This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide.
Today I want to share the top 3 most-watched videos from my channel this year, picked out by viewers like you.
This year again, I posted a new video every single Friday at 9pm, without missing a week. I’ve been doing this for about six years now, and somewhere along the way the channel passed 13,000 subscribers! To everyone who watches regularly — thank you so much.
Today I’m sharing the top 3 most-watched videos of the year. These covered topics a lot of people were interested in, so if you missed any of them, or you’re curious, take a look.
Contents
#3 — How to Build a Bass Line When the Same Chord Lasts Two Bars
When the same chord repeats for two bars or more, like:
C7 / C7
Dm7 / Dm7
…I get asked all the time how to build a bass line through it.
This video walks through the thinking behind it, with concrete, usable phrases for that exact situation.
#2 — What Changed About My 4-String Playing After Switching to 5-String Bass
After playing a 5-string bass for several years, this video looks at how it ended up affecting my playing on 4-string bass, from a few different angles.
The conclusion: picking up the 5-string had a lot of positive effects on my 4-string playing. If you’re thinking about trying a 5-string, this one’s worth a watch.
#1 — [Keep This Forever] Walking Bass Line Tabs for 10 Jazz Standards!
This video puts together walking bass lines, with tab, for 10 jazz standards — including:
・Autumn Leaves
・My Favorite Things
・Take Five
…and more. You’ll get free tab for bass lines you can use over the chord changes of these popular standards.
If you’re looking to get started with walking bass, this is well worth checking out.
Bonus
This one got a ton of comments along the lines of “this warmed my heart” — a review and taste-test of a bakery called “Chet Bakery” that plays jazz all day.
A bakery every jazz lover needs to visit!
Not too beginner-focused, not too advanced either. Not overloaded with theory or jargon, but still has to feel like “me.” That’s the balance I’m always wrestling with when I’m trying to figure out what to make next — and I put real care into every single video.
I plan to keep posting every week without a break through the rest of this year too. Thanks for sticking with me, and I hope you’ll keep watching!
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.