About Better Bass Lessons

Cole Davis is a jazz bassist in New York City. He started playing bass at 14 and picked up the upright at 19, and he has been playing professionally for about a decade, first in California and now in New York. He holds an Artist Diploma from Juilliard.

Along the way he won Ron Carter's competition at 20 and later took lessons with Carter every week for two years. He also studied with Gerald Cannon, whose bass he bought at 17. In California he got to play with drummers Marvin "Smitty" Smith, Billy Kilson and Ralph Peterson.

In New York he plays jazz clubs and private events. His first gig at Smalls was with Philip Harper, he plays regularly with pianist Anthony Wonsey, and he plays gigs with singer and pianist Peter Cincotti. He has also taught at a public school in Harlem.

Better Bass Lessons is built around how the music actually gets played on the bandstand.

Every course is built around one mechanism, one way the music works on bass, and sequenced so the lessons stack. You're not browsing topics. You're working through a method, and when you finish it you play differently.

Most courses pair the video lessons with PDF reference material, backing tracks and put-it-to-practice demos. They assume you're an adult who already plays: no twelve-week beginner ramp and no padding.