All free
Every free tool and guide on the Better Bass Lessons blog in one place: find a jam, get ready for it, practice for it and keep your upright healthy.
Play with people
Map
Jazz Jam Finder
177 recurring jazz jams in 15 cities on one map, each checked on the venue's own page. Search a city or tap "near me."
Printables
Jam Host Kit
A sign-up sheet, a house-rules poster and a tune list for people who run jams, plus a badge for jams on the finder.
Tune kit
Jam Tune Kit: Autumn Leaves
The key, the form and every chord, a play-along with no bass and Cole's lesson, so you can call it at a jam.
Setlist Cheat Sheet Maker
Pick the tunes for your gig or jam and print one page for the stand: key, first chord, form and feel, in any key.
Report
The State of the Jazz Jam, 2026
What 177 jams show: the busiest nights, when they start, who gets in free and how rarely a bass amp is listed.
Practice
Play-along
Backing Tracks With No Bass
Piano and drums play the changes in any key and feel, from 40 to 320 bpm, with the current chord shown big.
Transcribe
Slow-Down Tool
Load a recording, loop a phrase and slow it down without changing the pitch. Your file never leaves your device.
Walking
Walking Bass Line Builder
Pick a tune or type chords and get a line four notes to the bar, with note names, a bass clef staff and playback.
Keys
ii-V-I in All 12 Keys
Every chord tone spelled out for bass, major or minor, with chords, a bass line and a click to play along with.
Neck
Fretboard Notes Chart and Trainer
Every note on 4-string, 5-string and upright, and a quiz that drills you until you can find any note fast.
Scales
Bass Scale Chart
Pick a root and a scale and see every note on the neck: the major modes, melodic and harmonic minor and arpeggios.
Your upright
Weather
Upright Bass Humidity Check
Type your city and see this week's humidity next to the safe range string shops give, with a dry-air warning.
Calculator
Rent or Buy an Upright Bass?
Rental and rent-to-own terms from five string shops, what basses sell for and a calculator for your own numbers.
Directory
Upright Bass Luthiers
56 shops that set up and repair double basses in 15 cities, each checked on the shop's own website.
Listen and learn
Vote
The Greatest Jazz Bass Line Bracket
Sixteen famous jazz bass lines, from Paul Chambers on So What to Jaco on Teen Town, head to head in a reader vote. The final closes November 8, 2026.
Records
Essential Jazz Bass Records
The 26 records Cole actually teaches from, with the track he uses and what he says about the bass on each.
Gear
Gear of the Great Jazz Bassists
What Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Jaco, Charlie Haden, Percy Heath and Paul Chambers actually played, from interviews, maker pages and dealer records.
Big band
Big Band Bass Guide
Slashes vs. written notes, kicks, road maps and the drummer: how to survive the bass chair in a big band.
School
Jazz Bass Audition Requirements
What 15 colleges and conservatories ask bass players to play for Fall 2027, from each school's own page.
Camps
Jazz Camps for Adults
22 camps and summer workshops that take adults, with dates, prices, levels and the bass teachers each one names.
More practice tools
The main Better Bass Lessons site has 19 free practice tools, from a tuner and a click trainer to interval ear training and sight-reading. See the practice tools.
Go deeper
From Unknown to Unavailable
A field manual from NYC bassist Will Lyle for bassists who can play but aren't getting the call, and don't know why.