Question about Keys

SSINTENSE · #1 02-13-2009, 09:13 AM

So before a few months ago since about the second year I was playing I played scales in that typical four fret range and knew the qualities and the scales by the shape it makes on the fretboard. I've been getting to the point where I know how to move to a different part of the fretboard and still be on the same key. I can now see the pattern of modal patterns across the fretboard. I can also see patterns on an individual string from lowest pitch possible on that string to the octave either at fret 12 or a fret after that, and what modes would be correct on the entire string above or below.

The problem is that I don't always know what notes I am playing, I just can kind of feel what they will sound like and I know all the patterns in shapes on the fretboard. This will on occasion get me lost if I try to get too cute. Usually when I really do something really cool I get my mind carried away and then I will screw up somehow.

I know the notes on the C scale across the fretboard easily, but when I hit a flat or a sharp it would take me a second or two to know what it is. Should I know every note on the fretboard like I know C?

I also have a tendancy when I am messing around or practicing to play mixolydian patterns on a certain root and then change the sound of that root to Aeolian with a major 6th. It sounds real cool but I'm sick of being predisposed to do the same thing.

When I play in other modes and then try to change it up it sounds good, but for some reason I just love Mixolydian. It always feels right. I will go elsewhere in the fretboard via another mode for half a measure or apart of a measure to put up a cool lick that makes some variation from the rhythm and looping harmony. I would say it is a hit 75% of the time and a miss 25% of the time.

What kind of techniques do you guys use when constructing an A-B-A-C type bass line (each letter is a measure and the B's and C's are different responses to A)? Also, when you guys use your ears to go beyond the line and vary something up, do you have a tendancy to stay on key and throw in a note that is out of key but sounds just right? I found myself throwing in a certain interval to a note that is out of key but it sounds great.

Just wondering how you guys approach the fretboard when you are just jamming. I know it is hard to notice exactly what you are doing because your ear is doing most of the work.

SSINTENSE · #2 02-13-2009, 09:31 AM

I think my main problem is I will try to get too cute sometimes and go beyond what my ear can hear. It sounds great 3/4 times because I know the keys but sometimes it just won't work.

Do you guys have a certain practice routine to tune your ear to different sections of the fretboard in context of where and what you are playing? It is really hard to put this into words if you know what I mean.