On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, we will discuss "Best Lists". You see them all over the internet and they can lead to some heated debates. The truth here, is they are all opinions, not necessarily facts. My favorite quote is from Dave Weckl. He was performing at the Yamaha room at NAMM a few years ago. He was introduced as the best drunmer according to something. Right after his intro, he stopped and said, "....stop it, I hate tho

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, we will discuss the concept of "Ur Not Alone". Too often I hear from players that they feel they are so behind in their ability or they started so late to learn or they seem like the only person struggling with one or more aspects of their playing. To this, I always reply..ABSOLUTLEY NOT. Everyone has these feelings. Everyone feels they are behind, started late (in some respect) or feels they are t

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, I will continue the series on "The Woodshed". A caveat here. What I will cover is based on my experience as a student, performer and educator. Everything is open to discussion. This week we talk "Why We Study ". This becomes quite a dilemma to some. I usually get.."I'm playing fine.."..."...what will this do for me in my band..."..."...I don't want someone yelling at me, telling me I'm doing everyth

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, I will continue the series on "The Woodshed". A caveat here. What I will cover is based on my experience as a student, performer and educator. Everything is open to discussion. This week, "Soloing ". Now first, I want to distinguish between a solo and a "bass break". Both are fun and useful skills, but are very different, IMO. A bass break is an embellishment of an existing bassline. Ur still part

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, I will continue the series on "The Woodshed". A caveat here. What I will cover is based on my experience as a student, performer and educator. Everything is open to discussion. This week, "Extended Techniques ". What I mean here are things like slapping, tapping, double thumbing, pick if u play fingers (and visa versa)...anything beyond what u normally play, but want to incorporate into ur playing.

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, I will continue the series on "The Woodshed". A caveat here. What I will cover is based on my experience as a student, performer and educator. Everything is open to discussion. This week, bassline construction/melody structure/voice leading. That's a mouthful, but I will explain. When constructing a bassline, the key IMO is to think NOTES, not riffs or licks, thereby constructing a line that fits t

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, I will continue the series on "The Woodshed". A caveat here. What I will cover is based on my experience as a student, performer and educator. Everything is open to discussion. This week, "Ear Training". Yeah, I know u have a great ear and can follow anyone on stage...yes, that is an amazing skill and is important. But, I'm talking about going further. The goal here is to develop a dynamic pathway f

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, I will continue the series on "The Woodshed". A caveat here. What I will cover is based on my experience as a student, performer and educator. Everything is open to discussion. This week, "Arpeggios, Pentatonics, Scales, etc.". Now, this where we begin the basics of bassline construction. The key here is to think NOTES! IMO, there is no magic pill, no system, no color charts, no poster that can trul

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, I will continue the series on "The Woodshed". A caveat here. What I will cover is based on my experience as a student, performer and educator. Everything is open to discussion. This week "Time". Now, I know what some will say, "I can follow a drummer just fine! I have natural time..." TBH, we all have some natural time, and all "natural" talents have a limit and can be improved upon. Before I go any

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, I will continue the series on "The Woodshed". A caveat here. What I will cover is based on my experience as a student, performer and educator. Everything is open to discussion. This week "Reading Music". First, I want to address a comment I hear whenever I cover this topic. "Reading music!?!? I'm not going to music school...". Fair enough, but would u say that in other activities? If u took a cookin

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, I will continue the series on "The Woodshed". A caveat here. What I will cover is based on my experience as a student, performer and educator. Everything is open to discussion. This week, the notes on the neck. This is/has been an issue with almost every student I have taught (including myself). Partially, it is the fault of many books/methods that teach the neck 4 frets at a time. Most learn 1 thru

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, I will revisit a series I did several years ago on "The Woodshed". A caveat here. What I will cover is based on my experience as a student, performer and educator. Everything is open to discussion. Ok, Part I: Technique and posture. First, posture. This is something many times overlooked by players and by doing so, can lead to some serious problems. Good playing posture, where ur balanced and rela

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, I will continue the series on "The Woodshed". A caveat here. What I will cover is based on my experience as a student, performer and educator. Everything is open to discussion. This week, the notes on the neck. This is/has been an issue with almost every student I have taught (including myself). Partially, it is the fault of many books/methods that teach the neck 4 frets at a time. Most learn 1 thru

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, I will revisit a series I did several years ago on "The Woodshed". A caveat here. What I will cover is based on my experience as a student, performer and educator. Everything is open to discussion. Ok, Part I: Technique and posture. First, posture. This is something many times overlooked by players and by doing so, can lead to some serious problems. Good playing posture, where ur balanced and rela

As always, I invite your insights. #yamahamusicusa #makewaves #pirastro #glasserny #laklandbasses #sitstrings #tsunamicables #philjonesbass #uptonbassstringinstrumentcompany #basslessons #remotelessons #www.charleysabatino.com.

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, we discuss, "Thinking Outside the Box". We all have comfort zones. The genres, styles, riffs, licks we go to again and again. The problem is, staying there can make us stale...and we can get bored. Leaving our comfort zone(s) can be terrifying, but IMO it can lead to some incredible results and improvements in ur playing. As usual, how? This is where "thinking outside the box" comes in. Think about

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, we discuss, "Focus". I remember talking to horn players that were in high school band.They would tell me that their playing would kinda stagnate all school year long, then improve significantly after band camp. Why? Well, it is a solid week if intense focus with no distractions. Now, we as adults cannot do that. We have other obligations. BUT...we can do it in small "bursts" which can still yield re

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, we discuss "clones". I'm not referring to Star Wars or abominations of nature happening in secret labs underneath castles. I'm also not talking about playing situations that REQUIRE this (shows, tribute bands, etc.). I'm talking about players copying other players out of "idol worship". We have all seen it live and on social media. Players playing their hero's transcriptions note for note. Using the

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday we discuss how we define ourselves as artists. More specifically, do we define ourselves by our playing situation? Genre? Level of participation? Gear? Other's opinions? The reason I ask is...what happens if one or more of those things change? Are u done? Do u start over? This is a very important thought process. I have seen it with countles students. IMO, NOTHING other than u defines u. Ur goals, de

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, we talk "Fitness". Mental and physical fitness. Now, I'm not talking about being a gym rat or getting all crystal-ly (unless u want to, of course). I'm talking about understanding that creativity is best produced when the "producer" is at ease, healthy and stable. So, let's start with mental fitness. Of course, I'm not going to cover those issues thay require medical assistance. Those are beyond thi