IMO, the thing that makes this performance so great goes beyond just his technical ability, which is obviously phenomenal by the way. However, plenty of talented bassists can cover this very cleanly and expertly. Look at Charles Berthoud's version for instance. No, what makes Victor Wooten so special is about how it doesn't feel like he's doing something technical at all. He's not playing his bass so much as singing through it. You can feel what he's feeling during the performance. What it really comes down to is rhythmic variation, accenting and phrasing. Some of the notes aren't played exactly on the beat- they come early or late, but they always feel right. The accenting and volume of each note isn't pre-planned and couldn't be written on a page without losing most of the information. He's feeling that out live. The phrasing- where it begins and ends, the rise and fall doesn't happen exactly where you expect, and he trusts his body to show him the right place to "breathe" within the notes. Trying to copy the exact phrasing that Wooten uses is impossible because your body and mind isn't exactly like his, and forcing it would not sound as good as playing what feels right to you. These subtle things are a musician's individual style, and to really develop a unique style you first need to be so good at the technical stuff that you don't even need to think about it. You only need to think about how the music makes you feel and how it makes your body want to move.

His brother, Reggie Wooten, who educated Vic from childhood onwards, is doing these styles on guitar. He is just amazing too!!! The whole family IS music.

The Lesson is such a fitting name for the track, he's got so much to teach with it.

I just had the honour of watching Victor and the Wooten Brothers live in London, I literally died and went to bass heaven, Victor and his brothers were such nice dudes and stayed after the gig to take photos with us and the rest of the fans, a true inspiration to musicians all over the world!

His performance from bass day 98’ is when he broke down his o-h-p and the double thumb. That VHS tape was the day that my life changed as a bass player. ❤❤❤

He's a freak of nature. Right up there with the Gods of Bass like Mark King, Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller.

Nobody like Vic. Have had the pleasure of going to a couple clinics, he is a wonderful person. He definitely has had (and continues to have) an immense impact on me, not just as a bass player but as a musician.

I am a standard 6 string guitarist and what I love about Victor's KZfaq videos is that he is a musician and his teachings don't matter if you're playing a Bass or really a stringed instrument. His passion for music is very contagious.

Victor Wooten is so awesome, that you must be really pretty great to be able to dissect his performance on this. Well done, sir!

My first experience of hearing Victor was seeing Bela Fleck & The Flecktones live and WOW! As a bassist i was utterly flattened and elevated at the same time. Part of you wants to go “Screw it, I’m never gonna be that good if i practice every minute for the rest of my life.” Part of you goes “I need to run home right now and pick up my bass and woodshed for about a month!” And part of you goes “It doesn’t even matter who’s ‘better’ than who, this guy epitomizes the joy of playing bass guitar in ways nobody else could dream of.” At that first show, i was blessed to meet Victor and he talked to me for about half an hour about bass. My mind was completely blown. Then i saw them again, and before the show i ran into Victor outside the venue just walking around. And he remembered me. And stopped to talk for about 15 minutes. I’ve seen them a number of times now, and almost every time i get to talk to Victor. He’s a beautiful human being, a blessing for the planet and a credit to our species. What a guy! And his brothers aren’t half freaking bad either…

he's just so good at creating melodies around chords, mutes, and harmonics... truly a bass virtuoso

Victor is a very genuine and humble dude, on top of his exceptional musicianship.

Victor is the GOAT! ❤️

Really cool to see someone who loves bass react to the master. Respect brother.

A breakdown of the greatest bassist alive being one of your least viewed videos breaks my heart. This analysis is awesome, and it helped me to better understand Victor's magic which is a huge blessing. Thank you for making these videos, you're an inspiration!

My wife and I went to the Cory Wong/Victor Wooten tour last year. It was great. The best part being the "post game interview" moment after the show before the encores. So hilarious! But the music was so dope!

Victor's video "How to be a better improviser" was one of the most inspiring, most eye-opening things I've ever seen. It literally made me pick up the bass guitar for the first time and inspired me for my other musical hobbies too. Truly incredible. His top-tier playing is a bonus part of his amazing teaching ability.

I think, one of the best things about victor, is that him can be playing the most difficult line, mixing advanced techniques, playing only him making you forget there's no supporting band, but the piece remains musical, melodic, simply beautiful. This song is not a show off for bassist, this is music that i can't imagine anybody that listen to it and say doesn't like it.

The man opened my eyes to what can be done on the bass. The first time I heard him/saw him was back in 2002 and my jaw dropped and I never looked at the bass the same way.

First video of Vic I ever saw was a solo he did at a Dave Matthews concert and I was so blown away . I was fortunate to see Bela Fleck and the Flecktones live shortly after

I managed to see Victor Wooten play with Béla Fleck and the Flecktones in my high school auditorium of all places, still not sure how that was pulled off. A friend and I volunteered to usher the event so we got to sit in and watch for free! I was already somewhat familiar with him and his prowess, but watching it live was an even better experience. After the show I bought a shirt and got the band to sign it. Still wish I'd had the courage to ask him to autograph my bass though...

So glad you talked about playing low chords and also playing them high up and spreading out, that’s such a great spoken lesson!! A lot of times we have to learn that own our own,

Mark you are hands down the best Bass presenter on KZfaq. Thank you for your dedication and thoughtful work!

Just subscribed...Victor is a one-of-a-kind talent, but I also really enjoyed your respect and genuine awe at his talent in this video. That was cool. The way you were reacting was the same way I was reacting...just mind blown. Also, there are more technical bass players out there these days, but those guys don't have the feel, the soul of someone like Victor...he's playing from his heart. The young guns are playing to metronome and then perfectly quantized after being recorded. It can be amazing, but has no real "feel", at least in my opinion.

All the virtuoso Vic stuff is amazing, but my favorite thing I've ever heard from him is "play a single note for the whole song". He just plays a single note and grooves on it and it sounds f'ing amazing. I 100% go that way at practice sometimes and the guys kind of freak out after a minute or two, but? Also have another Wooten instruction where he says "If you hit the wrong the note, the right note is a half step away." My favorite musical instruction, ever.

React to Charles Berthoud.....👍

I fell down on my bass once and it almost sounded similar. Closest I’ll ever get to sounding like vic.

Not even a bass player and I love this man’s clinics. Amazing dude

Was fortunate enough to meet him in Lawrence, KS. at the Granada. Phenomenal musician, great human being! ✨️

Excellent video man. I saw Victor live 4 times, always had blast. I probably watched is bass day '98 video like 50 times on KZfaq :D Thanks for your video, always great to hear what you have to say.

Victor is definitely one of a kind!!

Phenomenal musician and also quite a humble person.

Trying to play it cool as if you've not seen this recording dozens of times. >< Vic is the man, and one heck of a kind human being. Great break down of a legendary performance. Cheers.

I have a really old 16-bit Zoom G2, and due to the bit-rate and frequency reproduction, it cleans up both bass and 8-string guitars phenomenally while also truly delivering a very high end sound by the time it reaches the speaker. *I have much higher end and modern processors including some digital also packed with tubes, but this makes it a cinch with very little work behind the buttons and dials compared to anything produced in recent years.* Anyway, you can chord anywhere on 4 or 6 or 8 or even 10 string instruments and get incredible clarity without transients and mud. The resolution from the sampling just happens to be the luck factor that eliminates the crap in the signal without spending thousands of dollars for a custom rig. *The low end nature is actually a disguised secret weapon.*

Mark - Do you ever see something, hear something... that makes you want to put your stuff in a perfect pile in the front yard and burn it all? Unbelievably good breakdown of what’s going on here. That double thump thing, coupled with hammer-ons - that’s gonna keep me up at night. LOL. A melodic version of a popsicle stick in the bicycle wheel spokes. Thanks for all that you do. It’s no small feat to be able to shed light on the great bass players, especially Mr. Wooten. Travis Q

Incredibly good. Been a fan of Victor for a long time.

Count me in the group of people that consider their lives comprising of two points: Before Hearing Victor Wooten and After. Seen him live solo and with the Flecktones. If I hadn't heard Jaco Pastorius previously, it would've been even more mindblowing. Please please please do a Jaco video. I'll take anything... Donna Lee, Portrait of Tracy, etc. I hear his influence in all my favorite modern players. Keep up the great work.

Probably my favorite YT channel. Well done

Maaaan thanks for the double thumb lesson, go on it !!!

I remember that my first bass teacher made me practice double thumb. At first I did not realize the full potential of this technique, and then I watched a video of Wooten explaining that it was just another way of plucking the strings and that it should not be restrained to common slap-friendly tunes. I started trying to use the double thumb pop pop technique in my band's songs and it allowed me to be much more creative in my bass lines. At the time I felt like I was doing something illegal, but nowadays everyones does that lol.

♥

15:37 Tosin Abasi lick well explained. Thanks so much

On the point where you note his use of harmonics which allow him to let them ring while moving his hand position, that is an extremely handy technique! Its a big part of my writing, and one of the reasons I switched to 6 string. I especially like having a repetition of a melody in harmonics, while creating chord changes underneath like a walking bassline.

I got here from your tool video and I play bass and I'm subbed now. I will try to learn double thump and report back ;0 also do jazz and funk reactions thundercat, mononeon w scary pockets, cory wong w sunny t prince's bassist do ittt EDIT: I commented the above at like 14:00 and at like 19:00 you mentioned cory wong omg. I did not see him w Wooten but I did see him w Sunny and it was hot. I also saw Wooten play w Bela Fleck and the Flecktones in the late 90s or early 00s and it was sick.

🙌

The instructional tape where he’s wearing mc hammer pants and he’s with his brothers. Dope tape.

You play the Bass, he Plays The Boss 😀

Vic did a clinic at the Sam ash I was working at and I just could not believe what a humble, kind and pleasant guy he was. I don’t think anybody else that’s arguably the best in the world at what they do has a smaller ego

I know him from his time with Bela fleck and the flecktones and he can shred the strings on a base like a man on a guitar wow

Seeing that clip of you playing the Warwick brings back some memories. You need to pull those things out again as they absolutely smoke the Jackson in terms of tone 🔥

The economy of motion…❤

And he never even looks at what he's doing. He usually has his eyes closed in pure zen mode. Hes a different level.

The announcer knows his shit, he does his home works

I remember having a mental breakdown after seeing this version, especially everything after 3:30 in the original video. I couldn't pick up the bass for weeks.

I'd love to see you do a reaction to Evan Brewer's work, if you haven't already.

How about VTT (vital tech tones)? It’s great hearing Vic as a progressive rock bassist…basically, just hearing him when he’s not with the flecktones. Bass extremes also comes to mind❤❤❤

Some people we're just born to do it in Victor is definitely one of those people. Insane stuff. I love these videos because the sheer joy of music and fun is perfectly mixed in with some great lessons and explanation of the theory and technique. Keep these coming Mark!

victor is insane he can play anything he wants all on a bass, massive goals, i noticed to said about the over thumb tech, victor uses it fairly sparingly but a person that uses it alot is louis johnson i recommend watching the louis johnson opening intro for his lesson video you might pick up some tips on how to utilize it i know it helped me use my thumb for fretting alot more

I'd love to see you dive into Micheal Manring. I'd argue he's a better "solo bassist" than even Victor. He's also an incredibly nice and humble man who would probably be willing to do an interview talking bass stuff. He's got many great flashy songs but his ballad "The Enormous Room" will absolutely melt your brain.

How did you find four strings all named Victor?

Evan Brewer - perfect follow up on double thump wit melody high end but does it on eadgc bass n gets heavy wit it

imo Alain Caron and Victor are the top two bassist

this perfomance has to be after meeting Carles Banavent. i notice a change in his playstyle, a lot more organic. it is like he is playing with all the body. technique at service of expresion.

I wanna see a Thomas Lang and Victor Wooten collaboration

You ever heard of Jaco? Similar styles.

you have to react primus tommy the cat

No idea

It’s sad we’re lately so focused on technic if it comes to the bass and drums where we should actually be more focused on the groove.

LOVE the reaction!! ♥ ♥ ♥ :) Maybe check out NEIL PEART Buddy Rich HONOR??? :) ♥ “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” ~ Romans 15:13

Count me in the group of people that consider their lives comprising of two points: Before Hearing Victor Wooten and After. Seen him live solo and with the Flecktones. If I hadn't heard Jaco Pastorius previously, it would've been even more mindblowing. Please please please do a Jaco video. I'll take anything... Donna Lee, Portrait of Tracy, etc. I hear his influence in all my favorite modern players. Keep up the great work.