I need help finding out what scale to use to fit my bands music.

[petchimp123]

So i'm the bass player in my friends band and we are practicing this week. My friend told me his bands music is sorta like sublime. Im just wondering what scale to use for ska type of music. My bass teacher worked with me on improvisation and gave me these Greek named scales, but i'm not sure which one fits Ska.

My questions is, does anyone know what kind of scale i should use for ska?

[elpelotero]

I'm sure someone will know for sure, but I would suggest the major scale for starters.

The best thing to do is ask the guitarist for some of his chord progressions. Then go to a site with scales and see what matches.

[petchimp123]

yeah thats what i was thinking of doing at first. My friend just wants me to be able to play root notes for a start. I just want a few scales for that genre so i can create some cool basslines for myself, show them, and they can work their way around it.

[elpelotero]

look into arpeggios. That's a great way to make a riff out of whatever chord the guitarist is doing.

[funkybassplayer]

first off figure out what key you are in. this will allow you to figure out what the relatives would be

[gosurf80]

+1 arpeggios. I would really recommend studying your guitarists' chord forms and work on finding small riffs and transitions between changes.