Online Bass Lessons at StudyBass.com has been mentioned. I found this book a great help.
Bass Guitar For Dummies - Google Books I bet your public library will have a copy.
I Play from fake chord sheet music and use the following major scale box pattern. Coming from 6 string guitar I'm sure you know about fake chord sheet music
Happy Birthday Guitar Chords. See a chord name then play the notes of that chord one note at a time - we do not strum, we play one note at a time. Roots just by themselves will get you started. Watch how Sir Paul plays roots.
‪Paul McCartney teaches bass‬‏ - YouTube
Here are some patterns that helped me when I came over from 6 string.
Bass Patterns based upon the Major Scale box.
Code:
Major Scale Box.
G|---2---|-------|---3---|---4---| 1st string
D|---6---|-------|---7---|---8---|
A|---3---|---4---|-------|---5---|
E|-------|---R---|-------|---2---|4th string
Place the root (R) on the C note 4th string 8th fret and the C major scale await you.
Place the root (R) on the C note and play the R-3-5 and you have just played the notes of the C major chord aka C arpeggio. Chord progression for this song is G-C-D. Place your box root on a G on the 3rd string. Where is your C? Where is the D? The next song's progression is C-F-G. Place your box root on a C on the 3rd string. Where is your F? Where is your G? Yep, piece of cake.
Basic Chords - Notes to play when accompanying.
Major Triad = R-3-5
Minor Triad = R-b3-5
Diminished Chord = R-b3-b5
7th Chords
Maj7 = R-3-5-7
Minor 7 = R-b3-5-b7
Dominant 7 = R-3-5-b7
½ diminished = R-b3-b5-b7
Full diminished = R-b3-b5-bb7
Scales - Notes to play when soloing.
Major Pentatonic = R-2-3-5-6
Minor Pentatonic = R-b3-4-5-b7
Blues = R-b3-4-b5-5-b7
Major Scale = R-2-3-4-5-6-7
Natural Minor Scale = R-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7
Harmonic Minor Scale = R-2-b3-4-5-b6-7
Melodic Minor Scale = R-2-b3-4-5-6-7
Generic Notes for your bass line.
The root, five and eight are generic and fit most any chord. Remember the diminished has a flatted 5.
The 3 is generic to all major chords. See a major chord R-3-5-8 is a generic bass line that will work.
The b3 is generic to all minor chords. See a minor chord R-b3-5-8 is a generic bass line that will work.
The 7 is generic to all maj7 chords. R-3-5-7.
The b7 is generic to all dominant seventh and minor seventh chords. R-3-5-b7 or R-b3-5-b7.
The 6 is neutral and adds color, help yourself to 6’s. I like R-3-5-6 for major chords. Has a great sound.
The 2 and 4 make good passing notes. Don’t linger on them or stop on them, keep them passing.
In making your bass line help yourself to those notes, just use them correctly.
Remember roots, fives, eights and the correct 3 will play a lot of bass.
Print this off and keep it as reference material, it'll come in handy one day.
See what you can do with this:
‪jam track boogie rock‬‏ - YouTube
Here's your goal for 3 months from now.
‪autumn leaves jam track‬‏ - YouTube Roots only right now see if you can keep up with the music using only the root note. When you can do that try R-5-R-5 that should keep you busy for awhile.
Have fun.
