Learn African Bass with Edd Bateman
Get ready to improve your groove. Over four days, unlock the essence of African bass styles by learning the Congolese sebene – rich, rhythmic, and deeply rooted in tradition. Your journey begins with four daily, immersive video lessons delivered straight to your inbox.
Your Curriculum
Day 1: Soukous and Sebene Rhythms
Day 2: Building Your First Sebene Bassline
Day 3: Adding Variations
Day 4: Playing in a Live Context
Why Learn African Bass?
In African music, the bass guitar is the heartbeat of the rhythm. Unlike Western pop and rock, where the bass often goes unnoticed, African basslines are the driving force of the music, setting the groove and keeping the energy alive.
Sebene basslines, rooted in Congolese music, are vibrant, melodic, and essential for creating the high-energy soukous rhythms that dominate dancefloors across Africa. Learning African bass will not only transform your playing but also immerse you in a tradition that blends ancient percussion with modern orchestral power.
- Day 1: Soukous and Sebene Rhythms – Learn the history of Congolese music and see traditional cavacha and sebene bass grooves in action
- Day 2: Building Your First Sebene Bassline – Master the 1-5-4-5 chord progression and develop the unique Congolese thumb technique.
- Day 3: Adding Variations – Discover the formulas for melodic variations, octave inversions, triplets, slides, and reharmonization to elevate your grooves.
- Day 4: Playing in a Live Context – Put everything together by experimenting with your own lines to a backing track and watching a full demonstration.
Learn the techniques behind sebene and soukous basslines and elevate your playing with Edd Bateman.
Add a New Dimension to Your Bass Playing
Sign up now and receive four free lessons, each unlocking a new layer of African bass mastery.