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Win
Only available for Windows
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Bass Magic is an interactive Learn To Play Bass method for the person who wants to really learn to play bass. With over 3500 examples and exercises using video, audio, MIDI, and the incredible Virtual Fretboard, which allows you to see and hear everything at your pace, you have a complete fun and musical system that will last you a lifetime.
One of the many things that makes Bass Magic stand out is that you will be learning in a completely musical situation. All of the exercises and examples come with professional drum sequences and guitar/keyboard backing so that even simple scale practice is not only so much more fun and exciting but also in a truly musical situation for you to practice in.
Throughout Bass Magic, you are going to be taught and encouraged to create your own music right away. You’ll get started right away with exercises, examples, and custom backing tracks with which to play along.
Bass Magic is for all skill levels, from the absolute beginner to the advanced player, Bass Magic will cover it all.
- Learn Music theory the right way. Not boring notes and numbers, you will truly understand theory and how to use it in modern music.
- In the Fretboard Harmony lessons, you'll learn to master the fingerboard.
- Every technique you want to learn is covered in depth using videos and audio that you can watch again and again.
- Bass Magic provides a solid foundation in Music Reading. A set of lessons will take you through music reading boot camp with special lessons concentrating on rhythms.
- Learn to play in any style you want and more importantly, create bass lines in the style of your choice.
- There's so much more. Equipment, the incredible Library, Scrolling Notation...
START FROM THE BEGINNING:
If you are a Beginner, don't worry. Bass Magic starts right at the very beginning with the Starting Off lessons.
It’s recommended that everyone start with the Starting Off section, as many bassists who have been playing for a while haven't correctly learned the foundational concepts taught in Starting Off or were taught incorrectly.
Right from the beginning, you'll be learning in an actual musical situation. Each exercise and example will come with a musical backing that includes a drum track and other instruments. No more boring exercises to a monotonous click track. You'll start off playing to actual drum beats and guitar/keyboard patterns which will make your practice time fun and exciting.
The exercises and examples that you'll be playing along to are all displayed on the Virtual Fretboard so that you can see and hear everything. You can slow down and speed up the exercises and examples so that you can learn at your pace.
Videos will help start you out with things like tuning the bass, how to hold the bass, using your left and right hands, and more.
Just like the rest of Bass Magic, you'll be encouraged to create your own bass lines right away as you go through the lessons. Whether you want to just play in your bedroom, play in a band, or be a professional musician, you'll want/need to create your own bass parts. You’ll get going right away with exercises, examples, and custom backing tracks to play along with.
LEARN MUSIC THEORY THE RIGHT WAY:
The theory found in Bass Magic is worth the price of the program alone. You get a college education in music theory.
When most people think of music theory, they think of numbers and boring concepts. This is not how Bass Magic works. Some programs and books give you a bunch of notes and numbers and tell you, "Just memorize them." Bass Magic will not do this either.
Bass Magic offers a fresh and interactive way to learn theory and incorporate it into your playing right away. You will be given musical examples of concepts, taught when and how to use them in real musical situation, and given exercises to help learn the concepts.
Too often theory is taught in the old fashioned classical tradition with no real emphasis on how or when to use it. Bass Magic will teach you how theory applies to modern day bass playing and music.
A common example is the diatonic modes. Many instructional products will quite often just give a list of the modes and expect you to memorize them. Others may go a little farther and say "The Dorian mode is used over Minor chords". This is still not enough.
With Bass Magic you'll see and here real musical examples. You'll be shown where things come from and what they work with. You'll really be able to use what you learn musically right away. Then you'll be given exercise in all keys to really gain command.
Thanks to the Virtual Fretboard, you'll be practicing along to a drum beat and a guitar chord accompaniment so you really hear what the bass sounds like in a musical situation. You'll also be able to play along with the examples and mute the bass track to give you an opportunity to create your own lines right away.
You will look at things in different ways. Chord theory is taught so if you are playing with a guitarist or keyboardist, you'll be able to create any bass line, in any style of music, in any key.
A problem that many music theory products have is that they don't cover enough material. Either they show the beginnings of theory and stop somewhere around the modes, or they teach advanced concepts ignoring the basics assuming you already know them.
Bass Magic covers everything! The lessons start off with the very basics like Major Scales and what you can use them for, and carry you through to more advanced topics like modes of the Jazz Melodic Minor scale, tritone chord substitutions, and more.
One misconception that's very common is that learning music theory will make your playing stiff or stale. This is a myth fabricated by people who do not know theory or, more commonly, don't know how to use it to actually create. The real point of music theory is to get the music you hear in your head and in your heart onto your instrument. Use music theory to open new doors for you, not close them. Bass Magic will help get you there by creating a truly musical atmosphere in which to learn. With the combination of the Virtual Fretboard, videos, audio, text, tables, and graphics, you have the ultimate learning experience right at your computer.
MASTER THE FRETBOARD:
Fretboard Harmony is where you are going to learn the bass fretboard inside and out.
One of the things that can really hold you back as a bassist is not knowing the fretboard well enough. Musical ideas can get crushed by trying to find on the fretboard what you hear in your head. These lessons will get you to really know the fretboard.
You'll be practicing everything in all keys, all positions, working on shifting positions, single string exercises, playing scales, arpeggios, and modes around the circle of fifths, and much, much more.
There is even a section on "modern electric fingerings" called 5 Fret Stretches which breaks out of the traditional one finger per fret concept and will show you how to cover a 5 fret area in one position.
The lessons are broken down to correspond to the music theory lessons. After you've learned a new concept in Music Theory, you'll be able to go to the Fretboard Harmony lessons and really expand your knowledge of the fretboard in that concept.
For guitarists trying to learn the bass, these lessons will be extremely valuable. The bass fretboard can be harder to play than the guitar fretboard. Since there are fewer strings, there are fewer notes per position. That means to play the same idea on a bass, you're going to have to do more left hand shifting. You'll have to really know the fretboard and have your left hand ready. That's where these exercises come in.
You are going to learn it all: scales, arpeggios and even bass chords. You are going to learn a total mastery of your bass fretboard.
It is also the total musical approach to applying what you learn on the fretboard. You will play everything in a musical situation that will really make it fun, and even more importantly, bring out the precision practice and creativity of what you are learning so that you are always playing and learning in a constant musical environment.
CONTROL THE BASS:
Bass Magic is going to show you every technique you need, whether it's to become a professional bass player, or just have more fun playing in general. Videos will be there to show you everything you need to know and audio files will help guide you with exercises and examples.
This section is not only very informative but also fun. These techniques will polish you into a well skilled, versatile, "ready for action" bass player.
Slapping:
Slapping and popping isn't just for funk anymore. It's a requirement of many styles of music. Bass Magic goes into depth on this needed skill. You'll start a the very beginning and work your way through adding hammer-ons and pull-offs, left hand slaps, muting, open string hammers, and more. You'll be taken through modern advanced techniques like double thumping and double popping.
There will be videos with close ups to help you learn every new technique. Tons of audio files will let you hear all of the nuances. Over 100 exercises to really get you to understand and use slapping for whatever style of music you play.
Two Handed Tapping:
Most people think of rock or metal when they hear two handed tapping, but Bass Magic is going to take you much farther into it to let you use this technique in all styles of music. One of the great uses for this technique is to play a bass note with your left hand and chords in your right. This is awesome for filling out space when you're playing in trios or accompanying a soloist. We begin with single string exercises and take you through 3 and 4 note chord voicings using both hands playing independent parts.
Left Hand Muting:
Muting notes is one of the little things that can really propel a bass line giving it life and energy. You'll go through almost 100 audio exercises so you can really dig into this technique. There will even be exercises showing you how to use left hand muting in different styles like Blues, Jazz, Soul/R&B, and Funk. Clients tell us that these are some of their favorite exercises. You'll be using this technique in your own lines right away.
Bass Chording:
Chords aren't just for guitar players. Learning to play chords on the bass can open up new worlds for your playing. You'll really be able to see how chord progressions work. You'll study all the different chords and their extensions. You'll get into voice leading. The fingerpicking technique will let you create beautiful chordal/melody pieces.
Harmonics:
Videos will take you through everything about harmonics. Open harmonics, false harmonics, barred harmonics, and even combining notes with harmonics to form chords.
Right Hand Exercises:
The Right Hand is one of the most overlooked things when it comes to bass playing. Believe it or not, sloppy playing is usually a result of poor right hand technique, not the left hand. You'll go over basic right exercises, string crossing, odd time signatures in the right hand, mixing right hand rhythms and more.
Left Hand Exercises:
Your left hand will get in shape with a wide variety of exercises ranging from chromatic patterns, to shifting exercises, to unusual fingerings. Also included is something called "The Meanest Exercise Ever." In concept, it's a very simple exercise, but it can greatly increase your left hand economy by forcing you to keep the fingers your not using as close to the fretboard as possible.
Even More:
Lessons like muting with a pick, using your right hand thumb to pluck notes, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and more.
READING AND RHYTHMS BOOT CAMP:
Bass Magic provides a solid foundation in Music Reading. An awesome set of lessons will take you through music reading boot camp.
You can actually go through Bass Magic and never have to read a note thanks to the Virtual Fretboard, but it’s encouraged to learn to read. The list of reasons to learn to read could go on forever:
- The ability to write down your ideas and remember them.
- If you plan on getting work as a professional bass player, you MUST learn to read. Although it may not come up in every situation, it definitely will come up.
- Studio work, jingles, and subbing will all require some level of reading.
- The first time you go on an audition and have to learn a large amount of material in an incredibly short time, you'll be glad you can write down your parts to help remember them.
- The biggest secret to reading is that it's actually pretty easy if learned correctly. It's not nearly as difficult as learning another language. When you break it down, reading music is actually just reading notes and rhythms. There is an entire section of lessons dedicated to learning the rhythms. That just leaves the notes, and there's only 12 of them. Bass Magic will make learning to read fun by providing you with drum track backing so it will feel more like a real musical situation.
Each level of lessons covers reading in all keys and works in unison with the levels in the Rhythm lessons.
Practicing rhythms by themselves is a great exercise for bassists. Your rhythm partner the drummer does these kinds of exercises and so should you. It does several things for you. First off, it makes reading easier. If you can read all of the rhythms, you can just concentrate on notes.
More importantly, as a professional bassist, you will often be handed charts with no notes written, just chords and rhythm figures. The rhythm figures are clues for things like accents, breaks, or bass line rhythms to use throughout a piece or section.
You'll be taken through all kinds of different rhythms and rhythmic figures through different levels of difficulty that will correspond to the same levels in the music reading lessons. When it comes up on the gig, you'll be ready to nail it the first time through.
CREATE YOUR OWN BASS LINES:
Bass Magic is not going to just give you a bunch of licks and tell you to memorize them. You're going to really learn how to play in a style and how to create you own bass lines.
These lessons are truly musical. All of the examples and exercises come with multi track sequences that use drum, guitar, and keyboard parts so you can play with an entire band. Hear and see how bass lines work with other instruments in real musical situations. The Virtual Fretboard will be there to display it all for you.
Walking Bass Lines:
Every bassist should learn how to create walking bass lines. It used in every form of popular music today. Jazz, Blues, Rock, Pop, Gospel, Funk, Ska, and even Punk all use Walking lines. You're going to learn what goes into making walking bass lines. You will use triads, scales, approach notes, landmarks, chromatics, and much more. The lessons are set up so that you can take the knowledge and apply it to any type of music.
Rock/Pop:
Learn to create your own lines over Rock/Pop grooves. Bass Magic shows you what goes into making bass lines and how you can use it yourself. There's even a lesson on working with the drummer.
Blues:
You'll really get inside the Blues with these incredible lessons. There's a lot more that goes into playing Blues bassists than a lot of people think, and you're going to get it all here: Intros, endings, turnarounds, and creating fills. 8, 12, and 16 bar blues. Different blues progressions like Stormy Monday changes, slow blues, minor blues, and more.
Even if you're not a Blues bass player, these lessons are invaluable to bassists for many styles of music like Rock, Classic Metal, Gospel, and more. Many of these styles are based on the Blues and you'll find yourself understanding modern music better because of these lessons.
Funk:
When people think of Funk bass, they often think of Pop/Slapping. Well there's a whole lot more to it than just one technique. Bass Magic has plenty of Slapping exercises in the Technique lessons, but the focus here is fingerstyle funk, early slapping, 16th note grooves, working with the funk drummer and more.
Reggae:
Learn to create and play Reggae lines! Work on different chord progressions. See how traditional reggae lines are created and how to create your own bass lines.
Country:
There's a whole lot more to playing Country bass parts today than just I - V. You'll learn how to create lines and fills over different feels. Work on the Ray Price Shuffle feel, Western Swing, Waltzes and more. Learn how to work with the drummer's kick drum to create your parts.
KNOW YOUR EQUIPMENT:
This area of the program gives you an excellent course in the physical aspects of your bass, as well as effects and amplification.
Equipment questions are so common, and the answers aren't always so easy to find. Understanding the what, why and how of equipment is an important part expressing yourself on the instrument.
Just some of the material covered includes:
- Uses for EQS
- How to use a compressor
- Setting Intonation
- Effects uses and sounds
- Pickup Types
- Amps and Speakers
- Ohms explained
- Much more...
ONE-ON-ONE LESSONS WITH YOUR INSTRUCTOR:
Live video instruction brings your instructor right into your home. It's one-on-one private instruction that you can watch as often as you like.
There is no better way to do so other than with video as you can see and hear, pause and replay, review time and time again any of these lessons. Close up views allow you to really see what is going on.
Bass Magic uses video to cover all of techniques a bass player uses at all levels from beginner to pro.
The videos cover everything from how to hold the bass and tuning for the beginner to advanced techniques such double thumping and chordal harmonics.
These video sessions get to the point quickly and cover all of those things that you need a professional to show you. The videos are part of the 3000 audio/midi examples available to help make a complete learning experience.
LISTEN TO INSTRUMENTAL AUDIO DEMONSTRATIONS:
In addition to the Virtual Fretboard, Bass Magic has hundreds of audio clips used to demonstrate exercises, techniques, concepts, and exercises.
You will be able to hear the subtle nuances of techniques like Left Hand Muting and Slap/Popping. Many of the exercises will be played at normal and slower speeds. You'll enjoy playing along with your instructor and the drum tracks. These exercises are all notated for you and many are midi sequenced as well.
With the vast amount and combination of audio and video, you are bringing the instructor into your home in many ways.
All audio is seamlessly integrated into various lessons throughout the whole learning system.
The live audio examples will bring out the excitement and fun of playing the bass and really motivate you to become the bass player you want to be.
SEE AND HEAR EVERYTHING:
Bass Magic has almost 3000 exercise and examples that are played using the Virtual Fretboard.
You get to control everything using the mixer! Speed up, slow down, stop, pause, rewind, and forward any of the exercises or examples. This allows you to learn at your own pace.
With the Virtual Fretboard and mixer, you control the learning pace. Slow down exercises until you fully understand every part. Increase the tempo as you need it.
The Virtual Fretboard even lets you decide what information to display. Notes, fingerings, or scale degrees are all available to you.
Almost all of the exercises and examples in Bass Magic use a complete band to back you up so that even simple scale practice more fun and exciting. It creates a truly musical situation in which you can practice: practice to drum, to keyboard, and to play guitar accompaniment. With the mixer, you can turn up or turn down any of the parts. Mute the bass and play the part yourself.
Bass Magic's dual fretboard display allows you to see everything at once. You get to watch what the guitar part is playing at the same as you see the bass part.
THE ULTIMATE INTERACTIVE SCALE, ARPEGGIO, AND CHORD APPENDIX:
This is no small reference tool that only lists a couple of scales and a few positions for each. The amount of information in the Library is incredible! It includes a wide array of scales, chords and arpeggios in all keys, all positions.
Not only do you see and hear everything on the Virtual Fretboard, but also do you choose between Note Names, Scale Degrees, and Fingerings. The Interactive Musical Staff view shows you all the information in notation as well.
Notes are highlighted as they are played making it easy to follow along. Root notes for all items are colored in red for easy identification.
Choose from thousands of scales, arpeggios, and chords! Displays fingerings, positions, note names, and degrees! A complete reference system!
The mixer allows you to slow down or speed up playback. You can even superimpose scales, chords and arpeggios over each other to see important relationships.
In addition to the wealth of scales, arpeggios, and chords already provided, you can edit or add information in the library. Create your own fingerings and patterns and save them to the Library.
SCROLLING NOTATION AND TABLATURE DISPLAYS WITH FRETBOARDS:
In addition to all of the other methods of viewing information in Bass Magic, you also have a scrolling notation/tablature staff that displays along with the fretboard.
There are many benefits to the scrolling staff:
- Helps you to read music - Learn where the notes on the music staff in relation to the bass fretboard.
- Helps you develop your rhythm and timing - Seeing the note values while hearing them being played is a powerful teaching and practice tool for your development to being a musician.
- Allows you to analyze exercises - As you play along with and study the musical demonstrations, it will make your analysis easier and more complete.
- Get the benefit of tablature - You will not only learn tablature by seeing how it relates to the fretboard, but tablature is also a great additional visual tool that gives you an alternate view of the musical demonstration.
- Lets you set start points for playback - Each measure is numbered and the scrolling staff lets you set playback to start on any measure within the song. You can instantly jump to that section that you need more work on or of which you want to take a closer analytical look.
- Great for step by step playback - stepping through any exercise or song, note by note, seeing the fretboard and staff moving simultaneously gives you total control over playback
A COMPLETE LEARNING SYSTEM:
Text
In addition to all of the multimedia features, Bass Magic has a great deal of text to explain the concepts and provide the detailed information necessary to really learn and understand the material. The text is interwoven between all of the other learning tools Bass Magic uses like video, audio, and the Virtual Fretboard to provide a seamless, uninterupted learning experience.
No one or two sentence explanations here, you will get plenty of information on all concepts and exercises to help make the most of your studies.
Tables
Tables are used throughout the program to help illustrate concepts and to serve as references that will last a lifetime. The key is to give you all of the information you need, right in one place, at your fingertips to fully understand what you are being taught.
Graphics
Graphics provide essential reference aides to the learning process and make it fast and easy to visually see and understand what is being discussed.
This information, along with all of the other features of the program, make this an exciting, fun, and lasting tool that you will enjoy and learn from for years to come.
CREATE USING THE VIRTUAL FRETBOARD:
The Studio is an amazing tool where to get to create, save, and edit your own exercises and songs that will play on the Virtual Fretboard. You can create drum, guitar, bass, or any other instrument's parts with the Studio.
No sequencing or MIDI skills are needed. Just load the scale or chord from the Library and click on the Virtual Fretboard to record the note.
- Create your own click tracks and drum patterns.
- Save song ideas.
- Create your own exercises to play along with.
- Make backing tracks for your own ideas to play along with.
- Simple click and point interface makes it simple to use
For drum patterns, simply use the keypad interface and select the instruments. It's that simple!
From simple click tracks to full multi track sequences, it's all just a click away.
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PC
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Mac
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Operating System: Windows XP, VISTA
Memory: 96 MB RAM
Other: DVD Drive, Sound Card
Monitor: 800x600 screen resolution or higher
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