Thunderstruck: Shedding a song Talking-Technique Style

by Ari 13 Apr 2018 1 minute read

Thunderstruck Technique!

Sure, learning songs is very important; at the same time, I am a big proponent of technique drills on the bass. But why not combine both worlds for a nice double whammy?

That’s what this episode of Talking Technique is about. Get ready to be thunderstruck talking-technique style, because AC/DC inspired a pretty drastic drill here!

AC/DC’s Thunderstruck opening riff becomes the focus here. And since I got so many questions and comments about that: no, it is not a hammer on/pull off situation. Many people make it that to make it easier to play. But if you listen to the record, Angus plucks every note.

To make it work on the bass, we have to change the key to make the necessary open strings available. So, if you want to try this in unison with your guitar player at band rehearsal, make sure to give em a heads up!

Enjoy!

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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.

 

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