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111 videos, book reading tutor
Recommended Prerequisite
A complete system
Masterclasses
Learn the System with Ari
FAQs
About the Pattern System
You know your basic theory…
now let’s take the next steps with the Pattern System!
🎯 We divide the bass into six areas
🎯 We teach you five shapes
🎯 We practice these shapes backwards, forwards, diagonally – to get the entire fretboard down, in all keys
🎯 We do mental practice, visualization practice and audiation drills (internal hearing), improv, groove drills…
🔥 Know the fretboard inside out
🔥 Be able to play in all keys equally well
🔥 Anywhere on the fretboard
🔥 Play without looking at the fretboard
🔥 Read with ease (our Reading Course is “Pattern System Light”)
🔥 Be able to play what you hear inside with confidence
🔥 Be able to think ahead which means you can come up with cool lines on the fly, stressfree
This is what we mean when we say this method…
🎯 Systematically trains your musical mind
Think it’s the instrument that creates the music? It’s not so.
Rather, it’s the mind that uses our fingers to bring the music in our mind onto the bass.
IOW, the bass and the fingers are just the tools of transmission. Music starts in the heart, the mind, the emotion.
The Pattern System shows you how to effortlessly create impactful music on your bass.
And: Anyone can learn this!
Laurent’s final submission of the Pattern System Level 3 Class.
After we watched his performance in class he described his process.
The Pattern System works for any bassist who wants to go beyond rote learning and truly understand music.
You can apply it to any genre – rock, jazz, funk, fusion, blues, or your own compositions.
It’s a universal framework that strengthens whatever musical language you already speak.
Intermediate Players of all backgrounds can learn this. You need to know basic theory and playing technique.
Most fretboard approaches:
The Pattern System:
In Ari’s “Music Theory for the Bass Player” book you learn the foundation, the lego pieces music is made of, AKA “theory”.
You understand how the fretboard works and how music works.
You embrace the importance of shapes, fingering and technique.
You get a solid theory foundation.
In Ari’s and Wolf’s 20 Unit Theory Course you put these lego pieces to work and construct your own bass lines and practice theory, styles, and note finding with Ari.
You learn to bring theory to life through improvisation.
What comes next?
A pattern doesn’t just refer to a pattern on the fretboard – Music itself is made of patterns!
The Pattern System teaches you how to think music and to translate this music onto your bass (fretboard) instantly and ultimately effortlessly.
The CAGED System
The Pattern System
Ariane’s The Pattern System for the Bass Player is a landmark book! It presents a wealth of musical information with a thoughtful, systematic approach, designed to guide any student through the process of learning to create music with the bass. It is comprehensive and well organized, using a holistic learning paradigm aimed at developing the full constellation of skills involved in music making. I not only very highly recommend it, I’ll be using it myself!
Smaller Stores we love who are carrying our books:
Spiral binding allows the book to conveniently lie flat on a music stand.
US buyers can get it on Amazon;
International buyers, please check out our store.
TIP: to avoid the higher price tag of spiral bound books or if you already bought the perfect bound version: I recommend you go to a print shop (FEDEX, Office Max, UPS) and ask for the spine to be cut off and coil binding put in. They often do this while you wait.
NOTE: this book is not available as a Kindle ebook on Amazon. Counterfeit versions sometimes circulate on Amazon/Kindle which are of low quality (scanned hard copies) and not approved by the author.
If you come across such a book please send us the link where you bought it and we can help you get a refund.
This book was crowdfunded with an Indiegogo campaign!
Big thanks to all who helped bring this four-year project across the finish line!
The team consisted of:
Ari and Wolf, the authors, a virtual assistant, a cover designer, an interior book designer, a cartoonist, two editors, an Indiegogo film team, an attorney, a fulfillment house, a printing company and a shipping consultant!
The book was fully funded under 48 hours and reached over 200% of its funding goal. Thank you for the support!
Get the 111 videos that come with the book and your book reading tutor by clicking below
NOTE: The Pattern System is not for beginners.
It requires foundational knowledge of key signatures, scales, chords, diatonics, the cycle of fifths.
Music Theory for the Bass Player by Ariane Cap was written to prepare the student for the Pattern System.
Also required is basic bass playing ability (technique).
It’s a system that teaches you five shapes in six areas of the bass, so you know the entire neck inside out. As a side effect (or was that the purpose all along?), you’ll:
Know theory intuitively
Hear what you’re about to play before you play it
Play without looking at the fretboard
Build solid technique
Learn to practice with your mind alone
The Pattern System gives you the tools to tell a meaningful story through music – naturally, without overthinking.
No. Reading is not required. However, if you are interested in learning to read sheet music and chord charts, the Pattern System makes it very easy.
In fact, our Reading Course is teaching the exact same Patterns, too. It’s a bit like “Pattern System Light”.
No. Reading is not required. However, if you are interested in learning to read sheet music and chord charts, the Pattern System makes it very easy.
In fact, our Reading Course is teaching the exact same Patterns, too. It’s a bit like “Pattern System Light”.
Yes. As a matter of fact knowing basic music theory first is highly recommended.
The Pattern System makes theory instant, instinctual, and intuitive. It takes what you know and transforms it into something you can do. You’ll connect knowledge with reflex and ear – turning theory into music, not memory.
The Pattern System will help you know music theory so well you don’t have to think about it anymore.
You’ll hear better, understand more, and start recognizing not only the patterns on your bass, but the patterns of music itself.
Theory stops feeling abstract, improvisation becomes second nature, and you’ll think about music in all new ways. Because you begin to understand how it works.
Memorizing a scale teaches you a pattern from root to root — in theory. The Pattern System turns it into instinct.
It’s not about memorization;
it’s about relationships.
The shapes you learn on the bass mirror how music itself is structured. That’s what makes it powerful – it trains your mind and ear to think like a musician, not a technician.
For more common questions about Ari’s teaching, visit our full FAQ page:
For more common questions about Ari’s courses, cohorts, and live practice, visit our full FAQ page: