A Tonic....

[Chili]

i no this sounds pretty dumb, but what is a tonic? i'm new to all this scale stuff

and also what is a semi tone? agen i no this sounds dumb but i really need to no

[Andy On Bass]

Have a read of Jazzbo's Scale and Chord Theory article here: Introduction to Scale and Chord Theory

This will definately clarify what a semitone is (throughout the article) and there is a reference to what 'tonic' means in the vocabulary section! Hope this clears things up for you!

[JimmyM]

The tonic is just the first note of a scale. Like in a C scale, the tonic is C. It's also known as the root.

[Chili]

kool thx for both ur help, i am using this site to learn scales:

http://www.jazclass.aust.com/scales/scamip.htm#f

but its actually for keyboard, is it still possible to learn what i want to no from that site? or is there anyother sites like that for bass with some audio n stuff, and if that site is ok will i just have to ignor all the B after the scales since we dont have black on bass

[JimmyM]

I fully believe that in order to REALLY understand theory, it helps to have a keyboard, because you can actually see the notes laid out in front of you, rather than looking at a bunch of frets that look pretty much identical. I might suggest getting a cheap keyboard. You don't have to be good at it, but it really helps to be able to bang a few notes and chords out on it.