Method courses for electric and upright bass. Built by working New York musicians.
Russell Hall · Wynton Marsalis · Roy Hargrove
Russell Hall on the art of bass. A solo course plus the Groove Clinic Replay as a bonus.
Cole Davis · Juilliard
5 lessons on upright. The 1-3-5-7 method — the same process Ron Carter taught Cole at Juilliard.
Cole founded the school and teaches most of the catalog. For courses outside his lane — pocket and groove, the Broadway scene, the lineage of swing — he brings in guest instructors who actually live and work in those rooms.
Juilliard Artist Diploma · First-call NYC
Founded Better Bass Lessons. Plays thousands of gigs a year across electric and upright. Built the chiseling method after a decade of teaching private students how to actually solo — without scales, modes, or transcriptions they'd quit on.
Wynton Marsalis · Roy Hargrove · Barry Harris
NYC bassist on Wynton Marsalis's working group, the Roy Hargrove Big Band, and Barry Harris's trio. Plays Jazz at Lincoln Center on rotation. Teaches The Essential Groove.
Brand New Heavies · Supremes · JALC
Electric bassist who has performed with The Brand New Heavies, The Supremes, and at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Teaches The Diagonal Method.
Smalls · Smoke · US + Europe
Decade-plus of club dates at Smalls, Smoke, and venues across the US and Europe. Studies rooted in the lineage of Paul Chambers, Sam Jones, George Mraz, Ron Carter. Teaches From Two to Four.
Taylor Swift · Doja Cat · Lizzo · Broadway
NYC bassist and music director. Tours with Taylor Swift, Doja Cat, Lizzo, and Leon Bridges. Plays Broadway eight shows a week in Aladdin and Hadestown. Teaches The Five-Feel Groove System.
Each is a sequenced method built around a single mechanism. Lessons that stack. Materials made for the bandstand. Finish one and you change as a player.
$37
Cole Davis · Juilliard
An 11-lesson, 7-day method. The right-notes / wrong-notes system for walking through ii-V-Is, stepwise tunes, and static modal chords on electric bass.
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$57
Paul "Papa Bear" Johnson · Taylor Swift · Broadway
16 lessons on beat placement, pocket, and feel — taught by a Broadway / Taylor Swift bassist. Five feels you can move between on command. Works in any genre.
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$67
Cole Davis · Juilliard
A 5-lesson chiseling method — from "I can walk a line" to "I can solo through changes." No scales, no modes, no bebop licks you can't use.
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$97
Cole Davis · Juilliard
The same 5-move chiseling method, demonstrated on upright. Same hands. Same harmony. Different instrument.
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$57
Anthony Muthurajah · Brand New Heavies · Supremes
~2.5-hour video method. Solo across the strings and the fretboard. Rudiments → guide tones → three-note cells → rhythm.
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$77
Alex Claffy · Smalls · Smoke
8-section live masterclass filmed with pianist Victor Gould and drummer Joe Strasser. How to walk, groove, and lead a real rhythm section.
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$77
Russell Hall · Wynton Marsalis · Roy Hargrove
Russell Hall on the art of bass. A solo course on sound, idiom, and lineage — plus the Groove Clinic Replay (with Cole Davis) as a bonus.
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$97
Cole Davis · Juilliard
A 5-lesson method on upright. The 1-3-5-7 — the foundational walking method Ron Carter taught Cole at Juilliard.
View course →Note-for-note transcriptions of the bass parts that shaped the music — electric and upright, every era. Free to study. New ones added as we write them.
Every BBL course is a one-time purchase with lifetime access — no subscription, no auto-renewal, free updates included. Every course is also covered by a money-back guarantee (most are 7 days; The Five-Feel Groove System is 60). Try one. If it doesn't change how you play, email support and we'll refund you in full.
See what we publishBetter Bass Lessons is a method jazz bass school for adult bassists. Founded by Cole Davis (Juilliard Artist Diploma), the school publishes sequenced video methods built around how the music actually gets played on the bandstand — with Cole teaching most of the catalog and guest instructors brought in for courses outside his lane.
Adult bassists who already play — and want to play better. If you can hold time and read a basic chord chart, BBL is built for you. Some courses meet you at advanced-beginner; others sit at intermediate-and-up. Across all of them, the assumption is that you're an adult, you've put hours on the instrument, and you want to be taught like one.
Founded and primarily taught by Cole Davis (Juilliard Artist Diploma · first-call NYC). Individual courses outside his lane are taught by guest instructors — all working New York bassists — including Russell Hall (Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton, Barry Harris), Anthony Muthurajah (Brand New Heavies, The Supremes, Jazz at Lincoln Center), Alex Claffy (Smalls, Smoke, US + Europe), and Paul "Papa Bear" Johnson (Taylor Swift, Doja Cat, Lizzo, Broadway: Aladdin & Hadestown).
Every BBL course is built around one mechanism — a single way the music works on bass — and sequenced so the lessons stack. You're not browsing topics; you're working through a method. Finish one and you change as a player. Most courses pair the video lessons with PDF reference materials, backing tracks, and put-it-to-practice demos.
YouTube gives you topics. Most "courses" online give you a content library. BBL gives you a sequence built on one mechanism, taught by a musician currently on stages and in studios. The materials are bandstand-ready. The pedagogy assumes you're an adult who already plays — no twelve-week beginner ramp, no padding.
Courses range from $37 to $97. Each is a one-time payment with lifetime access — no subscription, no auto-renewal, free updates included. Every course is covered by a money-back guarantee (most are 7 days; The Five-Feel Groove System is 60). Both electric and upright are represented in the catalog.
The catalog is growing. New methods, new instructors, and live formats are in development. The fastest way to hear about them is from inside the school — start with any course, or watch this space.
The school
Eight method courses. Founded by Cole Davis, taught with the best of New York. A school built around how the music actually gets played. More coming.
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