Major-Minor

[quote name='velvetkevorkian' post='703591' date='Jan 6 2010, 10:33 PM']Thanks for taking the time to do this Major. On a related topic, do you have any advice for material in a similar vein for those who play 5 strings with the low B? I always get caught out by notes below E because I see them so rarely. Cheers.[/quote] I'll do some sessions specifically for 5 string BG reading. I play a 5 myself, and sometimes get a bit confused reading those extra low notes as i have an extension on my 4 string DB which goes down to bottom C, meaning that 1st finger on the ext is C# where as 1st fing on the BG (on the B string ) is C !! So I empathize. If you want to find other material, try looking at some cello parts. The cello's lowest string is C (an octave above our bottom C), but you can usefully use cello music to practice reading. Try to find some Baroque stuff - Bach, Handel, Vivaldi etc. Orchestral parts would yield more suitable reading matter than solo stuff. The Major

[quote name='stevie' post='700697' date='Jan 4 2010, 05:37 PM']I've noticed that there are quite a few players here on Basschat who can read, but who struggle with anything beyond the first position. I've been working through the Filiberto Bass Position Studies book and am semi-confident at sightreading up to the fifth position now, but it has taken me longer than it should have done - and I still stay at the bottom of the neck whenever possible. What I (am probably others) need is a system - a methodical approach - for reading at any position on the neck in all (or at least the common) keys. The Filiberto book is based on the use of positions - basically the fifth, seventh and ninth position. Wendi Hrehovcsik's book Music Reading for Bass (the Complete Guide) promotes the use of 'scale forms', or what I would call box positions. Is this the best approach? It might well be, but I have my doubts about an author who thinks she can cover Walking Bass Lines in half a page. The timing aspect of reading is covered in depth by a number of methods - not surprising, since this is something all musicians have to learn - but I've yet to find a decent method for learning how to gain reading mastery across the entire bass guitar fingerboard. I'm tempted to see what the double bass literature has to offer. Still, if you have any insights that would help me master the remaining section of the fingerboard, which is currently uncharted territory, I'd be very interested to hear them. If your boot camp lessons could include some material on these particular points, so much the better.[/quote] There are no easy or quick fixes with music reading I'm afraid ! It's all about recognizing patterns and seeing the possible fingerings in different positions. Like any skill it takes practice. The more reading you do, the more you will see things you've seen before and you will build up a repertoire of fingerings in all the positions. The Simandl bass tutor is fairly standard in the double bass world and guides you through all the positions in a nicely graded way. But it does have some limitations as a bass guitar tutor. The position naming is rather confusing for the BG player and the exercises, although well written, do tend to be rather "classical" in approach as you might imagine. I'm trying to produce practical playing examples in these Boot Camp sessions, short passages you might find on a typical reading gig. Stevie - I'm going to try to provide you with some suitable material, to get you moving up the neck. Bear with me - I will try to drip feed this stuff over the next few months. Each one of these sessions is several hours work, so i can't rush things. The Major

[quote name='XB26354' post='700741' date='Jan 4 2010, 06:10 PM']That's funny, because I always prefer straight eighths written as swung. The dotted eighth-sixteenth looks cumbersome and even though neither rhythm is technically correct, it's much easier to look at when there are long passages. I always thought that classically trained musicians wrote it that way, and lazy jazzers used straight eighths so you learn something new every day...[/quote] I work in both the classical and jazz genres (and other styles as well) and both these ways of writing are common in both genres. Just recently we did a new piece at the BBC by a UK composer that had a pseudo bebop section in it and it was written in straight 8's and marked "swing". My original point was that swing and shuffle type music (call it what you will) which is really theoretically in 12/8 (compound time) is nearly always printed as 4/4. Bass players need to be aware of the different ways of writing this "feel". I agree that the easiest way to read jazz type tunes is in straight 8s and if I was hand writing a part now that's how I would do it. But I haven't written by hand for several years now. Every new piece we get at the BBC these days has been prepared on a computer. The Major

[quote name='stevie' post='700575' date='Jan 4 2010, 04:01 PM']This is most welcome. I have a stack of books on reading for the bass and the only one that is any good doesn't progress past the first position and has been out of print for decades. None of the material I have contains musically interesting exercises like this one. I have high hopes of this series of lessons from The Major.[/quote] Cheers Stevie. I'm only too happy to produce this stuff as long as it is of interest to you guys. Please let me know if there is anything that you need particular help with and I can taylor the sessions accordingly. I've had a fair bit of time over the holiday to produce this stuff, but as I'm going to be fairly busy in the coming weeks, my production rate will probably slow down a bit. The Major

The Major's Bass Boot Camp (Session 7) 1st position sight-reading with key signature changes Firstly, THE LECTURE ! If you have been looking at these Bass Camp Sessions and thinking to yourself "This is not for me. After all, my favourite band don't read music, don't understand theory, and the bass player only uses one finger on his left hand", then maybe you should ignore this stuff. That's fine by me. BUT: If your mind is set on becoming a career bass player, doing nothing but music for the rest of your life, then I would encourage you to get stuck in, get your reading up to pro standard, start on the long road to understanding theory, and get your technique up to scratch. As far as music reading is concerned, let me just say this: It's not my technique which has got me good quality work over the years (although my technique is fairly good), it's not playing flashy slap stuff and 2 handed tapping, its not my knowledge of complex chords or solo improvising, it's quite simply the fact that I can READ to the highest standard, and interpret that written note as directed by the composer or arranger or Musical Director. When you are booked for a recording session or a concert or a theatre show, the fixer needs to be confident that you will play the notes as put in front of you, not be scratching your head over the ledger lines or a 5/16 time sig. LECTURE OVER ! Now this Session: [attachment=39326:MBBC7.pdf] [attachment=39327:MBBC7.mp3] The whole piece is in the 1st position (half position on DB): 1st finger plays 1st fret 2nd finger plays 2nd fret 4th finger plays 3rd fret. Now, this piece has the same harmonic sequence (chords) running throughout, BUT it changes key several times. I've created this piece to get you used to the idea of key signature changes. So we start off in F major and modulate (change) to G major at bar 9. You will see I have pinpointed the # sign at bar 9 that indicates that we are now in the new key. There is also a "natural" sign written around the B line showing that the Bb of the previous key is no longer in place. This is an optional sign. My software defaults to putting it in, but often it is missing. Also note: the last 2 quavers of bar 8 are A and F#. Although the actual harmony at that point is D7, it is not vital to play a D. (The A and F# are the 2 other notes in the D triad). Now you may have noticed that , for instance, at the end of bar 5, I have written an A when the chord is C major. This chord has no A in it, but the the A transforms the harmony for half a beat into Am7 (ACEG). Have a look at Session 1 and scroll down to Session 1A which has an exercise based on Major Keys and their relative Minor Keys. This might help you to understand why this A note works at this point. This little theoretical point crops up several times during this piece. In bar 16, there is an example of using the Ⅱ Ⅴ Ⅰ method of modulation. We need to change from G major to Eb major. By taking the 2nd (Ⅱ) and 5th(Ⅴ) chords of Eb (Fm and Bb) and placing them before the new key, we get a nice neat modulation into this new key. This is very common - I'm sure you will recognize the sound. This also happens in bars 24 and 32. In bar 20 you will see I have put a SLUR under the last 2 semiquavers Bb and C. This indicates a single right hand articulation ie you pluck the Bb and hammer on the C. Please be clear about the difference between a SLUR and a TIE. Look at bar 26. You will see 2 C notes joined together by a TIE. A tie is simply a means of showing the length of a single note that spans a beat (foot-tap). It's sometimes easier to "see" where the beat is on the page when written like this. The second note is NOT re-articulated. I'll be doing a further Session to talk more about this (Syncopation). The Major

The Major's Bass Boot Camp (Session 6) 1st position Bass Guitar sight-reading / Half position Double Bass sight-reading I promised to include some easier sessions for those new to music reading and theory and so here is the first such session. It's all in the first position (DB half pos.), such that the 1st finger is locked to the 1st fret, 2nd finger plays 2nd fret and in my fingering system (you will be getting used to this by now), we use the 4th finger on the 3rd fret. This is to avoid getting an overstretched hand and muscle strain problems in later life. I've restricted this first "easy" session to semibreves (whole notes, one bar long), minims (2 beat notes), crotchets (one beat notes) and quavers (half beat notes). And towards the end, I've introduced the quaver rest (half beat rest). So, download this pdf: [attachment=39324:MBBC6.pdf] And this mp3: [attachment=39325:MBBC6.mp3] Let's get started. I've fingered the first few notes, and also each time a new note appears. After that, you need to get your brain in gear, and try recognizing the notes and applying the fingering you should have memorized. If I had fingered the whole piece, you would end up looking at the fingering rather than the notes, and this exercise is purely about getting to know how the notes look on the page and transferring that information to your hands and then the bass. The whole piece is in one key - A minor. This key has no sharps or flats in it's key signature. However, the "dominant" chord in A minor is E (or E7) and has a G# in it. as it's major 3rd. So in bars 32 and 48, I have written this note to get you used to seeing what are called accidentals - notes from outside the key signature. We'll talk further about this point another time (it's complicated and possibly confusing !). This session is just to get you reading notes. I've put chord symbols in to help you get used to seeing them on the page, and also the way that certain notes fit nicely into chordal patterns. On the mp3, the piano plays these chords in a basic fashion to help you hear the harmony. You'll notice that this piece is an 8 bar sequence repeated several times. I've varied the bass line styling on each 8 bar phrase. The first 8 bars are all minims. That means each note lasts 2 beats (2 foot-taps). From bar 9, we get a crotchet passage. That's one note per beat. In bar 12, you will see I've signposted the note E. This note is not in the chord of D minor, but we call this a "passing note" as it moves between two chordal notes (notes which are in the chord). As it is not on the strong beats of the bar (1 and 3), it fits in quite nicely. We'll use lots of "passing notes" in future sessions. At bar 17, the style changes to a typical bass line style I'm sure you will recognize. The first crotchet note is a beat and a half long - the dot after the note signifies half as much again. It is therefore called a "dotted crotchet" - ie one crotchet plus a half crotchet in length. The second note is also a beat and a half long, but the note starts half way through a beat. This half beat note (quaver) is "tied" over to the crotchet, such that, in total, we have a note that lasts one and a half beats. This is a syncopated note ie a note which does not start on the beat and continues over the beat (foot-tap). The final note in the bar is a crotchet (1/4) falling on the 4th beat of the bar. In bar 25, we start a passage of quavers (8ths). Note: in bar 30, I've written more "passing notes". The Es and Ds in this bar are not in the F chord, but are in the scale of F, the E being the major 7th of F, the D is the major 6th of the scale. In actual fact, the D notes change the nature of the harmony very briefly into a D minor7 chord. We tend to think that a given chord is constant for however many beats it is written for. But in truth, the harmony is constantly changing within a bar, because many other notes are flying about in the bass part or the melody or other internal parts. The given chord sequence is, by necessity, really an abbreviation, because otherwise we couldn't take it all in if every chordal extension was written (although this does happen quite often in Big Band and Jazz charts). For instance, at the end of bar 31, I've written a moving passage, from G down to the E of the next bar. So we get F# and F natural which fit in fine in this instance, but are not directly "in" the chord of G. They momentarily change the harmony but we don't need to write that on the part. In bar 34 and 35, I've introduced the semibreve (whole note) - a note which lasts the full bar - 4 beats. After this I've started to mix up the different note lengths - minims, crotchets and quavers. In bar 41, I've introduced the quaver rest - for a half beat there is silence in the bass part. The Major

[quote name='wulf' post='700250' date='Jan 4 2010, 10:01 AM']An example of B# being the correct name would be if you needed to spell out a chord like E7#5. The fifth is B so that becomes B#. Watch out for Cb as well. As far as key signature goes, dominant seventh chords (eg. A7) can be a good clue in a song that seems to be in a major key. There should only be one place that occurs in any given major key, the chord built on the fifth note of the scale. A lot of songs throw in dominant sevenths all over the place so this concept is far from infallible. However, it is often useful in jazz contexts, where you need clues to keep up with a shifting key centre(*). Wulf (*) ... until somebody decides to throw in chord substitutions and your A7 (signifying a key centre of D major) becomes something like Em7 / Eb7 / instead.[/quote] While the NOTE B# is commonly used, the CHORD SYMBOL of B#is something of a rarity, although if you were, heaven forbid, in the key of G#, then of course a B#minor symbol would be quite correct. Most arrangers and composers on the lighter side of music would always write in Ab major rather than G# major, mainly for the sake of Bb and Eb blowers like saxes and trumpets who prefer the "flat" keys. If you wrote a passage in F# major for instance, this would put the Bb trumpets into G# major. Much better to write it in Gb major. Taking your example of Eb7 being the substitution chord for A7, let's be clear: Although the root notes are a tritone apart, these 2 chords are very similar, having 2 notes in common: the 3rd of A7 is C# which can be thought of as Db, the 7th of Eb7. the 7th of A7 is G which is also the 3rd of Eb7 Then if you make them flat 5 chords, they become exactly the same notes except the root note is swapped around. Eb7 flat 5 = Eb G A Db ( the A should really be called a Bbb from a theoretical point of view as it is a Bb which has been flattened) A7 flat 5 = A C#(Db) Eb G Another way of looking at this: If you add an A root to an Eb7 chord you get A7 b5 b9, where every note (except the root) has only a semitone interval to resolve to a note in the tonic chord. Look at it on a keyboard - it makes more sense when you can see it. Have a look at my Boot Camp Sessions 3 (flat 5s) and 5 (tritone etc) which may help to clarify some of this. The Major

The Major's Bass Boot Camp (Session 1a) Major Scale Triads and their Relative Minor Triads [attachment=39243:MBBC1a.pdf] [attachment=39244:MBBC1a.mp3] Session 1 introduced you to the triads based on each note of the Major scale, and this included both Major and Minor triads. Now we have a closer look at the what are called the Relative Minor Keys. Each Major key has a related Minor key ie they have the same key signature. Relative Minor keys are always a minor 3rd lower than the Major ie their tonic note (the note that gives the key it's name) is 3 semitones lower (the interval of a minor 3rd). So in this exercise, the first triad is C major for one bar (4 beats or foot-taps) followed by A minor (abbreviated to Am). This is then repeated (but with a slight variation in the note order - just to keep you on your toes !), and then we move on to another key, this time F and it's relative Minor key which is D minor. The 1st 16 bars are all in the 1st position. The 4th finger plays notes on the 3rd fret in MY system. At bar 17, we move up to the 2nd position, such that the first finger is now rooted on the 2nd fret and so the C# is played by the 4th finger. In bar 33, we move back to 1st position for the rest of the piece. I have fingered just a few notes here and there to help those new to music reading, but you need to train your brain to recognize the notes as you go through the piece. Of course, a triad means 3 notes and, as I have chosen to write this in 4/4, this results in one note being repeated each bar. Or in some cases, I have used a different octave, so for instance in bar 14, the G (root note or tonic) appears in 2 different octaves. Notice also that in bar 29, I have used the 3rd of the chord D major, which is F#, as the first note of the bar. I'ts not always the case that the root note has to appear first. It certainly helps to define the harmony at that point if the root note is played first, but you can get some lovely effects by using other notes from the chord. Hopefully, you will realize while playing this, that the root and 3rd of each Major triad are also the 3rd and 5th of each Minor triad. This is another reason why we call them Relative Minor keys. This exercise drones on a bit I'm afraid - sorry about that ! But it's good sight reading practice. If you are already a reasonable sight reader, take the tempo up a bit and just use it as a warm up. The Major

[quote name='XB26354' post='698635' date='Jan 2 2010, 12:00 PM']Very good stuff - I would only add that the example with swung rhythms can also be written as straight eighths (again, with an indication that the rhythm should be swung).[/quote] The Major's Bass Boot Camp (Session 2a) Yes of course you are absolutely right XB26354. There are various ways to abbreviate the written notes in a swing chart to make it easier to write and also to read. Have a look at this pdf: [attachment=39232:MBBC2a.pdf] and here is the mp3: [attachment=39233:MBBC2a.mp3] Even going back to the Baroque Period (18th century), abbreviations were common in music writing. But composers became increasingly detailed in their scores during the 19th and 20th centuries, and every little dot and dash had a fixed meaning (have a look at Elgar's bass parts - just about every note has an articulation indication). It was during the Jazz age (1920's onwards) that composers, arrangers and their copyists in the Dance Band world started to use abbreviated methods of writing swing style music. This was mainly to save time when parts needed to be produced quickly, but also there was so much syncopation in the music, that reading all those dotted notes and semiquavers was quite hard on the eyes, especially in dimly lit situations like Dance Halls and Cafes. I've done a huge amount of composing, arranging and orchestrating during my career, and I was always been happy to use the accepted ways to hand write swing feel parts, it made life a lot easier, believe me ! But now that we all use computers, writing swing parts in the dotted quaver / semiquaver style is no longer time consuming, and I suspect that the old ways of abbreviation (in quavers) will gradually die out. Indeed, most music software defaults to writing swing parts in this "dotted" way. Dance band and big band players will recognize the intro and ending I have nicked from a well known Sinatra chart for the example on the pdf. It's one of those numbers that just crops up time and time again. The Major

[quote name='essexbasscat' post='697831' date='Jan 1 2010, 12:10 PM']Once again, in your debt A very big THANK YOU MAJOR Happy new year to you [/quote] And a Happy New Year to you and all basschatters ! Let me know if there are any bass-related theory or sight reading questions you would like me to tackle. The Major

The Major's Bass Boot Camp (Session 5) The Tritone, the Whole-Tone Scale and the Cycle of Fifths Looks rather daunting doesn't it ? But if you can get to grips with this session, you will gain a huge amount of understanding of the basis of harmonic movement ie the way chords can lead from one to another in a way which is not only pleasing but is in fact at the root of much modern styling eg blues jazz rock and roll and pop. Having said that, the theory of the Cycle of Fifths was developed way back, well before the Baroque Period (18th century). Let's get you playing this first, then we can look at the theoretical implications. Download and print out this pdf: [attachment=39079:MBBC5.pdf] Listen to the mp3: [attachment=39078:MBBC5.mp3] (By the way - I've harmonised the whole-tone scale with consecutive major triads on the piano just to give it some context). Now play the notes. I've fingered the whole-tone scale to demonstrate a couple of points: As I've mentioned before, I tend to use DB style fingering in the lower reaches on BG. Feel free to use your own fingering,but try mine before dismissing it! Start in 2nd position for 4 notes, then move back to 1st pos. for the D#, then slip the 1st finger up a tone to F (3rd pos.) and use 4th on G (rather than using an open string). Coming back down the scale, you will see that I have put the position change from G to F rather than F to Eb. I always try to stick to this idea ie that you move UP a position with the first finger, and DOWN with the 4th (where appropriate). This stops the hand closing up, keeping a nice solid "hand position". In the 2nd octave, there are several possible fingerings available, but the one I chose to use has 2 big jumps in it - maybe not the easiest fingering but good position change practice all the same. Now you will have noticed that I have used the enharmonic names for the C# and D# on the way down (Eb and Db). As a general rule (and there are always exceptions), it is perceived to be easier to read if you to use the #s when ascending a scale-like passage and ♭s when descending. Now move on to the 3/4 section (bar 17). Although of course you could finger this differently (and more easily), I am hoping that the fingering I have marked will help to demonstrate the theoretical aspect of this session. It's also quite a good exercise, having big jumps to contend with, also good for hand-eye coordination. In the Cycle of Fifths, notice that after the Gb7 bar, I change from "flat" chord names to "natural" names - B7, E7 A7 etc. I could have used Cb7, Fb7, Abb7, Dbb7 etc but this would look ridiculous on the page (although arguably theoretically correct). Now the bit that might be difficult to get your head around - and its also not easy to explain ! So here goes: ( good luck - to both of us! ) The "Dominant" chord is built on the 5th note of the major scale. So if we think in the key of C, the Dominant chord would be rooted on G (cdefG). This chord can be just 3 notes, root, 3rd and 5th (the major triad) in this case G B D. Think of "Auld Lang Syne" - just the first 2 notes - "should Auld" and imagine the chords to go with these notes. This is called a cadence, moving from one chord to another. There are several named cadences, but this one is called a Perfect Cadence. If we think of "Auld" as being the "tonic" (root) chord - the home key if you like - then the "should" is the dominant chord which leads back (resolves) into that "tonic" chord. Now, we can make this cadence work even better (with greater directional clarity) by adding the 7th to the dominant chord - so in this example the G7 chord would be GBDF. Note: because we are in the key of C (no sharps or flats), the F is natural, not sharp as it would be if we were in the key of G. Still with me ? Now the interesting bit: The interval between the B and the F is 3 tones ( B to C#, C# to D# and D# to F) so this interval is called a TRITONE. The sound of the tritone is quite strident, so much so that in Medieval times it was called "the Devil in music" and was avoided at all costs (music was predominantly governed by the Church at that time). But that stridency, that tension, that desire to resolve, is what makes it a very useful musical tool. By incorporating this tritone in a chord, we get this great feeling of latent movement - it just has to move on to another chord. So, of course, we let the G7 chord resolve naturally to the tonic chord (C in this case). The note B wants to resolve to the C, and the note F wants to resolve to the E (the 3rd in a C major triad). Note: The G7 chord could resolve virtually anywhere - to A minor for instance, or Ab major. But the most natural resolve is to the tonic chord of C major. But what if we make this C chord also into a dominant chord - C7. It will then want to move to IT'S tonic key, which is F. ( Remember the dominant chord is built on the 5th note of the scale - so in the key of F, we go F G A Bb C) Then once again, make the F into F7, it will resolve to Bb - and if we carry on in this way we will eventually return to C major - this is the Cycle of Fifths. This sequence would go on round and round for eternity if we let it. Now, the reasons for incorporating the whole-tone scale in this session: The whole tone scale (and there are only 2 of them - think about it ! - and you can start them wherever you like - I just happen to have started the one in this session on a G) is really a series of tritones. Wherever you start the whole-tone scale, that first note will have a tritone above or below it. In fact, that is true of every note in the scale. Also (and I only just discovered this while writing this session): There is a descending whole-tone scale built into the Cycle of Fifths: Take any 2 consecutive chords in the Cycle - lets say G7 and C7 - the common note to both chords is G. Take the next 2 chords in the cycle - F7 and Bb7 - common note is F. Take the next 2 chords - Eb7 and Ab7 - the common note is an Eb. Can you see that we are creating a descending whole tone scale here ? G F Eb ..... (Db B A G etc). If you listen to the top notes of the piano part at this point, you will hear what I'm talking about. I'm the least mathematically minded muso I know (believe me!) but I find this stuff quite fascinating ! Look again at the pdf page: At the beginning of the 3/4 section, let's have a closer look at these notes: The first A7 bar (bar 17) is: A (root) G (7th) and C# (3rd) - the tritone interval is between these last 2 notes. In the next bar, the G (7th) is taken up an octave - but yet we still have a tritone between C# and G. So this is the point: The tritone (note) occurs exactly half way between 2 octave notes. It doesn't matter which way up you voice these 2 notes, you get a tritone. Now look at the notes of the D7 bars. First we get D F# and C, the tritone occurring between these last 2 notes , then we move the F# up an octave and, again, we still have a tritone - C to F#. Now the great bit ! You will see that in the first A7 bar, the G and C# are just a semitone higher than the F# and C in the first D7 bar. Now look at the Cycle of Fifths passage (bar 29): You will see that the 2nd and 3rd notes of each bar (and therefore of each chord) move down by a semitone while the root note is changing by a fourth up (or fifth if it goes down). I've had to put a break in this pattern at the Eb7 bar for practical playing purposes - but I'm sure you can see the sequence that is emerging here. So in the A7 chord for instance, the upper 2 notes are the 7th (G) followed by the 3rd (C#). In the D7 chord, the upper 2 notes are the 3rd (F#) followed by the 7th ( C ). Yet there is only a semitone between these 2 sets of notes (the A7 and D7 upper notes). If your brain is still working (mine's flagging now!), perhaps I can also point out that in all these bass arpeggios (chords) in this example, I have missed out the 5th of each chord. The 5th is a subject for another session, and be aware that it is a most interesting note to deal with. But for this session, I have just used the root, 3rd and 7th to demonstrate the amazing power of the tritone. On the bass, you can play this tritone very effectively in the higher register as a double stop. Jaco P used this devise frequently. I'll do some more on this in another session. I think I now deserve a lie down in a darkened room with a strong drink ! And if you have got this far, so do you ! (over 18s only!) The Major

[quote name='Sean' post='696780' date='Dec 30 2009, 09:50 PM']Great stuff, Major. Very useful and easy to take o board. Cheers all round.[/quote] Its my pleasure guys ! But I would appreciate some further feed back. If I know what people have difficulty with, I can then prepare some more sessions accordingly. Obviously this forum attracts players of all abilities and I can't possibly make each session relevant to all of you. But please throw questions and any other worries at me, and I will endeavour to deal with them as best I can. I always said that one day I would write a tutor when I had time. Now I have a little time available (just a little, mind you !), but as the market is swamped with tutor books there is no chance of getting published, so doing this is my way of giving something back to the bass world. The Major

[quote name='fingeringAm' post='692028' date='Dec 23 2009, 07:34 AM']I'm unfamiliar with Baroque music, where would I run into this?[/quote] Very roughly speaking, the Baroque period was during the 18th century. Composers like Bach, Scarlatti, Handel, Vivaldi, Purcell, Rameau etc Have a listen to The Four Seasons by Vivaldi - that will give you a good idea of the style of that time. The double bass came in towards the end of that period and was a 3 string instrument to begin with. Prior to that, the Violone was the bass instrument of the viol family, the forerunner to todays DB. The Major

1) How long have you been playing Bass Guitar/String Bass for or both? Double bass 44 years bass guitar 41 years 2) If you don’t play string bass/bass guitar have you thought of doubling up on either to get more recognition as a bass player? 3) Who are your favourite exponents of both string bass/bass guitar? DB John Pattitucci / Eddie Gomez / Rinat Ibragimov / Thomas Martin / Chris Lawrence / Stanley Clarke / Eberhard Weber BG Laurence Cottle / Jaco P / Richard Bona / John Pattitucci / Stanley Clarke 4) Do you think that both the bass guitar and string bass are important as bass instruments? There are several other bass register instruments - tuba / bassoon / bass trombone / contra-bassoon / cello / organ bass pedals / timpani They all have there rightful place in music. I chose to play BG and DB because I love the sound and feel, not because of their importance within music. 5) What genres do you think are important for bass players to listen to? There is no music you should ignore. One can learn something from every genre, every musician, even if its just that a particular music style is not to your taste. 6) Do you think electric guitarists can learn to play bass guitar more than string bass? I took up guitar at age 12, DB at age 15 and BG at age 19. They all inter-relate in terms of technique. 7) Do you think bass can be used to solo as well as accompany other instruments? Of course. Listen to solos by Rinat Ibragimov or John Pattiticci for instance. I often play unaccompanied solos at concerts. 8) Do you think it is important to learn to sight read? Absolutely vital - especially if you want to have a long term, lifelong career. 9) What do you think of bass guitars such as 5 string/6 string e.g. as being an add-on to the bass players role? I play a five string BG almost exclusively these days. Many producers / arrangers specify this in their scores (ie notes lower than E) 10) What are your opinions on electric upright basses as a substitute for the string bass? There is no substitute for the double bass. An EUB is a great instrument, but its not a DB. 11) What is the best amp to use for bass guitar or string bass? I use Gallien-Krueger. 12) What pickups for string bass are the best for capturing the natural tone of the instrument? I use an Underwood.

The Major's Bass Boot Camp (Session 4) An Introduction To Odd-Metre and Multiple Time Signatures [attachment=38967:MBBC4.pdf] [attachment=38968:MBBC4.mp3] It's fairly rare to find odd metre time signatures (5/8, 7/8, 9/16 etc) in the world of pop. They do surface occasionally in Rock music, particularly in Prog Rock, and some forms of Jazz and World music use them quite extensively. Jazz pianist Dave Brubeck in particular was a great exponent of these rhythmic ideas. Have a listen to Unsquare Dance, Blue Rondo a La Turk, and of course his most popular and enduring tune, Take Five. Classical musicians come up against odd-metres regularly, particularly in 20th century music (have a look at the last page of the bass part for Stravinsky's Rite Of Spring for a good example). British composer Mark-Antony Turnage has written bass guitar parts in several of his orchestral works (I've undertaken these roles on a couple of BBC broadcasts) and like many composers of his generation, he uses odd-metre time sigs extensively. In the world of Theatre, they crop up also. Riverdance is a good example. Andrew Lloyd-Webber's musicals also. So why should an aspiring bass guitar player bother to learn about these quirky rhythms ? Well, I believe it helps to really get to grips with the internal working of even basic common time rhythmic structures. In order to perform odd-metre time sigs, you need to "feel" every subdivision, to imagine notes that are not being articulated, to group notes together in your head. Stick with me here - I'll explain what I mean. Most beginners when asked to play, say, 8 crotchets (1/4s) in a row, will only hear and feel just those 8 notes. An experienced player, however, will also feel the subdivisions, ie the 1/8th notes that are not being played but are "inside the head". This is what helps us to play "in the groove". So the example I have written here will really test your ability to hear inside the main beats. Even more rare in the rhythm section world is the idea of multiple time sigs, and the mixing of odd metres together with regular metres. So, in this exercise I have created a short piece that brings together some of these rhythmic ideas. The first time sig is 10/8 Now the secret with these sort of time sigs is to group the quavers into either 2s or 3s. In this one (10/8) I have grouped them 3 - 2 - 2 - 3. There are other groupings you can use, but I happen to really like this one, and have used it in several compositions. I have also included 5/8 and 7/8 in this piece. 5/8 is fairly straightforward as it can either be 2 + 3, or 3 + 2. Here I have chosen to write 3 + 2. And for the 7/8 bars, I have grouped them 2 + 2 + 3. When we get to the 4/4 bars, I have made it a little more challenging by writing triplet quavers (8ths) of each crotchet (1/4) beat. I could have written these bars as 12/8 with a "dotted crotchet = crotchet" sign, but 4/4 is easier to understand. The Major

The Major's Bass Boot Camp (Session3) Flat 5s in Dominant 7 and Minor 7 Chords To be honest, you are unlikely to find many examples of these flat 5s (♭5 ) in today's popular music tracks. There is the occasional usage in the more jazzy sounding Hip Hop and R'nB songs, but its probably only because the producer has discovered a jazzy sample that he has shoehorned into his song, rather than with any real understanding or knowledge of this harmonic devise. However, the worlds of Jazz and Latin have flat 5s in abundance, and they are common in many Classical music periods, particularly early 20th Century composers like Delius, Debussy, Ravel etc. Print out this pdf: [attachment=38965:MBBC3.pdf] And listen to this mp3: [attachment=38966:Output_1_2.mp3] So what is a flat 5 ? Well, it is exactly as the name suggests - the 5th of the chord is flattened ! For the purposes of this session, we are talking about 4 note chords ie root, 3rd, 5th, 7th. In the written example, the first chord is Em7b5: Root is E 3rd (minor) is G (if it was E major it would be G#) 5th (flattened) is Bb (in a straight Eminor triad, the 5th would be 7th is D (remember the key signature of Eminor is 1 sharp - the same as its relative major G, so the 7th note of the Natural minor scale is D natural - not D# which only occurs in the Harmonic and Melodic minor scales) The sound of a minor 7th chord is a lovely rich, stable harmony. By flattening the 5th, it changes to something less stable - it wants to move to another harmony - it is still rich sounding but has a restless quality. Similarly with the next chord - A7b5 - we get a desire to move on, to try to resolve. A7 is a Dominant chord, by nature unstable (due to the tritone from major 3rd to dom 7th ), but by flattening the 5th we accentuate that instability, and create even more tension. This is a good point at which to introduce the Ⅱ 7 - Ⅴ 7 - Ⅰ sequence which is central to the Jazz and Latin genres. The 2 chords above - Em7b5 and A7b5 - are Ⅱ and Ⅴ in the key of D (or D minor) ie the 2nd note of the D scale is E, and the 5th note is A. (Roman Numerals are used to represent the chords built on the degrees of the scale). But a great little devise is to convert the chord Ⅰ (D minor chord in this instance) into a chord Ⅱ (so Dminor is now the Ⅱ chord of C minor OR could be major) and then that chord Ⅰ (Cminor in this instance) in turn becomes chord Ⅱ in Bb. You can keep on going in this manner ad libitum, but for the purposes of this session I have chosen to "land" on Bb (so I have nominally put this sequence in the key of Bb). Example 2 is the same as Example 1 but one octave higher (notice the 8va sign and bracket), and I've only written the first bar so you can choose how far down the fretboard you wish to go, just repeating the fingering pattern. The first Example demonstrates my own method of fingering: The 1st 8 semiquavers are all in one position (5th - where the 1st finger is at the 5th fret), using the one finger per fret guitar method. The following 24 notes use the DB method (1-2-4), which requires more position changing but ensures the hand is not strained by over stretching. If you've not used this method before, have a go, slowly at first, gradually increasing speed. I'm sure you will see that it is much easier on the hand in a quick passage like this. But when you try Example 2, which is the same sequence but an octave higher, please use the one finger per fret method. This works fine up here where the frets are closer together. Double bass players: Use the fingering system of the second lot of semiquavers from word go: ie E (4th finger on A string) G (1st) shift up to Bb (4th) D (2nd) shift down to C# (2nd) A (4th) G (1st) Eb (2nd) shift down to D (4th) and now use the written fingering. Any questions ?

The Major's Bass Boot Camp - Session 2 Major Scale Triads 8va (one octave higher than in Session 1). + the modern alternative way to write a triplet (shuffle / swing ) groove. [attachment=38963:MBBC2.pdf] [attachment=38964:MBBC2.mp3] Following on from "Session 1", the first part of Session 2 is aimed at the more advanced BG players. (The examples are perfectly playable on DB but require different fingerings. Actually you can try doing them all in thumb position. Play the first F with 1st finger on the E string. ) Just to be clear: 8va means an octave higher. 8vb means an octave lower. If a part is marked 8va (usually with a bracket sign around the relevant notes), it means that these written notes should be played an octave higher. In these examples I have already transposed the notes up an octave (from Session 1), and consequently there are a lot of ledger lines. It's quite normal to be expected to read ledger lines up to about "C" (sitting on 4 ledger lines) and you need to be able to easily recognize the "look" of several lines like this. Sometimes parts will have very high passages written in the Treble Clef, so all bass players need to have a good grasp of this. In Classical music, we also often get high register notes written in Tenor Clef, but I have yet to see this outside this genre. The first Example is all in one position - the 12th - such that the first note - F - is played with the 2nd finger on the 13th fret. This is a good warm up exercise and helps develop dexterity and control. The following 3 Variations could also be played in this 12th position, but I think it a good idea to extend the usefulness of the exercise by starting in 7th position and making position changes, as you might have to do in a practical context. It's not always possible to start an awkward passage from the most convenient position, as you may have previous notes that keep you in the lower reaches of the fingerboard. As in Session 1, I've varied the tempo of each Example on the mp3 just to show that time signatures don't relate to tempo but are a means of grouping notes together in a manner that can be easily understood and therefore read.. Practice each one slowly at first and then increase the tempo to whatever you are comfortable with. Finally in this session: A lot of grooves are actually in compound time ie each beat is divisible by 3. For instance, many blues and jazz grooves are theoretically in 12/8, and hip hop and r'n'b is often in 24/16. But these sort of time signatures can be tricky to read, so nowadays we tend to write most grooves in 4/4 (simple time) and make an indication on the part that the music is swung or has a lilt or is a shuffle, and we put a triplet sign when required. The example I have shown uses the "dotted semiquaver / semiquaver " method to replace a "quaver / quaver rest / quaver" (in 12/8) which, although theoretically correct, looks a bit cumbersome on the page. This is one of those areas which easily confuse the less experienced players, so I hope this makes some sense. So, questions please !

The Major's Bass Boot Camp - Session 1 The reading of music and the understanding of music theory are closely bound together, and although there are many genres of music where reading is unnecessary, if you want a long term and varied career as a bass player, you really need to be a fully proficient reader. All sorts of work areas will open up to you including Theatre / Concerts / Film, TV and Radio Sessions and college-level teaching. So I am devising some articles to help get you going. Major Scale Triads / Compound Rhythms This is the first in what I intend to be an occasional series of articles aimed at the aspiring bass player (both BG and DB), bringing together technique pointers alongside related music theory and reading. These "sessions" will not be graded; I intend to dip in and out at various levels of difficulty. Firstly, download and print out the pdf: [attachment=38961:MBBC1.pdf] Now listen to the mp3 file while following the printed part. [attachment=38962:MBBC1.mp3] (SEE ALSO SESSION 1a IN NEXT POST BELOW) If you are an advanced player, you may just want to add the examples to your warm up routine. Teachers - please feel free to use these sessions with your pupils if they tie in with your own methods. However, if you are new to music reading and theory, please read the following: For this 1st session, I am assuming you have at least some basic music knowledge. (I will also be doing some further sessions for complete beginners). But please ask me questions about anything you don't fully understand. This will also help me to decide on the content of future sessions. All the examples on this 1st page are in the key of F major. This fits in nicely with playing in the first position (half position on DB). I have pinpointed the key signature, which is 1 flat (Bb). The little flat sign is written around the 2nd line up, where you would write the note B, thus converting that note to a Bb. You will see that I have used a "guide accidental" on the Bbs in this first example. That is just to remind you that Bs are flattened in this key. Normally you would just have to read the key signature before starting to play. The key signature applies to all the music that follows it. In some music genres, the key signature can change often during a piece. So it might start in C major for, say, 32 bars and then change to Db for a further period and move finally into Ab for the Coda section. Having said that, the vast majority of "popular" songs are written in just one or maybe 2 keys. A future session will tackle multiple key signature changes within a piece. Notice that I say "key signature changes". Many songs actually change key within the song, for instance moving (modulating) to an unrelated key in the bridge section. Usually the key signature stays the same throughout the written bass part, using accidentals to create the new key if and when required. Because this session is about Major Scale Triads ( 3 note chords), I have chosen to write the first three examples in the "compound" time signature of 12/8 ie 4 sets of 3 quavers (8ths) in each bar. You can see how the notes are grouped in threes with a bar across the top of the stems. There are 2 types of time signature: simple and compound. Simple: This means that each main beat (foot-tap) is divisible by 2 (or 4 or 8). Say out loud: "one and two and three and four and." You get the idea ? Compound: This is where each beat is divisible by 3 (or 5 or 7, but we will discuss this in a later session). Say out loud: "one and a two and a three and a four and a." Variation 3 and the sight-reading exercise are in 4/4 (simple time) - the notes are semiquavers (16ths) ie 4 notes to each foot-tap in Var 3, and a mixture of note lengths in the sight reading. You will notice that each example is at a slightly differing speed. Its important to realise that the time signature does not indicate tempo or speed, but just the way in which the notes are grouped and organised to make reading easier. Don't worry if the sight reading exercise seems too hard. Have a go at playing along with the mp3. Try to figure out the different rhythms I have written. As you can see, I've based the bassline on the triads as they appear in the earlier examples but this time one per bar (one bar equals 4 foot-taps). On the mp3, the kit plays an upbeat into each new section ie he plays the last 3 quavers (8ths) of the preceding bar in the 12/8 examples and the last 4 semiquavers (16ths) before the 4/4 examples. In the first example, you will see that I have written a triad (3 notes) on each of the notes of the F major scale. Each group of 3 notes creates the chord whose name I have written underneath. When the chord name is simply written as F or C for example, this means it is a MAJOR triad. When the chord name has a small m (eg Gm), this means it is a MINOR triad. I personally dislike the method of using a - (dash) to indicate "minor" but as it is often used, particularly in the jazz genre, you should be aware of it. (eg G - or F - ) The penultimate triad is marked as Eo. The "o" means it is a diminished triad. (The "o" should be raised up to the top of the "E", but I don't know how to do this except in music software !). This all probably means little to you if you are new to music, but, for now, try to get used to the differing sound of each triad. We will go into more detail in another session. What may seem like gobbledegook is in fact the bedrock of musical understanding and you need to get to grips with it in order to progress. But, for now, notice how each triad (in what we call "root position") is either all in the spaces or all on the lines. If we were to move the first F (for example) up one octave, it would then be on the line, making it easier to spot as a "first inversion". A word about my bass guitar fingering system: Many players (including Jaco P) use a similar system to mine. Having started on DB and 6 string guitar, I worked out that the best method on bass guitar was a combination of these two systems, using DB fingering (1,2 and 4)in the lower reaches and, from 5th position upwards, using guitar fingering (1 finger per fret). There was little in the way of tutor books when I started on BG in the '60s (and those that existed were often written - rather badly IMO - by guitar players), and there was certainly no consensus as to the best way to play, so we all had to develop our own methods. Luckily for me, my methods are commonly used by many of today's professionals. Now I don't expect everybody to use my system, especially if you have outsize hands (mine are average), but I will endeavour to justify my method. For instance, in the exercises in this first session, I would be very surprised if many players could use guitar fingering without serious injury to hand muscles, especially if they are played round and round in a loop fashion. You will see I have written "repeat" signs on each exercise. Normally this would mean playing the exercise twice.(To use less file space, I've recorded each line just once). But I suggest repeating many times, until the hand tires. (Sometimes on written parts you will see "repeat r+r" or just "r+r". This means "repeat round and round", usually till a cue to move on, or maybe "till fade" if its a recording session.) As I've used a lot of open strings in these examples, you will need to ensure that you damp the strings as you go. For instance, the first open D is followed by an open A. A little flick of the left hand fingers will damp that D before the A is plucked, or you will get 2 notes sounding at the same time and this will sound muddy and wrong. So, let me know what you think of this. Sensible and intelligent comments only please ! And ask as many questions as you like. Session 2 follows straight on from this one and is geared more to the advanced players.

Oscar - I hate to appear critical, especially when you have gone to the trouble of posting this stuff. And BTW, I think we need more of this type of thing on the forum (I intend to start a "Major's Bass Boot Camp" series very soon). BUT You appear to have left all the default enharmonics in your examples ie the D# and A# when they should be written as Eb and Bb. This is one of the problems that appears in most music writing software when you don't put the correct key signature in or if he piece modulates away from a starting key. And if not corrected, it makes the part harder to read, or even confusing, for those new to music reading. Arpeggios also look wrong if the notes are not in the right place ie on a line when they should be in a space or vice versa. Believe me, I have spent hours correcting enharmonics in my computer written scores over the years. So I tend to be constantly on the look out for them. Again sorry to appear niggley ! The Major

[quote name='fingeringAm' post='686015' date='Dec 16 2009, 07:19 AM']Thats what it means. I'll look for a good article on inversions or post some scans of a book I'm reading. Inversions are just that, a chord where the tonic is not the lowest note (also called, "in the bass"). So a C/G would be GEC, where G is in the bass. That would be called 2nd Inversion, because the 5 (G) is in the bass. When the 3(E) is in the bass, it is called 1st inversion. That would be EGC or C/E. Then with 7th Chords, when the 7( B ) is in the bass it is 3rd inversion. And when the tonic [i]is[/i] in the bass, its called Root position. CEG Bare in mind I'm utterly green with this stuff so please correctly where I'm wrong.[/quote] Yes you are absolutely correct. Although to be honest I've rarely heard anybody actually refer to the "3rd" inversion, but it makes sense to call it that in a 4 note chord. Chord symbols are just abbreviations after all, so the idea of having "slash" chords is instead of writing "1st Inversion" etc which would be a bit cumbersome. In Baroque music they used the "figured bass" system on harpsichord parts which was a similar idea but the other way round. So they would write a bass note (say G) and write 6/4 underneath it, meaning the intervals of a 6th and a 4th from this note, giving us E (the 6th) and C (the 4th) so we have a C major triad in the second inversion or C/G in modern parlance. The Major

[quote name='fatgoogle' post='685567' date='Dec 15 2009, 06:52 PM']When in the half and first position all the strings rattle, especially when playing jazz pizz. Also Unless in a small room the sound is small because ive been told someone cut the feet of the bridge.[/quote] If your strings are rattling, then you almost certainly need to get a new bridge fitted, and maybe also a new nut. There should be no hint of a rattle for most dynamic levels. However, most of us can cause rattling when we really lay deep into the string. But extraneous noises are to be avoided if at all possible. The Major

[quote name='jakesbass' post='684786' date='Dec 15 2009, 02:12 AM']I'm going to add a slightly contrary view here, just cos I want to air this view. I'm not especially attached to my thoughts on this but will posit anyway... I don't go with the idea of playalongs at all, as a bass player I think it's really important to create a very strong sense of the changes whether you be using closely related harmomic structure or otherwise. Even when tearing it up both harmonically and rhythmically I think it should be clear (at least to you) how, what you are playing relates to the sequence over which you are playing. I do my best (upright especially ) solos either unaccompanied, or very sympathetically comped by a good pianist and drummer. And honestly with the exception of the really great soloists I find that the typical bass solo played by many guys I've heard just blowing through practise routines and scale/arpeggio things stultifyingly boring. I want to hear real music, properly conceived melody, thought and emotion, and honestly I think the very last place in music those elements will be found is in a playalong. It takes the responsibility of making the changes or carrying melody and form away and in my experience gives rise to all manner of fret w***ery. A naturally ,great musician will of course use a playalong to great effect and not suffer the consequences, as his or her greatness will preclude the inherent tendencies to fret w***. A lesser musician (who might otherwise achieve greatness through hard work and I've seen that happen with my own eyes) may well flounder on the rocks of playalongs endlessly banging out formulaic, ill conceived ideas as their freedom of expression is limited to the sterility of a mechanical, single strata, looped harmonic progression... Now I've spilled that bit of bile, what do the rest of you think?... am I mad...?[/quote] Jake - I agree with your sentiments here. Playalongs are limited in their usefullness. I have a couple of Aebersold Jazz Playalongs, and have enjoyed using them briefly, to practice high register soloing on BG over the pno/bs/drs. But I soon tire of them. By their nature they are inflexible - unlike the real thing. By their nature, they are the same every time - unlike the real thing. And by their nature, they don't respond or react to your ideas - unlike the real thing. However, for someone new to improvising, I would never try to stop them using them as a tool for practice purposes. But I would always warn against getting too reliant on them. Good starting point - now move on. My method for practice is always the same: scales, arpeggios, tricks riffs and licks to start with for as long as it takes to get properly warmed up. Then i start to develop new ideas, searching for that illusive thing called creativity. Often nothing new comes, but on the occasions when it does its like a light bulb going on. PING ! The Major

[quote name='fatgoogle' post='684551' date='Dec 14 2009, 09:36 PM']Thanks Major minor, I was talking to my teacher about the classic Pizz and he told me its more for the sound then the notes in general. Also both my parents were saddlers so i could get them to whip me up one if i show them the picture. Also a question on my actual double bass while i have the thread open, the double bass i bought while i should never need to use it in the orchestra it has faults, such as no shallow in the fingerboard, needs a new bridge and nut and looks manky. I was wondering whether it is worth spending the 300 on getting fully working to a good standard or should i sell it on and get something better now that ive come into a bit more money.[/quote] Its almost impossible to answer this without both seeing and hearing the bass you currently own. To be honest, £300 won't get you much in the way of improvements but it might be worth it to help get a better price if you decide to sell. I suggest you try to find a bass dealer and play on a few other instruments to get a feel for what is available. You can then compare your existing bass with better quality instruments. If you do decide to make improvements to your existing bass, I would recommend getting a new set of good quality strings. Its amazing what a difference strings can make (have a look at the Pirastro Evah Pirazzi ..... thread). But this will set you back £150 at least. IMO the better quality bass you have, the quicker will be your progress. If you love the sound you are making, you will practice more. Conversely, if you are making a thin rough squeaky sound, you will end up wanting to throw it through the window ! The Major

Well, after a week of playing on these EP mediums on my orch bass, the jury is still out ! I find I can get a lovely smooth and creamy arco sound, very even all over the bass. But, despite the immediate sound appearing to be very full and rich, I have found that when I really lay into them, say in an ff passage, it almost feels like someone has turned on a compressor. They just don't fully respond to that extra weight I'm putting into them. And the pizz sound is similarly disappointingly weak. Again, it has that choked feeling when I play deep into the string. But I quite like the jazzier sustain. I'm slowly getting used to the fatter feel of the strings under my fingers. In fact I rather like this aspect, although I'm getting a numb feeling, hopefully temporary, in my 1st finger, presumably due to the extra width of the strings. As I'm now getting more confident with the physical nature of the EPs, I decided this morning to put the remaining EP weichs on my jazz bass. I'm doing some shows in jan and feb with some well known TV dancers (I'm "strictly" forbidden to tell you who !), and I'm required to play BG and rhythm style DB, but also sometimes with the bow (its a big band line-up with a small string section). When I did the same concerts last year, I struggled with arco on the Spiros (the sound engineer dived for the EQ every time I picked up the bow !), so this time I'm hoping to get a better arco sound with these EPs. By the way: I recently bought one of those winders for changing strings on the DB. What a difference that makes ! So much quicker and easier. Should have got one years ago. Stupidly expensive for what they are - but what the heck - if it makes life easier, its worth it ! [url="http://www.contrabass.co.uk/stringwinder.htm"]http://www.contrabass.co.uk/stringwinder.htm[/url] The Major

Doddy is absolutely right - tabs are a complete waste of time ! The information they impart is SO limited, you would be better spending a few minutes learning and memorizing the notes on the stave and a few easy rhythmic patterns. OR just listen and start to train your ear. Both the songs you ask about are very straightforward anyway. The Major