What are they? How do I incorporate them into my playing? I'm just a beginner at bass, so if this question sounds stupid that's why.

Interval is the distance between two notes. There are there are major, minor, diminished, augmented that describe the quality of a interval. C up to E is a major third, C to Eb is a minor third. People will play scales in intervals. What that means they play a note then play the note that interval away afterwards. So a C major scale in 3rd's is C, E, D, F, E, G, F, A, G, B, A, C, B, D, C. Then you can play intervals also called double-stops, the common double stops are tritones and 10ths. A 10th is a compound interval which means it is over an octave. So play C on the E-string and E on the G-string is an 10th.

That's the basics get a theory book for more.

Unless your playing a one-note bassline, you'll be playing intervals whether you like it or not. =]

www.musictheory.net
and go to intervals section.

Unless your playing a one-note bassline, you'll be playing intervals whether you like it or not. =]

Even one note basslines are intervals. You know, unisons?

Thanks DocBop.

in my opinion, recognition of the sound of intervals is about as fundamental a skill as you'll ever get in bass playing... because 99% of what we do is single note lines

our personal favourite bass 'melodic fragments' (for want of a better phrase... i'm talking about the little things we like the sound of and that make up of vocabulary... like a slinky slide up from minor 3rd to major 3rd over a dominant chord... or a drop down from minor 7 to minor 3rd over a m7 chord etc) tend to get their characteristic flavour from the sound of the intervallic movement... for example, the sound of a stack of 5ths where you plop an added 9th on top of a root and a fifth, has a nice wide open sound that I like... (e.g. C-> G-> D).. the sound of the interval between the root and the 9th gives it a unique sound... 'Palladium' by Weather Report uses that type of thing...

so, intervals are crucial to having a vocabulary, and especially for musicians that spend their lives playing single note lines

I think the way it works is, you play them without knowing, but KNOWING WHAT YOU ARE PLAY (in terms of intervals) are the important factor.

It's just another step in musical vocabulary (literal vocabulary, eg, min/maj 3rds and so on)

with this in mind it'll lead you on to such concepts as triads and scale degrees etc