Last Monday’s Oops. Tomorrow’s Upgrade.

by Ariane Cap 12 Dec 2025 2 minute read

This week in Live Practice with Ari, I got a little carried away. 😅

I had four big concepts lined up. One of them: how often chord progressions follow the cycle – and how powerful it is to see that on the fretboard. A total game-changer once it clicks.

But then I accidentally pulled up the wrong backing track. Instead of switching gears, I tried to make it fit – riffing on how that progression still proved the point.

Long story short? I layered too much on too fast, and ended up confusing some of you.

And that’s not what Live Practice with Ari is for.

Live Practice is where you get to practice step by step. It’s where you feel the groove, experiment, make mistakes, and get feedback in real time. Over time, I’ve gotten pretty good at reading Zoom tiles – I see when something’s landing and when it’s not. And better yet, I can also hear you play!

So here’s what I’m changing going forward:

One technique element to warm up
One core concept only (something rhythmic, theoretical, a groove or line from a song)
More time to play and try things out for you – not just me presenting
More room for feedback, encouragement, and clarity

Playing in front of the class is – as you know – totally voluntary – but when you do it really helps me guide you best.

It’s a no-pressure, mistake-welcome zone.

Like Miles said: “There are no mistakes.” And trust me, I proudly lead the way – with plenty of evidence.

Looking for a structured, well-rounded practice? Live Practice with Ari has got you covered!

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Bassist, author, educator.

Groove enthusiast and learning nerd.

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Hi. I'm Ari.

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.

 

Read more…

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