In the video lesson below, music legend Nathan East demonstrates how to play bass guitar with feel.

As a master instructor of bass guitar lessons here at ArtistWorks — and one of the most sought-after bass players in the history of music — East certainly knows a thing or two about the topic. A quintessential studio pro, he has played on 2,000+ recordings, including everyone from Eric Clapton to Daft Punk and Michael Jackson to Stevie Wonder. “I don’t care how many notes you know,” he says. “If you don’t ‘feel good’ to play with, all of that is not going to make any difference at all.”

Feel is an essential part of music, but can be a topic that is difficult to explain. Luckily, East has some techniques for developing your feel using a simple shuffle, while employing long and short notes, octaves, and walking lines. Add these pointers to your bag of tricks, and you’ll be playing more expressively in no time. 

Ready to continue online bass lessons with Nathan? Try out free sample lessons here.