What is the course about?
This course is designed to teach you Russell Hall's most effective lessons, his Bass Busters! It comprises 45 videos over five hours and covers a wide range of topics on jazz bass. These are incredible lessons, taught by one of the bass world's brightest stars.
Many of the videos feature a live band with Fender Rhodes and drums accompaniment. We also provide play-along tracks with three mixes of each recording:
- Full band
- Keys and drums
- Solo double bass
Detailed transcriptions of Russell Hall’s bass lines and solos are included in the course. There are 154 pages of sheet music, so you will have everything you need to practice at home.
This course is available to stream online, exclusively at Discover Double Bass.
Artist
As a first call bassist in New York City, Russell Hall (a.k.a Bessie) has performed with some of the biggest names in music including Joey Alexander, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Kathleen Battle, Christian McBride, Emmet Cohen, Russell Malone, George Coleman and many more.
This course is perfect for jazz bassists who want to learn Russell Hall's unique approach to jazz bass!
What will I learn?
The lessons cover a wide range of topics on jazz bass. These include:
- Phrasing
- Rhythm and rhythmic displacement
- Bass line construction
- Playing in odd meters
- The evolution of jazz bass
- Mastering the two feel
- Playing at fast tempos
- Reharmonizing on the fly
- Approaches to soloing
- Left hand technique, including thumb position
- Right hand technique and sound production
- ...and much more!
Many of the topics are demonstrated using chord progressions to commonly played jazz standards such as Stella by Starlight, Autumn Leaves, Rhythm Changes, A Night in Tunisia, All Blues and more.
Contents
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Start01. The Four Elements of Plucked Upright Bass Sound (7:31)
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Start02. Air, Earth, Fire & Water - F Blues Play-Along Track (2:07)
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Start03. The Half Position Workout (8:48)
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Start04. Half Position Workout - F Blues Play-Along Track (1:54)
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Start05. Russell Hall's Rhythm Workout (10:41)
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Start06. Quarter Note Shuffle - F Blues Play-Along Track (1:49)
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Preview07. The Two Feel: Dancing on the bass. (13:28)
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Start08. The Two Feel - Autumn Leaves Play-Along Track (2:53)
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Start09. Expanding Your Bass Lines: Sequences, motivic development. (12:54)
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Start10. Sequences - Bb Rhythm Changes Play-Along Track (2:08)
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Start11. Right Hand Technique of Legendary Bassists (13:25)
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Start12. Right Hand Technique Demonstration - Bb Blues Play-Along Track (2:46)
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Start13. Phrasing (13:32)
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Start14. Different Styles of Phrasing - Groovin' High Play-Along Track (2:13)
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Start15. Posture and Left Hand Technique (4:13)
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Start16. Ballad Playing (11:13)
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Start17. Ballad Playing - Body and Soul Play-Along Track (2:49)
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Start18. Reharmonizing on the Fly (9:31)
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Start19. Rhythmic Displacement (9:55)
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Start20. Rhythmic Displacement - Bb Blues Play-Along Track (1:49)
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Start21. Playing Across the Barline - Stella by Starlight Play-Along Track (1:24)
Want to check out a free preview lesson? Click here
Transcriptions
Detailed transcriptions of Russell Hall's bass lines and the exercises are included. These PDFs are displayed on the lesson pages and can be downloaded if required. There are 154 pages of sheet music in this course, so you won't run out of new music to learn!
Play-Along Tracks
We have provided play-along tracks performed by Russell's trio, so you can practice with the full group, Fender Rhodes and drums only, or solo double bass. These MP3s can be played from the lesson's pages or downloaded.
- Bruce Dudley on Fender Rhodes & Josh Hunt on drums.
Here's what's being said about Russell Hall:
"Russell is a joy to listen to. He has a great positivity and love for the music and he has an encyclopaedic knowledge of so many bassists, including the details of what makes them distinctive. His love for music and for the bass is contagious and this course has been very inspiring to me - I've walked away with lots of tangible things to work on to improve my playing.
Thanks so much to Russell for sharing his wonderful playing and insights, and thanks to Geoff and his team for making such amazing content available to us!
- Ray Pfeiffer
"Yet another great course by DDB! Lots of topics and information. Russell Hall is a true master and has a lot of knowledge, love, and respect for the music he plays. Highly recommend."
- Nordine BK
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Frequently Asked Questions
Our courses are only available on DiscoverDoubleBass.com and include a 30 day, no questions asked, full refund policy.
Have questions or need help? Contact us.