Getting Serious

[robrho1]

Hello,
My name is Al and I am a self taught Bass Player and have been playing at home for a few years. I am taking a more serious and theoretical approach to my Bass playing. I am studying music keys one by one. I am currently studying the key of B. What are some good beginner / intermediate level Jazz, R&B, and Gospel songs I can use as study material? Thanks.

[wonderjosh]

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f22/

[tonesponge]

Dude, studying keys one by one makes sense with instruments like piano, where the fingering changes drastically from one key to another.

But with guitar, to go from the key of A to B, you just shift everything up two frets; it's the exact same fingering (except you have to actually fret the notes that used to be open strings).

There are a few open positions that are worth focusing on for certain keys, like E major, E minor, A major, and A minor on a 4 string bass, and B major and B minor on a 5 string, etc.

But I'd start on a 4 string bass and focus on E and A. Songs in these keys can be easily transposed to other keys, and vice versa.

[Mayers]

Originally Posted by tonesponge

Dude, studying keys one by one makes sense with instruments like piano, where the fingering changes drastically from one key to another.

But with guitar, to go from the key of A to B, you just shift everything up two frets; it's the exact same fingering (except you have to actually fret the notes that used to be open strings).

There are a few open positions that are worth focusing on for certain keys, like E major, E minor, A major, and A minor on a 4 string bass, and B major and B minor on a 5 string, etc.

But I'd start on a 4 string bass and focus on E and A. Songs in these keys can be easily transposed to other keys, and vice versa.

The way you said it ... it is like you won't play some note because they aren't in your pattern. You should be able to play in every key from the lowest note possible to the highest

[HeadyVan Halen]

I'll play along:
Thrill is Gone-----BB
If you want me to stay---Sly
Mellowship Slinky in B Minor---Red Hot Chili's
Nice and Warm---Tab Benoit
New Orleans Ladies---Louisiana Lerox
Get on Top---Red Hot Chili's
Power---Marcus Miller

Off the top of the dome, that's what I got. But, yes, what everybody else said is true...Don't get locked in, to only one scale, pattern, key.

As for Southern Gospel, never, ever do we play in B natural...now B flat, about 70% of the time.

[tonesponge]

Originally Posted by Mayers

The way you said it ... it is like you won't play some note because they aren't in your pattern. You should be able to play in every key from the lowest note possible to the highest

I get what you're saying. Tunes transposed from E open to A up the neck gain options, while transposing tunes the other way can require using a different fingering than the one learned initially, if the fingering uses positions closer to the nut than the root note. That's something that comes fairly instinctively to me after 30 years, so it's hard to remember that it might confuse a new student. But I still mentally categorize every fingering as being a derivation of the key of E or A, and I find that's an efficient and effective way of simplifying the combinations and permutations of optional fingerings on stringed instruments like the bass guitar.

[thombo]

Originally Posted by robrho1

Hello,
My name is Al and I am a self taught Bass Player and have been playing at home for a few years. I am taking a more serious and theoretical approach to my Bass playing. I am studying music keys one by one. I am currently studying the key of B. What are some good beginner / intermediate level Jazz, R&B, and Gospel songs I can use as study material? Thanks.

hi robrho1, welcome to talkbass!

i'm not trying to instigate, just giving a heads-up on TB's dynamic... you've posted the same EXACT same post 9 times... i'm no moderator, but it's just not cool to do that. there are forums for specific topics, and you should post your thread in the appropriate forum. this isn't to suggest you stop posting, just trying to help you get the most from the site.

the pros, like JMJ, are very generous in indulging us with their wealth of knowledge. carpet-bomb postings like yours diminish their contribution. i'd suggest posting in General Instruction, and reserve your posts for the pros to topics that are specific to the individual. good luck!

[tonesponge]

Now that I've slept on it, I think maybe I should have said that E minor, G major, A minor, and C major are the keys that, to me, are most worth specifically studying in open position. In addition to that, I suggest just learning one pattern (such as A minor and C major) up the neck and recognize that it can be moved up and down the neck to transpose the key(s).

Sometimes I confuse people because, even with G major and C major, I view those as derivations of E minor and A minor, because the pattern is the same, but the root note is different. I know a lot of people think of it the other way, but I learned the minor keys/scales first on guitar, so they have a sort of primacy in the hierarchy of categories my brain uses to organize guitar stuff.