Are there any free scales and exercises available in standard notation?
Need to work on learning the fingerboard.
Need to work on learning the fingerboard.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
free Standard Notation scale sheets?
- Thread starter skycruiser
- Start date
Thanks. I'm looking for printable sheets, notes only (no tabs) that will help me learn the entire fingerboards through scales or other exercises. The page you linked has a few images but I didn't see printable sheets with extensive exercises.
If you really want to learn it write your own. You know the lowest note and the highest note on your bass, all of your scales are between the two.
That's what I ended up doing yesterday evening. My goal is to learn the fingerboard well, so my scale sheets focus on positions along the fingerboard. The first 2 I did were key of C and key of D (2 sharps). I marked up a lot of changes on my printed sheets last night so it will definitely be an iterative process!
ismlp.org is a searchable archive of public domain sheet music pdfs
Search for "Double Bass Etudes" and you'll get a century of material
EDIT:It seems ismlp.org has a double bass wiki page for relevant material
Search for "Double Bass Etudes" and you'll get a century of material
EDIT:It seems ismlp.org has a double bass wiki page for relevant material
Thanks, I'll watch that though I'm not sure a study of modes is what I need. I'd like to improve my reading skills, in particular sight-reading at-speed. So I really want that familiarity with the location of notes on the fingerboard. When I was younger I played saxophone and got to where there was absolutely zero translation delay between seeing the written note and playing it. I'd like to get close to that on bass (knowing it is a little tricky since position matters and notes are accessible in multiple places). So for now, I would like to do exercises that simply force me to learn the notes in various positions on the bass.
The modes are the notes on the bass and hopefully after you watch the video you'll understand why I suggested it. If reading is your goal than I can suggest either:
Jeff Berlin: [This invalid link has been removed]
or
The late great Jim Stinnett: reading books
Jeff Berlin: [This invalid link has been removed]
or
The late great Jim Stinnett: reading books
I watched the video but honestly I was not able to grasp how it relates to my current goals. At this point I'm not really looking for shortcuts to work through scales or melodic passages based on fingering patterns and shapes. My goal is to see a note in any context and be able to quickly position my hand and fret the note.
I'll check the other linked refs - thank you. I was burned by Stinnett books in the past so I'm hesitant to go that direction. The Finger Funk series was very poorly done.
It’s not about the patterns, it’s about the notes. You can cover a lot of ground within any five fret span. The question is which five frets? That is dependent on the key. If you can play seven modes in one position that means that you have seven keys under your fingers in one location. Move up 1/2 step and you’ve got seven more etc. If you play a five string bass then you cover two octaves. If you want to learn the notes on the bass you can pick a single note and learn it everywhere on the bass and move on to the next note. For reading you’ll find that there is usually more than one way to approach a passage and the most efficient way is usually dependent on what precedes and follows it. That comes with familiarity. You can play a major or minor triad starting with any finger. Some are more efficient than others that might require some shifting but they all get it done.
My understanding is the 7 modes are not in 7 keys, they are all in the same key. So it is just playing the same notes starting at a different point in the scale. So I'm really don't see how that helps learn the notes UNLESS you do it while reading those scales in standard notation as you play them. I believe I just need repeated exposure to any pattern of any notes within each key in various positions, until eventually I will have learned to easily play in each key (while keeping an eye out for accidentals along the way). It could be done by playing through the modes, could use arpeggios, or any pattern. Think of the Hanon piano exercises for bass.
The attached PDF is an example what I'm working on now. The numbers mark positions shifts (keeping those to a minimum). Gets up to around the 12th fret which will probably get me pretty far. I'll do one in keys up to maybe 4 or 5 sharps/flats. Once I'm comfortable I may move to some etudes linked above.
(I don't know if I'm using the term "position" correctly - for this exercise it is the position of the index finger.)
- Apr 1, 2000
- 17,405
- 9,845
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Roscoe Guitars, DR Strings, Aguilar Amplification
While not notation at all, I believe in this method.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/pacmans-sure-fire-scale-practice-method.50170/
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/pacmans-sure-fire-scale-practice-method.50170/
You're on the right track but I was a little confused by the intent of your original post. Learning the notes on the instrument is just one part of learning to read and, as has already been mentioned, there are a ton of resources with simple major scales like music theory.net and apps. Writing them yourself will take you a lot further in the process. Based on your history with the saxophone and your sheet I'm guessing that you already understand that you need to know the notes on the staff as well as the rhythms in written music which can get quite complex.
I'm sorry that you had a bad experience with the Stinnett Finger Funk series. He really was the man when it comes to reading and perhaps it was a bit ambitious on your part. Take a look at "Reading in the Bass Clef" or Jeff Berlins' "Bass Mastery: A Complete Reading Course for Beginners" both designed to work through all of the elements of reading music. Hanon is used primarily to develop technique on the piano. I'm trying to steer you away from pattern based systems from a reading perspective because music typically not written in convenient patterns from a melodic standpoint.
Going back to the video there were seven fingering patterns, one for each mode. What I was hoping that you would see is that each pattern, or mode, has to start somewhere. For example start each one with your index finger on the note "G" at the third fret of the "E" string:
G Ionian Mode (pattern) - Key of G (with F sharp)
G Dorian Mode (pattern) - Key of F (with B flat)
G Phrygian Mode (pattern) - Key of E flat (with A flat, B flat and E flat) etc.
This is assuming that you know all of the major scales.
Notice that this isn't as convenient as playing a scale in seconds or thirds, a valuable skill, but when you're done you will know every note within that five fret range with a little music theory thrown in.
I'm sorry that you had a bad experience with the Stinnett Finger Funk series. He really was the man when it comes to reading and perhaps it was a bit ambitious on your part. Take a look at "Reading in the Bass Clef" or Jeff Berlins' "Bass Mastery: A Complete Reading Course for Beginners" both designed to work through all of the elements of reading music. Hanon is used primarily to develop technique on the piano. I'm trying to steer you away from pattern based systems from a reading perspective because music typically not written in convenient patterns from a melodic standpoint.
Going back to the video there were seven fingering patterns, one for each mode. What I was hoping that you would see is that each pattern, or mode, has to start somewhere. For example start each one with your index finger on the note "G" at the third fret of the "E" string:
G Ionian Mode (pattern) - Key of G (with F sharp)
G Dorian Mode (pattern) - Key of F (with B flat)
G Phrygian Mode (pattern) - Key of E flat (with A flat, B flat and E flat) etc.
This is assuming that you know all of the major scales.
Notice that this isn't as convenient as playing a scale in seconds or thirds, a valuable skill, but when you're done you will know every note within that five fret range with a little music theory thrown in.
Thanks, this is helpful though my main goal is sight reading. I do see how having the ability to play in key at any position would be a key part of being able to sight read well.
I'd like to get to where I can pull up a video like this and play along fairly well (though the page turning does make it impossible to "look ahead" which is really important in sight reading.)
The best way to do that is to do it. Whether it’s a Stinnett book, Berlin book or any of the available reading material out there. Start slowly (“See Spot Run, Run Spot Run”) and work your way up with a metronome! Challenge yourself to do at least a new page a day without stopping. The goal is to read it not memorize it. A few private lessons with a teacher would really help you get started too.
Good advice here, thanks! Exactly along the lines of what I'm looking for. Part of my problem is that treble clef is still burned into my brain from years playing another instrument so I'm struggling to break away from the translation reflex. Bass clef needs to become my new native language. I'm OK at the lower end of the range but get up to the top line and above and I struggle.
What I am doing now is playing these scale sheets and saying or singing the note name out loud as I go. It is helping reinforce the notes connections. This is actually where knowing the finger patterns can hurt you, or at least that's what I seem to be finding. If I use the pattern then I can be lazy about relating the note and staff to the fingering, which is exactly what I want to reinforce.
I vouch for that method as well
It's a no short cuts, buckle down and do the work approach
And it will deliver you a rock solid understanding of scales over the entire neck
The Stinnett finger funk books have a lot of problems in my opinion.
1. Poor editing and errors
2. Repeated exercises in different books
3. They are not progressive - the are just a random collection spread across multiple books. This was a huge disappointment
4. They offer absolutely no guidance on fingering and positioning, or anything for that matter. It is simply the music
With some editing, instruction and rearrangement it could really be an awesome set of exercises. Many are fun to play and you can learn a lot. But I was really hoping for the wise instruction from the master to come through on paper like they do in the videos. If his other books are like they then I don't think I will be able to tolerate them.
Thanks for those additional reading refs - I'll take a look. I agree that the Hanon focus is different. But as a collection they present a wide variety of patterns (various intervals and sequences) that could be useful ideas for some type of reading exercises.
You are thinking of relative modes (same 7 notes, different Tonic) ,
@Rhythmman535 is writing of parallel modes (Same Tonic, 7 different scales)
If you play C Ionian = Key of C major
C Dorian = same notes as Bb major
C Phrygian: Ab major
C Lydian: D major
C Mixolydian: F major
and so forth
so 7 different modes all staring on the same tonic yield 7 keys.
Using Modes to "unlock the fingerboard" works for some
But, Pac Man's method is , as advertised, sure-fire.
Last edited:
