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Beginner questions.

D

Dexteroth

Feb 22, 2005
16
0
36
Belgium, Oost-Vlaanderen
#1
Hi everybody.

I've been playing bass for almost 3 years now, I feel I'm pretty good at it (decent) but I know no theory.

Right now I'm in my final year of high school, after this I really want to enter a conservatory to study jazz. But without any theoretical knowledge I'll never get in.

My dream job would be to become a session/freelance bassist and I'd like to be well prepared and educated for this.

My first objective would be to be able to read sheet music. Know after some studying I'm able to see which note is which and it's duration but I have no idea where those notes are on my bass, how can I find this?

Any other tips would be greatly appreciated, thank you.
 
#2
If I understand your question correctly, you need to get some music that has both tablature and standard notation, in order to easily see the relationship between the notes on the staff and the fretboard.

Can you get or order online some books that have the tab below the standard notation?
 
#3
Dexteroth,
If you have no note reading skills at all I would recommend Student Bass Method 1 and maybe follow that up with Note Reading Studies for Bass. Once you feel comfortable with those, there is a series of 3 books entitled:

Essential Sight Reading Studies for Bass, Vol. 1,2,3

They can be found at

http://www.bassbooks.com

They are $17 each, plus S&H.

Hope this little bit of info helps. Good luck with your studies.

-Timothy:bassist:
 
#4
Well yes, but I already have a few of those.
I was just wondering if there are websites or something where I can see the place of all of my notes on the fretboard.
For example, if I see that I have to play a G, how do I know where the G lies on my fretboard?
I hope I'm explaining this a bit clearly since english is not my native language.
 
#5
I think this is what your looking for...

Look for the patterns, if you play G on the E string you can also find it one string up (A)(pitch wise) and 7 frets down, if you play F on the A string you can also find it one string down (E) 5 frets back. Also remember the octaves.

Hope this helps but im sure there are people who can explain it so much better

Alec
 

Attachments

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#6
Studying bass at the college level requires a lot. You should spend this next year working on sightreading, ear training, basic theory, some keyboard, and if possible get familiar with DB. Most colleges don't have electric bass as a major that is why you need to get familiar with DB and as a working pro playing both mean more work opportunities. College you will be studying theory and example are mainly written as a piano reduction. So being able to play "arranger's" piano will help immensely. What Arrangers piano mean is know some basic piano and can pluck out a melody or simple chords so you can try the examples in books. At college level and even more so in real world have a good ear is everything. Especially as a bass player in real world and Jazz you're in situation where they might not be charts and you have to be able to play along by ear. In jazz backing up soloists they start throwing in chord subs and reharmonizing and again you need to be able to hear it and follow. A good ear can get you through any gig. Sightreading need to work on treble and bass clef theory books are going to have both clefs and sometimes at gigs you might have to read off a treble clef fake book.

I would say find a good bass teacher who's been a music major and knows the kind of things to get you up to speed on. So half of your lesson can focus on bass and half on building your musicianship skills.

You got a year you can get a good grasp of the basics in that time. Focus a lot on reading and ear training because that will make your first year in college much easier of if you have a solid foundation in both.
 
#7
DocBop said:
Studying bass at the college level requires a lot. You should spend this next year working on sightreading, ear training, basic theory, some keyboard, and if possible get familiar with DB. Most colleges don't have electric bass as a major that is why you need to get familiar with DB and as a working pro playing both mean more work opportunities. College you will be studying theory and example are mainly written as a piano reduction. So being able to play "arranger's" piano will help immensely. What Arrangers piano mean is know some basic piano and can pluck out a melody or simple chords so you can try the examples in books. At college level and even more so in real world have a good ear is everything. Especially as a bass player in real world and Jazz you're in situation where they might not be charts and you have to be able to play along by ear. In jazz backing up soloists they start throwing in chord subs and reharmonizing and again you need to be able to hear it and follow. A good ear can get you through any gig. Sightreading need to work on treble and bass clef theory books are going to have both clefs and sometimes at gigs you might have to read off a treble clef fake book.

I would say find a good bass teacher who's been a music major and knows the kind of things to get you up to speed on. So half of your lesson can focus on bass and half on building your musicianship skills.

You got a year you can get a good grasp of the basics in that time. Focus a lot on reading and ear training because that will make your first year in college much easier of if you have a solid foundation in both.
Click to expand...

Ironically enough, it probably wouldn't hurt the OP to get a few piano lessons to learn how to read "both" (bass and treble) clefs and play too.
 
#9
Go for it, Dexteroth! Get the best teacher you can possibly afford - one who has professional music training to best prepare you for an academic music program. And then work really hard this year and in college.

Count yourself fortunate that you know at this age what you'd like to do for a career. Pursue that dream doggedly, and you'll get there.

Too many of us get to middle age and look back and say, "When I was a kid I wanted to.......Wish I'd gone after it harder." Don't be one of us.

Now get to work finding that teacher. :)
 
#11
Chrysalis said:
Go for it, Dexteroth! Get the best teacher you can possibly afford - one who has professional music training to best prepare you for an academic music program. And then work really hard this year and in college.

Count yourself fortunate that you know at this age what you'd like to do for a career. Pursue that dream doggedly, and you'll get there.

Too many of us get to middle age and look back and say, "When I was a kid I wanted to.......Wish I'd gone after it harder." Don't be one of us.

Now get to work finding that teacher. :)
Click to expand...

QFT

Or worse, start playing at an early age but never take it seriously enough, and then wish you had 25+ years later.

^^^ Me. I started guitar at age 9 but didn't really start taking it seriously until I was 35.
 
#12
Kilgar420 said:
I think this is what your looking for...

Look for the patterns, if you play G on the E string you can also find it one string up (A)(pitch wise) and 7 frets down, if you play F on the A string you can also find it one string down (E) 5 frets back. Also remember the octaves.

Hope this helps but im sure there are people who can explain it so much better

Alec
Click to expand...

Wow thanks for posting that picture, I like to have things like this hanging around my cube so I can peek at them during the day. I had another fretboard picture I printed out but this one is better. Sometimes I try to visualize playing a song while just looking at the fretboard, not sure if that helps things at all but it's a fun diversion and free from the spying eyes of the firewall. :)
 
#13
0. Learn the notes on your bass.
1. Learn to read music.
1a. Not just the notes, the rhythms too.
1b. Learn to play piano - just enough anyway that you can fumble your way through a song when you have the sheet music in front of you in one of the common keys. (+1 "arranger's piano")
2. Learn to sing solfege.

These are all things you'll need to get in to music school and/or to progress in music school.

Most of all, develop your ear. Learning to read notes & be able to play them on sight is extremely important, but even more important is developing a good ear.

PS Invalid Link Removed is pretty good at teaching all of these things.
 
#14
After 3 years of playing, I'm a little surprised you haven't already memorized the notes on the neck.

My usual advice for this is to concentrate on memorizing the pitches at the 'dotted' frets (and open strings)
open: EADG (lowest string to highest)
3rd: GCFA
5th: ADGC
7th: BEAD
9th: C#F#BE
12th: octave (repeat open strings an octave higher)

It's quiet easy to memorize the dots, and once you do the in between ones are quickly identified. after a while it will become fairly instantaneous.
 

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