Solo lab
Original etudes for solo bass — chordal rolls, harmonics, odd-meter pocket, and dense low-end lines. No quoted solos. No artist names. Paths A–C build the voice; Path D is the advanced ladder. One TAB + Play per card.
Path A · Chordal bass voice
Bass as a harmonic lead — rolls, double-stops, harmonics, leaps. Steal the moves; invent the pitches.
A1 · Low triad roll (Am)
Your job: Roll E–A–D–G through Am shapes low→high, then reverse. Mute idle strings hard.
A2 · G-string hammer flurry
Your job: G-string flurry; add H/P on your bass. Land on C and let it speak.
A3 · Power-stop climb
Your job: Root+fifth blocks climbing chromatically. Thick and short — no ring between.
A4 · Octave chord stabs
Your job: Root + octave as a thick stab on 1 and 3. Mute everything else hard.
A5 · Harmonic cascade → fretted answer
Your job: Touch 12 / 7 / 5 (Play = guides). Answer fretted; land on A.
A6 · Floor-to-ceiling leap
Your job: Low A → high answer → slide. Leave air; the silence is bass drama.
A7 · Call / response (pocket · lead)
Your job: Bars 1–2: Am power stabs. Bars 3–4: high pent run. Trade roles next loop.
A8 · Tremolo seed (i–m)
Your job: Same pitch, fast even i–m attacks. Then leap to the fifth and hold.
A9 · Em open-root roll
Your job: Same roll idea as A1, moved to Em with open E root.
A10 · Mini bass showcase
Your job: Continuous etude — rolls → flurry → climb → harmonics → silence.
Path B · Pocket & odd meters
Odd meters and dense arps without losing the kick. Clarity before speed; pocket is the flex.
B1 · 7/8 bass pocket (3+2+2)
Your job: Root on every group “1”. Count out loud; the kick lives in your attack.
B2 · 5/4 low arp walk
Your job: Five quarters: 1–b3–5–b7–8, then reverse. Own the odd bar length.
B3 · 9/8 bass cell (2+2+2+3)
Your job: Accents on 1 of each group. Root E, then A open on the final 3.
B4 · 11/8 bass vamp (3+3+3+2)
Your job: Three groups of 3, then a short 2. Keep the last 2 crisp like a fill.
B5 · Dense low arps · Am–G–F–E
Your job: One bar each. Chord tone on beat 1 every bar — low end must land.
B6 · Bass chord-tone map · G–Em–C–D
Your job: Root on 1; light fill; anticipate next root on & of 4. Stay below the melody.
B7 · 3-against-4 pocket
Your job: Click in 4; your attacks every 3 eighths; resolve together. Don’t rush the meet.
B8 · 5-against-4 bass accents
Your job: Quarters in 4 from the click; you accent every 5 eighths. Meet on bar 5 beat 1.
B9 · Bass sequence (down a third)
Your job: 4-note cell, repeat starting a third lower, twice more. Keep the low end even.
B10 · Halftime → double pocket
Your job: 2 bars half-time roots (minims), 2 bars double-time eighths. Pocket must survive the gear change.
Path C · Bass etudes
Longer low-end forms. Learn the TAB, match Play, then rewrite pitches keeping the form.
C1 · Chordal bass sonata
Your job: A A B A′ — rolls, leap, harmonics, return. One low voice telling a story.
C2 · Progressive bass suite
Your job: 7/8 cell → Am–G–F–E arps → 4/4 chord-tone lock. One take.
C3 · Bass showcase mash
Your job: Chordal intro → 5/4 arp → double-stop climb → 3-against-4 cool-down.
Path D · Advanced low-end
Hard on purpose — climb in order. Even attacks first; BPM second. Soft forearm or you failed.
D1 · 16th cage (evenness or nothing)
Your job: Strict sixteenth grid, one finger per fret. If any note rushes, drop 8 BPM and restart.
D2 · Cross-string blizzard
Your job: Adjacent-string pairs as sixteenths. Mute everything you are not on. No sympathetic ring.
D3 · Bass-wide arpeggio
Your job: One continuous arpeggio across the range — up then down. No hesitation at the turnaround.
D4 · Fretboard teleport
Your job: New cage every quarter. Land silent, then speak. Eyes ahead of the hand.
D5 · Low drone + high line
Your job: Sustain a low drone while a high line moves in sixteenths. Both voices must stay honest.
D6 · 13/8 low denseness (3+3+3+2+2)
Your job: Accent every group “1”. Sixteenths only on the last two cells. Count until boring.
D7 · Semitone bass engine
Your job: 4-note cell, drop one fret each pass, eight times. Keep the low end even — no tempo sag.
D8 · Nested bass poly (3 / 4 / 5)
Your job: Click in 4. Accents every 3 eighths for 2 bars, then every 5 for 2 bars, then resolve together.
D9 · Low-end endurance wall
Your job: Cage → cross → sweep → sequence without stopping. Soft fretting forearm — tension fails the take.
D10 · Capstone · Low-end form
Your job: Teleport intro → two-voice → 13/8 wall → semitone engine → poly cool-down → silence. One clean take.
Same lab, other rooms
Text twin: solo-lab.md