Quarter Notes on the Root
Play one note per click. Lock in.
Lesson
The bassist's job description
You hold time. The drummer kicks; the singer sells; the guitarist solos; the bass locks the band together. Time is your first responsibility, melody comes second.
The drill
- Set the metronome to 80 BPM.
- Play the open A string on every click. Just the root. Quarter notes only.
- Each note: pluck cleanly, ring for the full beat, mute right before the next pluck.
- Do it for two minutes without losing a single beat.
What you're listening for
Every note should land with the click — not slightly before, not slightly after. The click and the bass note should fuse into one sound. If you can hear two distinct events, you're not in the pocket yet.
Why this is so important
A bassist with bad time makes the whole band sound bad. A bassist with rock-solid time can play three wrong notes and the band still sounds tight. Get this drill into your daily warm-up.
This lesson auto-completes once you've logged any Duration Hearing session.
Practice in a Game
This lesson auto-completes when you hit the target in-game. Open the linked game and play until your stats meet the criteria.