SKEPTICAL? ALLOW ME TO BREAK DOWN MY PHILOSOPHY WITH NO B.S.

When I think about playing my bass, I smile. Do you? If you don't, all the scales and patterns in the world won't help you. I can show you how to take the initial steps on the path of letting go of everything, which will allow you to play in the moment. What does it mean to you to play? Do you take your playing seriously? Ask a kid that question and they might chuckle. Most books give topical solutions to deep issues, like a pill to get rid of a headache. Why not get rid of the stress that causes that headache? That is the purpose of the book, to work at the root level so EVERYTHING you play makes you feel good.

You might say, playing reggae makes me feel good, so give me MORE REGGAE. Nothing is wrong with thinking like this. However, you can find so much more. Imagine a future when EVERY TIME you play the bass, you feel really good, regardless of the style. You ever notice that the guys who are really on top of their game seem to be open to all styles? Imagine how you will feel when your technique allows you to tap into the depths of your soul.

Let's be real for a minute. This is so hard because the whole time you are thinking "this is all true, but this is just a sales pitch." If you want a sales pitch, read my parody sales pitch page under the "sales" link so you can understand how real I am being right now. I am breaking it down to you as straight as I can. Understand that I FEEL that connection when I play, and I notice that so many others desperately want to feel that way too, and they simply don't know how.

I will show you how. You just have to loosen up your technique so those pure feelings can come to the surface. This is accomplished simply by a method developed over the years that has proven itself time and time again. I won't try to tell you that my book is perfect and all the other ones are terrible. I will only say that I offer a unique perspective, with solutions that work at the root level. When applied properly they result in exponentially raising your level of enjoyment experienced every time you play your bass.

Bassists idolize Jaco, Flea, Vic, Jamerson... and listen to everything they ever played with the hope that they can discover what it was that made them so special, and then apply it to their own playing. This will never work! It can help, but once again it is like taking a pill, and not going to the source. YOU are the source, and YOU have to find what makes YOU special. You can learn every Jaco lick and at best you will only sound like a second rate Jaco. I will help you express YOUR unique voice through your bass playing. You have to walk the path yourself, I just want to point you in the right direction. How does my book help you do that?

What the book does is put your technique under a microscope. It presents exercises designed to reveal where you store tension and lack control. When you find those areas, it shows you how to release that tension and gain control. It replaces negative habits with positive ones. When you release hidden tension, you release hidden fear. Once that happens, the connection between your hands and your heart strengthens. That's it.

If you have any questions about the book, before or after you buy it, send me an email. dogplaysbass@hotmail.com. You have questions about technique? Fire away! Before you write, let me answer the common ones.

Why do you wear a dog mask?

1. Maybe I am a strange person.
2. Maybe I am many strange people.

Why the ridiculous ads on craigslist?

Got to get you into my life, into my life...

In your video you are shredding and not playing what I consider "tasteful". Why should I take you seriously?

The last thing in the world I want is for you to take me "seriously". I have fun playing, and I want you to have fun playing too. When I play I throw caution to the wind. You can only play like I play if you don't have a care in the world once you pick up your instrument. Do you want to feel free? I do, and I do. For those 17 seconds I felt like ripping it up, and I felt completely free to do so. Plus, the kids love it.

All I want to do is help. If I have to dance for you before you will let me help you... look around... I'm dancing. I have had help and gained wisdom from so many kind and giving musicians, all I want to do is give some of it back. I am Dog Plays Bass. You are Dog Plays Bass. We are all Dog Plays Bass.

Now... on with the show!


YOU CAN MASTER THE BASS GUITAR

You just need the right approach. Dirty Bass Clean Technique is a step by step instructional approach that teaches you how to free yourself from bad habits, replace them with positive ones, and express the deepest parts of your soul through your bass guitar

This book is absolutely necessary if you are searching for a more fulfilling musical experience. Reading Dirty Bass Clean Technique and gaining even a slight mastery over the concepts provided will dramatically improve both your musicianship and level of enjoyment felt when playing your bass. Do you keep telling yourself you are going to start practicing more? Get EXCITED about playing! I will teach you how!

HAVE YOU EVER FELT LIKE SOMETHING IS MISSING?

If you have ever felt like this, you need to keep reading. You have the potential to feel everything you ever wanted to feel while playing music. You know the bliss and freedom all the greats talk about? You should be able to feel that too, and you can! Dirty Bass Clean Technique will teach you how.

CONNECT TO THE MUSIC INSIDE!

I used to say, "practice makes perfect".  I said it to a drummer friend of mine once and he stopped me and said, "no, perfect practice makes perfect".  It really caught me off guard.  Was my practice regimen leading me towards musical freedom or musical prison?  For years I had it stuck in my head that all I had to do was practice for hours and hours everyday and somehow this would translate into achieving my goals.  What were my goals exactly?  Playing certain scales really fast?  Learning enough grooves to get through some gigs?  At the very root of all my goals, I realized my dream was to connect with the deepest parts of my soul.

FEEL THAT PHYSICAL/EMOTIONAL/SPIRITUAL CONNECTION TO MUSIC AND EXPRESS IT THROUGH YOUR BASS GUITAR

Now as far as the emotional and spiritual aspect is concerned, that is within you already.  The question is, how do you express it? 

YOUR SACRED MUSIC INSIDE MIGHT BE TRAPPED!

Think of the physical part of your playing as the gatekeeper.  It either lets your spirit pass freely, or stops it right at the gate.  Consider the following examples:

Say you are taking a test in school.  You studied hard and you know that you are ready.  The time has come, and you are sitting in class trying to make the grade.  Now imagine you are wearing huge thick winter gloves.  You know all the answers, but you can't grip the pencil to show how much you know.  Anyone with any sense would say all you have to do is TAKE OFF THE GLOVES so you can communicate what is going on inside.

Many of you have moved on to the job market.  Say you are at an important job interview, and you really need to land this job to pay the bills.  You want to act calm and collected, and really make a connection with your future boss so you can land the job and improve your situation.  Now, imagine trying to do all of this while standing up holding onto a 50lb weight.  Sound ridiculous, right?  I mean, who can act calm and collected while under immense physical strain? Anyone in their right mind would tell the person giving the interview that all they have to do is DROP THE WEIGHT so they can relax.

Unfortunately for most bass players, this is the painful reality they face every single time they play. 

MOST DON'T KNOW THEY ARE CARRYING EXTRA WEIGHT!!!

How can you let go of something if you don't even know you are holding on to it?

First you have to identify what that weight is you carry around every day, and then you have to teach yourself how to let it go.  Many bass players have developed habits that stifle their ability to express the music from deep within their soul.  Identifying exactly what those bad habits are can be quite a task in itself.  Dirty Bass Clean Technique will show how to examine your technique piece by piece so you can find out exactly what is holding you back.  It sounds like an impossible journey, but only to those who don't know where to start...



LEARN THE BEAUTY OF A SINGLE NOTE

How amazing would it be if you could really enjoy one single note?  When was the last time you played ONE NOTE, and found joy and beauty in the sound created?  If you can't enjoy one note, how are you supposed to enjoy many notes.  On the flipside, if one note makes you feel really good, every note you play will make you feel even better. 

This book works from the ground up.  When you find the troubled areas in your technique, and solidify them, you will reach a point where relaxation becomes a habit.  This will allow everything else to happen much faster. 

For example, say you are working on a really hard line.  If your technique doesn't allow you to be physically relaxed, how long can you comfortably sit and practice until you convince yourself it isn't working. 

Now, imagine the exact same scenario, but this time you never get tense, you sit and feel completely comfortable, and hammer away at the hard line until it becomes smooth and silky under your fingers.  Before you know it you are blowing people away when you play live.  They come up to you and tell you they can't believe how good you sound.  This may surprise you because it feels so easy.  That's the funny thing about clean technique, the hard stuff doesn't sound or feel hard anymore.  You may not even realize how impressive your new skills are until you get in front of a crowd!!!


Physique and Technique


Put your physique and technique under a microscope, and examine every part piece by piece as if you were trying to find a malfunctioning part of a giant piece of industrial machinery.  A piece of machinery with a few loose screws will work for a while, but eventually those trouble spots will cause the whole machine to burn out and break down.  However, if you tighten those screws, the machine will work better, cooler, smoother, and longer.

OK, this all makes perfect sense, but EXACTLY HOW DO I DO THIS? 

All the answers can be found in DIRTY BASS, CLEAN TECHNIQUE.  Every essential aspect of left hand playing, right hand playing, and coordination between the two is examined.  Exercises are given to help you find weaknesses you may not be aware of.  Solution exercises are given to strengthen these problem areas.  The sooner you learn these exercises, the sooner you will find that deep, sacred, spiritual connection to your music, and be able to express it through your dirty bass guitar.

Perhaps you would like to know a little bit more about what you will find in the book...

Dirty Bass Clean Technique will teach you how to:

  • Play a single note beautifully
  • Calibrate your fingers to find the right balance between strength and relaxation
  • Emulate a sitar by controlling string buzz
  • Play completely independently with your left hand
  • Silently release notes without help from the right hand
  • Lead with every finger on the left hand
  • Skip strings comfortably with all fingers
  • Understand and take advantage of the difference between clean and dirty pull-offs
  • Strengthen the pinky
  • Roll
  • Develop right hand speed
  • Minimize right hand noise
  • Accent any note on any beat with either plucking finger
  • Palm Mute
  • Left Hand Palm Mute
  • Unconventional methods like speed strum and piano attack
  • Over 90 pages of essential material
  • Bridge connecting technique and musicality

All exercises are written in both tablature and notation.

Extensive pictures of hand and finger positions provided to aid explanation of technique.

So you have already been practicing for years, and now you have to practice EVEN MORE?!?!  Well, the answer is yes and no.  In addition to exercises that require focused practice, QUICK TIME SAVING TIPS are given to help give you a boost in your playing IMMEDIATELY!

IMAGINE

You are on stage, holding down a steady groove, and you are completely relaxed.  Your feet are relaxed, your back is relaxed, and your arms feel light and strong.  The other members of the band keep looking at you and smiling, and the strength of your groove is hypnotizing the whole club.  Everyone crowds the stage and is dancing, and you give a quick smile realizing you could hold down this groove forever.  You sound so good you hear the singer say, "let's give the bass player some".  Your heart never skips a beat.  You walk to the front of the stage, calm and collected, proceed to play music from the depths of your soul, expand on the groove while never losing the flow, and when you are done, you transition seamlessly back to the groove.  You never tensed a muscle, never made any weird awkward movements, and the music just came out of you as if playing your bass was as natural as breathing. 

If you don't feel this way on stage, it is time to identify the physical aspects of your playing that are holding you back whether you know it or not.  You CAN reach that place in music you have always heard about.  You CAN cultivate those rare experiences that have made you want to keep playing, and in time naturally tap into it with ease. 

How?  Make that relaxed feeling your habit.  Practice playing while staying completely relaxed.  Identify quirks and habits in your playing that cause you to tense muscles and take away from expressing what you are feeling in your soul.  Learn how to change those habits, and guide yourself into the realm of music where relaxation and free flowing groove reside. 

When you think about sitting down to play your bass, how do you feel?  Do you feel like playing bass is just one more aspect of life that shows things didn't quite turn out the way they were supposed to? Or, do you feel like playing your bass is a safe and relaxing place?  If you feel like the former rather than the latter, this book can help you.