Description
Technique Builder For Bass Guitar
60 Etudes For Developing A Solid Technique Foundation
Click Here For Full Course Guide PDF!
‘I just spent the week playing etude#1 for 15 minutes a day in all the keys and I can already see a big difference in my playing.’ Jack Lambert – USA
‘This is a fantastic course! I have improved so much already from the lessons that I amaze myself.‘ Marcel Van Massdam – Netherlands
‘I love, love, love this course – it’s worth the cost just for the etudes alone (never mind all the technique section)’ Celia Bradley, Wales
Check out more reviews of the course in the Reviews tab above!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Technique Builder For Bass Guitar Course?
Technique Builder For Bass Guitar is a deep dive into the fundamentals of bass technique and provides a foundation from which you can build upon as you progress on your bass journey.
The course is split into two modules. The first module is a set of 12 technique lessons providing good right and left hand principles as well as guidance on how to prevent injuries and setup your bass for maximum playability.
The second module coaches you through a set of 60 Short Technical Etudes designed to provide practice in all areas of technique.
What level of player is the course aimed at?
The course is aimed at any player looking to improve their technique and instrumental prowess.
What Will I Learn?
After completing the course you will have a strong technical foundation to build upon and a set of etudes that will provide technique practice for the rest of your playing days.
How Long Are The Lessons?
The lesson lengths vary but the complete course contains over 6 hours of video content.
How is the course presented? Do I Download Anything?
The course is hosted on the Talkingbass website so there are no video files to download. There is a Dropbox folder containing the Course Workbook. The link will be sent in your welcome email and is also provided on the Technique Builder lessons menu.
Is There A Time Limit On Taking The Course?
No. You can take as long as want. There are no time limits
Do I Have Lifetime Access To The Course?
If you purchase the course then yes, you have lifetime access to the course and its material.
Sean McGregor (verified owner) –
I’ve only been following this course for a short time, but already I am seeing real benefits. I’ve been playing bass on and off for 40 years and, being self-taught, picked up loads of bad habits. I didn’t realise how much these have been holding me back until I started this course and finally worked out what I’ve been doing wrong. Mark presents the material in such a clear and engaging way and I reckon I’ve made more progress with technique (and therefore sounding good) in the last 4 weeks than in more years than I’d care to remember. Nice one Mark!
Jamal Abil-Mouna (verified owner) –
I’ve been watching Mark’s free videos online for a couple of years now and have worked through most of the free stuff on YouTube. Out of all the bass teachers I have seen online, Mark is by far the most straight forward, no nonsense bass/music teacher out there. He’s not trying to show off or impress, he’s just here to teach and help you become a better musician. That’s why I love this guy. My music knowledge and bass skills have improved dramatically since I started studying his lessons and through buying the technique builder course. The courses are incredible value for money; lots of practice material and everything is explained step by step.
Thank you for creating this site and putting all this material together. I am very excited to see how far I can push my skills with your help.
jim ford (verified owner) –
If you are wanting to learn Bass then this course is a must. I have about 5 courses from Mark . His teaching and method is over the top. I have studied Bass over the years, went to a Music School for about a year a long time ago, but Mark will teach you the path to become a session Bassist beyond what you can learn in School. If you intend to go to Music College then if you take courses from Mark before you attend you will be years ahead of other students. In fact I feel Mark could easily offer a Bachelor Degree if he wanted to get into that area of Teaching. His courses if studied correctly will teach you most of which you would learn in College. So if you want to be a great Bassist and not just a average gigging Bassist then Mark will take you to becoming a Bassist that groups will be knocking on your door.
Dennis Westerhout (verified owner) –
Just getting started on bass and having just finished a very nice online starter course I thought this would be a good next step forward to create some good bass habits.
I really like marks teaching style and there is a LOT of information in the first part alone before you start the etudes (note to self: need to go over them some more times to really get everything out of it).
The etudes are not easy for me as a beginner so I will have something to chew on for the next couple of months (probably years….) but I notice I’m making enough progression to keep me coming back every time…
Jose Juan Tejadas (verified owner) –
Simple exercises that you can practice once in a while, even as warmups. It really helps to develop technique, and keeps your interest in the lines, not as in other types of “mechanical” exercises that can bore you to death. Highly recommended.
Bill McCall (verified owner) –
This course has been extremely helpful. The exercises start from beginner and gradually increase in complexity. Each exercise is specific to a particular set of skills. If you stick to this program you will get to know the fretboard much better and you will be a more well rounded player. As always Mark’s goal is to make you the best bass player you can be without taking shortcuts.. Excellent course
Hans Peeters (verified owner) –
Geweldige cursus!precies wat ik zocht.
Bedankt Mark!
Jürgen Lorenz (verified owner) –
Hi there,
I´m looking forward to working with this course and hopefully take benefits for my play. But work and family take much time and it´s pretty sad that I can´t give my experience here.
Matt Cooper (verified owner) –
Hey Mark, your “Technique Builder For Bass” course is next-level stuff!
Your Etudes, sir, are both challenging and satisfying! Once you get one down, you want to keep playing it! After practicing for a few weeks, I can honestly say this course is helping me build my skills! My Fender Jazz just feels more comfortable in my hands. 😀 I have also begun to get glimpses of the keyboard in a “different light.” Very satisfied with this course. Highly recommended! I have my eye on the “Groove Trainer 2” For my next selection. Thanks, Mark. Matt Cooper
Ray Peskett (verified owner) –
Have been ‘playing’ bass for many years but didn’t seem to be improving, so bought this course. Now I’m trying to rectify my bad playing style with Mark’s help. In just over a week I have noticed a general improvement and am looking forward to becoming a better bassist. I would recommend this course to anyone. Five stars!
👍😎
Dick Sears (verified owner) –
I signed up for this course because I’ve absolutely loved the etudes you’ve presented in your weekly training sessions and wanted to learn more. I agree with everything everyone has said above, so no need to parrot all that. So instead, a couple of suggestions:
1. At least on my PC, the sound levels of your voice mic seem much much louder than your bass. I struggle to listen carefully to what you’re playing, and then suddenly it’s you there shouting at me. It’s startling, honestly. Am I the only one with this problem?
2. Learning to play the pieces slowly in segments is clearly very effective, and it generally works for me. But on the longer more complex pieces, I have a really hard time transitioning from one segment to the next – my 66-yr-old brain simply can’t remember how to link all the parts together. I would be very helpful if you had buttons to go with each etude lesson that played the piece from start to finish, at slower speeds.
Bill McCall (verified owner) –
Every course I’ve taken through Talking Bass has been excellent. All of the courses are clear, concise, thorough and perhaps most important, I’m able to take them at my own pace. Beyond the basic courses the two that have helped me the most are Technique Builder for Bass and Scale Essentials. The Big, Badass, Blues Rock Bass Lesson which is a free Talking Bass course has also been extremely helpful. I would heartly recommend Talking Bass for anyone who is serious about learning to play bass. The course content is exceptional and comprehensive.
John (verified owner) –
An excellent course for building a solid technique in both hands. After working on the first couple of etudes for the past few weeks, I’m seeing gains in my fretting hand accuracy, finger independence, and dexterity. My stretches feel more natural and my shifts are a lot smoother. The coordination between my fretting hand and plucking hand has improved and I’ve found that I’m now able to focus on what both hands are doing simultaneously while remaining relaxed. I’ll be working on these etudes for years to come and it doesn’t hurt that they’re so satisfying to learn and play. Highly recommended.
Ger Cas (verified owner) –
Excellent course to get your hands free!! Highly recommended!! I really improve my technique and the knowledge of the freatboard.
Brandon Gallagher (verified owner) –
Wonderful e-tuxes and explanations of how to play them from Mark here. I am very glad I bought this course! Yes these are exercises to build better technique but they are also fun to play and sound way more musical then your typical exercises! Highly recommend!
Liam Goethals (verified owner) –
Absolutely love the etudes! especially the classical ones :)
Avi Gabay (verified owner) –
after completing 85% of the course i am ready to review it
this course is amazing! though it is demanding, once you manage an ETUDE you get rewarded with a great feeling, and there are 60 small wins you can do
for me, every time i started a new module i could not believe i could manage to play this ETUDE, but following mark exact guideline (start slow, check point every bar for what finger lands on what string) i could play even things that i never managed (those pull offs)
in addition, you get a lot of reminders from other areas (chord construction\intervals, scales)
highly recommended, i am so happy i purchased this course
Claudio Eluchans (verified owner) –
I spent (wasted) several years playing and leaving the instrument because of injuries due to bad hands position, and arms tension. I started correcting myself by paying attention on you playing in your youtube videos, so I decided to trust you a lot with this course. All the informations contained in the first chapter of this course are so precious… I’ve been so unlucky in the past: the one who just pretended to teach me something, never even corrected my hands position errors, even when I had much pain in the arms and asked him what I was doing wrong, and so I decided to study as a self-taught. The exercises also are so useful and enjoyable! I’ll come back to it from time to time to review and improve some techniques.
I think your courses are the best guided paths through every bass topic! ✨
Gary (verified owner) –
You can reference this material for years
Lucy N (verified owner) –
I really like this course it’s a great addition to my practice. It just makes things easier I love so much music it’s sometimes hard knowing which songs to learn some are too hard or some to easy, this I can pick up quickly and start practicing and it builds in the technique already taught it’s great.
Emily (verified owner) –
My gateway into Talking Bass. Mark gets to the point, gets across the knowledge, and you have access to lots of lesson materials to practice with. It helped my melodic playing and improv playing immensely and I’m only just getting started.
Marcel van Maasdam (verified owner) –
Hi Mark,
I’m in the midst of this course, just starting on practicing the etudes and I must say, this is a fantastic course! I have improved so much in technique already from the lessons that I am amazed myself. The explanation, excercises and demonstations of all techniques, combined with the well thought design of the etudes is superb! As with the beginners course I really enjoy the lessons, and I really enjoy the fact that the etudes are not only technical but also musical and playfull. It is really fun to work them! And that makes all the difference in building routine. You managed to design a course that helps to build AND improve technique but also routine and insight in a very effective and enjoyable manner. Kudos for you as a tudor! In my opinion this course is Must Do for everyone, at every level, who wants to improve and progress as a bass player. But also for everyone who wants to enjoy achieving that improvement!
Celia B (verified owner) –
I love, love, love this course – it’s worth the cost just for the etudes alone (never mind all the technique section), I practise them most days they are so melodic and I feel like I’m learning to play real music. Maybe it won’t suit you if you want to play rock and funk grooves and basslines but it suits me perfectly because the exercises build technique without being boring – Mark gives details on how to play each etude techically. Now I want to develop it into playing and composing full pieces of music and I think this course will help me to do that. As I’m only an intermediate level player, I’m really excited about where this course (coupled with Mark’s other courses) can take me!
Jack Lambert (verified owner) –
I started this course last week and I have to say it’s just awesome. I just spent the week playing etude#1 for 15 minutes a day in all the keys and I can already see a big difference in my playing. I play in a metal band and one of my guitar players told me to slow it down a couple of times because I was playing a run in one of our songs a bit fast. :) I’m a finger player and my picking hand is definitely faster. After one week my playing has become a bit more fluid. I’m really looking forward to see where my playing goes after I’m done with the course. Thank you Mark for putting this course out, it’s really helping to step up my playing.