Don’t Just Learn Songs – Learn from the Songs!

Membership Arisbassblog

Don't just Learn Songs -
Learn from the songs!

Practice Songs Live with Ari

Long to become great on the bass?

Learning songs is an important part of your bass study. Do you feel stuck in a frustrating cycle of TAB workarounds, youtube ruts, and in general the hamster wheel of trial & error and ready to commit to something different? 

Stop and study with Ari who will set you on the path to real confidence on the fretboard! No more depending on YouTube and TAB, fishing for notes and just getting through the song somehow…  but imagine relying on your ears, your chops, and your ability to play freely because you
🎸 know the fretboard
💡 understand how music is put together (ie: Theory!)
🙌 and can play freely and with confidence!
🌅 Most importantly you can explore your unique creativity and musicality! 

As a member, you can now take part in live group lessons with Ari, where you explore all this using songs we all love!

Isn't learning a song just playing the right notes at the right time?

Not for the pros! True musicians go way beyond that. You can, too! Ari shows you how.

Don’t just learn the songs. Learn from the songs! Practice effectively, playfully, step by step, and in such a way that it helps your theory, your musicality, your chops and your creativity.  

How is this different?

This is not...

We are not here to give you the illusion of learning when, in fact, nobody really believes in you. 

Rather...

This is not the easiest path, but it works, and fast!

📗 Learn theory so well you can forget about it. We do this by using it!
🙌 Learn songs and go way beyond them by exploring what you can learn from them. 
🕺 Go deep into the groove – to depths you hadn’t thought possible.   
🎯  Focused, smart and effective practice referencing step-by-step programs while learning songs! 
🐈‍⬛  This is practicing like the cats and with Ari’s help, you can do it, too! 
💛  Our community and vibe is super encouraging and inspiring! Everyone welcome!   

Ready for efficient, clever and fun?

What if I am a Beginner😁? Or Advanced🤩

We have a different day for various levels, including newbs.
To find your place, you can self-assess, ask us for guidance, or use our levels tool which you can use immediately upon joining.  

Nobody will ever make you feel awkward or out of place, you don’t have to pass a test or perform perfectly. We are all there to learn and we learn from each other, so participation is – while not mandatory – very much encouraged!

Rest assured that wherever you are on your learning journey, there is always a next step, and that is true for everybody. 
Let’s just take that next step and not worry about the rest. It feels awesome to finally actually improve!    

When are classes?

You can view our current schedule below. 

  • Mondays – Beginner and newbies 😁
  • Thursdays – Lower Intermediate to Intermediate 😎
  • Fridays – Advanced Intermediate to Advanced 🤩

Some of our students attend all three days,
while others choose their level (their day) and stick with that! 
Others dip in and out as they like and work a lot with the recordings.

A typical month offers 12 events: 9 Song Classes, EarTraining, and special Events

 

As a member you may attend as many live classes a month as you like!

Our calendar shows you the times. All events with one or more star icons are included in your membership! Classes are three weeks out of every month and there are additional special events and student showcases as well!

What’s super popular is the fact that we learn songs! Often we start the song with simple drills on Monday to get the basics and chops down, zoom in on the theory on Thursdays and finish it off with cool “overlays”, improvisations, solos and “reductions” where we learn how to “play in the style of” and go far beyond the song by Friday!

Should you miss a live class, you can watch the recordings!  

Click on “view more” on any day to see all events!

What is a class like?

Everyone is on zoompracticing along with what Ari is showing you

Participants are muted and can ask questions or get feedback at any time. 

Every live session is a well-rounded, stand-alone practice session with new level-appropriate material every time!
Students have access to PDFs, jam tracks, and other assets in a learning portal!

Sessions get recorded, so you can (re)watch later. 

We work on songs, on technique, theory, ear-training, practicing techniques… and most importantly, Ari shows you how to practice effectively

Can I try it?

Because we only have a limited amount of availability for members, seats are highly coveted. You can now prepay for a year at a discount or you can go month-to-month. You are in control from your account portal and can stop and start at any time. So if you are unsure, try it for a month and commit to a year with the discount once you have seen it’s for you. You can start any day of the month as whatever day you start on is your day 1. 

Who is Ari?

The developer of the PORA method and other inovative practice methods, Ari has a classical music as well as an academic background and a coaching education, thousands of hours of teaching under her belt, and a true passion (obsession?) for making you better in a short amount of time.  

Ari and her partner Wolf have developed several groundbreaking learning programs that make you better fast, no matter where you start.  

Music Theory for the Bass Player and The Pattern System for the Bass Player (written with Wolf Wein) are frequent bestsellers on Amazon. 

More info on Ari here. More info on Wolf here.

🙌 It simply feels amazing to know what you are doing on the fretboard! 

🎸 It’s unbelievably cool to improvise and make a song your own!

🌅 This is the transformation from being a mere copy-cat to becoming the true musician you have always wanted to be!

Become a Member
Practice LIVE with me

Membership Arisbassblog

Pattern System 10 Week Practice Groups

Ariane Caps Pattern System Level 2

ArisBassBlog proudly presents:

The Pattern System Live Classes

Learn the Bass Fretboard w/ Ari

The Pattern System - Learn the Bass Fretboard and Sharpen Your Musical Mind

Ariane Caps Pattern System Level 2

The Pattern System Live Practice Group

Level 2

Ariane Caps Pattern System Level 2

Prerequisites for this level

  • This group will start from Chapter 3.  
  • Basic theory knowledge and the technical ability to play a major scale may join. 
  • If you have done a prior group, feel free to join again for review. 

How is this different to the ongoing Rapid Results Practice in the Membership?

Intensity and Time Commitment 
Ongoing Rapid Results Practice sessions are more low key than 10-week practice groups.
Each session stands on its own, whereas with Practice Groups, Week 1 builds on Week 2 and so forth.

Homework and Practicing on Your Own
Ongoing Rapid Results Practice Sessions only require you to show up, bass in hand, and practice along.
In Practice Groups, homework and assignments are given each week, so you will want to spend some time in between sessions to practice and prepare.  

Focus
Practice Groups are perfect for anyone desiring to go deeper into a specific topic and its applications.
Rapid Results Practice is perfect for anyone between courses or other Practice Groups and for anyone who is not sure how to practice effectively to begin with. The focus is broad.   

Notice: Our membership is currently closed to new members. We are full. 
To get on the waitlist for membership click here.


Why this "Pattern System" to learn the bass fretboard?

The Pattern System helps you to master the fretboard at a level you likely never ever thought possible. This complete knowledge of the fretboard is a means to a much more important end – this end goal being training the musical mind.  

Training the musical mind means being able to think ahead. Rather than chasing the notes, letting ideas and inspiration come to you ahead of time. Training the musical mind enables you to tell stories, create musical bass lines, create fitting fills and transitions. 

To explore one’s own musicality is the ultimate thrill – total fretboard proficiency, good technique, and understanding of tonal relationships are the ingredients you need to start creating freely. The first step is to learn the bass fretboard extremely well.

To achieve this level of competency and master the fretboard does not happen overnight – the method is neither casual nor a weekend project, however… anyone can learn this. I have taught this Pattern System method to hobbyists and pros alike with amazing results. You need to know the basics of music theory (scales – including pentatonics and modes, key signatures, intervals, triads and four-note chords) and have some basic technique (playing scales, triads). The rest is focus, a bit of patience and an open mind!

The Book

The book The Pattern System for The Bass Player – Sharpen Your Musical Mind Through Fretboard Proficiency, Improvisation, and Mental Practice – comes with 111 videos and is a stand-alone method. If you would like personal guidance from Ari as you read it and to learn in community, join the live classes!

I have been teaching this powerful Pattern System for decades. With the book published, I started teaching it in small groups and discovered that the group dynamic actually much accelerated learning.

The groups go through the Blueprint For Practice Sections in the Book (and beyond). Improvisation and Mental Practice being the hallmarks of this method, in addition to the patterns themselves, the learning curves are monumental. There is absolutely no faster, deeper and more focused way to master the fretboard than this. I have learned over the years what common sticking points are (see the FAQ sections in the book) and keeping things grounded with improvisation drills makes it all applicable and practical.

What will the Pattern System do for me?

  • It will help you learn the bass fretboard.
  • You will know exactly where every note is. You will be able to name it in an instant and you know how it relates to the root.
  • Common chord progressions (as we practice them in the later chapters) will become second nature.
  • You will be able to play confidently all over the neck in any key.
  • Mental practice is a powerful learning ally that turbocharges your practice outcomes.
  • Your technique will soar as you do scalar studies, interval drills, and more.
  • It fosters creativity by offering a unique angle on improvisation and the use of these shapes in grooves, fills, and improvisations.
  • It teaches you how to become your own highly effective practice coach.
  • It helps you use the metronome to make sure you are not making unconscious thinking pauses.
  • Most importantly, it teaches you to be able to think ahead while playing. This helps you relax into the moment and invites the flow.

How much practicing do I need to do?

  • You will meet online once a week (3x/month) with Ari and the group. 
  • A concise Homework guide tells you exactly what to practice and how! Most exciting, it turns you into a master-practicer so your efficiency soars!
  • Reserve 45 minutes five times a week for the Pattern System and you will do very well!

Is this Pattern System live class for me?

Are you interested in deeply improving, the fastest way possible? Do you want to learn the bass fretboard deeply and completely and train your musical mind? Then yes.

Prerequisites are basic playing technique and foundational music theory knowledge.

This is an in-depth study and not a weekend affair, but anyone can learn this. And if you go for it and follow along, it will transform your practicing and your playing!

You will need the book for this Group.

Which Pattern System Level is right for me?

Even as an advanced player you will want to sign up for Level 1 as it is Level 1 in the method.  
Starting at Level 1 is a prerequisite unless you have taken private one-on-ones with Ari or prior groups before. Email us through the contact tab if you think you qualify because you have read the first three chapters and done the drills.  

You can always repeat a level as well. Many students do this as there is a lot of material that gets covered and many appreciate being able to go over it again. 

Each Level moves at its own pace and each group turns out a little differently, as I am always watching the students very carefully. 

Levels become tightly knit communities who support each other strongly. We often talk about struggles on the path, how to deal with self doubt and other challenges. 

I am always amazed at the level of support, encouragement and understanding attendees give each other. As friends on the path and from the view point of fellow learners, they often have much to add to help each other. 

Levels do not move consecutively. Once you finished Levels 1 and 2, you can jump into any higher level. This is because we work on applications of the patterns, creativity, mental practice and musicality (in addition to more Pattern Practice). 

Level 6

For those who have completed all previous levels 1-5 may join.

  • This is an exciting place to be – you understood the basics of this system. The fretboard is becoming more and more yours. You appreciate how much it takes to really be able to have all chords and scales available at your finger tips. And you are getting closer and closer now!

    Plenty of combinations of scalar drills, connection exercises and diagonal drills remain – we will continue on the familiar path we are on! And, there is also reason to celebrate: you are now able to use all this hard-earned fretboard gold and put it to musical use.  

    In these levels we focus on musicality, expression and leading yourself and others through a meaningful musical experience!

    • Making friends with the thought that you (yes, you!) have a musical story to tell
    • How to find your story (we start simple and small!)
    • how to overcome internal voices of self doubt and sabotage and how to find what you “have to say” 
    • Explorations on how to express your musicality using words, focus exercises and stories
    • Thematic development
    • How to become an effective performer and guide the audience experience energetically
    • How to comp effectively for soloists
    • Creativity sparks – rhythmic, theory, sounds, scale degrees, intervals – and weaving them into coherent story lines
    …and much, much more, not the least of which is to master the fretboard. 
     
  • Watch for New Groups! Starting Soon!
  • One-time tuition $370.00
  • Two Installments $195.00

Level 2

Join Level 1 after Level 2.
Qualified students may join if you have read most of the book or have had prior lessons with Ari.

  • Continued practice in the Open Area and Area 1
  • Area 2 (new place, same shapes!)
  • Cheater Beats and Skippy
  • Mandalas and Zones
  • Typical practicing challenges
  • Scalar Studies:  interval studies, now also descending and up and mixed motion
  • Improv using various new concepts
    • The story about the Donut
    • Common tones in Major Third progressions
    • Contrasting tones in major third progressions
  • Zones of Learning and Success Strategies
  • Why the Patterns are NOT the modes
  • Connection Exercises! – The gold standard!
Ariane Cap Pattern System Level 2
  • Saturdays at 1:00PM Pacific/4:00 PM Eastern Starting soon
  • One-time Tuition $370.00
  • Two Installments $195.00

Level 3

  • Diatonic Triads and Four-Note-Chords (just 5 shapes each covers all!)
  • Continued Area and Pattern Drills, Areas Open, 1, 2, 3, 4
  • Thinking ahead!
  • Connection Exercises with triads 
  • The diatonic cycle – why it is the ultimate shortcut
  • Improvised Explorations:
    • modes
    • becoming familiar with emotional effects of notes 
    • improvising inside a key (common chords)
    • no longer chasing the notes, but pre-hearing them
  • Diagonal playing and connecting patterns up the neck
  • Drills on individual strings
  • Pentatonics (just 5 shapes covers all!) 
  • Be your own coach using this system!
  • Watch for next Class here Starting soon
  • One-time Tuition $370.00
  • Two Installments $195.00
  • Fridays at 11:00 AM Starting Soon
  • One-time Tuition $370.00
  • Two Installments $195.00

How Live Classes Work

    • Welcome to Ten Week Live Classes with a small group of peers LIVE on zoom with Ari

        • 10 meetings, spread apart with time to practice in between!  
        • Specific practice assignments clearly described. 
        • Each Live Class gets recorded and stays available to the attendees for the duration of the class plus an additional ten weeks afterwards.
        • These classes are highly interactive – practice together with me and only hear yourself as everyone is on mute!  
        • We offer many opportunities to play in front of the group to those who would like to do so. While it is always your choice, we always encourage you to volunteer to demonstrate an exercise or present your homework assignment.
        • You can post written homework to our discussion boards.
        • Our success rate for these groups has been exceptionally high. This is because the group format takes the pressure off and you learn while seeing others work toward the same goal. You are among friends and your teacher is personally coaching you using a streamlined program.  
        • The sense of community, encouragement and support is amazing. No judging; no competition. Just a great learning environment with everyone pulling for each other!
        • All you need is an internet connection, a microphone, and a webcam (many computers have these built in already).  

Calendar

    • Look for the Pattern System Level 2 Classes marked with 📙