Bass Hanon

introduction
INTRODUCTION
I first started playing the bass when I was a 15 year old kid. Back in the
day there was no Midi, no Tab, no playalongs, no books of transcrip-
tions, no bass magazines, no bass sites on the Internet.
You were pretty much stuck with what you could work out on your own
or what a teacher could show/tell you. (Note: trying to learn from re-
cords - you know, those 12 inch circles of black plastic - was a really in-
teresting experience too - I developed great needle lifting expertise! And
ruined a load of vinyl in the process).
The situation for bassists is totally different now; weve got the internet,
weve got tab sites, books of transcriptions, YouTube lessons, DVDs, web-
sites. All sorts.
In fact I think weve almost got too much information.
Now we all know that to get better weve got to practice. But if youre
anything like me, life is busy (a wife, two kids, three bands to manage,
blah blah blah) and I have limited time to learn new songs, keep my
technique in shape etc etc.
So I like to find practice materials that do double duty - ie you can work
on two - or more - things at the same time.
What if I told you that I found a series of exercises -nearly 200 years old
that worked for me, and that if you do them for 20 minutes or so a day
you will dramatically improve the following:
Left hand finger strength and independence

Right hand finger alternations and string skippings
Left and right hand co-ordination
Ear Training
Fretboard familiarity in all 12 keys (from the lowest note on
your bass to the highest however many strings you have)
Oh, and these exercises are perfect warm up material for your
hands too.
Im sure the question youre asking is this: where have these secret exer-
| Bass Hanon| how-to-play-bass.com
cises been hiding?
The answer is: theyve been hiding all along, in plain sight. And theyve
been pretty much overlooked by the bass playing community because
they are piano exercises.
Theyre called Hanons after their creator, Charles Louis Hanon, a

French composer born in 1819 and they were specifically designed to
help pianists develop a more virtuosic technique.
The Hanons make great exercises when applied to the bass you get to
improve your finger dexterity, hand co-ordination, fretboard knowledge
and musicality - all whilst doing 10 minutes of warming up every day.
Im so glad you bought the Bass Hanon Pack. If you apply it for 10 min-
utes or so every day, your investment will soon pay off these exercises
will give you increased facility and increased confidence too, both in
your playing and your hearing.
And that greater confidence and facility will show up in your playing
and others will notice it as well, trust me.
So thank you once again.
Warm regards from the UK
Paul Wolfe
www.how -to-play-bass.com
PS Id also strongly recommend that you sign up for my free weekly ezine
if youre not already a member. Head over to my website, youll find
the sign up link on the right hand side of every page. The ezine features
a lesson/tutorial with a new bassline each week - with both notation and
tab - plus loads of other bass related cool stuff.

bass hanons
THE BASS HANONS
So what are bass hanons?
The Bass Hanons are based on a series of piano exercises which the classical pi-
ano fraternity refer to as Hanons, after the composer who designed them. I heard
one of them being played whilst dropping off Christmas presents to a friend of my
mother-in-laws in December 2006.
That was a happy coincidence, coming at a time when I was looking for more in-
teresting warm up material. I asked what exercise was being played and my eyes
popped out when my hosts presented me with a whole book of exercises (they
popped out again when I found out that book was just Volume 1 and that there
were two more volumes).
Within days Id got a copy it would have been sooner but there are not many mu-
sic shops in the Cotswalds part of England that stay open on Christmas Day! and
I started using these exercises on bass almost immediately.
So what exactly is a bass hanon?
Well and Ive adapted the piano exercises slightly a Bass Hanon is a sequence of
8 notes that is applied sequentially to each note of a major scale. And the pattern
is inverted when you descend.
The original piano exercises were sequenced over two octaves (and usually went a
fifth above) so unless youre playing an extended range bass youll have to make do
with one octave versions.
If you wanna take one for a test drive, skip ahead to Hanon No 1 in C, plug your
bass in and play through it to get a flavour of what these exercises are about.
How can using the bass hanons help me as a bass player?
Well as I said in the introduction to this book, if you play them slowly for 10 min-
utes or so they make a fantastic warm up exercise.
As well as warming up both of your hands, regular use of the Bass Hanons will help
with:
Left and finger strength and independence

Right hand finger alternations and string skippings
Left and right hand co-ordination
Ear training
Fretboard Familiarity in all 12 keys
I can see how these exercises help with the fingers, how do they help with ear train-
ing?
Well if you use the midi files that Ive provided, you can play the Hanons whilst
hearing the sound of a chord drone. This will give you a harmonic reference point
so youll actually start to relate notes to the sound of a chord.
Using Midi is something that all practicing musicians should be able to do, its such
a powerful tool. Whether you use PC or a Mac you should get hold of a cheap, midi
sequencing program and learn how to use it so that you can splice the midi files to-
gether and play a Hanon exercise in all 12 keys with chordal accompaniment (See
also the chord progressions section at the back of the book for recommendations
on how to order the 12 keys when playing through a Hanon so not only do you
relate the sound of the Hanon against a chord drone, but you also start to practice
hearing chords moving in different sequences! Powerful stuff for a simple warm up
exercise).
What about using the Hanons to work on my chops?
You can and Im sure a lot of bassists who buy this ebook will. But thats not the
reason I published this book. These exercises are the best warm up exercises Ive
ever encountered, and I like to try and make every bit of practice do double duty
if possible and these exercises work on sooooooo many things simultaneously it
makes them a no-brainer in my eyes.
Yeah, but I could really hone my chops, man.
You need a sound technique to express your musical ideas, thats a given. But you
can get a sound technique with a surprisingly minimal amount of work. What Ive
found in teaching is that bassists who work on their chops might become bassists
who can play something fast, but it rarely makes them a better musician.
If you want proof, go into a music store and hear the guys trying out basses and
beating them up with their super-cool, super-fast slap and tap licks. Watch some-
one for a minute, the go up and say: Thats a really cool lick man, I really like it. It
would work really great for a song my band is playing. That tune is a fusiony kind
of thing in a weird key though, C#m7b5 any chance you could show me the lick
in that key?
Over 95% of the guys with music store chops wont even know what a C#m7b5
chord is let alone be able to change their lick to fit that chord.
Moral of the story: dont work on your chops, work on music.

Uhhcan I use any of the patterns as bass lines? Or solo lines?
You could.
But theyre just warm up exercises (that come with a collection of great side bene-
fits too), my honest recommendation is spend 10-12 minutes a day with them, and
then go play some other stuff.

how to use this book
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
Firstly I gotta stress something: the Bass Hanons are not music per se, theyre
exercises. And theyre bloody good exercises. They help with good left hand
technique, finger strength and dexterity, etc etc weve gone into that already. And
theyre so bloody good at doing at all those things that Id love to say that I invented
them.
But there are bass players out there who will use these exercises to build their
chops. Theyll use the Hanons and beat up on their metronomes and drum
machines so theyre playing Hanon 7 in 16th notes at 150 BPMs, or something like
that. And theyll play them for hours and hours.
My advice is simple:
Dont.
If you want to get ahead in the bass playing game dont work on playing fast
for speeds sake. Work on hearing fast and being able to play what you hear.
Being able to play something musical on a tune, that fits the style, and most
importantly - grooves will, in 99.9% of situations, be a better fit than being able to
play something fast.
A lot of kids think fast is better. It isnt. Fast is simplyfaster.

(Now dont get me wrong, I love to see the Billy Sheehans, Victor Wootens and Brian
Brombergs of the world tearing up the fretboard as much as the next guybut
theyre not just playing fast, theyre also expressing musical ideas.)
So use these Bass Hanons for say 20 minutes a day. For that they are as close
to perfect as you can get, they warm your hands up, and theres a truckload of
secondary benefits thrown in too.
11 | Bass Hanon| how-to-play-bass.com

LEARNING A HANON
So lets start at the beginning.
Youve got your practice schedule mapped out for this week and youve made
the wise choice of using the Bass Hanons as your warm up material.
IMPORTANT NOTE: All the bassists who buy this ebook will be at different ability
levels if you dont make it through all the steps its no big deal. Just do your 20
minutes or so, put the Hanons away and crack on with the rest of your practice
schedule.
Heres the steps you need to go through to learn a Hanon.
1) Pick the Hanon youre going to be working on.

2) Have a quick read through the intro sheet to each Hanon.
3) Decide whether youre going to play the Hanon positionally or modally (for
more advanced players)
4) Play slowly through the example Ive tabbed out remembering that there
are alternative ways to play the Hanons than the ones I show.
5) Repeat the Hanon several times to get the sound of the Hanon in your head,
and the feel of the fingerings in your hand. Play along with the midi file to
make sure youre playing it accurately (any wrong notes should really jar as
theyre usually a semitone out!).
6) Choose a Key Sequence from the Chord Progressions section at the back of
the book.
7) Begin playing through the Hanon in all 12 keys.
8) Stop.
9) Whenever 20 minutes or so is up (use a timer if you need to) put the Hanons
away until tomorrow and get on with the rest of your practice.
If youre reasonably new to the bass guitar, it might take the best part of a week
to get through a Hanon in all 12 keys thats no big deal. Its not a race. What I
suggest is that at the end of a week you move onto a new Hanon even if youve
not completed all of the above steps.
Sooner than you think youll be completing a Hanon within a week, then it wont
be too long until you can do two Hanons in a week, etc etc. All the time youre
doing it, youll be improving your facility, your fingerboard knowledge and youll
start playing with greater confidence.

Seriously. Trust me. It works.
The important part of the process is to play the exercises slowly before you start
playing with a metronome, or the midi files. If there are any sub sections that give
you particular problems, just work on that bar or couple of bars until youve got
it nailed. Do it slowly but thoroughly and youll find you will get through it.
If you find youre having trouble working through a Hanon the way Ive tabbed it
out, and then applying it to other keys, thats no problem either. Ive provided all
20 Hanons in every key with a blank tab staff, so if at the start you need to write in
every fret location then go ahead and do it.
No-ones going to know but you.
So get your bass out, turn a couple of pages, and give the Hanons a good workout!
If youve got any questions or comments, dont hesitate to drop me an email:

paul@how-to-play-bass.com

Bass Hanon
No 1
Bass Hanon
No 2
Bass Hanon
No 3
Bass Hanon
No 4
Bass Hanon
No 5
Bass Hanon
No 6
Bass Hanon
No 7
Bass Hanon
No 8
Bass Hanon
No 9
Bass Hanon
No 10
Bass Hanon
No 11
Bass Hanon
No 12
Bass Hanon
No 13
Bass Hanon
No 14
Bass Hanon
No 15
Bass Hanon
No 16
Bass Hanon
No 17
Bass Hanon
No 18
Bass Hanon
No 19
Bass Hanon
No 20
Chord Progresions
CHORD PROGRESSIONS
As I said earlier in the book, the ideal is to get to the situation where for a warming
up session you pick one of the Hanon exercises and then play it up and down in all
12 keys!
Now depending on how long youve been playing that might seem a long way off,
but once you start getting into them and using them for your warm ups for every
practice session, then it will be sooner than you think.
Its been documented before on my website, in my ezine, I even touched on it

earlier in the book but Ive got a finite amount of practice time. Youre probably
in the same boat too. So I try to make every exercise do double duty.
The easy way to make Bass Hanon do double duty is to use the Bass Hanon midi
files (that is of course if you purchased the premium version). That way when
youre playing through the Hanons, youre playing against a major chord so your
ear is getting a bit of training too.
Now when you achieve the proficiency to play a Hanon exercise in all 12 keys in 10
minutes or so, its very easy to just start from C and go round the cycle of 5ths until
youre back to C. (Note: if youre not familiar with the cycle of 5ths, dont sweat it,
well get to that).
BUT.
As well as giving your ears a bit of training with the sound of major chords, with a
bit of planning you can also give your ears some training in chord movements, as
well as the sound of major chords.
What are chord movements?
Youve all heard songs where the song changes key right? Its a common trick in
anthemic pop ballads to shift the chorus up a semi-tone as the song comes to a
close. Youve heard that right?
Well if you can hear that, thats a chord movement of a semi-tone.
And there are other common movements as well. And mostly thats theory for a
rainy day (were good at theory in the UK it rains so much!), but as youre going to
be playing through the Hanons regularly you can start training your ear to perceive
these movements as well.
So Im going to do everything starting with C and were going to look at some

different orders of going through all 12 keys for a warm up session. Now theres
some music theory behind each one but if you dont know it were not gonna
sweat it for now. The important thing is to take the sequence of notes that Im
laying out and just apply it to your playing through a Hanon in all 12 keys
1) The Cycle of Fifths
| C | F | Bb | Eb | Ab | Db| Gb or F# | B | E | A | D | G |
2) Ascending, Chromatically
| C | Db | D | Eb | E | F | Gb or F# | G | Ab | A | Bb | B |
3) Descending, Chromatically
| C | B | Bb | A | Ab | G | Gb or F# | F | E | Eb | D | Db |
4) Ascending in Major Thirds (4 groups of 3, with a chromatic skip after every

group )
|C | E | Ab | A | D | F | Gb or F# | Bb | D | Eb | G | B |
4) Descending in Major Thirds (4 groups of 3, with a chromatic skip after every

group )
| C | Ab | E | Eb | B | G | Gb or F# | D | Bb | A | F | D |
5) Ascending in Minor Thirds (3 groups of 4, with a chromatic skip after every

group )
| C | Eb | Gb or F# | A | Bb | Db | E | G | Ab | B | D | F |
5) Descending in Minor Thirds (3 groups of 4, with a chromatic skip after every

group )
|C | A | Gb or F# | Eb | D | B | Ab | F | E | Db | Bb | G |
If you start incorporating these sequences into your playing of a Hanon in all 12
keys, your ears will start learning the sounds of these modulations. Down the
track, knowing the sound of these modulations will put you at an advantage
over most of your bass playing contemporaries who have to schedule separate
ear training sessions to learn this kind of stuff (because you and I both know that
everyone is short of time, right? And most guys just wont put that time in so your
improved hearing will not only make you a better bass player, it will make you a
more employable bass player!)
Coming Soon
COMING SOON
Got something else on your wish list?
If you liked Bass Hanon Volume 1, or youve been subscribing to the

ezine at the how-to-play-bass.com website, theres a good chance youll
want more. As you can see theres more goodies heading down the track
- theres a catch though.
None of these products are ready yet.
But they will be - and sooner than you might think!
To make sure you get these products the moment theyre released, make
sure you stay on the How-To-Play-Bass Ezine.
If theres anything youd really like to see, drop an email to:

paul@how-to-play-bass.com.

about the author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paul has played the bass since he was 15 (a LONG time ago!) and has
made a living from music since 1992.
In 1994 Paul co-founded CARTE BLANCHE, one of the UKs most

popular party/function bands, which he now manages.
In addition to Carte Blanche, Paul has played with numberous tribute

bands covering Abba, Robbie Williams, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Blues
Brothers, Freddie Mercury, Kylie Minogue, Seventies Disco, Eighties New
Romantic, Britpop, Bee Gees and more.
Paul has played at the business end of nearly 2000 gigs since 1990
ranging from jazz duos in pizza bars to open air festivals for 10,000
people. Paul has played all over the UK and Europe - plus the odd
couple of times in the middle east - and fits in the odd gig here and there
with Carte Blanche. His last gig was for a party at the Ritz where guests
played over 1000 a head!
In March 2008 Paul set up the website www.how-to-play-bass.com - a

website aimed at teaching the bass guitar to beginners, with a particular
emphasis on song based learning. The website - and this unique
approach - came about as a result of Pauls dissatisfaction with how the
bass guitar is taught.

Bass Hanon

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introduction

In fact I think weve almost got too much information.

Left hand finger strength and independence

Theyre called Hanons after their creator, Charles Louis Hanon, a

So thank you once again.

Warm regards from the UK

 | Bass Hanon| how-to-play-bass.com

So what are bass hanons?

So what exactly is a bass hanon?

How can using the bass hanons help me as a bass player?

Left and finger strength and independence

What about using the Hanons to work on my chops?

Yeah, but I could really hone my chops, man.

Moral of the story: dont work on your chops, work on music.

 | Bass Hanon| how-to-play-bass.com

 | Bass Hanon| how-to-play-bass.com

A lot of kids think fast is better. It isnt. Fast is simplyfaster.

11 | Bass Hanon| how-to-play-bass.com

So lets start at the beginning.

Heres the steps you need to go through to learn a Hanon.

1) Pick the Hanon youre going to be working on.

12 | Bass Hanon| how-to-play-bass.com

No-ones going to know but you.

If youve got any questions or comments, dont hesitate to drop me an email:

13 | Bass Hanon| how-to-play-bass.com

Its been documented before on my website, in my ezine, I even touched on it

What are chord movements?

Well if you can hear that, thats a chord movement of a semi-tone.

So Im going to do everything starting with C and were going to look at some

1) The Cycle of Fifths

4) Ascending in Major Thirds (4 groups of 3, with a chromatic skip after every

4) Descending in Major Thirds (4 groups of 3, with a chromatic skip after every

5) Ascending in Minor Thirds (3 groups of 4, with a chromatic skip after every

5) Descending in Minor Thirds (3 groups of 4, with a chromatic skip after every

If you liked Bass Hanon Volume 1, or youve been subscribing to the

None of these products are ready yet.

But they will be - and sooner than you might think!

If theres anything youd really like to see, drop an email to:

335 | Bass Hanon| how-to-play-bass.com

In 1994 Paul co-founded CARTE BLANCHE, one of the UKs most

In addition to Carte Blanche, Paul has played with numberous tribute

In March 2008 Paul set up the website www.how-to-play-bass.com - a

18 | Bass Hanon| how-to-play-bass.com

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