Good source for all scales/arpeggios

[Manhattan2025]

Just looking for a good single reference for all scales and arpeggios on electric bass, preferably multi-octave and including the sort of less common scales a place like Berklee requires in their bass proficiencies (symmetrical diminished, whole tone, etc).

Any suggestions for books, videos, or courses that lay these out clearly would be greatly appreciated. If this has been covered somewhere on this forum a quick lead on the thread(s) would be great as well, not quite finding what I'm looking for offhand. Thanks

 

[onda'bass]

Try the berklee bookstore. All you could want.

 

[Manhattan2025]

Thanks -- for some reason I'm not finding a concise resource for this there. Surprising, and I may well be missing something... I know they have a book like this for guitar ("Berklee Guitar Theory," which I have), but not finding something comparable for bass.

 

[onda'bass]

Ok if you know theory and how to spell scales, lose the books and use your bass. Most of this knowledge you seek in rooted in theory.

 

[B-Mac]

Thanks -- for some reason I'm not finding a concise resource for this there. Surprising, and I may well be missing something... I know they have a book like this for guitar ("Berklee Guitar Theory," which I have), but not finding something comparable for bass.

Talking Bass on YouTube has some great lessons for what you're looking for.

 

[Sam Evans]

Maybe the Bass Grimoire? I can't see a good description of the contents, but I know that's the general idea of that series.

EDIT: Here we go, decent preview at the publisher site:

The Bass Grimoire: Complete

This professional reference tool contains thousands of diagrams, charts, illustrations and fret board patterns along with clear and concise theory and instruction. It might just be the best bass book in the business.

www.carlfischer.com

 

[FatStringer52]

I'll just echo what @B-Mac said above. Mark at TalkingBass has some good resources if you sign up for a free membership. In the Practice Room he has a couple of eBooks, one is the Scale Reference Manual for Bass Guitar and another is the Arpeggio Reference Manual for Bass Guitar. I'll attach the TOC for each below so you see whether or not these will work for you. Also in the Practice Room he has a section on Common Scales and Arpeggios (the 12 most common scales) that have video lessons. If nothing else, this should give you a good starting point!

 

[Killing Floor]

3 minutes at a Pat Metheny concert?

 

[monsterthompson]

 

[wysiwyg248]

Give this one a try.

 

[NotHereNow]

Bought at Media Play in 1998 for $10. Works on bass too.

 

[JonathanPDX]

Just looking for a good single reference for all scales and arpeggios on electric bass, preferably multi-octave and including the sort of less common scales a place like Berklee requires in their bass proficiencies (symmetrical diminished, whole tone, etc).

Any suggestions for books, videos, or courses that lay these out clearly would be greatly appreciated. If this has been covered somewhere on this forum a quick lead on the thread(s) would be great as well, not quite finding what I'm looking for offhand. Thanks

If you really want to understand this stuff inside and out, so you can use it the way you see great players apply these tools, you need to spend a lot of time with your bass and a notebook.

Let's take an easy one: A-7 arpeggio. The notes are A, C, E, G. So, draw out your strings on notebook paper and mark every instance of all 4 notes on the fretboard. Circle or color the root so you can always find it even when your diagrams get complicated. From there, you can take highlighters and start outlining every possible 4-5 fret block where you can grab all those notes, and boom, you have a set of arpeggios to start sequencing.

After that you can start looking for shift points, where you can adjust from one position to another to access higher or lower notes from your starting point. If you play through a lot of combos you'll find some that are comfortable and some stretches or jumps that just aren't practical in most musical settings.

From here you can add extensions or move onto other modes and arpeggios, including your modes of limited transposition.

Sure, you can go look for a book or chart where someone else already did the work for you, but you'll never lock in that knowledge quite as deeply as if you did the work yourself and had to puzzle out the shapes and really examine what you do and don't know about your instrument along the way.

 

[PWolverine]

I'll just echo what @B-Mac said above. Mark at TalkingBass has some good resources if you sign up for a free membership. In the Practice Room he has a couple of eBooks, one is the Scale Reference Manual for Bass Guitar and another is the Arpeggio Reference Manual for Bass Guitar. I'll attach the TOC for each below so you see whether or not these will work for you. Also in the Practice Room he has a section on Common Scales and Arpeggios (the 12 most common scales) that have video lessons. If nothing else, this should give you a good starting point!

Another +1 here for Mark at Talkingbass. Go there.. check out his YouTube resources and his website. He has a no frills approach and just gives you what you need to know.. I'm working through his Walking Bass course at the moment and it is fantastic. Well worth looking into.

 

[Manhattan2025]

Ok if you know theory and how to spell scales, lose the books and use your bass. Most of this knowledge you seek in rooted in theory.

Yeah, I could definitely stand to be better about working things about myself, appreciate the reminder

 

[Manhattan2025]

Just looking for a good single reference for all scales and arpeggios on electric bass, preferably multi-octave and including the sort of less common scales a place like Berklee requires in their bass proficiencies (symmetrical diminished, whole tone, etc).

Any suggestions for books, videos, or courses that lay these out clearly would be greatly appreciated. If this has been covered somewhere on this forum a quick lead on the thread(s) would be great as well, not quite finding what I'm looking for offhand. Thanks

3 minutes at a Pat Metheny concert?

Ha! I've seen him in concert... guess it didn't stick, dammit!

 

[Manhattan2025]

I'll just echo what @B-Mac said above. Mark at TalkingBass has some good resources if you sign up for a free membership. In the Practice Room he has a couple of eBooks, one is the Scale Reference Manual for Bass Guitar and another is the Arpeggio Reference Manual for Bass Guitar. I'll attach the TOC for each below so you see whether or not these will work for you. Also in the Practice Room he has a section on Common Scales and Arpeggios (the 12 most common scales) that have video lessons. If nothing else, this should give you a good starting point!

Thanks so much for taking the time to post these links, super helpful!

 

[Manhattan2025]

If you really want to understand this stuff inside and out, so you can use it the way you see great players apply these tools, you need to spend a lot of time with your bass and a notebook.

Let's take an easy one: A-7 arpeggio. The notes are A, C, E, G. So, draw out your strings on notebook paper and mark every instance of all 4 notes on the fretboard. Circle or color the root so you can always find it even when your diagrams get complicated. From there, you can take highlighters and start outlining every possible 4-5 fret block where you can grab all those notes, and boom, you have a set of arpeggios to start sequencing.

After that you can start looking for shift points, where you can adjust from one position to another to access higher or lower notes from your starting point. If you play through a lot of combos you'll find some that are comfortable and some stretches or jumps that just aren't practical in most musical settings.

From here you can add extensions or move onto other modes and arpeggios, including your modes of limited transposition.

Sure, you can go look for a book or chart where someone else already did the work for you, but you'll never lock in that knowledge quite as deeply as if you did the work yourself and had to puzzle out the shapes and really examine what you do and don't know about your instrument along the way.

Great observations, really appreciate it.

 

[Manhattan2025]

Maybe the Bass Grimoire? I can't see a good description of the contents, but I know that's the general idea of that series.

EDIT: Here we go, decent preview at the publisher site:

The Bass Grimoire: Complete

This professional reference tool contains thousands of diagrams, charts, illustrations and fret board patterns along with clear and concise theory and instruction. It might just be the best bass book in the business.

www.carlfischer.com

Thanks, totally forgot about the Grimoire books, I'll check that out. Really appreciate the lead.

 

[Manhattan2025]

Another +1 here for Mark at Talkingbass. Go there.. check out his YouTube resources and his website. He has a no frills approach and just gives you what you need to know.. I'm working through his Walking Bass course at the moment and it is fantastic. Well worth looking into.

Cool, thanks, I'd seen a couple of that guy's videos before and thought he was really on-point. Appreciate the lead on the Walking Bass course as well, might have to check that out, too.

 

[Low Main]

The old Active Bass website used to have a good scale library, along with other resources. Sadly, it is gone now.

Does anyone know if that content has resurfaced anywhere or if the site has been relaunched with a different name?