Con Alma Etude - 12/8 to 4/4 bass lines

con alma etude by john goldsby

This video is an excerpt from John Goldsby’s course, Jazz Bass Vol. 2: Stretching Out.

John Goldsby presents his etude based on the chord progression of ‘Con Alma’ by the great Dizzy Gillespie. It’s a great exercise to practice switching Latin grooves, as it starts in 12/8, switches to 4/4 for the B section, and finished in 12/8 again. We’ve provided the video below where John demonstrates each groove which you can follow along with using the transcription of the bass line through the button below.

The performance of the tune is 2 minutes in, where John is joined in the studio by Jamil Sheriff on piano and Caroline Boaden on drums. Below the video, you can find backing tracks of the performance with and without the bass, to use in your practice at home.

This is a lesson taken from John’s online video course ‘Stretching Out’ which covers a wide range of material for intermediate to advanced bassists, including fast walking bass lines, triad pairs, and soloing and walking bass concepts.

Backing Tracks


stretching out by john goldsby

39 video lessons, 4+ hours of content.

39 video lessons, 4+ hours of content.