Category: Tips

This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide. In this article, he breaks down a chord symbol that confuses a lot of newer jazz players: the half-diminished “ø.”

This one’s aimed at jazz beginners or anyone who’s just started studying music theory.

One of the most common questions I get in lessons is about this symbol:

This chord — the circle with a diagonal slash through it — is read as “A minor seven flat five.”

The name’s a mouthful, but it’s also just shorthand for “Am7(♭5).”

What Is a Minor Seven Flat Five?

A minor seven flat five chord is defined by one thing: the 5th of the minor seven chord is flattened.

For example, the chord tones (root, 3rd, 5th, 7th) of Am7 are:

A (root)
C (minor 3rd)
E (5th)
G (minor 7th)

But for Am7(♭5), the chord tones are:

A (root)
C (minor 3rd)
E♭ (diminished 5th)
G (minor 7th)

So the 5th — E versus E♭ — is the difference.

This means if you want to build an eighth-note walking bass line over Am7(♭5) that uses the 5th, you need to move like this:

and not this:

Where Half-Diminished Chords Show Up in Jazz

This part gets a little more theoretical, and some unfamiliar terms may come up, but bear with me.

A very common jazz progression is the “ii-V-I”:

Bm7 → E7 → A△7

That final chord, A△7, functions as the “tonic” — the chord that creates a sense of resolution and stability.

Sometimes, depending on the tune, the tonic ends up being a minor chord instead:

Bm7 → E7 → Am7

In this case, to make the harmonic motion flow more smoothly, it’s common to flatten the 5th of that first minor chord, Bm7:

Bm7♭5 → E7 → Am7

This creates a more atmospheric, evocative minor sound, and it’s exactly the progression used in the jazz standard “Summertime,” by George Gershwin.

Theory like this clicks a lot faster when someone can point out exactly where it shows up in a tune you’re already working on — which is exactly what a teacher is for.

Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?

This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.

At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.

Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.

Check Out the Lesson Service →

This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide. In this article, he shares a classic bassist problem he learned about from a professional repair tech.

I recently filmed a video with a repair tech who specializes in guitar and bass repairs. We talked about all kinds of instrument adjustments and issues, and one story in particular felt like a true “every bassist has been there” moment, so I wanted to share it.

A Classic Bassist Problem

Here it is: your bass won’t make a sound at home, but the moment you bring it to the shop, it works completely fine.

Sound familiar? I’ve definitely been there myself.

You’re at home thinking “wait… it’s not making any sound… is it broken?!” and you work up the nerve to take it to the shop — and right in front of the repair tech, it just plays normally, no problem. Classic.

When that happens, the shop can’t pin down the cause either, and you both end up walking away a little confused. A complete waste of time.

The Fix (Straight From a Repair Tech)

The moment the sound cuts out, it’s best to record:

• The condition of the bass itself
• Which amp or interface you were using
• Which cable
• The order everything was connected in
• Your computer/gear settings screen
• What the “no sound” actually looks like as it happens

on video. Apparently that’s the best approach.

Having that kind of evidence makes it a lot easier for the shop to figure out “ah, so that’s what was happening at the time.” It really is about a hundred times faster than trying to explain it in words.

This was just one small piece of the conversation — we covered a lot of other genuinely useful ground too. Worth watching the full interview if you’re curious.

Tracking down a gear mystery like this on your own is frustrating — but it’s exactly the same instinct that makes a teacher useful for tracking down what’s going on in your playing, too.

Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?

This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.

At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.

Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.

Check Out the Lesson Service →

This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide. In this article, he explains why slash chords exist in the first place — and what they actually do for your bass line.

Let’s talk about why slash chords even exist.

A slash chord is something like “C/E” — a chord with a slash in it. It means “play a C chord, but make the lowest note an E.”

So why bother with that? The biggest reason is to make the bass motion smoother.

Say the progression is “C → G.” The bass note jumps a full 5th, from C up to G. Depending on the song, that big a leap can sound a little abrupt — like there’s a hard cut in the line.

If you insert C/E in between, so it becomes “C → C/E → G,” the bass note instead climbs in 3rds — C, then E, then G — which flows a lot more smoothly.

The difference is bigger than it sounds: jumping straight from C to G gives you a strong, punchy sound, while climbing through C → E → G feels natural and beautiful. This is especially noticeable on ballads and slower, more atmospheric tunes — just adding that C/E in the middle can make the whole progression feel far more connected.

Understanding slash chords on paper is one thing — actually hearing where to use them in your own bass lines is exactly the kind of ear-training a teacher can speed up.

Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?

This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.

At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.

Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.

Check Out the Lesson Service →

This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide. In this article, he shares a simple practice trick for playing fast phrases more cleanly.

“My fingers tangle up once a phrase gets fast” or “I hit a wall past a certain tempo” — a lot of players run into this. Here’s a practice method that can help.

Step 1: Pluck With Just the Fingertip, More Than Usual

The priority here is feeling the string “catch” on your fingertip. Plucking from the very tip of your finger means your volume drops, but a big part of why players can’t keep up with fast phrases is actually that they haven’t found this catching sensation yet.

Step 2: Once You’re Comfortable, Dig In Deeper

Once you’re comfortable controlling the note with just your fingertip, gradually bring your finger in deeper against the string, the way you normally would. As you get a feel for it, keep deepening the contact bit by bit until you can produce a strong, stable tone.

This method works equally well for both upright and electric bass. If you only ever practice by cranking the tempo up, you’ll eventually hit a wall at some point no matter what. If you’re working on a fast phrase right now, give this a try.

Fixing a finger-tangling habit like this is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to self-diagnose — a teacher watching your hand can usually spot the root cause immediately.

Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?

This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.

At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.

Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.

Check Out the Lesson Service →

This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide. In this article, he shares his take on what “optimal form” actually means.

What people usually mean by “optimal form” is the standard form shown in method books or taught by teachers. These have been refined over years by countless players through trial and error, and have stuck around because they’re “easy to play for most people” — so they’re absolutely worth trying first.

That said, in lessons I often hear things like:

“The standard form just doesn’t feel comfortable for me.”
“I can’t get a good sound out of it.”
“It doesn’t feel like it fits my body.”

My own take is: optimal form = whatever form is comfortable for you and produces a good sound.

As an extreme example, on upright bass it’s standard to use the index, middle, and ring fingers of the left hand.

But some well-known international bassists use the pinky even in low positions, taking a fingering approach closer to electric bass. That’s not the standard form — but if it lets that particular player play stably and the music holds up, I think that’s perfectly fine.

There is one important caveat, though: if a beginner decides on their own to adopt a non-standard form without real guidance, what they end up with usually isn’t “a form suited to them” — it’s much more likely to just be an incorrect form.

And once a flawed form like that sets in, it can take a very long time to correct later.

That’s why it’s worth:

– Learning the standard form first
– Actually trying it out
– Adjusting it if it doesn’t fit
– And ideally, having a professional check that judgment rather than deciding entirely on your own

Form issues especially are the kind of thing where, if you’re self-taught, a lot of time can pass without you ever realizing something’s off.

That’s exactly why, in my own lessons, I personally review students’ form and playing every day and give detailed feedback.

Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?

This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.

At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.

Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.

Check Out the Lesson Service →

This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide. In this article, he shares the one habit that separates more experienced players from the rest: accurate rests.

I review a lot of practice videos from students, and it teaches me just as much as it teaches them. There’s one thing I notice that makes me think, “this person’s good — they’ve probably had real music lessons before.”

It’s accurate rest timing.

A surprising number of players nail every eighth note and quarter note in a phrase, but then just let the last note ring out indefinitely instead of stopping it. If the notation says “half rest,” the correct performance is two full beats of actual silence.

The more advanced a player is, the more precisely they tend to respect rests and note lengths exactly as written.

I noticed this constantly back when I used to host jam sessions, too — the stronger players in the room were almost always the ones with the most accurate rests.

This is something you can improve a lot just by paying attention day to day, so if you’re self-taught, it’s well worth focusing on rest length specifically. I’m reminding myself here too — it’s easy to get sloppy about it in daily practice.

I’ve also made a basic drill video for practicing accurate rests and note lengths. Just press play and run through 7 minutes of daily basic practice.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel here for more daily practice videos like this.

Timing details like rest length are easy to overlook in your own playing — exactly the kind of thing a teacher catches in seconds.

Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?

This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.

At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.

Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.

Check Out the Lesson Service →

This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide. In this article, he shares one simple scale you can fall back on whenever you’re test-playing a bass at a music store.

What to Play When Test-Driving a Bass at the Store

You want to try out a bass at the store, but you have no idea what to play… and then the person next to you starts ripping through some insane slap lines, and suddenly you lose your nerve. Sound familiar? I think most bassists have been there at least once.

Even if that’s you, playing just this one thing will make you sound like you know exactly what you’re doing. Check out this short video first — the first 10 seconds or so is enough.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX5H-7TKQgC/
Feel free to follow my Instagram too, if you’re up for it 🙂

Just go back and forth across the scale shown there, and it’ll sound pretty good almost right away.

About the Scale

Technically speaking, this is an F minor pentatonic scale with a flat 5th added.

It takes the notes F–A♭–B♭–B–C–E♭ and lays them out across an easy-to-finger area as B–C–E♭–F–A♭–B♭–C.

This scale also works for blues improvisation in F, so it’s worth keeping in your back pocket if you ever want to try soloing. Move your fingers through it and get a feel for that bluesy sound while you’re testing out the bass.

Little tricks like this are great for sounding confident in the moment — but building real soloing vocabulary on top of them is where a teacher’s eye makes the biggest difference.

Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?

This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.

At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.

Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.

Check Out the Lesson Service →