Victor Wooten Bass Guitar Videos

If you’re going to look for a bass guitar video to learn some amazing tips on playing the bass, sooner or later you’re going to end up with Victor Wooten on your screen (or maybe Jaco). Wooten is an amazing player that seems to only get better as he ages, so I thought it was fitting to do my first bass guitar video review on Mr. Double-thumb himself.

Wooten burst onto the scene in the early 90s because of his amazing technique and ability to solo on the bass guitar. I had the good fortune to attend a bass clinic he put on a few years later and loved the chance to see what the bass guitar is capable of beyond supporting the song. His ability to solo and his blazing technique were his claims to fame, and while I was interested in how he played, I also recognized during that clinic that his techniques were highly unique and personalized. So while I walked away inspired by the possibilities of the bass guitar, I didn’t take anything directly from the clinic that I could apply to my own bass playing.

However, by the late 90’s Wooten began to grow beyond his soloing concepts and started doing workshops and bass camps. I didn’t really find out about this other side of Wooten until 2006 when he did a clinic at Bass Day. I wasn’t lucky enough to be present for this event, but I did check out the video clips on the Bass Player magazine TV (www.bassplayer.tv) site.

I was amazed.

Rather than teaching his techniques and play notes a million miles per hour, Victor was talking about music being a language. He was actually talking about the importance of the groove and locking in with a drummer. He made statements like music is more than just ‘notes’. Is this the same Victor Wooten? Now this was the type of thing that I could sink my teeth into and apply to my own playing.

Not long after this workshop, Victor released a book called The Music Lesson that explores the 10 elements of music that were mentioned in that workshop. It’s an interesting story that blurs the line between fact and fiction and has Victor as the protagonist. It’s a terrific read that will have you re-thinking your whole approach to playing music.

The evolution of Victor Wooten from bass soloist to guru may also be witnessed by the title of his newest DVD: Groove Workshop – a far more humble name than Super Bass Solo Technique, don’t cha think? The Groove Workshop DVD is terrific, and further expands on the clinic that Wooten delivered at the 2006 Bass Day event.

I own both the book and the DVD and highly recommend them, but if you’re not sure whether its right for you – then I encourage you to watch the Bass Day 2006 clinic clips at the Bass Player TV site. Unfortunately, I can’t embed the player here for you to view it, and there’s no way to link directly to it (I think Bass Player.com does this to ensure nobody steals it!) but if you’re interested in watching the Victor Wooten bass clinic for free, follow these steps:

1. Visit www.bassplayer.tv
2. Click on “BP Events” on the left
3. Click on “BP LIVE! ’06”
4. Click on “Clinics”
5. Click on “Victor Wooten”
6. Click on each clip entitled “the 10 elements of music”

If you’re intrigued by the concepts that Victor teaches, do yourself a favour and check out The Music Lesson and the Groove Workshop DVD.
Thanks for reading about these Victor Wooten Bass Guitar Videos, stay tuned to Bass Guitar Rocks for more bass videos and feel free to leave your comments below!