Scales, Chords, Grooves

[RASHOSS]

I've been playing bass for many years, but never have studied the theory of bass. I enjoy playing simple grooves. Most of the time I learn a bass line and play what I think sounds good...there is no science behind it.

With that said, I'm looking to expand my knowledge, and ability to improvise and create bass lines, a bit. Is there a book that you can suggest that will provide me with scales, chords and grooves to rehearse, in order to become more familiar with the fretboard and/or strengthen my knowledge of simple scales?

In the little amount of reading I've done in this section of TB, I've seen people mention "The Working Bassist's Tool Kit" and "The Art of Solo Bass".

I'd like to get ONE book to start with. I'm not interested in "reading" music, so I need something that is in tablature form.

Thank you.

[Groove Master]

I think what you need is this
This book has some theory,chords for bass with music notation and improved tabs that make you play correctly and might even help you to read at the same time.

This book comes with a dvd data that contains 260 grooves with 1,000 drums tracks to practice with and is based on a concept that will improve your sense of time and your inner clock. Each exercise is based on specific chords and will make you connect with the theoretical aspect of harmony also. Have a look also at bassbooks.com for more samples.

Check it out,

Sylvain Bolduc

[pan1k]

you wont find the best material tabbed out. learning how to read music should be your first step. it will open many doors for you. i learned how to read in 2 weeks before my first semester in jazz performance lol. its not hard

[Bassic Playing]

+1 to reading music, though I can't say it's totally imperative, it does really help you as an overall player

[JimmyM]

I so don't get not wanting to read music. That's the whole key to it all right there.

[Pacman]

Moved to General Instruction, where more people will tell you that the key is learning to read music, because it is.

[RASHOSS]

I don't know why I've always been so intimidated by learning to read music. If the overwhelming responses are that it's really important, than I'm willing to give it a try.

On that note, is there a "best" book that can train me to read as well as provide scales, chords, and grooves?

[MalcolmAmos]

Sylvain - The Groove Master - listed his book, might give that a try for groove.

For what to put in a bass line, I'd recommend Ed Friedland's Building Walking Bass Lines. Amazon.com: Building Walking Bass Lines (9780793542048): Ed Friedland: Books Ed is also a member here and drops in from time to time.

For Scales I'd send you to a piano book. Alfred's # 1, 2 & 3. Amazon.com: Alfred's Essentials of Music Theory Complete (Books 1-3) (9780882848976): Andrew Surmani, Karen Farnum Surmani, Morton Manus: Books Covers how to read standard notation - IMO gotta identify the note first - then find it on your bass fretboard. Alfred's will get into what scales are and how they are formed plus talk about how they are the beginning of everything we do. Now how to get them into your bass, that's another story. IMO scales are for your lead solo and in Country that is handled by the lead electric or the pedal steel. So I'm not going to be a lot of help there. I use things made from the scales, i.e. chord tones and the pentatonic scales for my bass lines. But that is another story.

Finding scale charts is sometime hit and miss. If someone says; "That is based upon the E major scale" it would help if you start with the correct notes that are in the E major scale. Here is a gift.

Major Scale Chart
C D E F G A B...............Notice the C scale has no Sharps
G A B C D E F#.............and the G scale has one, the F#
D E F# G A B C#...........and the D scale keeps the F# and
A B C# D E F# G#.........adds the C#. Then the A scale keeps
E F# G# A B C# D#.......everything and adds the G#. See how
B C# D# E F# G# A#.....it builds on it's self.
F# G# A# B C# D# E#
C# D# E# F# G# A# B#
F G A Bb C D E.............Look what happens with the flat scales
Bb C D Eb F G A...........F has one the Bb, then the Bb scale keeps
Eb F G Ab Bb C D.........it's self and adds the the Eb. Same thing
Ab Bb C Db Eb F G.......the sharp scales did...
Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C
Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F
Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb

Memory pegs:
See God Destroy All Earth By F#irey C#haos. Order of the scales with sharps.
Fat cats go down alleys eating birds. Order of the sharps.
Farmer brown eats apple dumplings greasily cooked. Order of the scales with flats.
The key signature is showing three sharps. What scale has three sharps? C has none, G has one, D has two, A has three. Which sharps? Fat = F#, Cat = C# and Go = G# so the A major scale has three sharps, F#, C# and G#.

Natural Minor Scale Chart
A B C D E F G ................Notice how the 6th column of the
E F# G A B C D................Major scale becomes the 1st column
B C# D E F# G A..............in the minor scale and how the 7th
F# G# A B C# D E............column of the Major scale is now the
C# D# E F# G# A B..........2nd column in the minor scale. And
G# A# B C# D# E F#........yep, the 1st column in the Major scale
D# E# F# G# A# B C#......is now the 3rd column, etc. etc.
A# B# C# D# E# F# G#....Ask your self why? Hint, think relative minor.
D E F G A Bb C
G A Bb C D Eb F
C D Eb F G Ab Bb
F G Ab Bb C Db Eb
Bb C Db Eb F Gb Ab
Eb F Gb Ab Bb Cb Db
Ab Bb Cb Db Eb Fb Gb


Major Scale Box for your bass.

G|---2---|-------|---3---|---4---| 1st string
D|---6---|-------|---7---|---8---|
A|---3---|---4---|-------|---5---|
E|-------|---R---|-------|---2---|4th string

How to use those scales - If you can count to 8 and remember some of the following sequences your road to scales, chords and grooves will be shorter and perhaps smoother.

Basic Chords
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
Major Scale = R-2-3-4-5-6-7
Major Pentatonic = R-2-3-5-6 Major scale without the 4 & 7
Major Bebop = R-2-3-4-5-b6-6-7 Major scale with a b6 added
Major Dominant Bebop = R-2-3-4-5-6-b7-7 Major scale with both b7 and 7
Natural Minor Scale = R-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7 Major scale with the 3, 6 & 7 flatted
Minor Pentatonic = R-b3-4-5-b7 Natural minor scale without the 2 & 6
Blues = R-b3-4-b5-5-b7 Minor pentatonic with the b5 blue note added
Harmonic Minor Scale = R-2-b3-4-5-b6-7 Natural minor scale with a natural 7
Melodic Minor Scale = R-2-b3-4-5-6-7 Major scale with a b3
Minor Bebop = R-2-b3-3-4-5-6-b7 Dorian with a natural 3 added
That’s enough to get you going.

Generic Notes for your bass lines.
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.

Which chords like to go to what other chords, i.e. how a progression works (and thinks). For example:
C major scale has these notes; C, D, E, F, G, A, B and these chords; C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim. and we identify them this way:
I,... ii,.. iii, .IV, V, vi,. viidim
C, Dm, Em, F,. G, Am, Bdim

• I tonic chord is the tonal center of the progression, you should end with the tonic, it brings everything back to rest. Now the tonic can go any where it wants to in a progression, just remember when you go to the I tonic you have released all the tension you have built up. Is that what you want?
• ii chord is a minor sub dominant chord, that wants to go to the dominant chord. Dominant chords are the V and the viidim.
• iii chord is a minor chord. It likes to drag the vi with it. The iii is a good lead to chord. Lead to what? How about a turn-a-round iii-vi-ii-V7-I.
• IV chord is a sub dominant chord like the ii. The ii and the IV both being sub dominant chords can substitute for each other. Their task in life is to move to a dominant chord.
• V chord is a dominant chord. Dominant chords want to get to the I tonic chord. The V7 is the climax chord and wants to move to the tonic RIGHT NOW.
• vi chord is minor. The relative minor in fact. it's task is to move to a sub dominant chord.
• viidim chord is the diminished chord and it is also a dominant chord. However, the viidim chord does not necessarily have to move to the I tonic immediately. The viidim likes to get to the tonic I, but, can take a more leisurely route, as in a turn-a-round. Use the viidim when you want to lead somewhere. viidim-iii-vi-ii-V7-I.

Have fun with this, you may want to print it and keep it as reference material. Kinda hard to find all of this on one sheet of paper. Now how to use all this, in your music, that's the real story.

Good luck and have fun.

[Papa Dangerous]

*Take this with a grain of salt, I am having a less than articulate day. So anyone, if you find faults with this, please chime in with a correction, or a different way of saying (typing?) it to make things more clear. *

I always suggest learning and understanding intervals/scale degrees to help you make your way around the fretboard.

I would suggest looking at wikipedia for a clearer definition of both and how they are different (but finish reading this thread first! ). My examples will sound a little slapdash because I am a bit lazy to get into that whole spectrum of things that you may already know! (My examples will pretty much describe understanding scale degrees as opposed to intervals, but those scale degrees are those specific scale degrees because of its interval!)

Intervals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_(music)#Number
Scale Degrees: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_degree

First read about them. Read again. Read again. Let it in all sink in as to how they function. With all that information... "Forget" about it. Look at the fretboard and just learn the proper spacing.

Root to octave
Root to perfect fifth
Root to perfect fourth

Root to minor second.

Root to Major third VS. Root to minor third
Root to Major sixth VS. Root to minor sixth
Root to Major seventh VS. Root to minor seventh

Once you get, say Root to fourth in a descending pattern, look at the relation between Root and Fifth in ascending!

If you start on G (as your key) (E-3) and than play C (A-3). Notice that you stayed on the same fret, but down one string. If you started on the C (as your key) (A-3) and played that reverse to the G (E-3). It is essentially the same pattern but instead of a fourth it is a fifth.

There is something about these relationships that I am slightly fuzzy on, but I will give you the general gist. Things tend to equal nine! P4 and P5 (4+5 =9) are inverse of each other (as in you played the similar pattern, but one descending, the other ascending) and you get these two scale degrees. The same would go for playing the fifth descending and ascending. Play G (E-3) to D (A-5) and you have a P5. Play the D (A-5) to G (E-3) you have a P4.

The same works with the other scale degrees as well (and this is where it gets fuzzy... so I may have to think as I type it out). I believe the way it works is that a minor 7 would be in relation to a Major 2nd. So if you play G (E-3) to F (D-3) that is your minor seventh. If you play F (D-3) to G (E-3) that is your Major second. (7+2 = 9 but also the minor and Major are swapped. This would be the same thing for Augmented and Diminished.)

G (E-3) to E (D-2) is a Major sixth and E (D-2) to G (E-3) is a minor third.
D (A-5) to F (D-3) is a minor third and F (D-3) to D (A-5) is a Major sixth.

By learning how all this works, it should make understanding how the fretboard works a little easier. You do not have to worry so much about which note is which, but just know your starting key and quality (Major, minor, etc) and knowing the pattern (just be sure to know why it IS that pattern as well).

So now that you have this down, applying chords and scales should be a lot easier when you can physically see where each note is going by the interval step rather than by note name!

So once again, anyone, please chime in with some comments on this if you think it needs clarification

[dmrogers]

Originally Posted by RASHOSS

I don't know why I've always been so intimidated by learning to read music. If the overwhelming responses are that it's really important, than I'm willing to give it a try.

On that note, is there a "best" book that can train me to read as well as provide scales, chords, and grooves?

Yes, these. The first two books concentrate heavily on reading. But they are not hard. I find them to be excellent study guides:

Hal Leonard Bass Method - Complete Edition

The Hal Leonard Method Book is a great learning tool. The way the book is written combines reading with learning some pretty cool theory.

I also would recommend this book as well:
Simplified Sight Reading Bass Instruction

While the Simplified Sight Reading Bass Book is not as much fun as the Hal Leonard book is, it's strong point is concentrating on rhythms, which is very important.


To get a good, solid foundation in theory, I would recommend you go through this:
studybass.com
Studybass.com goes through theory in such a way that you can understand, plus you can go at your own pace.

Good luck.

[JimmyM]

Reading music isn't real hard. You have to work at it, but if you learn it in bite size chunks instead of all at once, it doesn't take too long before you see results. My wife isn't real musical and she figured out how to read the staff and simple rhythms in a couple days when she got on a piano learning kick a couple years ago.

[LM Bass]

My take on this is that the information is easily accessible, so what will help you the most is to get a good teacher. It doesn't have to be a bassist, a piano teacher will be fine. If you can find someone who will help you plan, and will track your week-to-week progress it will help you improve the most.

[RASHOSS]

Thank you for the "gifts", resources, recommendations, and encouragement.

[Intenzity]

I will just chime in for a chord resource - the books at the link below show all the ways to play either the major, minor or dominant chords in two octaves on your bass (there are separate books for each chord type). All the books do have tab, but also have notation, so you can get into the note reading too, which as many folks have said is super important. Tab has some serious limitations (discussed ad naseum in many places on the forum) and to really understand what is going on in music you have to be able to read it, just like any language.

Basso Ridiculoso's Books and Publications Spotlight

You can hear with the 24 exercises sound like for a Major chord here -

Book of Chord Tones - Major Chord Exercise Examples by Basso Ridiculoso on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

The point of these exercises is that we all learn to play a chord R-3-5-7 but there are many more ways to arrange those same notes that are useful for soloing and walking bass lines. Those notes are really strong choices since they are chord tones, so knowing all the ways to play them is important.

And yes, you can learn how to read music, it isn't that hard or else every 8th grader in Pep band could'nt do it. Are they all musical geniuses??? No...its not that hard. Just gotta do a little every day.

Good luck!