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I Thought I was an intermediate.. Reality check

D

diverse379

Mar 4, 2015
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280
59
#1
what do they say at the AA meetings the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

I am a returning bass player. after about 14 years i have come back to the instrument.
and have gotten back a lot of my dexterity and facility
I have been playing keys professionally during those 14 years
so I think that helped a bit.

anyway I signed up for ADAM Nitti's bass education site

and figured I would be an intermediate

but then I figured hey just for kicks
go to the beginner stuff just in case there were one or two things i could use.
(The whole leave no stone unturned deal)

Well I am floored to realize I am certainly no intermediate.
not by the standards of NITTI anyway.
I dont know how I used to get called to do so many gigs
when I didnt have such foundational concepts.

Maybe because I can see this on a higher level now after playing keys for these years.
but I am sure Glad I gave this Nitti thing a shot.
 
#4
I am in a good place
i didnt write this post as a i am disgusted with myself
just sharing a wake up call

to answer the question
Nitti did not say this is what a beginner is or is not
It was just how he grouped his exercises

so the first was
playing the g major scale three notes per string
then A dorian three notes per string
then B phrygian threee notes per string etc


then later doing a four measure bass line
where you do a fill from each mode.

not really hard stuff
but I wouldnt have thought this was beginner level

I am impressed with his coursework
 
#6
phangtonpower said:
That doesn't sound like beginner stuff to me.
Click to expand...

LOL
Thats what I said

BUt it is certainly grouped in with his beginner lessons.

now the thing to look at
is how long does it take someone to
understand and execute the material
I learned all those modes and fingerings in one sitting
and was able to groove and do the fills
at his tempo

perhaps a beginner may wallow in that for quite some time.

Im just saying I never knew or practiced my modes that way.
I intellectually knew them
and could play a dorian or mixolydian
but not all seven
and certainly not all the way up the neck
in order

which unlocks the fretboard
something I wish I learned from the beginning
which is probably why he started with this so early
 
#8
The clever thing that Nitti does with this particular lesson
is he just teaches the 7 modes
as different fingering patterns for the major scale
he emphasizes again and again
that these are all the notes of the parent scale
and it is the shape
that may bring out improvisational ideas

by doing a fill every fourth measure
and sequentially using each mode for the fill idea
you are applying the shape
pattern and sound
he also talks about not starting on the first note of the mode
and not necessarily trying to make each fill sound like an amazing solo
all in all a really cool lesson
so he is not really teaching modal playing yet per se
but he is teaching the modes and how to apply them in fills

it was a pretty cool lesson .

I wish I had known this stuff a long time ago I would be a lot further along.
 
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#10
fearceol said:
Nor me. I always assumed that modes were best left until further along the learning journey, but who am I to question Mr Nitti's ways ?
Click to expand...

He clearly sees the mode as an extention of the major scale ... If you know the notes of G major ... you can play A dorian no problem etc I remember doing that kind of stuff when I started.

Start with say Gmajor on 3rd fret E string ... do the scale
then start on the A 5th fret E string and do the scale using Gmajor accidential ...
and continue to climb up the neck until you land on G again on the E string.
Far from rocket science
 
#13
I dont know if i have a blessing or a curse,,lol...i play bass naturally and learned guitar to write on, being an origanal band player since day one. Playing bass if you take some time to learn a few basic concepts is such a rewarding experience..i like guitar but after doing rythym parts in studio work ,,man does that bass seem fun...i have a simple thing i learned years ago..i still have the crinkeled paper i wrote it on..i wrote out all the major and minor scales and learned to play them from anywhere on the fretboard(ouch that b string on guitar) i gave me a big understanding of where to be, i never played in a cover band but if guitar guy started riff and play say some megadeath or skynyrd and call hey a minor pentatonic or G major..it allowed me to play right in with him timing to the drums and after a few bars lock in with guitar...what i really enjoy about the bass is its really so critical to the sound of a band and with some dedication and practice you can really enjoy it..i love being able to go from metal to jazz to motown and not have all the complications of guitar...turn your amp off during a practice once in the middle of a song and walk out of the room..lol the looks you get as the bottom falls out, suddenly the guitar solos are cheesey the drummer is thin...cool thing is every new mode or scale or thechnique opens the window to explore musically..when i see a post like this i love the trying new things out !! or revisting some things from before,,thanks
 
#15
diverse379 said:
The clever thing that Nitti does with this particular lesson
is he just teaches the 7 modes
as different fingering patterns for the major scale
he emphasizes again and again
that these are all the notes of the parent scale
and it is the shape
that may bring out improvisational ideas

by doing a fill every fourth measure
and sequentially using each mode for the fill idea
you are applying the shape
pattern and sound
he also talks about not starting on the first note of the mode
and not necessarily trying to make each fill sound like an amazing solo
all in all a really cool lesson
so he is not really teaching modal playing yet per se
but he is teaching the modes and how to apply them in fills

it was a pretty cool lesson .

I wish I had known this stuff a long time ago I would be a lot further along.
Click to expand...

Unrelated to the thread, but I really enjoy your line breaks. It makes all of your posts read like poetry.
 
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#17
Sounds like a legit course of what you will learn as a beginner, meaning you should know all this by the end of the course, thereby becoming an intermediate. If the requirements are that you should already know modes to enter a beginner course, that doesn't sound right to me. But, hey, this is Adam Nitti.
 
#20
BassFishingInAmerica said:
Sounds like a legit course of what you will learn as a beginner, meaning you should know all this by the end of the course, thereby becoming an intermediate. If the requirements are that you should already know modes to enter a beginner course, that doesn't sound right to me. But, hey, this is Adam Nitti.
Click to expand...
its the way you said it the first time
by the course end you will firmly know it
 

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