Play Like
Al CisnerosSix lessons. Six riffs. A complete system of Doom.
You'll dial in the tone, capture the feel, and experience the mantra groove of Sleep and OM.
Built for beginner and intermediate players. You can hold a groove. You understand how a bass sits in a band. But when you plug in and play, the weight, the feel, and the authority is missing.
That gap is exactly what this course closes.
You know the riffs. You have listened to Dopesmoker until the tracklist is muscle memory. You can hear exactly what it is supposed to sound like.
But when you plug in and try to play it - the weight is gone.
The tone is thin. The feel is rushed. You twist knobs, you read forums, you buy pedals - and you end up further from the sound than when you started. You start to wonder if it is your gear.
It is not.
The problem is that nobody has shown you how Al Cisneros actually builds his sound. Not the gear list. The thinking - signal chain logic, phrasing, how he sits behind the beat and lets a note breathe until it becomes something sacred.
That is what this course is built to fix.
Read This Before You Buy
This course does one thing well. Take 30 seconds to confirm it is right for you before you spend a dollar.
THIS IS FOR YOU IF
- You already play bass - you know the basics, you want to go deeper
- Heavy music is your thing: doom, stoner, sludge, drone
- You have tried to get that tone and ended up frustrated
- You want to understand how Al Cisneros thinks about riffs, not just tab-copy them
- You want a process that works on your rig, whatever it is
- You are ready to slow down and let the riff breathe
THIS IS NOT FOR YOU IF
- You are a complete beginner who has not played bass before
- You are looking for advanced theory or technique beyond doom and drone
- You want a gear buying guide - this is about using what you have
- You already have a dialled-in doom tone process and just want tabs
- You are not interested in feel, space, and restraint
What You Will Learn
Playing Style - Dopesmoker (Sleep)
The opening of Dopesmoker is a bass prayer wrapped in fuzz. You will learn full-stack fuzz tone, grace note hammer-ons, and the Phrygian flavour that gives Sleep its ancient, ritualistic weight.
Riff challenge: Write a doom riff using 3 notes on the low string. Make it heavy with space and breath.
The Bass Meditation - Pilgrimage (OM)
OM is what happens when doom becomes devotional music. You will learn the thumb-anchored drone technique, warm overdrive tone, and how repetition stops being repetition and becomes a mantra.
Riff challenge: Write a riff using only the 12th fret and the open low string. Think kick drum and snare.
The Holy Swing - Holy Mountain (Sleep)
The rhythm feels spoken, like a slow incantation. You will learn swung triplet feel, behind-the-beat phrasing, and the clean-plus-fuzz signal split that gives this riff its ceremonial weight.
Riff challenge: Stay within 2 to 3 frets on one or two strings. Repeat a phrase, then shift one note.
Mastery of Minimalism - Thebes (OM)
Relentlessly consistent, nearly mechanical, yet quietly alive. You will learn phrase repetition, hammer-ons that pull the phrase forward, and how to stay inside a narrow musical idea without losing intention.
Riff challenge: Use a single open string drone. Add hammer-ons and pull-offs. Let the phrase change only by timing or dynamics.
Groove Over Speed - From Beyond (Sleep)
Sustain, low-mid growl, and letting notes hang in the air until they have said everything they need to say. You will learn minor pentatonic phrasing, dynamic plucking, note decay, and microtime drag.
Riff challenge: Write a riff using the minor pentatonic scale. Dial in a clean tone and a heavy tone. Focus on groove, space, and heaviness.
Sonic Meditation - On the Mountain at Dawn (OM)
Al uses a clean blend under fuzz to make riffs feel like they are melting time. You will learn tone clarity through clean blend, rhythmic consistency under long-form phrases, and how restraint creates more weight than any pedal can.
Riff challenge: Craft a 4-bar chant riff using a clean blend fuzz tone. Let hammer-ons bloom. The weight comes from what you do not play.
What You Walk Away With
SIX RIFFS LEARNED RIGHT
Not just the notes - the phrasing, feel, and tone that make them actually sound like Al Cisneros plays them.
SIX TONE SETUPS DIALLED IN
From full-stack Sleep fuzz to OM's warm clean blend - with signal chain guides for each that work on any rig.
SIX ORIGINAL RIFFS OF YOUR OWN
One per lesson, written using the same constraints and musical thinking Al uses. Yours to keep and build on.
A REPEATABLE PROCESS
Compressor placement, signal splitting, clean blend, EQ, fuzz - a system you can apply to any doom or drone riff you write.
CONFIDENCE IN YOUR FEEL
Swing, drag, behind-the-beat phrasing, drone playing - tools you can bring to anything you play, not just these six songs.
THE UNDERSTANDING, NOT JUST THE TAB
You will know how Al Cisneros thinks about a riff - which means you can apply it to your own music, not just copy his.
What Is In the Course
- 6 full video lessons - playing style, tone, technique, theory, riff challenge
- Step-by-step signal chain and tone guide for each lesson
- Course companion guide PDF
- Full Dopesmoker interactive bass TAB
- Full bass-boosted cover synced with TAB
- Custom Helix patches for every lesson
What People Are Saying
Add your first student testimonial here. Focus on the transformation - what they could do after the course that they could not do before.
Add a second testimonial here. Ideally one from an intermediate player who was not sure if the course was right for their level.
Before You Decide
I do not have a Helix or expensive gear.
Good - the course is not about gear, it is about signal chain logic. You will learn why compressor placement matters, how to split your signal, and how EQ and fuzz interact - principles that work on any rig, any pedals, any amp. The Helix patches are a bonus for those who have one, not a requirement.
I am not sure I am advanced enough for this.
This course is built for players who already play bass but have never been shown how to make doom feel right. If you can hold a groove and know the basics, you have everything you need. Each lesson starts with one riff and builds methodically from there. The theory is always connected directly to the riff you are learning.
I already know some of these riffs from tabs.
Knowing the notes and knowing the feel are two completely different things. The tabs are not the hard part. This course teaches tone shaping, behind-the-beat phrasing, the swing and drag that makes doom heavy, and the creative constraints that turn technique into intention.
Is $42 worth it for six lessons?
Each lesson is a complete unit - riff, tone guide, technique breakdown, theory, and creative challenge. Across six lessons you also get the Dopesmoker interactive TAB, bass-boosted cover, companion guide, and Helix patches. If you have ever spent $42 on a pedal chasing a tone you never found, this is a better investment.
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee
Go through the course. Do the lessons. If you do not walk away with a clearer process for dialling in doom tone and playing with more feel and intention - email and you will get a full refund. No explanation needed. The only way to lose is not trying it.
Ready to Find the Weight?
You have been listening to this music for years. You already feel it. This course gives you the process to put that weight into your own hands - one riff, one tone, one lesson at a time.
$42One-time purchase - Immediate access - 30-day guarantee
Get the Course - $42Or get it free with a Beast or Order of the Riff membership.