Shared Western theory on the hub — then the book, beginner to advanced: pocket first,
then the neck, grooves, harmony, technique and style. Each step says when you are ready
for the next. The daily gym is for reps whenever you want them.
The book · beginner to advanced
1 · Start here beginner
Ready when you can play even quarter-note roots to a click with a quiet fretting hand, and play one Play along song start to finish.
2 · Neck and names beginner+
After you can hold a groove — name the notes, read the line, then move one shape anywhere.
Ready when you can name any note on the E and A strings, read a bar of TAB and bass clef, and play a major scale in one position.
3 · First grooves intermediate
Count it, lock it to the kick, then write your own part over a chart.
Ready when you can count quarters, eighths and rests aloud, hold a groove with the kick, write a root–fifth line over a four-chord song, and play a swung twelve-bar blues in A without losing your place.
4 · Harmony and lines intermediate+
Chord tones that move, and lines that step out of the root.
Ready when you can name a song’s key from its chords, play a triad in all three inversions, walk a bar of chord tones with an approach note into the next root, and play a short upper-string line in time.
5 · Technique advanced
Dialects of the right hand — after the core path works, in any order.
Ready when each technique is clean for a full minute with the click.
6 · Playing styles advanced
Textures and genres once the core path is working.
Ready when you can work out a bass line by ear, and play a groove in a style of your choice at a steady tempo, in standard tuning and in Drop D.
7 · Band and studio advanced+
What a working bass player does besides playing the notes — hold the time, serve the song, and record it.
Ready when you can hold a tempo through four silent bars, play a four-chord chart in three keys, and have recorded and mixed one song of your own.
Daily gym any level
Not the next chapter — reps alongside whichever step you are on. Start with today’s plan.