bass scales....

i play hardcore and i wanna know which scale is the best for this kind of rock coz there are sooo many scales, and i dont have the time to go through all of them.

any advice would be grateful. =)

Sorry I don't have the time to go through all the post like this and reply! ;)

LOL, so I will help him, Bruce, being as I am kind of a grandmotherly sort who looks after young hardcore players at this site.

X-84, I played hardcore music for a few years. I'd say you can pretty much limit yourself, as a beginner, to the major scale, the minor scale, and major and minor pentatonic scales. You will get by very well with these four.

Also, pay heed to the chords you are playing. In fact, you may find the structure of the chords more useful than entire scales. You do know what the chords are, correct? If not, ask your guitar player(s). Hopefully they'll know, but I played in a band once where the guitar players could NOT name the chords or notes they were playing. All they could do was point to the fret and string. You don't want to be like that, believe me.

As you develop as a player, you might wish to branch out to more scales...let's say Lydian, Dorian and Mixolydian modes, but you can get by with the ones I gave you for a couple years, if push comes to shove, most especially if you know how to play the chords most common in hardcore music. I doubt you'll ever play a minor 7, flat 5 chord for example or need to play a Locrian scale.

These web sites have lessons that will help you with the scales above:

http://www.basslessons.com

http://www.activebass.com

http://www.bass101.com

One more thing, once you learn those scales both up and down...not just ascending...learn them in two octaves. Also learn them in every key. If that is a burden at the start, at least learn them in C, A, E, D, and G, also F and B flat.

A book you might benefit from is this little spiral bound book that has both tab and standard notation. It has the fifteen most common scales including the ones I suggest for you. They are also in the most common keys a hard core player is most likely to use.

"The Gig Bag Book of Bass Scales" by Joe Deneen and Mark Bridges, Amsco Publications, $11.95, 175 pages.

If you have more questions, please come here to Talkbass to ask.

Jason Oldsted

Originally posted by Bruce Lindfield
Sorry I don't have the time to go through all the post like this and reply! ;)

I see your lack off effort and double it. :D

I don't know if this would apply to your music, but the way I think of scales is that there are seven basic types. Most of the other ones come from either modes of these or subsets of these.

The ones I'm talking about are:

Major (C D E F G A B)
Melodic Minor (C D Eb F G A B)
Harmonic Major (C D E F G Ab B)
Harmonic Minor (C D Eb F G Ab B)
Whole Tone (C D E F# Ab Bb)
Augmented (C Eb E G Ab B)
Diminished or Octatonic (C D Eb F Gb Ab A B)

Pentatonic comes from takaing 5 notes out of the major scale:

([C][D][E] F [G][A] B)
or
([C][D] E [F][G][A] B)
or
(C [D][E] F [G][A][B])

Other modes come from starting on a different step of the scale:

Dorian (C [D][E][F][G][A][B][C] D E F G A B)

Would you use all of these? Maybe not, but they are fun to explore.

I didn't realize there was a time limit on musical growth....I'd better get my ass in gear!

Originally posted by Pacman
I didn't realize there was a time limit on musical growth....I'd better get my ass in gear!

sorry Pac, the time limit was up on tuesday. try not to feel bad i missed it also.

:D

Originally posted by JasonOldsted


As you develop as a player, you might wish to branch out to more scales...let's say Lydian, Dorian and Mixolydian modes...

Sorry, no time for that there are just tooooo many of them! Gotta rush... and he will! ;)

Thanks for answering that ARGONAUTS, as I didn't feel like it either.

Any beginning search who have yielded ten threads that apply.

Come on, guys. We can answer or not. My philosophy is if we get him started, maybe he'll want to develop further. If we won't at least tell him how to start, maybe he'll get discouraged and give up.

And I know you think, "So what!" But I think a student has to start somewhere...learning to crawl before he walks. I can understand where a green beginner could be overwhelmed by all the scales available and want to know which ones are good starting points for the style of music he prefers to play now.

I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Heck...one day he may be a serious competitor to Stanley Clarke or Charlie Haden or Sting. Or...maybe not. But I don't want to judge him for his impatience to get started. Afterall, he did have the ambition to seek out a web site and ask for help. That beats plenty of young would-be bass players out there.

Jason: The Argonaut

ok, to make J.O. and Z-28 happy. :D

try the major scale and the minor scale

learn these and move on to the others if you feel the need.

if you need more info do a search on TB
try www.activebass.com
www.libster.com

all of these have info on playing these 2 scales

good luck

X-84 Try this on for size. www.guitarnoise.com Go to the lesson called "the box". I am betting it will fit you just about right. It is a great starting place to fool around and have fun. Just don't get trapped in the there. Some guys never get out of the box!!! It is a musical hell where everything looks, sounds, and tastes the same.

Originally posted by JasonOldsted
Come on, guys. We can answer or not. My philosophy is if we get him started, maybe he'll want to develop further. If we won't at least tell him how to start, maybe he'll get discouraged and give up.

And I know you think, "So what!" But I think a student has to start somewhere...learning to crawl before he walks. I can understand where a green beginner could be overwhelmed by all the scales available and want to know which ones are good starting points for the style of music he prefers to play now.

I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Heck...one day he may be a serious competitor to Stanley Clarke or Charlie Haden or Sting. Or...maybe not. But I don't want to judge him for his impatience to get started. Afterall, he did have the ambition to seek out a web site and ask for help. That beats plenty of young would-be bass players out there.

Jason: The Argonaut

Good work J.O. (I'm not being sarcastic, I think that response was great).