------------|-----------------|
E|-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5|-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-|  then back to fret 5 for 2 bars

2 · Shape drills

Root–fifth tour

Your job: Shape = root on E string + fifth on A string (two frets up). Play only those two notes: root on beats 1 & 3, fifth on 2 & 4. Stay two bars at frets 0, then 3, then 5, then 7. Match the Play track.

   open E (2 bars)     G @3 (2 bars)      A @5 (2 bars)      B @7 (2 bars)
G|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|
D|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|
A|---2---2---2---2--|---5---5---5---5--|---7---7---7---7--|---9---9---9---9--|
E|-0---0---0---0----|-3---3---3---3----|-5---5---5---5----|-7---7---7---7----|
   1   2   3   4       (root on 1&3, fifth on 2&4 — repeat for bar 2)

Am pentatonic · box 1

Your job: Play the ascending line, then descending. Slow and even. Land clean on A (E string fret 5).

G|----------------5-7-8-|-8-7-5----------------|
D|------------5-7-------|-------7-5------------|
A|--------5-7-----------|-----------7-5--------|
E|-5-8------------------|----------------8-5---|

Am pent · 3-note groups

Your job: Groups of three ascending in box 1 (up three, start from next note). Play with the track.

G|----------------------------------------|
D|------------------------5-7-5-----------|
A|------------5-7-5---5-7-------7-5-------|
E|-5-8-5--5-8-------8---------------8-5---|
   (seed — Play runs a longer grouping walk)

Box shift · Am pent 1 → 2

Your job: Ascend box 1, shift into box 2 from the shared frets, descend box 2. One clean shift — no buzz.

Box 1 up                         Box 2 down (from ~fret 10)
G|----------5-7-8-|  shift  |-10-8-7----------------|
D|------5-7-------|  →      |--------9-7------------|
A|--5-7-----------|         |------------10-7-------|
E|-5--------------|         |-----------------10-8---|

Groove the shape · root–fifth on G

Your job: Same G root–fifth (E3 + A5). Pass 1 = wholes. Pass 2 = 8ths. Pass 3 = gallop on the root only. Play runs all three passes in order — match each.

Pass A · wholes          Pass B · 8ths              Pass C · gallop on root
G|----------|           G|----------------|        G|--------------------|
D|----------|           D|----------------|        D|--------------------|
A|-5--------|           A|-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-|        A|--------------------|
E|-3--------|  ×2 bars  E|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-| ×2    E|-3-33-3-33-3-33-3-33-| ×2
   R (hold)                R 5 R 5 …                  long-short-short

3 · Daily 15 (playable blocks)

2 min · Open-string i–m

Your job: Strict alternation on open E eighths. Even attacks. Mute A/D/G.

G|-----------------|
D|-----------------|
A|-----------------|
E|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|  repeat

3 min · Mute + ghost on E

Your job: Pitched open E on beats; ghost (x) on every &. Ghosts must stay dead — no pitch bloom.

G|-----------------|
D|-----------------|
A|-----------------|
E|-0-x-0-x-0-x-0-x-|  R x R x …

4 min · Gallop seed on open E

Your job: One gallop cell per beat. Mute hard between cells. Lab detail: Gallop.

G|---------------------|
D|---------------------|
A|---------------------|
E|-0-00-0-00-0-00-0-00-|  long · short · short

3 min · One Am pent phrase

Your job: Play this short phrase, then mute silence for one bar. Repeat. End on A.

G|------------|
D|--------5-7-|
A|----5-7-----|
E|-5----------|  then 1 bar silence (mute)

4 · Gallop focus

Clap cells (listen)

Your job: Do not play yet — clap long-short-short with the clicks, then pick up the bass for the next drill.

Count: 1 · + a · 2 · + a · 3 · + a · 4 · + a
Cell:  L   s s   L   s s   …

Open-E gallop lab

Your job: Match the TAB. Same cell as Daily gallop — stay clean before raising BPM.

G|---------------------|
D|---------------------|
A|---------------------|
E|-0-00-0-00-0-00-0-00-|

Gallop · root–fifth answers

Your job: Gallop on the root (E3), then answer with two fifths (A5) as quarters. Repeat.

G|-----------------|--------|
D|-----------------|--------|
A|-----------------|-5---5--|
E|-3-33-3-33-3-33-3|--------|
   gallop on G root   fifth answers

5 · Lead-bass focus

Am pent phrase → chord tone

Your job: Play the line; the last note is the chord tone (A). Hold it. Mute idle strings.

G|----------5-7-|
D|------5-7-----|
A|--5-7---------|
E|-5------------|  land / hold A

Double-stop roll · root + fifth

Your job: Roll low→high on G power shape (E3 then A5) as even 8ths. Mute everything else.

G|----------------|
D|----------------|
A|---5---5---5---5|
E|-3---3---3---3--|

Natural harmonic chain (touch)

Your job: Light touch over the fret wire (not press). Play hears fretted guides at 12 / 7 / 5 — on your bass, use harmonic technique. Page: Harmonics.

G|------------|
D|------------|
A|------------|
E|-12--7--5---|  harmonic nodes (guide pitches)

Groove → fill → groove

Your job: Two bars root–fifth on G, one bar Am pent fill, two bars root–fifth again.

Groove                 Fill (Am)              Groove
G|----------|         G|------5-7-|          G|----------|
D|----------|         D|--5-7-----|          D|----------|
A|-5-5-5-5--|         A|----------|          A|-5-5-5-5--|
E|-3-3-3-3--|  ×2     E|-5--------|          E|-3-3-3-3--|  ×2

6 · Mute & ghost focus

Root on 1 only · rest is ghosts

Your job: Open E on beat 1 only. Every other 8th is x. If a ghost pitches, restart.

G|-----------------|
D|-----------------|
A|-----------------|
E|-0-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-|

7 · Slap focus

Slap quarters → ghosts → pop

Your job: Bar 1: slap open E on each beat. Bar 2: slap E on 1, ghosts, pop on A open (played as fretted guide here). Real slap/pop technique: Slap. Stay 70–80 BPM until clean.

Bar 1 (slap quarters)     Bar 2 (slap · ghosts · pop)
G|----------------|       G|----------------|
D|----------------|       D|----------------|
A|----------------|       A|--------------0-|  ← pop target
E|-0---0---0---0--|       E|-0-x-x-x-x-x----|

8 · Timing gym

Wholes + ghost on every &

Your job: Hold open E for the beat; ghost on each &. Coordination — do not rush the ghosts.

G|-----------------|
D|-----------------|
A|-----------------|
E|-0-x-0-x-0-x-0-x-|  (same grid as ghosts; think “long + ghost”)

Displace root to the &

Your job: Bars 1–2: root on beat 1. Bars 3–4: root on the & of 1 (offbeat). Feel the pocket shift.

On-beat                  Off-beat (& of 1)
G|----------|           G|----------|
D|----------|           D|----------|
A|----------|           A|----------|
E|-3--------|           E|---3------|

9 · Micro-drills

Accent i, then m, then even

Your job: Open E eighths. Dig every other note (accent pattern). Match the louder notes on Play.

G|-----------------|
D|-----------------|
A|-----------------|
E|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|  accents on 1 & 3 of each group of 4

One perfect gallop cell × 10

Your job: Play hears one cell, then a short gap. Play one perfect cell in the gap — reset — repeat.

G|------|  (silence)  |------|
D|------|             |------|
A|------|             |------|
E|-0-00-|  ………        |-0-00-|

10 · Closeout

Soft whole-note + silence

Your job: One soft open E for a bar, then full mute silence for a bar. Leave the instrument quiet.

G|----------|----------|
D|----------|----------|
A|----------|----------|
E|-0~~~~~~~~|-(mute)---|

Drill faults

  • Raising BPM as a reward for surviving, not for sounding even.
  • Skipping the cool-down and carrying tension into the next task.
  • Drilling without matching the TAB / Play example first.

Timer rules

  • Use a visible timer. When it ends, stop — even mid-bar.
  • Log BPM that was clean, not BPM you survived.
  • Alternate hard/easy days: gallop day vs pocket day.

Hard stop rules

  • Sharp pain → stop the session.
  • Three collapsed takes in a row → drop BPM 10%.
  • Cannot mute silence on command → mute drill before anything fast.

Next

Exercises · Practice gym · Shapes & positions · Play along

Text twin: drills.md