BASIC BASS NOTES

By Rizal Dondi Ledesma

[GUIDE] This is the basic bass page and it contains preliminary notes on starting to get serious with the 4-string bass instrument and how to use basic scales for improvisation. The next chapter is a compilation of chords and inversions for piccolo bass. The piccolo bass chords can also be applied to the normal bass if you like and anything you discover or hear from yourself as you read on and play will be you and not me. The chords are done in basic fingerboard tablature for easy reading but it may open doors to playing with the ordinary bass if you try it. If you find some paragraphs confusing and incomplete, you may send e-mail to: dndi@compass.com.ph or bass_age@bigfoot.com for questions so that you will be sent a more detailed explanation of the part which you want to understand more. Please don't forget to write a little about yourself so that it will be easier to communicate with you. These pages are designed to be of help free of charge and it is up to the reader to put things together or understand it. The piccolo bass chord inversions are arranged in random order so that there will be more surprises as you pick the items you might want to try. If you want more lessons or if you want to explore other areas of learning the bass, go to : Basslessons.com . There is a wide selection of teachers and different playing styles available . . . . . rdl

[ONE] This is my thirty seventh year playing the bass instrument and I am writing this to share with anyone, things that are helpful to anyone interested in understanding the instrument more and hopefully helpng out for more progress in the player and the electric bass. These pages do not contain any particular subject in any playing style but more on the mastery of the bass and also helpful notes that may help in further explorations in piccolo bass playing.
[TWO] The first important thing commonly neglected by those who are starting out is Tuning. When one is starting with a first band, a question always pops into mind like-"Why do professionals sound so different even when the song is so easy to play ? What makes them sound like that ? Even when we have the finest equipment, why don't things sound right ?" One main cause will be tuning. Even if the band plays together perfectly but the tuning is not right - it will sound wrong - So a main responsibility of the bass player is to tune his or her instrument properly before starting to play in a rehearsal or performance. This will also take the blame away from you if you already have kept yourself from being the cause of any trouble or discomfort when you're playing with friends. Get yourself a tuner from a music store or ask someone where to get one. This is a quick solution- or learn how to tune your bass the hard way(the old fashioned way)before going to any further studies on your bass playing. This will also help you master your instrument by knowing its ins and outs.
[THREE] Practice: Yes.Practice practice practice. For me practice is like callisthenics for the fingers so that you will be able to let your fingers do what your brain wants them to do and that's when bass playing starts to become fun. Practicing scales always can help condition your fingers to be in sync with your creative imagination so that you will be able to apply your wildest dreams in your bass playing even while during a performance. Overpractice can bore you but it's always good for you. If it hurts too much, just stop and rest. It will not be good to really hurt yourself on this.
[FOUR] Proper care and Respect for your instrument.: * Have your bass properly intonnated. * Have the pickup or pickups of your bass properly adjusted so the sound will be well balanced. * Have the neck of your bass properly aligned. * Have the bridge of your bass properly adjusted. All these adjustments to suite your playing and handling and keep your instrument clean. To explain it all, respect your instrument and your instrument will respect you. Some kind of nice life don't you think ?

You may copy this HTML on the 'save as' option. You may save it as text or you may bookmark this page if you like it's contents. Below are common scales or modes written in HTML. As of now I could not figure out a way to put a bass cleff on the lines below but it is written for the bass instrument. If you know basic music reading, read it as written in the bass cleff. Line and space legend is also provided for beginners.
The last chapter contains Midi [.mid] sound files of the scales on the pages. You may also download the [.zip] files of these collections. There is also a page of drum tracks where you can practice bass lines with [these files are in .mid format]. ALL midi files programmed on Cakewalk and The Jammer software.

(Best Viewed with Netscape 3.0 or higher) BASIC SCALES FOR BASS (Four string)


                                                                                                                         [E]mi ----O----
                                                                                                                  [D]re   O
                                                                                                     [C]do  ---O----  --------
[Ti or B]                                                                                 [B]ti     O                                                                          {example: sharps and flats}              A
[La or A]--------------------------------------------------------------O----            --------------------------------------------------                     -----------------------------------------------------------------O--
[Sol or G]                                                        O                                                                                                                                                  #O   [G sharp]
[Fa or F]----------------------------------------------------O--------------            --------------------------------------------------                     --------------------------------------------------------------------
[Mi or E]                                               O                                                                                                                                                   bO   [E flat]
[Re or D]------------------------------------------O-----------------------             --------------------------------------------------                     --------------------------------------------------------------------
[Do or C]                                     O                                                                                                                                       b  [B flat]#O   [C sharp]
[Ti or B]--------------------------------O----------------------------------            --------------------------------------------------                     ---------------------------O----------------------------------------
[La or A]                           O                                                                                                                                  b   [G flat]
[Sol or G]---------------------O-------------------------------------------            --------------------------------------------------                     ---------O----------------------------------------------------------
[Fa or F]                 O                                                                                                                                                     #O   [F sharp]
[Mi or E]       -----O----- (open E string)




                             C  MAJOR SCALE                                                           A   MINOR SCALE                                                                BLUES SCALE  C
                                                                     ---O---
                                                                O
   -----------------------------------------------------O---------------------               ------------------------------------------------------------O--------               ------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               O                                                                                                 O                                                                              O
   -----------------------------------O---------------------------------------               -------------------------------------------O-------------------------               -------------------------------------O----------------------------
                            O                                                                                                   O                                                                          O
   ----------------O----------------------------------------------------------               ---------------------------O-----------------------------------------               -----------------O------------------------------------------------
          O                                                                                                     O                                                                      O
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------                 ------------O--------------------------------------------------------              ------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                 O
   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------                 ---------------------------------------------------------------------               ------------------------------------------------------------------


                          7th  scale    G7                                                                        Minor 7th   Am7                                                                  Whole Tone scale


   ---------------------------------------------------------------------------                 ----------------------------------------------------------------o----               -----------------------------------------------------------------
                                                              o                                                                               #        o                                                                                   o
   ---------------------------------------------------o-----------------------                 ------------------------------------------------o--------------------               ----------------------------------------------o-----------------
                                             o                                                                                         o                                                                                #
   ----------------------------------o----------------------------------------                 --------------------------------o------------------------------------               --------------------------------------o-------------------------
                             o                                                                                        o                                                                                          #o
   -------------------o-------------------------------------------------------                 ---------------o-----------------------------------------------------               -----------------------o----------------------------------------
               o                                                                                      o                                                                                          o
   ------o--------------------------------------------------------------------                 ---------------------------------------------------------------------               -----o-----------------------------------------------------------



                                               CHROMATIC SCALE                                                                                                 DIMINISHED SCALE

                                                                                                                                                                                                                    b o
                    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------                                     -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                         o                                                                                               o
                    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------o-------                                     -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                       #       o                                                                                              o
                    --------------------------------------------------------------o------o------------------                                    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                 b        *        o      #o                                                                                    b                #o
                    -------------------------------o--------o-----------------------------------------------                                    ---------------------o---------------------------------------------------------------
                                   #       o
                    ---------o------o-----------------------------------------------------------------------                                    ------o------------------------------------------------------------------------------


                                                                                 MORE SCALES AND TIPS ON THE ADVANCED BASS PAGES

The scales above are only basic. Preferably it will be good to practice them on all keys by remembering the fingering positions and how they are executed on the fingerboard. People invented them and called them names but they are only names. Practicing them until you play them with the least effort could help you improvise with speed when you do solos or play running bass lines.... More advanced bass scales and guidelines on the last chapter of the bass book but a code and password are required to view the pages. Send e-mail for queries if you want access to these pages.

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