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Does your bass playing lack foundation?
Stop trying with the starts and stops and experience for yourself what building a strong foundation of technique and theory can do for you...
Does this sound like you?
- You have learned mostly from TAB and some YouTubes but don't really understand what you are doing
- You don't follow a consistent method - just bounce around from one approach to another
- You really want to learn but you don't know where to start
- Your fingers are not cooperating
- Your tone is buzzy and buggy
- Rhythm is elusive
- You feel like a copy cat and wish you could come up with your own grooves
- You've heard theory might help, but it seems so "scary"
- You can't imagine jamming with others and coming up with your own grooves - but you really want to!
Bassist Danny nailing a fingering drill all across the fretboard!
Easy to smile for Craig who just finished a round of technique drills…
Imagine it all starting to make sense...
This could be you:
You go to a jam and the drummer kicks things off with a catchy beat. Then the guitar player drops in a few chords and that’s when you jump in with your own grooves and fills – totally on the fly and it feels amazing!
Expressing your ideas in a manner that garners the respect of your bandmates, friends and fans alike and it feels amazing to be able to do that!
That’s because when you start learning a strong foundation of theory and technique, everything begins to fall into place:
- Your fingers start cooperating
- Theory is actually inspiring and fun
- Your tone is getting round and juicy
- Theory begins to make sense
- Improvising your own grooves and fills is actually doable - what a thrill!
- The power of a consistent method based on solid principles shows you the path...
WELCOME TO
Core Principles:
A Foundational Music Theory Course for Bass Players
By the end of this class you will be able to:
- Create your own grooves over background tracks
- Improvise music theory shapes
- Create your own grooves using our “Basic Groove Creation Recipe”
- Get a juicy, round tone because your technique has improved
- Play music theory shapes over Blues, Reggae, Rock, Disco, Bossa Nova and many other fun styles!
- Understand that if you learn by Ari and Wolf’s powerful 42 principles you grow your toolbox quickly and reliably
What is inside?
- Technique Drills for the plucking and the fretting hand
- Drills for speed and coordination
- Drills over the entire fretboard
- Buzz off fretbuzz drills
- Ari's Groove Creation Recipe
- Learning theory through shapes
- Pentatonic, scales, chords, diatonics
- Root-5-8 grooves: famous grooves and those you create
- Fills and Walk ups
- Call & Response Drills
- Groove creation drills in a variety of styles: Country, Blues, Rock Disco, Reggae
Take a turbo tour
Learn 42 Core Principles that will
transform your playing!
Who this course is for...
- Anyone who enjoys shedding a variety of grooves using jam tracks while on a concrete assignment and mission.
- This Course is beginner friendly! Low intermediate and up!
- Even if you are in our big “20 Units” Course you will enjoy these exercises and drills. All new material!
- Anyone looking to develop great technique habits from the start or to improve their technique.
- Bass players who want to create their own grooves!
- Anyone who loves blues, funk, pop, rock, reggae and bossa!
Here's What People are Saying...
Our students are raving about Ari
For several years I watched bass players using the one-finger-per-fret playing style and shook my head in frustration.
No matter how I tried to span the four frets, especially down toward the nut, I just could not get my fingers to do it.
I concluded that either my hands were too small (they’re not) or that they just were somehow too tight to stretch.
I’ve played bass since I was 15 (which was a very long time ago) but in the last couple of years, I’ve been doing some more challenging work, so in April of 2016, I began to study with Ariane Cap with the goal of reworking my core technique.
We’ve covered a whole lot of different areas, but the thing that amazes me most now is looking in a mirror and seeing my left hand comfortably spanning the first four frets on the bass and doing it in a natural way...
No matter how I tried to span the four frets, especially down toward the nut, I just could not get my fingers to do it.
I concluded that either my hands were too small (they’re not) or that they just were somehow too tight to stretch.
I’ve played bass since I was 15 (which was a very long time ago) but in the last couple of years, I’ve been doing some more challenging work, so in April of 2016, I began to study with Ariane Cap with the goal of reworking my core technique.
We’ve covered a whole lot of different areas, but the thing that amazes me most now is looking in a mirror and seeing my left hand comfortably spanning the first four frets on the bass and doing it in a natural way...
...Ariane not only knows the instrument completely, but understands deeply the anatomy, physiology and psychology of the playing process. Most importantly, she has the ability to explain and teach it in an accessible way. Her instruction is uncompromising but always easygoing and encouraging. I’m very happy with the results.
I’m amazed at how theory gives ‘meaning’ to the music I’ve been playing all my life. I sat down the other day and started playing a song I haven’t played in 20 years (Skin Tight, by the Ohio Players).
When I got to the bridge, which I’ve always had trouble remembering, I looked down at the fretboard and the path lit up for me and led me to the notes to play: C triad, G triad, Chromatic from F to D, D root with a 10th on top.
I heard it, saw it, felt it, anticipated it…cool beans! I giggled like a little school girl!
When I got to the bridge, which I’ve always had trouble remembering, I looked down at the fretboard and the path lit up for me and led me to the notes to play: C triad, G triad, Chromatic from F to D, D root with a 10th on top.
I heard it, saw it, felt it, anticipated it…cool beans! I giggled like a little school girl!
This course is great! I’ll keep at it… I’m laughing to myself at how hard it is to keep up with you, I get a lot of value, going back over the bass Lab stuff… Livin The Dream, glad I signed up..
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Hi. I’m Ari.
Bassist, author, educator. Groove enthusiast and learning nerd.
As a bassist, I have toured/played/recorded with a variety of rock, Jazz, and funk bands, I have worked with some incredible producers (Keith Olsen) and musicians (Paul Hanson, Muriel Anderson) and I toured Brazil with Stu Hamm as a duo.
As a bass teacher, I have taught at London Bass Day, Gerald Veasley’s Bass Boot Camp, SBL, Truefire, notreble… I even ran my own music school for a few years before gigs took me back on the road.
One thing to know about me is that I teach because I am absolutely fascinated with the learning process. And I am obsessed with helping others realize their musical potential.
When I started playing bass, I excelled very quickly because I had an amazing teacher who taught me using a powerful method. This method transformed my playing so quickly that I passed a bunch of high-level university auditions and even tested out of entire classes at university even though I had been playing for only a very short time.
That’s what, many years later turned into one of my books, co-written with Wolf Wein, called “The Pattern System for the Bass Player”. I created entire systems of learning based on some of these ideas and wrote books and created courses together with Wolf. Our bass books have sold over 30,000 copies and garnered rave reviews.
I started teaching online in 2009 and have embraced technology as a powerful learning tool since then, never losing sight of the importance of providing feedback and personalized guidance to learners.
I also utilize the power of learning in groups: our first cohort with volunteer coaches ran in 2018, and Masterclasses started in 2020.
Why you'll prefer Ari's Approach
Other Ways
The Ari Way
Grooves through copying
Create your own grooves following Ari's formulas
Theory and technique taught separately
Theory = shapes. Taught together with technique
Theory is dry and disconnected. Hard to memorize
Use theory in grooves and have a blast while learning it
No guidance on how to practice
Practice is playful and musical
No plan, no principles
Core principles describe what and why; step by step in a consistent manner
Learning song after song without the bigger picture
Variety of favorite styles with analyses and groove formulas
Get Instant Access
$85
No fluff – Just the good stuff! With this Core Principles course, you’ll get a primer on proper technique plus all the critical elements of music theory… presented in practical terms as it relates to the fretboard.
Look forward to lots and lots of groove shedding, including several opportunities for you to play along with Wolf’s awesome jam tracks. It’s creative, refreshing and fun!
We offer a no-questions-asked money back guarantee so your commitment is risk free for 30 days. Try it on for size and you’re not completely convinced that this course is right for you, I will promptly refund your money.
Our checkout is secure with Stripe!
Discover The Core Principles...
- of creating grooves in a variety of styles
- of remembering theory as easy shapes
- of better technique and tone
What's included
- 47 brand new videos (2 hours 40 minutes)
- 29 Jamtracks, 47 PDFs
- Mind bending and fun quizzes
- A beautiful 70 page booklet detailing our 42 core principles
As seen on
Featured by leading bass websites and publications
Myth Buster
Learning hundreds of songs with TAB will not make you a better player somehow/maybe/hopefully!
In reality, all it does is turn you into a walking, breathing karaoke bassist – only able to play the songs verbatim, and only in the key the TAB was in. Originality, agency, or real musical skills will rarely emerge on their own like that.
The way to get better is to get competent. To understand how music is put together. And it does not need to be hard or boring.
Do my fun theory drills that use improvisation and get the competence by creating theory with grooves to help you understand how you can make it all work.
The way to get your fingers to cooperate is to learn to play with relaxation and feel, just like we practice it in my Finger Kung Fu sections in this course!
Find your creative self in the many groove and fill drills in this course that not only put skill at your fingertips, but a confident smile on your face.
Real confidence requires real proof – and it comes from finally knowing what you are doing.
Done the Ari Way, theory deepens the magic giving you more options, new insights, better ears and an enormous amount of understanding!
Theory creates true competence, confidence, and ability!
This beginner-friendly “Core Principles” Course shows you the guiding principles that lead to a strong foundation in theory and technique so you can create your own grooves!
Questions & Answers About This Course
We offer a no-questions-asked money back guarantee so your commitment is risk free for 30 days. Try it on for size and you’re not completely convinced that this course is right for you, I will promptly refund your money.
Our checkout is secure with Stripe!
Your bass and an internet connection.
No need to be able to read scores. Learn theory as shapes first, it makes learning to read much easier later. We have included TAB and score so you can figure out the examples with the guidance in the videos.
Yes you will, in a variety of styles!
This is a beginner-friendly course! Intermediate level players will also get a lot out of it!
Yes start right away! You have lifetime access!
We also offer a data CD for the computer. You need a CD player to play it (which is rare these days). If you are interested you can purchase it here.
No. While the subject matter is in some ways similar – theory, technique, groove creation, this is a shorter course. All new videos and completely new drills, so there is zero overlap.
If you are curious about Ari’s teaching but not quite ready for the “big course” yet, this is a great starting point!
If you have already done the 20 unit course, you will find this a collection of fun drills that will reinforce what you have already learned. It will be useful and not too challenging!
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