This year’s holiday is quieter for me. Smaller table, bigger feelings. It’s got me asking big questions. And it’s got me spending lots of time with my bass and my thoughts.

This week in Live Practice I offered something simple: I played a Christmas song with chords on the bass and I sang.

It wasn’t a performance. And I’m not a lead singer. But that wasn’t the point.

What stood out was how much musical ground opens up when your hands actually understand harmony on the instrument.

Chords. Shapes. Voice leading. Time.

All moving together instead of living in separate practice boxes.

This didn’t come from chasing a clever “bass chord trick.” It came from years of pattern-based work. Seeing the fretboard as connected shapes. Understanding how harmony moves. Practicing rhythm as something embodied in the service of the song.

That’s the kind of playing I care about this time of year.

Sometimes we end up in situations where we’re the only one asked to accompany a song, the way a guitarist would. Supporting harmony, time, and form in real music, not just playing bass lines inside a band context.

Note: chording is a great skill to have as a bassist. It’s for that moment we all face when someone says: play something for us. And it’s much more engaging than just playing a famous bass line – that non-bass players likely won’t recognize.

Cool fact: three shapes get you through this entire song… Watch me play it here: