Jamming can make you sound like a badass… or make the band wish they didn’t invite you. Here’s how to jam - no theory required.
If you’re doing the Beginner to Badass course, this lesson would be great to launch into after you finish Module 15, and want some more advanced jamming skills.
What’s your go-to move to impress the band when jamming?
I like to make an overly emphatic bass face and add inappropriate bass slides. Works every time.
Yeah, that was pretty neat. I’m inspired to pick my bass up again…
Probably not right now as everyone else in the house is asleep, but definitely later…
Hey… when you give up bass, you can always look for a career in singing! 
I loved it! Thanks!
Last practice the drummer complemented me on a really cool bass line I made up on the spot.
It was just a syncopated rhythm that moved in and out of synch with his line. Bounce off the & of 4 to land hard on the 1. Mostly the root, but frequently reaching down for the flat 7. (Like “Ba-dum… bump - BAH-dump” with the BAH being flat 7.) Grab the 5th below frequently. End sections with a pentatonic walk down from an octave up, but skipping the home root and using the same low 5 - 7 - 1 turnaround.
Another great video!
Another trick I realize I like to do - add small variations and then contrast it with OPPOSITE variations.
If you walk up to the root at the end of one measure, walk down to it next time.
If you add extra notes or fills in one bar, two bars later add more rests.
Bass slides are never inappropriate 
Liked and saved!
That was really interesting, and useful! Thanks, @JoshFossgreen!
And if you miss the 1, tell em it’s Reggae
When somebody came up with weird ideas during rehearsal, something like bass solos… wtf? 
I usually played a very long (octave or more) slide… and then again. And again. And again. Maybe low/high followed by high/low for a change. Just the same slide, possibly slower and slower.
Sure, it may be fun the first 3 times, but it works… Nobody mentions bass solos anymore 
That reminds me, last practice we were running out of steam and started getting silly. I told my drummer, “let’s do a swing rendition of the middle” by Jimmy eat world. It was a total improvement moment but it sounded amazing. The funny thing is our guitarist had no idea what I said so he just was playing a swing rendition of Tequila! And it all fit together. I wish we recorded it.
We recently did a reggae version of The Cure’s Forest, it was fantastic fun!
Have you guys heard Jäh Division?
I’ll listen to them tonight.
I have been thinking abut suggesting to our group we try to reggify a few songs that wouldn’t normally fit- Guns N Rose etc.
I also want to Gothify some songs- give them a Sisters workover.
Dooeeet!
Serious suggestion though, The song I linked in what are you listening to now earlier might sound really cool. Gloomy Sunday by Billie Holiday. Tell me this wouldn’t make an awesome goth song…
I want to do a metal version of Phillip Phillips “home”.