Frequently Asked Questions

Hey Norm,

What is it that I'm supposed to be learning or listening for when practicing my scales and learning basslines? It has to be more than just learning the bassline and bassline only.

Also, can you explain how to setup an effective practice schedule? Like what to practice and how long, PLEASE!!!!!!!!! I will call myself a few steps above Beginner.

K.K. 

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Hey K.K.-

Absolutely! It's a matter of learning/assimilating the musical concepts behind those scales and bass lines, so that you can come up with your own original ideas using them.

My best suggestion is for you to find a good local teacher (who teaches music, vs. "ok....now play THIS lick..."). Otherwise, check out my Art Of Groove Academy’s online lessons and/or Grooving for Heaven DVDs. Either should give you lots of material to work on and should help "connect the dots".

As far as a practice schedule goes, it's obviously difficult for me to fully assess the OPTIMAL balance of time for your specific needs, but here's a general recommendation:

Warm Up (at least 3 min's)
Reading & Theory (30%)
Technique (30%)
Working on Time/Groove/Feel (30%)
End with something fun (10%)

The proportions are basic guidelines that can be adapted for the amount of time your schedule will allow. Additionally, sometimes there will be more of one thing and less of another. The key is to practice every day. 4 hours every other Saturday won't result in consistent progress.

As an overall objective, I definitely recommend listening to a broad range of musical styles, and developing a broad vocabulary of grooves (see Vol's 2 and 3 of the Grooving DVDs for much more on this).

Also, try to focus no less than 50% of your time on areas that are difficult for you. Woodshedding stuff that you already do well isn't nearly as productive as consistent repetition on musical areas that kick your tail. It's not quite as much fun...but your musical development will definitely reflect your hard work. N

Hi Norm,

I understand how to apply the modes of the scale in a chord progression, however when the chorus falls outside the scale of the key the song is written in (e.g., the song is in D and the chorus is in F), what mode of F do I apply here when Phrygian is an F#?

Thanks for your help, Eddie

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Hey Eddie- 

Great question! There are lots of occasions when an arranger or composer will deviate from diatonic harmony to achieve a particular musical result. In those cases, you want to evaluate whether or not the deviation is an isolated thing, or if in fact the tune has (perhaps even for just a bar or two) modulated to another key.

To address your specific example, it would be helpful to evaluate it in the context of the overall piece...but if the chorus has in fact modulated to F, then I'd say F Ionian would work for an F chord.

Use your ears and your knowledge of the modes/diatonic harmony to fill in the blanks and/or illuminate areas of harmonic ambiguity. Happy woodshedding! N

[Modes are covered in Grooving Vol. 2 DVD, as well as Level 1 of 60-Lesson Groove Course in Art Of Groove Academy (under “Learn” on nav bar).]

Norm,

If I was going to purchase one CD from each general style of music, what CDs would you recommend for each style (specifically with solid bass parts that well represent that style)? Thanks and have a great day.

Brice

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Hey Brice-

I unfortunately don’t have a comprehensive list for all general styles as you mentioned, but the following are a few projects off the top of my head that I feel are extremely musical examples from their respective genres (or subgenres). You can use these as a springboard for your own explorations!

Rock:
Coldplay, X & Y
Rush, Permanent Waves
King’s X, Faith Hope Love

Funk:
Tower of Power, Tower of Power
Marcus Miller, The Sun Don’t Lie
James Brown: 40th Anniversary Collection

Jazz:
Miles Davis, Kind of Blue
John Coltrane, A Love Supreme

Latin:
Anything by Paquito D'Rivera, Tito Puente, etc.

Reggae:
Anything by Bob Marley (obviously!)

African:
Jean Luc Ponty, Tchokola
Etienne Mbappe, Misiya
Paul Simon, Graceland

General:
Anything by The Beatles, Jonatha Brooke, Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, Radiohead, Nickel Creek, Richard Bona, Imogen Heap, Snarky Puppy, Oz Noy, Harry Connick, Jr., etc., etc.

Bass Player magazine has done a number of such lists that are much more thorough, and I encourage you to check them out.  N

Basses:

MTD Norm Stockton Artist Edition Fretted 5-string (prototype #3)

MTD Norm Stockton Artist Edition Fretted 4-string (#1)

MTD 535 Fretted 5-string (#252)

MTD 535-24 Fretted 5-string (#900)

MTD 735 Fretted 7-string (#552)

MTD Saratoga P Fretted 4-string (#3340)

MTD J5 (prototype #2)

MTD J4 (prototype #1)

Kala U-Bass with L.R. Baggs electronics

Miscellaneous other basses for session work, etc.

Amplifiers/Speaker Cabinets:

Gallien-Krueger MB212 combo amp

Gallien-Krueger 1001RB amp

Gallien-Krueger Neo 212 cabinet

Gallien-Krueger Neo 112 cabinet

Gallien-Krueger Neo 115 cabinet

Strings:
Dunlop Super Bright Stainless Steel Roundwound Strings with tapered B: 45-65-85-105-125T (occasionally the 130T)

Cables:
Norm Stockton Signature Cable by Revelation Cable Company

IEMs:
64 Audio in-ear monitors (A18s)

Miscellaneous:
Gruv Gear FretWraps, Solo Straps and AMG500 cart
A-Designs REDDI Tube Direct Box
BackBeat (portable, wearable sub-woofer)
Essential Sound Products power cable

Effects:
A constantly-rotating selection of pedals from Aguilar, Earthquaker Devices, Matthews Effects, Red Witch, Amptweaker, and Malekko.

Studio:
My home studio is based around a Mac Pro running Pro Tools through an Apogee Symphony (Gen. 1) audio interface. Mic pre’s include API A2D, Audient ASP 880, ASP 800, and Focusrite Clarett OctoPre.

Please visit Gear page (under “Ponderings”) for further info.

For maximum value & great quality, I'd recommend any of the MTD Kingston series basses and a GK MB115 combo amp. I haven't found anything I prefer for the money. 

It’s called a slap ramp.

Long story shorter: I have skinny fingers and was finding that when employing the slap technique, if there’s too much room between the string and the top of the bass, my “popping” fingers (index or middle—the ones I use for the upstroke) would occasionally get stuck and mess with my time.

The slap ramp reduces that distance so I can only get a bit of my fingers underneath the string, which I find SUPER helpful.

The ones on my basses vary but are a little over 1/8" thick. If you’re considering one for your bass, experiment to see what thickness is going to allow the best string-to-body distance for your fingers.

With the exception of the slap ramps on the MTD NS signature basses (which were built by MTD), my others were all built by John DiMaggio, who used to own Bass Alone in San Diego. Sadly, John passed away several years ago.

P.S. The slap ramp on the MTD NS basses is attached using the same screw holes as the truss rod cover, so can be readily removed with no cosmetic issues should you not need it.

Hey Norm,

I play a 6-string rig. I've tried a little bit but it seems extreeeeeeeemely difficult to get the slapping thing going. Any suggestions?

Thanks- Scott 

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Hey Scott-  Nice to hear from you. The right (slapping) hand technique should be essentially the same as on other basses (possibly excepting the need for a higher degree of accuracy to avoid hitting adjacent strings, especially if the string spacing is narrow)...but the muting burden on your fretting hand is definitely a challenge.

You might find the exercises in either my Vol. 2 DVD (covers beginning-to-intermediate slapping) or Vol. 4 DVD (intermediate-to-advanced) helpful, as they focus on developing accuracy, string-skipping, consistency of attack, etc. 

Both of those are included in the Art Of Groove Academy curriculum, too (under “Learn” on nav bar).

Happy woodshedding!  N

Hi Norm,

How can I mute A and E string induced vibration while I'm playing on the D and G strings?  Sometimes when I play above the 12th fret, the low strings keep ringing which is annoying and affects my sound...and sometimes I need to bring down my speed because I have to find a way to mute them. Could you please explain to me what's the best way to get rid of this snag.

Thanks!  Aaron 

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Hey Aaron-  I recommend shifting your right thumb to the E string when plucking notes on the D string, then shifting it to the A string (with the side of the thumb resting against the E string) when plucking notes on the G string.

More on this in my Volume 1 DVD, as well as Level 1 of the 60-Lesson Groove Course at Art Of Groove Academy (under “Learn” on nav bar). N

Hi! I play the bass also, and I had a question for you. I'm looking at doing some fill in work for any bands that need me. What would I need to do? I play in a band now and our lead singer got married recently and we are still playing but not as often so i wanted to do some studio work or tour for a lil while. Thank you for giving me your time.

Mark

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Hey Mark-

My best suggestions (in no particular order of importance) are make sure your gear works well, make sure you have a broad range of musical styles that you can cover convincingly, work on your reading, spend time daily working with a metronome, and be a very low-maintenance and fun hang on the gig. Be professional, humble and complimentary (but genuine - find anything being done well, and say something kind about that!) to the rest of the band. Play simply, solidly, with great feel, and only do your "cool guy" licks in appropriate spots once or twice during the entire evening (that shows restraint, respect for the music, and tastefulness). Call and thank the bandleader the day after you sub, and let them know you'd love to be on his list of bass subs. Word of mouth will get your name around if all of the above is happening. Hope that helps! N

While some of the content is available in either format, the majority is streaming or otherwise accessed online.

Buying a course provides you lifetime access to that content online. However, the only instructional content that can be purchased for permanent download to your hard drive is the 4 volumes of Grooving for Heaven.cription text goes here

It really does depend upon what material you’re interested in.

Subscribing is definitely the best deal, as it allows access to the entire library of clips—with new content being added regularly!—as well as content that is exclusive to subscribers (the 60-Lesson Groove Course, Real World Perspectives, Typhoon Sessions).

If you are solely interested in the Grooving for Heaven videos, purchasing will allow a permanent download to your hard drive.

You’re welcome to purchase most individual courses, or subscribe to the entire catalog.

Buying individual courses ranges from $5 - $24 per course.

Subscribing for $9.99/month is the best value, providing unlimited streaming access to the entire expanding catalog including:

— Song tutorials from Norm Stockton’s Pondering the Sushi, Tea In The Typhoon & Grooves & Sushi projects
— Song tutorials from Lincoln Brewster
— Grooving for Heaven instructional programs (4 volumes)
— 60-lesson Groove Course *
— Real World Perspectives *
— Typhoon Sessions *
— Ad Free *

* - Available only to subscribers!

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Just click here for the free 7-day trial, after which you’ll continue to receive unlimited access for just $9.99 per month!

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Absolutely! Our streaming player automatically detects the platform and connection speed and streams the optimal format for you. If your connection speed accommodates it, the video will stream in HD quality.

The "Groove Bassics" series is the perfect place to start; it's a crash course for new bassists & gets you playing actual bass grooves in no time!

Upon completion of Groove Bassics, you'll be ready to dive into Level 1 of the Groove Course and/or Grooving for Heaven, Vol. 1. Additionally, many of the Lincoln Brewster tunes (especially Majestic, Love the Lord or Today Is The Day) are very well-suited for beginners.

There’s certainly plenty of material on the site targeted toward more experienced players (particularly in the “Norm Stockton Tunes” section), but you might even find it fun and inspiring to mix in a bit of that stuff while working on the foundational coursework, too.

Otherwise, the vast majority of material on the site is categorized as “All Levels”, so feel free to jump in and explore!

Absolutely!

The vast majority of Norm's instructional DVDs and teaching curriculum produced since 1999 have been on the 5-string (not just because he plays one, but it also splits the difference between the 4 and the consistently popular 6). A substantial portion of the many thousands of videos we've sold over the years have been to 4-string players, and we've received fewer than 5 complaints.

Norm spends time in many of his examples explaining how to adapt the exercise to a 4-string (usually simply by ignoring his low B string and picturing his bass just like yours). We're confident you'll be able to quickly adapt.

Great question! Much of the core material between the DVDs and online Groove Course is similar, with the following notable exceptions:

** The Modes and their application are covered in considerably more detail in the Level 1 Groove Course;

** A quick (but fairly intensive) tutorial in navigating a basic rhythm chart is also included in the Level 1 course;

** Musical Styles are covered much more comprehensively in the Level 3 course;

** Most of the audio examples from the Groove Course were produced several years after the last Grooving for Heaven production, so might sound a bit more contemporary.

The DVDs remain a great resource (almost 7 hours of material) with Norm demonstrating the various concepts, exercises and examples. The format is obviously very visual (much more so than the 60-lesson Groove Course), with lots of close-up fingerboard shots, etc.

It largely boils down to your learning style. The great news is that as a subscriber, you have access to it all!

While we make every reasonable effort to double- and triple-check things, it’s still possible that something might slip through (or get corrupted somewhere down the road).

Should you encounter a problem or otherwise notice something needing our attention, we would be grateful if you could take a moment to contact us (see link at top) with any specifics.

Thanks for your assistance and understanding!

In my defense, they were in style when that shoot took place back in 1998! :^)