Best apps for scale and arpeggio visualisation?

[Robbie J]

I notice that TalkingBass have released a bass scales app: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], .

It looks good, particularly the options for selecting a fingering. However, having a look around there are unsurprisingly quite a few scale/fretboard apps out there. Does anyone have any particular favourites that work well?

I think that the ideal scale app would include:

* Showing scales in alternate fingerings
* Option to display fretboard for 5 or 6 string basses
* Arpeggios as well as scales
* Displaying in multiple octaves, or even all notes in the scale all at once

 

[noeinstein]

That one looks pretty hard to beat! I’m sold*

*Unfortunately, even though the app is only $2.99, it looks like I'd have to upgrade my iPhone 6+ to be able to run the required 13.4 v IOS software. That might add too much to the cost for now.

 

[Spin Doctor]

I notice that TalkingBass have released a bass scales app: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], .

It looks good, particularly the options for selecting a fingering. However, having a look around there are unsurprisingly quite a few scale/fretboard apps out there. Does anyone have any particular favourites that work well?

I think that the ideal scale app would include:

* Showing scales in alternate fingerings
* Option to display fretboard for 5 or 6 string basses
* Arpeggios as well as scales
* Displaying in multiple octaves, or even all notes in the scale all at once

Have you considered writing that stuff out yourself? I guarantee that you will get a lot more out of it if you do. Of course, you have to actually work through it, but I'm assuming you will, since an app can't learn it for you.

 

[Benjamin Earl]

I notice that TalkingBass have released a bass scales app: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed], .

Nice! This app looks excellent for learning how to visualize the fretboard. I'm not familiar with any apps that look this good or have options like the "fingering positions". This is an excellent place to start at a great price.

With that said, it looks like it may be missing the following things:
*Pinky positions in the 1FPF method (the video only shows the 3NPS method)
*How to connect positions
*Exercises other than up and down the scale
*All the things you mentioned

 

[Groove Finder]

Hey man!
I'm relatively new to playing bass. Between working a 8-5pm job with a 40-minute commute each way and having a 9-year old and a 13-month old sometimes it's tough to find time to take lessons. I'm constantly looking to apps, videos, etc to day at my pace and when I have some spare time. I the TalkingBass app and purchased it last week and so far it's been pretty impressive for the $2.99 I paid for it.

 

[Malcolm35]

Not an app, but, the price is right. An old cut and paste I think may help you visualize your scales and chord tones.

Fearceol mentioned chord tones. Yes that is what we play 95% of the time. Here is another cut and paste paper for your reference file.

My old standby chart of generic bass lines using the major scale box as a Rosetta stone.

Major Scale Box.
G|---2---|-------|---3---|---4---| 1st string
D|---6---|-------|---7---|---8---|
A|---3---|---4---|-------|---5---|
E|-------|-R/T---|-------|---2---|4th string
You may recognize this pattern with dots.
Adding the numbers lets the pattern come alive. R= the root note and T = the tonic note of the scale. or if you prefer 1. One pattern you adjust as needed, i.e. if you want the minor scale flat the 3, 6 & 7.

Cmaj7 chord coming up in the song. Find a C note on the 3rd or 4th string and put this box's R over that C note. Then play the "spelling" for the Cmaj7 chord. That spelling is listed below and it is R-3-5-7. If you wanted to play the C major scale, that spelling is T-2-3-4-5-6-7.

Basic Chord Spellings

• Major Triad = R-3-5 for the C chord.
• Minor Triad = R-b3-5 for the Cm chord.
• Diminished Chord = R-b3-b5 for the Cdim chord.

7th Chord Spellings

• Maj7 = R-3-5-7 for the Cmaj7 chord.
• Minor 7 = R-b3-5-b7 for the Cm7 chord.
• Dominant 7 = R-3-5-b7 for the C7 chord.
• ½ diminished = R-b3-b5-b7 for the Cm7b5 chord.
• Full diminished = R-b3-b5-bb7 for the C with the little o - no strike through.

See a chord and play it's chord tones. As every key will have three major, three minor and one diminished chord it's a good idea to get your major, minor and diminished bass line chord tones into muscle memory so when you see a chord your fingers just know what will work. Now the song may only give you enough room for the root, or root five - adapt and get as many chord tones into your bass line as needed. Root on 1 and a steady groove from the other chord tones plus something to call attention to the chord change is what we do.

Scale Spellings Yep, gotta do our scales so our fingers know where the notes are and our ears get used to the good and bad sounds. Scales are a right of passage thing. Got to know them, however, chord tones is what we get paid to play.

• Major Scale = T-2-3-4-5-6-7 Home base
• Major Pentatonic = T-2-3-5-6 Leave out the 4 & 7
• Natural Minor Scale = T-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7 Major scale with the 3, 6 & 7 flatted.
• Minor Pentatonic = T-b3-4-5-b7 Leave out the 2 & 6.
• Blues = T-b3-4-b5-5-b7 Minor pentatonic with the blue note b5 added.
• Harmonic Minor Scale = T-2-b3-4-5-b6-7 Natural minor with a natural 7.
• Melodic Minor Scale = T-2-b3-4-5-6-7 Major scale with a b3.

Let the major scale be your home base then change a few notes and you have something different. No need to memorize a zillion patterns. Let the major scale pattern be your go to pattern - then adapt/adjust from there.

Generic Notes - for your bass line.

• The root, five and eight are generic (R-5-8-5) and fit most any chord. Remember the diminished has a flatted 5.
• The 3 is generic to all major chords. So R-3-5-3 will fit under any major chord.
• The b3 is generic to all minor chords. And R-b3-5-8 will fit under any minor chord. Why the 8? Well the 8 is just another root in the next octave.
• The 7 is generic to all maj7 chords. Yep, R-3-5-7 fits nicely.
• The b7 is generic to all dominant seventh and minor seventh chords. G7 = R-3-5-b7 or Gm7 = R-b3-5-b7.
• The 6 is neutral and adds color, help yourself to 6’s. Love the sound of R-3-5-6 with a major chord.
• 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.
• Roots, fives, eights and the correct 3 & 7 will play a lot of bass.

Google can find hundreds of riffs for you; get several into muscle memory. Here are some
|6667 8555 5668|5538 6333 3378| and the ole R-5-8-5 will fit most anywhere.

 

[Robbie J]

Have you considered writing that stuff out yourself? I guarantee that you will get a lot more out of it if you do. Of course, you have to actually work through it, but I'm assuming you will, since an app can't learn it for you.

That is a good point; I've heard that advice before but haven't got round to doing it. I'll be sure to include that as part of my studies. However, I see it as both-and rather than either-or; I'm a very visual learner, so I'd appreciate having this sort of app in order to quickly and easily be able to have a scale diagram to hand.

 

[mambo4]

Does anyone have any particular favourites that work well?

Pencil, graph paper, and figuring it out yourself.
(possibly referencing @Malcolm35's post)

sorry to be that guy. I'm trying to teach my Kid to look up words in the dictionary instead of asking me how to spell them. It's on my mind.

 

[Spin Doctor]

That is a good point; I've heard that advice before but haven't got round to doing it. I'll be sure to include that as part of my studies. However, I see it as both-and rather than either-or; I'm a very visual learner, so I'd appreciate having this sort of app in order to quickly and easily be able to have a scale diagram to hand.

Ok. Well, here's the thing. That phrase, "quickly and easily"? That don't apply with this stuff. Making the hard drive on you shoulders do the work is the fastest way. I get that you probably at this point don't really get how scales are put together. That's your first step. I know the apps sound like a fast way to get at everything at once. However, if you start with Malcolm's post and just go one step at a time, writing it down for yourself, and learning to play scales up and down the neck, you will have it internalized way better than something that you believe has done all the work for you.

Honestly, Benjamin Earls book would probably be a better start that trying to use an app. The most critical part is that you need something that will give you some kind of process for getting it into your playing. You gotta do you though, and I guess it can't hurt to explore the option.

 

[Robbie J]

Ok. Well, here's the thing. That phrase, "quickly and easily"? That don't apply with this stuff. Making the hard drive on you shoulders do the work is the fastest way. I get that you probably at this point don't really get how scales are put together. That's your first step. I know the apps sound like a fast way to get at everything at once. However, if you start with Malcolm's post and just go one step at a time, writing it down for yourself, and learning to play scales up and down the neck, you will have it internalized way better than something that you believe has done all the work for you.

Honestly, Benjamin Earls book would probably be a better start that trying to use an app. The most critical part is that you need something that will give you some kind of process for getting it into your playing. You gotta do you though, and I guess it can't hurt to explore the option.

I appreciate your warning about against a shortcut to learning scales, that scales can’t be delivered direct to your long-term memory via an app. I’m simply looking for an efficient reference tool. And as valuable as it is for your learning process to go through the process of drawing out diagrams yourself, scraps of physical paper aren’t as effective a reference compared to digital media that are much easier to sort and retrieve.

For context, I’m confident with the major and minor scales and their chord tones, but only from the perspective of first/second-finger box patterns. The way my memory works, it really helps to have a visual diagram I can ingrain onto my eyeballs, to sit alongside those box patterns I first learnt from Bass Guitar for Dummies. Hence my search for a good app, and in particular one that displays scales in different fingering positions.

 

[ShawnG]

Not an app, but, the price is right. An old cut and paste I think may help you visualize your scales and chord tones.

Fearceol mentioned chord tones. Yes that is what we play 95% of the time. Here is another cut and paste paper for your reference file.

My old standby chart of generic bass lines using the major scale box as a Rosetta stone.

Major Scale Box.
G|---2---|-------|---3---|---4---| 1st string
D|---6---|-------|---7---|---8---|
A|---3---|---4---|-------|---5---|
E|-------|-R/T---|-------|---2---|4th string
You may recognize this pattern with dots.
Adding the numbers lets the pattern come alive. R= the root note and T = the tonic note of the scale. or if you prefer 1. One pattern you adjust as needed, i.e. if you want the minor scale flat the 3, 6 & 7.

Cmaj7 chord coming up in the song. Find a C note on the 3rd or 4th string and put this box's R over that C note. Then play the "spelling" for the Cmaj7 chord. That spelling is listed below and it is R-3-5-7. If you wanted to play the C major scale, that spelling is T-2-3-4-5-6-7.

Basic Chord Spellings

• Major Triad = R-3-5 for the C chord.
• Minor Triad = R-b3-5 for the Cm chord.
• Diminished Chord = R-b3-b5 for the Cdim chord.

7th Chord Spellings

• Maj7 = R-3-5-7 for the Cmaj7 chord.
• Minor 7 = R-b3-5-b7 for the Cm7 chord.
• Dominant 7 = R-3-5-b7 for the C7 chord.
• ½ diminished = R-b3-b5-b7 for the Cm7b5 chord.
• Full diminished = R-b3-b5-bb7 for the C with the little o - no strike through.

See a chord and play it's chord tones. As every key will have three major, three minor and one diminished chord it's a good idea to get your major, minor and diminished bass line chord tones into muscle memory so when you see a chord your fingers just know what will work. Now the song may only give you enough room for the root, or root five - adapt and get as many chord tones into your bass line as needed. Root on 1 and a steady groove from the other chord tones plus something to call attention to the chord change is what we do.

Scale Spellings Yep, gotta do our scales so our fingers know where the notes are and our ears get used to the good and bad sounds. Scales are a right of passage thing. Got to know them, however, chord tones is what we get paid to play.

• Major Scale = T-2-3-4-5-6-7 Home base
• Major Pentatonic = T-2-3-5-6 Leave out the 4 & 7
• Natural Minor Scale = T-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7 Major scale with the 3, 6 & 7 flatted.
• Minor Pentatonic = T-b3-4-5-b7 Leave out the 2 & 6.
• Blues = T-b3-4-b5-5-b7 Minor pentatonic with the blue note b5 added.
• Harmonic Minor Scale = T-2-b3-4-5-b6-7 Natural minor with a natural 7.
• Melodic Minor Scale = T-2-b3-4-5-6-7 Major scale with a b3.

Let the major scale be your home base then change a few notes and you have something different. No need to memorize a zillion patterns. Let the major scale pattern be your go to pattern - then adapt/adjust from there.

Generic Notes - for your bass line.

• The root, five and eight are generic (R-5-8-5) and fit most any chord. Remember the diminished has a flatted 5.
• The 3 is generic to all major chords. So R-3-5-3 will fit under any major chord.
• The b3 is generic to all minor chords. And R-b3-5-8 will fit under any minor chord. Why the 8? Well the 8 is just another root in the next octave.
• The 7 is generic to all maj7 chords. Yep, R-3-5-7 fits nicely.
• The b7 is generic to all dominant seventh and minor seventh chords. G7 = R-3-5-b7 or Gm7 = R-b3-5-b7.
• The 6 is neutral and adds color, help yourself to 6’s. Love the sound of R-3-5-6 with a major chord.
• 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.
• Roots, fives, eights and the correct 3 & 7 will play a lot of bass.

Google can find hundreds of riffs for you; get several into muscle memory. Here are some
|6667 8555 5668|5538 6333 3378| and the ole R-5-8-5 will fit most anywhere.

Good stuff! Thanks!!

 

[Benjamin Earl]

Honestly, Benjamin Earls book would probably be a better start that trying to use an app. The most critical part is that you need something that will give you some kind of process for getting it into your playing. You gotta do you though, and I guess it can't hurt to explore the option.

Thanks for shout out! I agree that a comprehensive process is better because it will give a path to follow. Using a method like the one that I spell out in my book is helpful for giving direction. You start at point A, then B and so on. Like I said above, I think this app is pretty good. However it is missing the "why" and the "how". It has all the ingredients, but you need a recipe.

I appreciate your warning about against a shortcut to learning scales, that scales can’t be delivered direct to your long-term memory via an app. I’m simply looking for an efficient reference tool. And as valuable as it is for your learning process to go through the process of drawing out diagrams yourself, scraps of physical paper aren’t as effective a reference compared to digital media that are much easier to sort and retrieve.

For context, I’m confident with the major and minor scales and their chord tones, but only from the perspective of first/second-finger box patterns. The way my memory works, it really helps to have a visual diagram I can ingrain onto my eyeballs, to sit alongside those box patterns I first learnt from Bass Guitar for Dummies. Hence my search for a good app, and in particular one that displays scales in different fingering positions.

I agree this app looks pretty good for reference. All this information is out there somewhere, but it lacks direction just like YouTube learning. Spending time exploring your fretboard is not a waste of time, and I agree with almost everyone that has posted. However, if you find that learning by discovery isn't working (or you get stuck), then using a method like I teach in my book will help. It is excellent for visual learning and is also great for reference. I am chiming in because my book was mentioned. If you want more details, then feel free to ask.

 

[Robbie J]

I agree this app looks pretty good for reference. All this information is out there somewhere, but it lacks direction just like YouTube learning. Spending time exploring your fretboard is not a waste of time, and I agree with almost everyone that has posted. However, if you find that learning by discovery isn't working (or you get stuck), then using a method like I teach in my book will help. It is excellent for visual learning and is also great for reference. I am chiming in because my book was mentioned. If you want more details, then feel free to ask.

Your book looks great - in fact, I've just bought a copy! From your explanations, and what I've seen of it so far, I think it should match my learning style really well. I've found I really need some structure and a feeling of progression to work through, so hopefully it will work well for me. And it's an ebook so that ticks the digital box for me; I don't need an app specifically, but rather a reference I can bring up on my tablet when needed.

Thanks also to Spin Doctor for the recommendation! Apologies, I think I had skimmed over your point about having a process as well when I read your post the first time round.

 

[Benjamin Earl]

Your book looks great - in fact, I've just bought a copy! From your explanations, and what I've seen of it so far, I think it should match my learning style really well. I've found I really need some structure and a feeling of progression to work through, so hopefully it will work well for me. And it's an ebook so that ticks the digital box for me; I don't need an app specifically, but rather a reference I can bring up on my tablet when needed.

Thanks also to Spin Doctor for the recommendation! Apologies, I think I had skimmed over your point about having a process as well when I read your post the first time round.

Nice! Thanks, I really appreciate it! I'm pretty proud of the way the book turned out. I tried to make it colorful and visually pleasing, which translates best as an ebook (printing color is expensive). I hope it helps you on your path to mastering the fretboard. I would love any feedback, and don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. I have a passion for bass, music theory, and helping others.

 

[noeinstein]

@Benjamin Earl, "It has all the ingredients, but you need a recipe." Very well said.

 

[Benjamin Earl]

@Benjamin Earl, "It has all the ingredients, but you need a recipe." Very well said.

Don't tell my girlfriend I'm making food analogies, because she may make TB account just to make fun of my cooking skills.