Guidance please...

[coop423]

Hi all, first post here. I'm hoping you can send me in the right direction for something very basic...such as learning how to properly play bass. I started "playing" bass about 12 years ago. My friends played guitar, and I decided I'd play bass. I fell in love with the instrument, but I tried to take so many short cuts in learning that I feel I never properly learned the craft of playing bass. From the principles of the instrument, to rudimentary skills, etc...I just tried to learn songs and a scale to jam with. Does anyone have a good recommendation on where to go to really learn the right way? And a free option is ideal Thanks!

 

[repoman]

Click on the sticky thread up there, right above this one ^^^^

 

[JoZac21]

1) Take lessons. Learn scales, chords and other theory stuffs.
2) Play along to your favorite bass players (and other musicians) and figure out what they're doing.
3) Play the bass... play alone, with other people, while watching tv, sitting reading talkbass, whatever... just play... always. Doing other things should feel like just taking a break from playing.
4) Listen to lots and lots of music... as many genres as possible... listen to music you love... listen to music you hate, even, and figure out why you don't like it.
5) Once you have all the above done, stop thinking and just play.
6) Profit.

 

[cbrophy]

http://www.studybass.com/

 

[MalcolmAmos]

Bass Guitar for Dummies. Will have all the fundementals, like how to hold it, tune it, get sound from it, etc. Plus the diagrams and visual aids are great.

Then www.studybass.com is a free bass lesson site that will be helpful. Start on screen number 1 and go from there.

The major scale box and scale degrees helped me. The box, fake chord sheet music and the following epistle pulled it all together for me.

Good luck.

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

Bass Patterns based upon the Major Scale box.

Major Scale Box. 
Code:
G|---2---|-------|---3---|---4---| 1st string
D|---6---|-------|---7---|---8---|
A|---3---|---4---|-------|---5---|
E|-------|---R---|-------|---2---|4th string

See what Scott Devine has to say about using patterns.
Notice his three box patterns are a little different than this
Major scale box pattern. Don't let that bog you down, the
point I want you to see is that you can use patterns to speed
things up.
[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

Basic Chords
• Major Triad = R-3-5
• Minor Triad = R-b3-5
• Diminished Chord = R-b3-b5

7th Chords
• Maj7 = R-3-5-7 Take a look at this http://www.studybass.com/lessons/bass-chord-patterns/one-octave-major-7th/
• Minor 7 = R-b3-5-b7
• Dominant 7 = R-3-5-b7
• ½ diminished = R-b3-b5-b7
• Full diminished = R-b3-b5-bb7

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 will keep you gigging.

Scales Yes gotta do your scales. Why? To get your fingers knowing where the good notes are. Plus your ear needs help in recognixing what is a good note and what is a bad note.
• Major Scale = R-2-3-4-5-6-7 Home base
• Major Pentatonic = R-2-3-5-6 Leave out the 4 & 7
• Natural Minor Scale = R-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7 Major scale with the 3, 6 & 7 flatted.
• Minor Pentatonic = R-b3-4-5-b7 Leave out the 2 & 6.
• Blues = R-b3-4-b5-5-b7 Minor pentatonic with the blue note b5 added.
• Harmonic Minor Scale = R-2-b3-4-5-b6-7 Natural minor with a natural 7.
• Melodic Minor Scale = R-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 and fit most any chord. Remember the diminished has a flatted 5. So a bass line of R-5-8-5 is safe under major or minor chords.
• 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.

Spend some time with Dummies and www.studybass.com then start with your scales - so your fingers know where the notes are on your fretboard. When you can run those scale listed above in your sleep - then - take on chord tones for your bass line. Think of chord tones being little scales, i.e. with the scale you ran the R-2-3-4-5-6-7 see a Cmaj7 chord coming up in the song run the R-3-5-7 scale degrees of the C major scale - as that R-3-5-7 are the notes that make up the Cmaj7 chord, thus is a safe bass line for that chord.

Have fun

 

[coop423]

Bass Guitar for Dummies. Will have all the fundementals, like how to hold it, tune it, get sound from it, etc. Plus the diagrams and visual aids are great.

Then www.studybass.com is a free bass lesson site that will be helpful. Start on screen number 1 and go from there.

The major scale box and scale degrees helped me. The box, fake chord sheet music and the following epistle pulled it all together for me.

Good luck.


Spend some time with Dummies and www.studybass.com then start with your scales - so your fingers know where the notes are on your fretboard. When you can run those scale listed above in your sleep - then - take on chord tones for your bass line. Think of chord tones being little scales, i.e. with the scale you ran the R-2-3-4-5-6-7 see a Cmaj7 chord coming up in the song run the R-3-5-7 scale degrees of the C major scale - as that R-3-5-7 are the notes that make up the Cmaj7 chord, thus is a safe bass line for that chord.

Have fun

Thank you, sir!

 

[Bass Mentor]

also, be sure to study chordal movement -- why and how a progression '' asks'' for the next chord and the the relationship to one another---and I would stress reading fundamentals --not tab-- tab is not used in the pro world

Best of Luck!

Steve

stevebryantbassguitar.com

 

[the_stone]

Take lessons, even though they're probably not going to be free - if you truly want to learn music and the bass, there's no substitute for having a knowledgable person guiding your progress.

 

[MarkMgibson]

Plenty of good books and websites like the ones mentioned above. If you're having trouble with technique though, that's something that is hard to learn from a book or webpage. Even a few lessons could help a lot; perhaps to point out any bad habits you have and how to correct them. I also think that when you get to a point where you don't feel you're really improving or getting anywhere, lessons can give you a massive boost. I know they're not cheap, but you'd be surprised how much inspiration you can get in a hour with a good teacher.

People spend lots of money on instruments and other gear, but your money is much better invested on a good teacher in my opinion.

 

[SquierJazz72]

Bass Guitar for Dummies.

Just got that one not long ago to supplement my re-learning. I'll definitely recommend it. Everything from the basics on up to scales, modes, and various grooves, as well as how to work your own is in there.

Great information and pretty straight forward reading.

I did the same years ago. Kind of got tossed into bass on the deep end, and missed out on the basics. Something i have corrected now. You can too. Just follow the resources and stick with it.