Bass Advice

Learn everything you need to handle a

note, from when it begins to when it ends.

Tech Lab
Finger Style, Hammer Ons, Pull Offs, Accents, Slides,
Ghost Notes, Crossing Strings, Staccato & Legato, Shakes,
Bending, Double Stops, Ornaments and more!
 TECH
LAB
About Me
3

Introduction
4

Fingerstyle
5

Accents
9

Hammer Ons & Pull O s

11

Crossing Stings
16

Ghost Notes
19

Legato & Staccato

21

Slides
23

Shakes & Bending

25

Double Stops
27

Articulations
29

Grooves
36

Fills
38

Bass Tone
41

Final Words
44

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 About
me
I am a professional bass player
with extensive live and recording
experience. I started playing
inspired by James Jamerson and
Jaco Pastorius and I grew up
playing in bands always getting
involved in new projects, gigs and
recordings.
I have worked intensely in different
musical styles and when I play and
record with other artists I always try
to adapt to their style. As a result, I
unconsciously absorbed a wide
range of in uences that grew and
developed in me during my musical
journey. To date I have played in
large and small venues, Festivals,
TV and Radio, recorded in various
projects with different artists, toured
in England, Scotland, Malaysia and
other gigs in France and Italy.
Over the years I have played or
recorded with: Malcolm Bruce,
Jeremy Tordjman, Little Jimmy
Reed, Rudi Riviere, Mike and Kate
Westbrook, Kathleen Pearson,
Nawfel Nermi, Matt White, Edoardo
Faiella, Yoann Juilliard, Lifford
Shillingford, Harris Adams, Adam
White, Tony Cannam, Myles
Therron, Compagnia del Triusco,
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Everything we play
comes from hard work
and dedication, our
journey with music is
all about passion,
searching and applying
it. Enjoy the ride!
Marco Panzarella
Annie Afrilu, James Salvoni, Bruce
Palait, Nick Judd, Hadar Manor,
Johnny Edward, Owen Paul,
Graham Landi, Tara London,
October Rocks, The Reluctants,
Feranmi Ogunseyinde, Aurelien
Lefebvre, Marco Parenti, Luigi
Salvoni, Unberto Porcaro,
Germano Seggio. Although this is
not near the complete list, I feel
grateful to have spent time with so
many incredible musicians!
I have a degree in Popular Music
and a Master in Jazz, I have also
studied with: Filippo Rizzo, Fabio
Crescente, Terry Gregory, Martin
Hathaway, Trevor Tomkins, Stuart
Hall and Carlos Lopez Real. I have
attended masterclasses with: John
Abercrombie, Billy Sheehan, Chuck
Rainey, Marcus Miller and I have
always been seated in the front row
to all the live performances of Pino
Palladino that I could.
Reach out on Instagram at
marcopanzarellabass
 Introduction
One important aspect of bass playing to work in isolation is
technique. Great technique not only will give you facility on your
instrument, but also good tone and articulation. The exercises in this
ebook will help you to gain control of the basic aspects of various
techniques.
One of the greatest challenges and most important goals for any
musician is to have a good tone, it's even harder to have a very
personal tone and having technical control over your instrument is a
must in this context.
Focus and develop these exercises in your playing, it will have a
huge impact on your overall sound, strength, technique and
articulation.
It is not practical to play technique exercises for the entire practice
session, I suggest choosing one topic at a time and to include it in
your routine.
Have fun and make the most of the ebook.
 Fingerstyle
It’s the most common technique to play bass. Except for the
open strings, with your left hand you press down a string in the
middle of a fret and holding it for the entire length desired. With
your right hand you pluck a note with a clear stroke and with an
even volume between tones.
Rest your thumb of the plucking hand on top of the pickup and
use an index & middle motion to play the E string, but it’s not
uncommon to use just one nger too. Some people prefer to
anchor their thumb but I do move it down depending which
string I’m playing for example: I rest on the E string if I’m
playing the A string, rest on the A and plucking the D, etc.

Right Hand
The most important exercise you can do for the plucking hand
is to constantly alternating between the index and middle
ngers, you should have control starting with any of the two
ngers, things get even trickier coming up the strings and this is
also the reason why we rake sometimes. The truth is that raking
should be applied only if you want, apart from that you should
always try to alternate.
Use a simple pattern when trying the exercise and move across
the strings, you can use crossing strings, intervals, something
simple so you can concentrate on your plucking hand.
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Placement of the Right Hand
Where you place your plucking hand makes a noticeable
difference in the tone. If you place your hand close or even over
the neck, the sound is very bassy and deep, very good if you
need to provide rock solid bass notes or for mellow parts. If you
move your hand close to the bridge the sound has more attack
and it’s used to play fast and the notes are very clear. In
general i keep my plucking hand right in the middle and I move
as needed.

Palm muting
You should get comfortable palm muting with your plucking
hand because you can use it for a variety of reasons. In general
it is used to reduces sustain and deaden the strings, but I also
use it for quieter and relaxed parts. It’s achieved by placing the
palm across the strings near the bridge and plucking with the
thumb or you can use a Travis technique style of picking. To
properly execute this technique, place the side of your plucking
hand near the bridge, then bring your hand down so that your
palm is covering the strings.

Left Hand
Regarding the left hand, I use one nger per fret. The following
exercises will help you to gain uidity, independence and
strength. It’s just like going to the gym, you prepare your ngers
to play anything you throw at them. I would also suggest to play
the exercises with two different techniques, legato and staccato
and you can even use Hammer ons and Pull offs. You won’t
believe how much strength you can gain if you practice a set
per week.
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Fingers Fitness
1=index 2=middle 3=ring 4=little

Two Fingers
1-2/1-3/1-4
2-3/2-4/3-4
2-1/3-1/4-1
3-2/4-2/4-3

Three Fingers
1-2-3/1-2-4/1-3-4
2-3-4/3-2-1
4-2-1/4-3-1/4-3-2

Four Fingers
1234 - 2341 - 3412 - 4123
1432 - 2143 - 3214 - 4321
1423 - 2314 - 3241 - 4132
1324 - 2413 - 3142 - 4231
1342 - 2431 - 3124 - 4213
Let’s explore some rhythmic variations but be creative and use
more rhythms.

Triplets

16ths
Accents
Accents are an essential technique, it adds dynamics to your
bass lines, it helps with control of your plucking hand, improve
your overall pocket and groove.
You are emphasising speci c subdivisions, for example off
beats or a particular 16th, so it may feel a little odd at rst but
it’s really great to have good control over your plucking hand
and you are also working with dynamics at the same time since
you need to play some notes quieter.
The goal here is to even out your playing, to have full control of
the sound you are producing with your ngers and you will get
more control over your instrument in return.
If you already plucking very strong, instead of playing the
accent even louder try to play the notes surrounding the accent
a little quieter, you want to avoid to sound too hangry, nervous
or to be obstacle to your own technique, learn how to keep your
hand relaxed.
You can practice accents with just one note and I usually
suggest that if you never experimented with them before but
here I’m giving you some phrases to try out, I can guaranty you
it’s a lot harder then it seems. Having said that you could use
just one note and play the accents where they are.
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The following exercises are all in the key of C/Amin.
 Hammer Ons & Pull Offs
An Hammer On is a technique used to produce a legato sound
between two notes and executed with the fretting hand. Place
your index on a note, pluck the string and hammer down with
either the second, third or fourth nger without plucking the
following note. Always try to produce a smooth sound and to be
accurate rhythmically, there is only one pluck from your plucking
hand.

A pull-off instead is the opposite of the hammer-on. Place two

ngers on two different notes, pluck the string and then pull with
the left hand to produce the sound of the note below without
plucking again, there is only one pluck from your plucking hand.

Both techniques really make the difference in your phrasing and

lls, your playing suddenly is more personal and with greater
impact. A ll with a pentatonic scale becomes a statement if you
apply Hammer ons & Pull Offs in the right places.

The following exercises will help you to understand the concept

and to come up with your own ideas, the rst exercises are just
the basic technique then I have applied them to scales and
phrases.
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Hammer Ons Exercises - The Basics
Phrases & Licks
Pull Offs Exercises - The Basics
Phrases & Licks
Crossing strings
Most people cross strings when playing bass and it is a
standard technique that needs to be practiced, some students
prefer to nd bass lines with octaves but I do recommend to
practice some exercises, you want completely control and to
mix a match any combinations at any given time.
The most common intervals when crossing string are octaves
and sevenths but I would get comfortable with fths and sixths
too, you should be able to move from low to high and vice
versa.

I usually practice these exercises with a backing track and I

apply them to a groove and lls but if there is a particular
movement that I’m struggling I just practice them in isolation, be
creative and try to come up with some of your own. I suggest to
start at a slow tempo paying attention to the movement and
gradually speeding up concentrating to the overall sound.

The exercises are written thinking of Cm7 but since I kept at

minimum the harmonic content you can use them over a C7
too, you will just need to apply them harmonically to a line or
chord of your choice.
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Crossing Strings Exercises
Ghost notes
Ghost notes are achieved by completely dampening the strings
with your fretting hand. The percussive sound adds rhythmic
excitement to your bass lines, it is common to use them to
enhance a line or propel a ll.
When practising Ghost Notes play them at the same volume or
even quieter of the normal notes.
All the exercises are written using a single note but they should
be practiced with scales and crossing strings combinations too.
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Legato
If you consider Hammers, Pulls and slides you have lots of
combinations to play legato, it is notated as a curved line under
or over a group of notes and they are played smoothly. In
general, to play legato, don't let go a note right when the next
one starts and pluck only in certain places of the phrase.
 Staccato
In music notation, it is represented by a dot underneath the
note. When you play staccato, you are shortening a note
duration, this sound is produced by plucking the note with your
1st nger and resting the 2nd nger quickly on the same string
(acting as mute) and vice versa. The notes with a line
underneath are played as normal.
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Slides
Slides are used as embellishments for your bass lines and lls,
they have a smoothing effect and you can slide with one chord
to another too.
It can be done from one note to another or simply used as a
sound effect. Keep your hand on the string, pluck and then
move your hand from one point to another without letting the
string go. It's very easy to miss the note you are sliding into so
look ahead.

The Basics

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Phrases & Licks
Shakes
It’s produced by sliding back and forth with the same nger on
one note or it could be an alternating of two notes (half step) on
one string and fast. It’s used as an effect so use it tastefully.

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 Bending
I usually bend during a solo, it’s quick and only an half step. You
can cover the distance of a semitone easily, anything bigger will
require a lot of strength from your fretting hand and it’s not
much used unless you are Billy Sheehan.
Put your third nger on the note you want to bend, keep your
rst and second nger close to help the push up and move your
thumb over the neck if you need extra strength.
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Double Stops
Double stops are used to beef up your grooves and riffs and it
requires to play two notes simultaneously. I suggest to try them
one by one, then to divide them into groups and nally to put
them all together. The intervals grouping I suggest are: thirds &
fourths, sixths and sevenths, fths and octaves.
The example are written using an A7 chord so you can use the
open string to hear the sound but you will need to try them in
other keys too.
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Groove & Fills
Articulations

Portamento

A Portamento is similar to a Grace Note but it carries one note

to the next including all the notes in between without stopping,
it’s often played with two notes. I have added a P and a legato
sign over the notes to be played as Portamento and the
examples are over a Gm7.
Turns
A turn is essentially a group of notes where the second and
fourth notes are the same, of course you could also think of
hammers and pulls too but if I think of it as a turn I always
shape a phrase differently.
The example is written in Bb Major, works great for phrases in a
solo and lls with a groove.
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Grace Notes
A Grace note or appoggiatura is a note placed above or below a
principal note and it slides into it, it can be either the distance of
a tone or semitone.
Trills
A trill is another way to add a little effect to your phrases. To
execute a trill, place your index on a note and while fretting the
note, hammer on and pull off rapidly, it can be done at the
beginning or at the end of the phrase.
Irregular Frases
Irregularity within a phrases occur when the beats are not
divided equally into groups of two or four, some people consider
also triplets as irregular. Apart from playing patterns of 5 & 7
notes at the time I have also included here phrases where I’m
thinking of 3 and 5 notes but played in 4 16ths, the effect is
quite different and very interesting.
Ripetitive notes

It’s self explanatory but sometimes we are so busy playing so

many different notes that we forget the power of just repeating
one note, it’s useful to think of groups of two or three.
Rips
A fast ascending gure, can be of any number of notes and the
idea is to create a burst of notes leading to your target note. Be
creative with this, use any combinations but make sure it’s
smooth and easy on your hand.
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Grooves


 Fills
I wrote this chapter to get you practicing the techniques
discussed with some lls but it is essential you come up with
some of your own. A way to work on your lls is to practice
rhythmic ideas on your melodic phrases. This can be a rhythm
from a drum ll, something from another bass line/ ll or a
rhythmic permutation. The key to exploring lls & technique is
by picking different rhythm and melodic gures and trying them
over a groove.

You can also practice lls by setting up several bars and to ll

every 4 bars or 2 bars, for example:

You can work just on a single ll and to practice it over a loop to

get the shape, sequence and technique under your ngers but
by setting up several bars to groove and then ll as explained
on the diagram above you will work also on your overall feel
which is super important.
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Analyse the following lls carefully, look at how they relate to
the chord, what chord tones are included, where they start on
the beat, use different tempos and rework them using the
technique that you wish to practice.

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You can rework your lls in different ways, here some ideas:

Original Phrase

Displacement Contraction

Expansion Different Rhythms

Syncopation Diatonic Transposition

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Bass Tone
Let’s consider everything that will help you to achieve a strong
solid bass tone.

Plucking: I usually pluck the strings right on top of the neck

pickup but you can pluck right after it if you need a bit more
control. If you use ngerstyle you will need to pluck strong and
secure. You will need to develop both dexterity and accuracy in
your playing, ngerstyle is typically centred around 8th & 16th
notes and many of them can be muted. You need to create a
continuous groove with a strong feel and your timing needs to
be precise.
Bass: The bass most used during the 70’s was the Fender
bass, Jazz or Precision, but of course use what you can afford,
just make sure that it has a good neck and strong woods.
Strings: Round wounds with a medium/heavy gauge, I have
always used the classic Rotosounds Swing Bass 66 with a
gauge of 40/60/75/95 for my 60s Fender Jazz and some ats
like Thomastik Jazz JF 344 with a gauge of 43/56/70/100 for an
old school sound on my 78 Fender Precision.
Amp: Most amps today have a separate gain and master
control, roll off the Master, push the Gain to the point where the
amp starts to clip and then back it off until it disappear, nally
you can bring back gradually the Master volume to the desired
power.
A great tone can be achieved with any good clean ampli er that
offers power and exibly with a transparent tone. I also use a
Tech 21 pedal, it helps me to fatten the sound and to simulate a
tube amp when I’m recording in the studio.
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 I have used Ampeg, Ashdown, Epifani and now I have settled
with the Mark Bass BigBang which is very easy to carry around
and allows me to practice anywhere with a pair of headphones.
I pair it with two GK Neo 112 but I do bring only one cabinet for
small gigs.
EQ can play a big role in shaping the right tone and a good amp
should have a good mid-frequency response with lots of tone
shaping possibilities. On the other hand, a tube amp can be a
serious contender to achieve a vintage tone but also what types
of pickups you use do play a big role in the resulting tone.
The current day amps may need a 400Hz boost to cut through
the mix, especially if you are playing alongside loud or busy
guitars and suf cient power should starts at say 500w. The
modern tone instead is the result of very focused lows, tight
mids (no scooping) with a touch of high-end. If the bass isn't
de ned enough, there is probably too much low end and not
enough mid range clarity.

EQ
40-60Hz: Sub Bass, adds bottom end but it hides pitch easily,
you will feel it but won’t hear it.
60-200Hz: Low End, adds roundness.
200-800Hz: Low Mids, adds punch but it’s muddiness area so
don’t over do it.
800Hz-2KHz: Mids, adds de nition and clarity
2-5kHz: Upper Mids, good for slap
5-8kHz: adds high end, too much it will sound harsh.
8-12kHz: adds air or hiss, bass player don’t use this frequency
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The best way to shape the bass tone is to roll off the low end a
bit, mould the mids into the tone you are looking for, then slowly
roll the low end back in until you have the power and body that
you are looking for. Remember, if the bass isn't de ned enough,
there is probably too much low end and not enough mid range
clarity.
Plugins: I went through different phases, at some point I had
every plugin I could get, I did study mixing and I used to mix
demos for the bands I was involved with. Today I mainly use
Waves plugins when I track bass at home and it could be a
combination of the following: MaxBass, Renaissance Bass,
CLA76, L1 Limiter, API 2500 and a good EQ plug.

Effects
Overdrive: Simulate the sound of an overdriven tube amp.
Distortion: Produce harder metallic distortion with many upper
harmonics
Fuzz: Delivers distortion that radically emphasise the overtone
Octaver: Creates a signal one or two octaves lower than the
original sound.
Compressor: Reduces the output over a set threshold relative
to the strength of the input signal, making levels consistent and
improving sustain.
Envelope Filter: An envelope lter works by ltering out speci c
high or low frequencies responding to the nuances of your
playing, dynamics and attack.
Digital Delay: Repeats either once or multiple times a note at a
predetermined time spacing.
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 Final Words

Everything I know about Bass comes from hard work and

dedication, my journey with music has been all about passion,
researching and applying it.
I taught Electric Bass in many different schools in London and
to well over 1000 students. I’ve listened to what my students
want and I know what they need as I had the same questions
during my studies, I have tried to include everything I have
discussed with them over the years.
These Ebooks are not out there to compete with already so
many great books and teachers, it’s just my guide and what I
have worked or working on every day. I write them for me too so
I can just pick one of my ebooks and start practicing or
refreshing some topics.
My aim is to pass you all the information I learnt and
researched, so once you have absorbed everything, practiced
hard and explored all the topics in depts, you will be fully
con dent of your own playing.
This is what is so rewarding about what I do as a bass tutor, to
be inspired and I most certainly have gained inspiration along
the way from many of my students.
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 Practising

Learning something new is always challenging, but don’t worry,

you will go through the same stages like everyone else, enjoy
the ride!
1) What is it talking about? Focus, reduce the information at
bare minimum, the smaller the better
2) Why don’t I get this? You keep practicing, but it’s not sinking
in
3) I nally understand! I just need to practice a little more
4) I think I got it! Yes! I can play it
5) Forget it, it’s not working.
6) Wow, what did I play? That thing I worked on for months just
showed up out of nowhere in my playing.
See, give yourself time, everyone has their own time when
learning something new. In general, I’m a slow learner, I need to
shred something for a month every day to really sink in, then I
forget about it and move on. If I notice something isn’t owing
when I playing I will get back at a later stage. You need to keep
the process enjoyable and you need to feel inspired, so please
don’t forget also to relegate time to listen to your favourite
bands and players and most importantly playing gigs.
Important! Not all the combinations of notes are included in the
exercises, they are excellent and they will improve your
technique greatly, but there are so many valid exercises
around. I would recommend to be creative, make variations of
the exercises you nd here, come up with some on your own,
take them from your favourite player, look for them in books,
etc.
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