Apply Interval recognition to the bass

[The Juice]

Hello, Im new to the forums, and Id like to talk about applying intervals to the bass. Okay so here it goes.. I bought a bass about 6 months ago, and started practicing on scales and reading music. Then soon after I started to learn interval recognition.. Now heres the issue my finger seem to not want remember where each interval is located. I was wondering if there is any exercise that help with apply intervals to the bass?

[Eminentbass]

One thing that might help is playing a scale up one string. That helps to visualize the intervals that make up the scale even though it's not a practical way to actually play. Another thing is arpeggios. Knowing your chord tones and the scale degrees/intervals that make up chord types goes a long way.

Try putting your hand in position for a one octave scale, play the tonic then call out intervals in no particular order and play them. This is also a good way to get started on ear training if you want to try sing the interval you selected.

[Chris K]

I hope you use a consistent fingering system (like one finger per fret or Simandl). If not, start there.
Play a major scale with consistent fingering across two or more octaves. Start slowly and repeat it till you can play it at, say 160 bpm without watching your hands. For fingerings, see Pacman's sticky on scales on top of the General Instruction section.

After that, play the intervals from the root (1-2, 1-3, 1-4 etc.) with the same consistent fingering.

After that, take a simple song (Happy Birthday To You), play it on the bass with consistent fingering and sing along the intervals numbers while playing (5-5-6-5-1-7___, 5-5-6-5-2-1______ etc.)

Once you can do that, try a similar song every day.

After that: on to the minor keys and the chromatic scale.

Good luck!

[MalcolmAmos]

Originally Posted by The Juice

Hello, Im new to the forums, and Id like to talk about applying intervals to the bass. Okay so here it goes.. I bought a bass about 6 months ago, and started practicing on scales and reading music. Then soon after I started to learn interval recognition.. Now heres the issue my finger seem to not want remember where each interval is located. I was wondering if there is any exercise that help with apply intervals to the bass?

Suggest you think of your intervals being in a box. Move the box around for the different keys you are to play in. The intervals are always in the same place within the box.

Go here then to post #23 for more on the box.
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showth...67#post9372867

Place the box -- where is the 5th? Up a string and over two frets. Where is the octave? Up two strings and over two frets. Yep, the intervals are always in the same spot just waiting on you. Just put to memery where the 8 intervals are located and it's a piece of cake.

This will come in handy:


{edit} My bass is playing chord tones so I think in chord tone interval numbers. Now if you are wanting to identify the intervals by their sound, the other guys are touching on that. The box gets your scale notes all into a nice "box" (area) for you to use.

[Ed Fuqua]

Your fingers can't remember because they don't have a brain, nor do they have ears. They have to use yours. What work are you doing to "recognize intervals"?

[Moonbot]

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

Your fingers can't remember because they don't have a brain, nor do they have ears. They have to use yours. What work are you doing to "recognize intervals"?

Spot on.
Try Vick's site. Excellent games for teaching you all this stuff.

http://www.victorwooten.com/labs.html

[Fergie Fulton]

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

Your fingers can't remember because they don't have a brain, nor do they have ears. They have to use yours. What work are you doing to "recognize intervals"?

This is it in a nut shell. If you can sing, whistle or hum a song then you recognise intervals and use them.....you just don't know what they are called.....that's different to not knowing them. Find songs with intervals to relate to, song that make sense to you.
Build up this listening library then work of recreating them using techniques of relative pitch( the box idea as said) for example.
Once you have a starting point you need to hear them, so work them out as chord tones and scales ( the two need each other) to help you understand intervals and relate to them.

A classic semitone interval is the intro to Jailhouse Rock,those two notes are semitone apart so it can be B-C or C-C# or G-G# or Ab -A etc it is all way a semitone.
Classic tone interval is the start of Walking on the Moon by the Police. The song uses A as a root, then its a tone to the B.
Because the notes on any single string on a bass are in semitone steps intervals are easy to use.

Walking on the Moon for example can be rooted in A to B, (a major 2nd) that is a tone. Then two and a half tones from the root gives us a D, ( also a major 4th) for the next note, semitone flat from the 5th gives us the next note C# (a major 3rd) and back to the root, A, to finish. So in simplistic terms the song is the first four note of a major scale and the intervals involved represent this. So it has two tones and a semitone involved in it (opening intervals of a major scale) in it.

This is a simplistic approach, but a great one to apply to learning songs and intervals. As you develop this relation skill you will be able to learn songs without any instrument because you can hear the intervals used, all you need is a starting point to relate the intervals to. Benefits of this is you can change key at the drop of a hat if need be because the intervals remain the same, so in effect the fingering patterns stay the same, but it is the note names that change. As has been said see the shapes and hear them and move them around, see it as a box that can have a number of new starting positions but the intervals in it never change.

Here is walking on the Moon, but not in the key i used as an example so the notes will be different but the intervals will be the same.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbv-LcdLY-Y

[Beginner Bass]

I find that remembering hand shapes is very helpful. Remember how to play a minor 2nd, tritone, major 7th, octae, etc. For exactly a minor second is 3rd on the unison, and 1st on the 3rd a string above. Or 1st finger on the unison and 4th finger on the same string for the 3rd. That's what helps me.

[The Juice]

Thanks for the help, everyones post were very useful.