Lessons in Bass Line Construction

Steve Schmidt
[email protected]

Lesson 0 - Preliminaries

This is the first in a series of lessons whose focus is on constructing

bass lines. The main series of lessons presumes a small but nonzero amount
of musical knowledge on the part of the listener; mostly some things about
notes and time. It also presumes you know how to read TAB. This pre-lesson
is designed to teach that knowledge to anyone who doesn't already have it.
If you know how to find a C# on your bass, know what a quarter note rest
is, and can read TAB, then you can skip the rest of this and move on to Lesson
1. If not, or if the review will do you good, then read on!

A piece of music is composed of a series of notes. These notes are

organized into sets of 12 notes called octaves, and each of these 12
notes has a name. If you sit down at a piano, you'll see that it has
88 keys, 52 white and 36 black, and that each of these keys produces a
different note. The white keys all have one-letter names; the first one on
the left (lowest note) is called A, the next one up is B, and so on. The
seventh white key is called G, and the next white key, the eighth, is also
called A; it begins the second octave. The ninth white key is B, the tenth
C, and so on, until the 52nd and last white note, which is a C.
The black keys are named by their relation to the nearest two white keys,
so each one has two names. First, they may be called "sharp", with the name
of the white key below them: eg, the lowest black key is called A sharp, as
it's immediately above A. There is no black key immediately above B; the second
black note is C#, and so on up the keyboard. Second, black keys may also
be called "flat", with the name of the white key above them: thus, the lowest
black note can also be thought of as B flat, since it's immediately below
the B. Similarly, the black key between D and E can be called either D sharp
or E flat. For now, you can treat the two names as interchangable.
An octave runs from A to G#, 12 notes (7 white keys and 5 black keys)
and then the names repeat for the next octave. Actually, the starting point
doesn't matter: any 12 notes in a row (which will always contain 7 white keys
and 5 black keys) are called an octave.
The strings of a bass are tuned to produce the 4 notes E, A, D, and G
(from thickest string to thinnest). Thus, if you play an E on the piano,
and the open E string on your bass, you'll get the same note (if you choose
the right octave on the piano, that is). Moving up one fret on the string
produces the next highest note. That is, the open A string produces an A
note (hence the name). Fingered at the first fret, it produces an A sharp,
or B flat. Second fret produces a B. Third fret produces C (since there is
no black key above B), fourth fret C sharp, and fifth fret produces D, the
same note as the open D-string. And so on up the fingerboard. With this
knowledge, you should be able to find two or three versions of each note
on your bass. For example, you can get an F at the 1st fret of the E string,
at the 3rd fret of the D string, at the 8th fret of the A string, and at
the 10th fret of the G string. (The 3rd-D note and the 8th-A note are in
the same octave: the 1st-E note is one octave below and the 10th-G note is

one octave above.) Make sure you can find any given note somewhere on your
bass without too much effort, and that you know the names of the notes
produced by playing a given string at a given fret, at least up to the
12th fret.

The next thing to mention is the way songs are arranged in time. Songs
are divided into measures: a common song length is about 100 measures. Each
measure is a certain number of beats long: in almost all modern music there
are four beats to each measure, although other length measures are also used.
Each note in the song has a given duration, and a note that lasts for four
beats is called a whole note. A note that lasts for two beats is called a
half note, and two half notes are the same length as one whole note. Similarly,
there are quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes. (In England
these notes have different names. I'll be sticking to American usage
throughout this lesson series.) Each quarter note receives one beat, and
the quarter note is the basic building block of time and of rhythm. Eight
eighth notes make up a four-beat measure, as you can see, as do four quarter
notes and 16 sixteenth notes. Measures can contain notes of different lengths,
so that a quarter note, a half note,and two eighth notes also make up one
measure.
Other time durations can be written by "dotting" a note: in standard
notation, one literally writes a dot next to the note. Dotting a note makes
it last half again as long as it normally would. Thus, a quarter note lasts
as long as two 8th notes: a dotted quarter note is 50% longer, so it lasts
as long as three eighth notes. Thus, two quarter notes have the same length
as a dotted quarter note and an eighth note. Similarly, a dotted half note
lasts for the same amount of time as three quarter notes: a dotted half note
and a quarter note together make up one measure.
The last thing to know is that rests, or times when the bass is not playing,
are named the same way: thus, a whole rest means that the bass does not play
for one measure. A quarter rest means that the bass does not play for one
beat, and there are eighth rests and dotted half rests and so on.
One last note: in some jazz and classical music, a note other than the
quarter note is given the one-beat length. Since almost all music is written
with the quarter note getting one beat, I've assumed it is so throughout
the lesson series. However, if you get into more difficult music, you may
run into music where the half-note or the eighth-note is one "beat" long.
My advice is not to worry about this until it comes up.

The last thing you need to know is how to read TAB. Bass tabulature, or
TAB for short, is a simple method for writing bass music. There are several
different versions of tabulature, but the following features are common to
almost all of them.

Bass tab is written on four-line staves. In text interfaces these are usually
written using dashed characters. Each space corresponds to one string on the
bass: the lowest space corresponds to the E string, the next lowest to the A
string, the next to the D string, and the highest to the G string. A number on
a given space represents a note played at the given fret on the corresponding
string; thus, to indicate playing a G at the third fret on the E string,
one would write:

G------------------------------------
D------------------------------------
A------------------------------------
E----3-------------------------------

Notes are played from the left of the staff to the right; thus, an
ascending G major scale might be written:

G------------------------------------
D-------------------2--4--5----------
A----------2--3--5-------------------
E----3--5----------------------------

Or, using open strings, it might be written like this:

G-------------------------0----------
D----------------0--2--4-------------
A-------0--2--3----------------------
E----3-------------------------------

Chords can be written by writing two numbers in the same vertical bar. Thus
one might write a simple A major chord as:
G-----9------------------------------
D-----11-----------------------------
A-----0------------------------------
E------------------------------------

which means to play an open note on the A string, to play a C# at the 11th
fret on the D string, and an E at the 9th fret on the G string.

Various fingering techniques can be noted in TAB as well. This is done by

writing a single character after the note being fingered. The most common of
these are:
h - hammer-on from previous note
p - pull off from previous note
\ - slide up to note
b - bend note
S - slap the note with the right-hand thumb (left hand if left-handed)
P - pop the note with the right hand (ditto)
t - tap the note with the right hand (ditto)
H - harmonic

Thus a funky bass line might be written like this:

G---------5P-7h-5p-------------------
D------------------------3b----------
A---0S\5-----------3S-5S----5S-5H---
E------------------------------------

A muted note (one that is not fingered cleanly and makes a percussive
sound rather than a clear tone) is written by placing an x on a line
instead of a number:

G------------5--7--------------------
D------------------------------------
A---5--x--x--------5--x--5-----------
E------------------------------------

Similarly, a rest is indicated by writing an r on a line (any line will do):

G------------5--7--------------------
D------------------------------------
A---5--r--r--------5--r--5-----------
E------------------------------------

When it is not obvious which left-hand (right-hand to lefties) finger should

be used to to fret a particular note, this may be indicated by writing a
number under the note, with 1=index finger, 2=middle finger, 3=ring
finger, 4=pinkie finger, and rarely, 5-thumb:

G---------5--7--5--------------------
D------------------------------------
A---0--5-----------------------------
E------------------------------------
1 1 3

It is becoming popular to indicate time in TAB by writing over each note

a letter indicating the time value of the note: s=sixteenth note, e=eighth
note, q=quarter note, h=half note, w=whole note. It is possible to add
dots to this system as is done with normal notes. In addition, vertical bars
are usually used to indicate measure breaks. TAB noted this way might look
like this:

w q s s e q h q. e e e s s e h
G-----|----5--7--5-------|-------------5--7--7-|----
D-----|------------------|-3--3--5--7----------|----
A---0-|-5-----------8--5-|---------------------|-5--
E-----|------------------|---------------------|----

Lesson 1 - The Role of the Bass Line

This is the first in a series of lessons whose focus is on constructing

bass lines. The goal is to introduce players to the basic elements of music;
to explain why the bass plays a particular note at a particular time and the
effect that bass lines have on a piece of music. While most of the examples in
the lessons will be drawn from rock music and blues (my particular genres),
the basic principles being explained are applicable to any form of music
featuring a bass line, whether played on an electric bass, acoustic bass, or
other instrument. The lessons presume some minimal knowledge of music theory:
mostly that one know the names of the notes (A, B, B-flat, etc), can find
those notes on the bass, and have some notion of time (quarter-note,
half-note, measure). Other concepts are introduced as needed, though not
always in great detail, and if you have not studied music theory a good book
on that subject might also be a good thing to read while learning to play
bass. Examples will be given in TAB notation because of the ease of
transmitting it over computer networks, although it is wise to learn to read
standard music notation as well.

The first thing to understand in constructing your bass lines is the role
that the instrument plays in the music. In almost all musical forms, the bass
has two important functions to fulfill. First, the bass defines the chords
being played and guides the movement of the music from one chord to another.
This role is usually shared with a guitar or a piano. Second, the bass
provides the rhythm of the music being played. This role is usually shared
with the drums. Because it links the two functions of rhythm and harmony, the
bass is often the instrument around which the rest of the music is organized.
This lesson begins with a very brief discussion of chords, and then follows
with a discussion of rhythm and how the bass defines it. Lesson 3 will take up
the subject of chords in more detail.

All music is organized into chords. A chord is a set of three or more

different notes being played simultaneously, with one of the notes being the
root note of the chord and the other notes defining the type of chord being
played. The job of the bass is to indicate which chord is being played at a
given moment, and this is most easily achieved by playing the root note of the
chord. For example, the song "Dancing with Myself" by Billy Idol is organized
into 8-measure verses and choruses. In each of these 8-measure patterns, an E
major chord is played in the first two measures, a A major chord is played in
the 3rd and 4th measures, a B major chord is played in the 5th and 6th
measures, and the A major chord again in the 7th and 8th measures. In each
measure, the bass plays 8th notes on the root of the given chord:

(all notes 8th notes)

E A
G-------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
D-------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
A-------------------------|------------------------|-0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|
E--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|-0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|------------------------|

Well I've been all around the world, and there's Every type of girl

B
G-------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
D-------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
A--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|-2--2--2--2--2--2--2--2-|-2--2--2--2--2--2--2--2-|
E-------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|

But your Empty eyes seem to pass me by and leave me

A
G-------------------------|------------------------|
D-------------------------|------------------------|
A--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|-0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|
E-------------------------|------------------------|

Dancing with myself... oh oh oh oh

This is a very simple bass line, but it fulfills both of its intended roles.
First, it clearly indicates what chord is being played at any moment in the
song, by playing only the root note on each beat. There is a very large amount
of music (dance music, heavy metal) in which most or all of the notes played
by the bass are just the roots of the chords being played by the band, and
some very powerful bass lines can be written this way.

Secondly, this bass line gives a simple and clear rhythm to the song: an even
rhythm of 8th notes. If you sing this bass line to yourself, you probably sing
it as "dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah", with the same stress, or accent, on
each beat. Other bass lines supply different rhythms using the root notes of
the chords. For example, the bass line to the Police song "Message in a
Bottle" also uses only root notes, but uses a very different rhythm. Over the
verses, the bass line repeats this two-measure phrase:

e q e q. e e q e q. e e
G----|----------------|---------------|
D----|----------------|---------------|
A--4-|--4--4--0--r--0-|-2--2--------4-|
E----|----------------|-------2---r---|

Just a castaway.... Island lost at sea, oh...

where the chords are C# minor, A major, B minor, and F# minor, and they change
every half-measure. This rhythm stresses beats 1, 2, 2-and, and 4-and, by
playing notes on those beats and holding notes, or resting, on the other
beats. (Count each measure as 1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and, providing 8 beats for
the 8th notes to fall on. The accented beats are the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 8th of
the 8th notes in the measure.) However, the chorus uses almost the same even
8th note beat as the Billy Idol song above does:

e e e e e e e e e e e q e e e
G--|------------------------|---------------------|
D--|------------------------|---------------------|
A--|-0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|-5--5--5--7--7--7--7-|
E--|------------------------|---------------------|

I'll send an SOS to the world....

where the chords are A major over the first bar, and D major and E major over
the second bar. By varying the rhythm used over the two parts of the song
(along with variations by the drummer), the bassist adds considerable variety
and style to the song, even though he hasn't played any notes except the root
notes of the various chords.

Both of the above songs are organized aroud an 8th-note beat; that is to say,
the smallest unit of rhythm is the 8th note. No 16th notes are used in the
rhythm figures. Most popular music nowadays is written to 8th-note beats,
although dance music and funk music uses 16th-note beats, and jazz musicians
write music in a number of different beat patterns. To generate a rhythm, the
bassist (and drummer) simply choose which beats to accent and which beats not
to accent. In the Billy Idol song, all notes receive the same emphasis. In the
Police song, however, some are emphasized, or accented, and others are not.

As a bass player, you have four tools at your disposal to provide emphasis, or
the lack thereof, to a beat. They are:

1. Play the root note of the chord being played on a given beat. This is the
strongest, most emphatic note you can play.
2. Play a note on the beat, but not the root note of the chord. This is still
emphatic but not so much so as the root note.
3. Don't play a new note on the beat, but carry over the note you were playing
on the previous beat. This de-emphasizes the beat, because the bass isn't
adding a new sound on it.
4. Rest: play no note at all. This is the most de-emphasizing thing you can do
on a beat.

The most important part of writing a bass line is deciding which beats to
emphasize and which beats not to emphasize. In particular, deciding where to
use rests to de-emphasize a beat is essential to constructing good, solid,
supporting bass lines. Sting, the bass player for the Police, is an excellent
bass player to listen to if you want to hear the creative use of rests in bass
lines. You can see the rests used in the song Message in a Bottle above: by
placing a rest on the 4th beat of each measure, he makes the use of the root
note on the 4-and beat even more emphatic than it would ordinarily be. Sting
is a master of very simple, very elegant bass lines that add a lot to the
music he's playing, and every beginning bass player should listen to a lot of
his music to hear how he does it.

Which notes should you emphasize and which should you not? This is a question
which can only be answered by you as the artist, and the drummer, who is your
partner in determining the rhythm of the song. There are some general
guidelines that you can use to help you select your rhythms, however. The most
important is that you should usually play the root note on the first beat of
each measure. Since this note defines the start of the measure, and since most
chord changes occur on this beat, it is important to determine the overall
rhythm of the song by placing a strong emphasis here. Almost all bass lines
you'll ever see place the root note on the first beat of each chord, and on
the first beat of each measure even if the chord has not changed. In doing so
they set a general pattern for the music. Other beats in the rhythm of the
song can either highlight this pattern, or contrast with it, depending on the
amount of tension you want to have in the rhythm of your song. A second
guideline is that you should stick to one basic rhythm pattern for a fairly
long period of time (8-16 measures at least) in order for the rhythm to be
heard, and felt, by the listener. If you change rhythm every two measures,
then the audience won't have time to detect the patterns you're playing, and
won't be able to feel the patterns in the music, or the changes in those
patterns which are what makes music interesting.

There are a number of basic rhythms that are common to many types of music.
One of the most common rhythms in jazz is the quarter-note rhythm. Like the
8th-note rhythm, all the beats are even, but the notes played are quarter
notes, and the first beat of each measure is emphasized by playing the root of
the given chord under it, while other notes are usually not the root notes. An
example:

(all notes are quarter notes)

C major D minor G7

G-----------2-|--5--2-------|-------3--2-|-0----------|
D-----5--3----|--------5--2-|-0--3-------|----0--3--2-|
A--3----------|-------------|------------|------------|
E-------------|-------------|------------|------------|
Note how the root of the chord is played on the first beat of each measure;
although for the two measures of C chord, a different C is played. Note also
that none of the notes on other beats are the roots. By playing the root on
the first beat, the bassist strengthens that beat just enough to provide a
recognizable rhythm, and also defines the chord changes.

Another beat that's common to many forms of music, including country and
western music, polka music, and klezmer music, is the following beat. Like the
jazz beat above, it's a quarter-note beat, but instead of playing notes on all
four beats, it rests on beats 2 and 4 to de-emphasize those beats and
strengthen the 1 and 3 beats. (Quarter-note beats are counted 1-2-3-4,
1-2-3-4). It might go like this:

(all notes are quarter notes)

C major F major C major

G-------------|-------------|------------|-------5--r-|----
D-----r--5--r-|-----r--5--r-|-3--r-------|-3--r-------|----
A--3----------|--3----------|-------3--r-|------------|--3-
E-------------|-------------|------------|------------|----

where again, the root is played on beat 1, a different note is played on beat
3, and no note is played on beats 2 and 4. If you sing this to yourself, you'll
probably sing it "dum (rest) dum (rest) dum (rest) dum (rest)", highlighting
the difference between the accented beats and the rest beats. Note how
different this rhythm is from the following one:

C major F major C major

h h h h h h h h h
G-------|------|------|------|----
D-----5-|----5-|-3----|-3----|----
A--3----|-3----|----3-|----3-|-3-
E-------|------|------|------|----

which is exactly the same except that there are no rests: each note is a half
note rather than the quarter notes above. This beat is dull and monotonous
compared to the one above, which has a distinct up-down-up-down feel which is
added by the rests. Let this serve as an example of how powerful rests can be
in creating rhythmic bass lines.

A variation on this beat that's used in a lot of pop music is the following
one. It's actually an 8th note beat, and instead of emphasizing beats 1 and 3,
it emphasizes beats 1 and 2-and. For simplicity, I'll show it here with all
root notes:

C major F major G major

q. q. q q. q. q q. q. q q. q. q
G----------|---------|---------|---------|
D----------|---------|-3--3--r-|-3--5--r-|
A--3--3--r-|-3--3--r-|---------|---------|
E----------|---------|---------|---------|

Beats 1 and 2-and are emphasized by the root, beat 3 is slightly de-emphazised
by carrying over the note from the 2-and beat, and beat 4 is strongly
de-emphasized by resting on that beat. Lesson 2 will feature a song using this
beat prominently to give you more of a feel for it.

There are hundreds or thousands of beats out there for you to listen to: rock
beats, jazz beats, swing beats, shuffle beats, rap beats, reggae beats,
calypso beats, and many more. Rhythm is a very difficult thing to talk about
abstractly: it's something you have to experience and feel before you'll be
able to play it. The best solution is to put on your headphones and listen to
music. Hear the bassist and drummer, and hear the rhythm they're playing. The
interaction of the bassist and the drummer to create rhythm is probably the
most single important element of popular music (at least most bass players
seem to think so!) and it's the single most important skill for a bass player
to have. (Or, as Jeff Berlin is fond of saying, "You will never be hired to
tap.") To develop rhythm, you have to listen to other people who have it, and
also to a few who don't. It comes with experience, and there is no way to
teach it in a purely academic way.

The last comment about rhythm to make is that sticking strictly and rigorously
to a single rhythm, with no variations, is boring. Good rhythm sections find a
way to maintain a basic rhythm while occasionally providing slightly different
accents, or extra notes to highlight a particular half-measure. This is where
the partnership between a bassist and drummer is most important: as one player
departs from the basic rhythm to add accents and fills, the other player must
play solid and steady so that the first player can come back to the basic
rhythm. Listen to your favorite bands and hear when the drummer departs from
the basic rhythm and when the bass player does, and hear how they come back
together again to provide a steady and familiar yet not boring pattern. When a
bassist and drummer have played together long enough to know each other's
styles and habits, they can play complicated and difficult patterns together
without losing track of the basic rhythm they're playing (and, more important,
without the listeners losing track). This is why it's important to find
yourself a live drummer and play with him/her regularly: you need to develop
these give-and-take skills, to keep a rhythm going with a partner, varying it
in time and in accent without losing the basic thread of the song. You can't
do this with a metronome or a drum machine, for the obvious reasons. It's what
makes the rhythm section the heart and soul of any good band.

Lesson 2 will talk about playing notes other than the root notes; which ones
to play, where to play them, and what their effect is.

Lesson 2 - Beyond the Root Note

In the previous lesson we discussed the two main functions of the bass in
music: defining the chords and providing rhythm. In this lesson, we're going
to talk about using non-root notes to provide a motion from one chord to the
next, which gives a song a sense of direction, and about some ways to make the
bass line a little more interesting than a sequence of roots.

The bass lines in the last lesson used predominantly root notes to define
chords. When the chord changed, the bass line leapt from one root to the next,
like so:

(all notes are 8th notes)

E A E A E
G-------------------------|------------------------|----
D-------------------------|------------------------|----
A--------------0--0--0--0-|-------------0--0--0--0-|----
E--0--0--0--0-------------|-0--0--0--0-------------|-0--

The movement from one chord to the next is rather abrupt. By making the
movement from one root to the next in a couple of steps, rather than in one
large leap, the bass line can provide a sense of movement and anticipation to
the music that isn't present in the simple examples earlier. You can also play
something other than the root note for change...
The simplest way to do this is to add a single note, on the beat before each
change, which is in between the two roots, usually just below the higher one.
For example, we might play this:

(all notes are 8th notes)

E A E A E
G-------------------------|------------------------|----
D-------------------------|------------------------|----
A--------------0--0--0----|-------------0--0--0----|----
E--0--0--0--4-----------4-|-0--0--0--4-----------4-|-0--

In this figure, we play the note G# (a half-step below the A) as a transition

between the E and the A. Such a note is called a leading tone, or passing
tone. It gives a sense of movement to the bass line which isn't present in the
first line. In addition, playing a non-root note on the 2-and beat, and the
4-and beat, reduces the emphasis on that note slightly, providing a contrast
with the new root note coming in on the 3 and 1 beats following.

You can play a single passing tone, or, if the chord changes are farther
apart, you can play more than one. For example, consider this bass line:

(all notes are 8th notes)

E A E
G-------------------------|------------------------|----
D-------------------------|------------------------|----
A-------------------------|-0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|----
E--0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-|------------------------|-0--

Here, there are 8 beats between chord changes, and we can use more than one of
those beats to move from the E to the A. We might alter the last three notes
of each measure as follows:

(all notes are 8th notes)

E A E
G-------------------------|------------------------|----
D-------------------------|------------------------|----
A-------------------------|-0--0--0--0--0----------|----
E--0--0--0--0--0--2--3--4-|----------------4--3--2-|-0--

Here we use a sequence of three leading tones to move us from the E to the A.
In this particular case, we've used three notes each a half-step apart to make
the transition. There are other possibilities. In between the E and the A are
4 notes and you can use any or all of them in making the change. We'll take up
the choice between the possible sequences in a later lesson; but it would be
possible to use any of them in an appropriate piece of music.

The following bass line, from the theme song to the movie "Stand By Me" (I
can't remember who the original artist was, unfortunately), demonstrates a
bass line that moves between 4 chords, using passing tones to get from one to
the next. It also uses the dotted-quarter note rhythm, emphasizing the 1 and
2-and beats with root notes, that we saw in lesson 1.

D major B minor

e e q. q. e e q. q. e e q. q. e e q. q. e e
G-------|------------|------------|------------|------------|
D-------|-0--0-------|-0--0--0----|------------|------------|
A--0--4-|-------0--4-|----------4-|-2--2--r--0-|-2--2--2--0-|
E-------|------------|------------|------------|------------|

Oh I won't be a- fraid, no I won't shed a tear, just as

 G major A major D major

q. q. e e q. q. e e q. q. e e q. q.
G-------------|------------|------------|-------
D-------------|------------|-0--0-------|-0--0--
A-----------2-|-0--0--0--4-|-------0--4-|-------
E--3--3--3----|------------|------------|-------

long as you stand, stand by me.

This line is one of the simplest and yet most powerful bass lines in popular
music. It has a lot of features worth noting. First, it uses the same rhythm
in each measure: two dotted quarter notes on the roots, followed by two eighth
notes, or a note and a rest. (Note that the vocal line is singing essentially
the same rhythm.) Second, the dotted quarters are always roots, which
emphasizes those beats more strongly than the eighth notes, which are not
roots, but are leading notes, leading towards the root of the next measure:
A to C# to D for the D major chords, D to C# to B for the B minor chords, B to
A to G for the G major, and G to B to A for A major. See that, while the
leading tone is usually between the two root notes, it doesn't have to be: for
the G major to A major transition, with only G# as a possible in-between note,
the author chose instead to go up to the B, then back down to the A. This is
still called a leading tone, although it's not quite the same as the others,
because it fulfills the same function: it warns of an upcoming chord change,
and gives a pointer in the direction that the chord is going to move.

A third thing to note is that the leading notes are played each measure,
regardless of whether the chord is changing or not. So in measure 6, we play
A-C#-D to move from the A chord to the D chord; and in measure 7 we play
A-C#-D again even though we're staying on the D chord. The sequence still
points to the root of the chord, so why not play it again? By doing this, we
make the bass line a little more interesting, and we give it more of a sense
of movement than it would have if we just played D all the time. Playing
leading sequences is one way to add movement and emphasis to a song that isn't
changing chords at all. For example, here's the bass line from the Doors song
LA Woman:

(All notes are 8th notes)

A major

G-------------------------|------------------------|
D-------------------------|------------------------|
A--0--0--0--0--0----------|-0--0--0--0--0----------|
E-----------------0--3--4-|----------------0--3--4-|

repeat ad infinitum :)

This song stays on the same A major chord for 50-60 measures in places, but
the leading sequences in the bass lines give it a sense of motion that would
not be present if the bassist just played 8th-note A all the time. Although
the Doors had no bass player (Ray Manzarek, the keyboard player, used a second
keyboard to play the bass parts) for their last few albums a studio bassist
was used, and I believe that this line was played on a bass, rather than on
keyboards.

Another thing that can be done to add interest to a bass line is to play two
different versions of the root note. This idea is the mainstay of funk bass
lines. For example, if you were playing a D major chord, you could play the
following line:

(Slap all notes on the A string with the right-hand thumb: pop all notes on
the G string).

D major

e e s s s e s s s s s e
G--------7-----------7--------------7-|
D-------------------------------------| Repeat as needed
A--5--5-----r--5--5-----r--5--5--5----|
E-------------------------------------|

This line has a lot of things to note about it also. First, all the notes are
root notes, but the line uses a low one and a high one to provide variety.
Second, this line uses a 16th note rhythm: look at the 16th rests in the line.
They follow the popped high note, which increases the impact of the pop. Also,
the fifth through ninth notes don't start on an even 8th note. 16th note
rhythms are counted "1-e-and-a-2-e-and-a-3-e-and-a-4-e-and-a"; the first four
notes start on numbers and ands, but the next five start on "e"s and "a"s.
This gives the line a much more syncopated, funky feeling. It also makes it
harder to play correctly: you'll probably have a hard time reading this rhythm
if you haven't played it before. Work it out very slowly, counting aloud,
until you have it down, then gradually work up the tempo. Larry Graham, of Sly
and the Family Stone, and later his own band Graham Central Station, was one
of the first bassists to play 16th note rhythms, and was also one of the first
to slap and pop. If you're into 16th note rhythms, you can get a lot of
inspiration from his lines.

You can also combine the ideas of playing different roots and playing leading
tones into one bass line. The following line is from the song Purple Haze, by
the Jimi Hendrix Experience, with Noel Redding on bass. (At least, this is how
I play it in my band. I think the recorded version is a little different.)

E #9 G7 A7

e e e. s e e e. s e e e. s e s e s e
G-------------------------|---------------------------|
D--------2--2--------2--2-|-------5--5----------------|
A-------------------------|-------------------5--6--7-|
E--0--0--------0--0-------|-3--3--------5--5----------|

Note the use of the octaves on the E and G roots. This matches the drummer's
pattern: where the bass is playing the lower note, the drummer is playing the
bass drum and where the bass is playing the higher note, the drummer is
playing his snare. For the A7 chord, the bass doesn't play the octave note:
instead, it plays D-D#-E leading back to the low E for the next measure. (The
drummer plays a drum fill while this is happening, so there's no need to keep
playing the octave: he won't be matching it anyway.)

To conclude this lesson, I'll give you one more bass line. It combines all the
ideas we've talked about so far: using roots to define the chord, using rests
to de-emphasize particular notes, switching from one rhythm to another when
changing from verse to chorus, and using leading tones to add movement when
the chord isn't changing. This is the bass line from the Police song
"Roxanne", and again Sting is the bassist. Observe how the root note is
played, but never on the first beat of the measure: in the verse, the bass is
resting, while in the chorus either the previous root is tied over, or a
leading tone is played on the first note. In the verses, the bass is a little
bt behind the chord changes: in the chorus it's a little bit ahead. It makes
for a very interesting line, and demonstrates that there's no such thing as a
hard and fast rule (at least not for Sting).

Verse:

G min F maj Eb maj D maj C min

 e e q h e e q h e e q h e e q h e e q h
G-------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|
D--r--5--5--r-|-r--3--3--r-|-r--1--1--r-|-r--0--0--r-|-r----------|
A-------------|------------|------------|------------|----3--3--r-|
E-------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|

Roxanne.. You don't have to put on the red light. Walk the street for

F maj G min

e e q q e e w w
G-------------------|---|-----|
D-------------------|---|-----|
A-------------------|---|-r---| repeats
E--r--1--1--r--3--3-|-3-|-----|
\_/
money... You don't care if it's wrong, or if it's right.

Chorus:

Bb maj F major

q e e e e e e e e e e e e e e q e e e e e
G-------|------------------------|---------------------|------------
D-------|------------------------|----------------1--3-|-3--3--3--3-
A--3--1-|-1--1--1--1--0--1--1--1-|-0--1--1--1--1-----\___/----------
E-----\___/----------------------|---------------------|------------

Roxanne........ Roxanne....

G minor

e e e e e e e e e q e e e e e e e e e
G-------------|---------------------|------------------------|
D--2--3--3--3-|-2--3--3--3--3-------|------------------------|
A-------------|----------------3----|------------------------|
E-------------|-------------------3-|-3--3--3--3--2--3--3--3-|
\_/
Roxanne..

e e e e e q e
G----------------------|----
D----------------------|----
A-----------------3--1-|-1-- repeats
E--2--3--3--3--3-----\___/--

Lesson 3 will talk about chords in more detail. We'll talk about a few
different types of chords, and about using chords in constructing your
bass lines.

Lesson 3 - Chords and Bass Lines

In Lesson 1, we talked about using the root note of a chord to define the
chord, and in Lesson 2 we talked about using leading tones to move from
one chord root to the next. In this lesson, we'll talk about playing notes
from the chords other than the root notes, and about using them to construct
bass figures that you can play over several different chords.

To repeat the definition from Lesson 1, a chord is any group of three or

more notes being played simultaneously. The simplest ones are groups of
exactly three notes: more complex ones are built by adding extra notes to one
of the basic ones. There are four three-note chords, but only two of them are
used in most forms of music, major chords and minor chords. (The other two,
augmented and diminshed chords, are used mostly in jazz and classical music. I
won't mention them again in this lesson, although they'll reappear in a later
lesson.)

A major chord consists of three notes; the root note, a note which is two
whole steps above the root (called the third), and another note which is one
and one-half steps above the third (called the fifth). It may seem odd to call
the notes third and fifth instead of second and third; but there's a reason
for it, which I'll explain in the next lesson. To give an example, the three
note C, E, and G make up a C major chord. E, the third, is two whole steps
above the root note, C: and G, the fifth, is 1.5 steps above the E. If you
wanted to play these notes on your bass, you might finger them like this:

G------------
D------2--5--
A---3--------
E------------

and you'd get a C major chord. In fact, the pattern:

-----(N-1)--(N+2)--
--N----------------

2 1 4

on any two consecutive strings will produce a major chord, and this is a
fingering that you can use over and over again in your bass lines. (The
numbers below the staff indicate fingerings: use your middle finger to play
the root, your index finger for the third, and your pinkie for the fifth. Then
you can reach all three notes without moving your left hand.)

A minor chord is similar to a major chord, but the intervals are reversed:
that is, the third is 1.5 steps above the root, and the fifth is two steps
above the third. Thus, the notes C-Eb-G make up a C minor chord. Note that the
root and the fifth are the same: only the third differs, and that's what makes
the two chords sound different when played on a guitar. You can play a C minor
chord like this:

G------------
D---------5--
A---3--6-----
E------------

and in general the pattern:

------------(N+2)--
--N--(N+3)-----------

1 4 3

produces the notes of a minor chord, and you can play all three without moving
your left hand.

In the past lessons we've used the root note of a chord to define it, but now
we have three notes of the chord that we can use to define it. We can play
just the root, as we've been doing, and that is sufficient; or we can play two
or three of them, if we like. Here's a bass line that does the latter: it's
the line from "Twist and Shout", which has been played by a lot of bands
including the Beatles. It also happens to be the bass line for "La Bamba" by
Ritchie Valens, by a strange twist of fate. Think of it as whichever one you
like.

C major F major G major F major

q e e e e e e e q. e e e e e
G--------------2--5----|---------------------|
D-----2--5--3--------5-|-5--r--0--3--3--2--0-| repeat
A--3------------------\_/--------------------|
E----------------------|---------------------|

Cmon and shake it up baby (shake it up baby)

Twist and Shout (twist and shout)

You can see the outline of the C major chord in the first half-measure, just
as we wrote it above. You can also see the outline of the F major chord in the
second half of the first measure: it's the same pattern played one string
higher. For the G, we hit only one note, the root, and hold it: then we play
the root of the F chord, followed by a leading sequence back down to the C
major chord, where the phrase repeats.

You can also play two of the notes of the chord, rather than all three. The
bass line that is at the heart of almost all country music does that: it plays
the root and fifth on alternating beats.

(all notes are quarter notes)

C major F major C major

G-------------|-------------|------------|-------5--r-|----
D-----r--5--r-|-----r--5--r-|-3--r-------|-3--r-------|----
A--3----------|--3----------|-------3--r-|------------|--3-
E-------------|-------------|------------|------------|----

It alternates root-fifth-root-fifth-root-fifth. Doesn't actually do much else,

but it does serve to outline the chord being played at all times. Because of
its simplicity and power, it's one of the most heavily used ideas for bass
lines in all of popular music; besides country music, bluegrass music, some
folk music, and occasional bits of rock and jazz use it as well. It does,
however, get boring after a while: you might like to use some leading notes to
jazz it up a little bit. One bass line that does so is the one from the song
"Wipeout" by the Beach Boys. It goes like this:

(all notes are 8th notes)

E major

G----------|------------------------|------------------------|
D-----0--1-|-2--2--2--0--------0--1-|-2--2--2--0--------0--1-|
A--2-------|-------------2--2-------|-------------2--2-------|
E----------|------------------------|------------------------|

A major

G-------------------------|-------------------0--1-|-2--2--2--0--------0--1-|
D--2--2--2--0--------0--1-|-2--2--2--0-----2-------|-------------2--2-------|
A--------------2--2-------|-------------2----------|------------------------|
E-------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|

E major

G--2--2--2--0-------------|------------------------|-------------------2--3-|
D--------------2-----0--1-|-2--2--2--0--------0--1-|-2--2--2--0-----4-------|
A-----------------2-------|-------------2--2-------|-------------2----------|
E-------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|

B major A major E major

G--4--4--4--2--------0--1-|-2--2--2--0-------------|------------------------|
D--------------4--2-------|-------------2-----0--1-|-2--2--2--0--------0--1-|
A-------------------------|----------------2-------|-------------2--2-------|
E-------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|

B major

G-------------------------|
D--2-----------------0--1-|
A-----2--2--2--2--2-------| repeat
E-------------------------|

This line plays the root three times, a leading note down to the fifth played
twice, and then a two-note leading sequence back to the root. It's playing
exactly the same figure under each chord: (root-root-root-lead-fifth-fifth-
lead-lead) are always played, in that order. The leading tones make it much
more driving that it would be if only roots and fifths were played: try it and
see.
It's very common to do as this bass line does; play the same pattern under
each chord, changing the pattern up and down the fingerboard to keep the root
in the right place, but otherwise not varying the line at all. When the bass
line has this form, the pattern is often called a bass figure (or bass
pattern, or bass riff) and a lot of rock music relies heavily on such figures.
This figure is a pretty simple one: we'll run into some more simple ones later
in this lesson and into some more complex ones in later lessons.

In addition to the simple three-note chords, there are a number of four-note

chords, and also five-, six-, and seven-note chords as well. Of this vast
array of chords, only a few four-note chords are widely used outside of jazz,
and I'm only going to talk about those chords. They're made by adding one more
note onto a basic three note chord. The most commonly used four-note chord is
made by starting with a major chord and adding the note 1.5 steps above the
fifth. For example, starting with a C major chord, whose fifth is G, you would
add the note Bb, which is three half-steps above G. The following chord (which
is made of the notes C-E-G-Bb) is called a seventh chord, or a dominant chord,
and the new note is called the seventh note. You can play C7 like this:

G-----------3--
D-----2--5-----
A--3-----------
E--------------

and in general you can add the 7th note to the major scale pattern I gave
earlier, like this:

--------------------N--
-----(N-1)--(N+2)------
--N--------------------

2 1 4 2

and get the four notes of any 7th chord you like. Seventh chords are easily
the most commonly used four-note chord. You can also make a minor seventh
chord, by starting with a minor chord instead of a major chord. For example,
the C minor 7 chord is made of the notes C, Eb, G, and Bb, and you can play
one like this:

G-----------3--
D--------5-----
A--3--6--------
E--------------

(I'll let you work out the general pattern for this one). The minor 7th chord
isn't used much in rock music (although see Gallows Pole, by Led Zeppelin, for
an interesting example of it) but it is very common in jazz music.

Another note you can add to a major chord is the note that is one whole step
above the fifth of the chord. This note is called the 6th note, and a chord
that contains it is called a 6th chord. For example, a C6 chord is made up of
the notes C, E, and G, plus the new note A (one step above G). This chord is
fingered as follows:

G-----------2--
D-----2--5-----
A--3-----------
E--------------

and it's the second most common four-note chord, after the 7th chord. The
single most widely used bass line in recorded music is based on it: if you
have ever listened to any kind of blues music, you've heard this line
somewhere. The most widely know song that uses it is probably "Johnny B.
Goode" by Chuck Berry, but there are literally thousands of songs, in all
keys, all styles and all tempos, that use it. It looks like this:

(all notes are quarter notes)

C major 6

G-----------2-|-5--2-------|----------2-|-5--2-------|
D-----2--5----|-------5--2-|----2--5----|-------5--2-|
A--3----------|------------|-3----------|------------|
E-------------|------------|------------|------------|

F major 6 C major 6

G-------------|------------|----------2-|-5--2-------|
D-----------0-|-3--0-------|----2--5----|-------5--2-|
A-----0--3----|-------3--0-|-3----------|------------|
E--1----------|------------|------------|------------|

G major 6 C major 6

G-------------|------------|----------2-|-5--2-------|
D-----------2-|-5--2-------|----2--5----|-------5--2-|
A-----2--5----|-------5--2-|-3----------|------------|
E--3----------|------------|------------|------------|

It's based on a very simple figure: start on the root, run up the C6 chord to
the high root, then run back down again. The figure is played under three
different chords: C, F, and G, and it lasts twelve bars. The general pattern
is known as the twelve-bar blues, and it's probably the most widely used song
form in popular music. Note, for example, that Wipeout (transcribed above) is
on the same pattern, using the chords E, A, and B instead. (It uses a
different figure, but the same pattern of chords, and the same method of
repeating one figure under each chord.)

One last point on chords in bass lines. In all of the above examples, the
first note played in each chord is the root note. Thus, we're still using the
root note to define each chord: the other notes of the chord are just helping
to flesh it out once we've already stated the main outline. Most music never
does anything else, but occasionally (most commonly in jazz) a note other than
the root will be the first (or only) note played under a given chord.
Borrowing some terms from classical music, we say that a chord is in "root
position" if the root is played first. We say that it's in "first inversion"
if the third is used to define the chord change, and in "second inversion" if
the fifth is the first note played. Second inversion is rarely used: first
inversion is usually used when playing a two-chord sequence twice in a row.
Thus, instead of playing:

F Bb F Bb

G-------------|------------|
D--------3--3-|-------3--3-|
A--1--1-------|-1--1-------|
E-------------|------------|

you might instead play:

F Bb F Bb

G-------------|------------|
D--------3--3-|-------7--7-|
A--1--1-------|-5--5-------|
E-------------|------------|

playing the chords in first inversion in the second measure, just to add
variety to the line.

For more complex chords used in jazz, you can usually play just about
any chord note you like out of them, although it's still a good idea to
start with the root note for the sake of identifying the chord. However,
for some chords, the root note doesn't sound very good under the chord;
usually this happens when another note in the chord is very dissonant
with the root. Common chords than do this include Cb5 (C flat 5) and
Cb9 (C flat 9) (or any other root note of course). In such cases you
usually do best to try first inversion, ie playing the third of the chord
on the first beat, and then moving off to either the root, or to the
dissonant note, as the case may be. I'll talk more about playing under
strange chords when I talk about scales in a later lesson.

Occasionally, a composer will specify a particular note for the bass when
writing a chord. Such chords might be referred to as "C major with an A
in the bass" which is exactly what you think - the guitar/piano plays the
C major chord but the bassist ignores that and plays the A. Chords like
that are usually written "C/A", where the letter before the slash indicates
the chord and the letter after the slash indicates the bass note. It's usually
done to give the impression that a different chord is being played. In this
example, the C major chord consists of the notes C E G ; but when the A is
added in the bass, you get the four notes A C E G which is an A minor 7th
chord. However, if the chord was written Amin7, then the guitar and piano
would probably play the A note as well, and if the composer doesn't want that
to happen for some reason, he can write "C/A" and get the desired effect.
This format can also be used to force inversions: for example, you might
see the chord "G/B" which means G major with B in the bass. This just means
that the composer wants the G chord in first inversion: you should almost
always respect the composer's wishes in such cases.

I'll end this lesson with one more (short) example of using several notes from
a chord to create a bass line. This line is based on a one-measure pattern,
and that pattern repeats, no changes, for about 5 minutes under the solos in
the middle of the song. The measure contains two chords, A minor and E7, and
each note in the line comes from one of those two chords. The song is "Light
My Fire" by the Doors, and this time I have to apologize for using a line that
was played on keyboards instead of on bass... it's too good a line to pass up!
Most bands that play this song play the line on bass anyway, so we can forgive
Mr. Manzarek some chutzpah in this case.

A minor E7

q e e q e e
G-------------------|
D--------2-----0--2-| repeat, and repeat again!
A--0--3-----2-------|
E-------------------|

That's all there is to it, and this one measure is played for most of the
song. The first three notes are A, C, and E, the A minor chord, and the last
three notes are B, D, and E, which are the fifth, 7th, and root, respectively,
of the E7 chord.

In the next lesson I'll talk about scales, and I'll talk about what a key is,
and how the key that a song is in determines which chords are used in that
song.

Lesson 4 - Major Scales, Keys, Chord Changes, and the Circle of Fifths

In the last lesson, we talked about creating bass lines based on the chords
of the song being played. In this lesson, we'll talk about scales, which
determine which chords are used in a song and in what sequence, and we'll
work through major scales and give some examples of common songs built on
major scales and some common chord changes. We'll also introduce the Circle of
Fifths, which is something most bass players have heard of and all of them
should know perfectly. Knowing the common chord patterns will make it much
easier to learn songs off records, because it lets you make accurate guesses
about where the bass line is likely to go, and it will also help you in writing
songs if you are interested in doing that.

The first thing to observe is that although there are 12 different notes
in music (A, B flat, C, D flat, and so on up to A flat), most songs don't use
all of those notes: in fact, most don't use any more than 7 of them. Which
notes are used in a given song is determined by the key of the song, and the
choice of a key gives the composer (or bass player) a guide to choosing the
chords and notes he wants to use in writing the song (or the bass line). And,
if you know what key a song is in, then it will help you figure out the bass
line to that song, because it gives you a good guide as to what notes might
be used in the song's bass line and which notes will not be used.
The notes that are associated with a given key are called a scale. For
example, we might want to write a song in they key of C major, and if we did
that we'd use the notes from the C major scale. That scale is: C, D, E, F, G,
A, B, C; all the white keys on the piano and none of the black keys. You can
play that scale at a piano or on your bass: on the bass, the notes are:

G-----------------2--4--5--
D--------2--3--5-----------
A--3--5--------------------
E--------------------------

If you play this scale, you'll notice that it has a very comfortable, familiar
sound to it; that's because major scales are the most widely used scales in
music. There's nothing magical about C as the choice of a starting note: you
can create a major scale starting on any note you like, and there will be a
major key associated with that scale. The thing that defines a major scale
is that it contains 7 notes, and they are all a whole step apart except for
the 3rd and 4th note which are a half-step apart. (There is also a half-step
between the 7th note and the next octave of the 1st note.) Thus, you can
create the D major scale by starting on D and going up by whole steps, except
after the 3rd (and 7th) note. Thus, the D major scale would be: D, E, F#,
G, A, B, C#, D. Note the half-step between F# and G, and between C# and D.
You can play this scale on your bass like this:

G-----------------4--6--7--
D--------4--5--7-----------
A--5--7--------------------
E--------------------------

Notice that this pattern is exactly the same as the C major scale above,
except that it's two frets higher. In fact, this same general pattern will form
a major scale starting on any string, at any fret. For example, the F major
scale looks like this:

G--------------------------
D-----------------0--2--3--
A--------0--1--3-----------
E--1--3--------------------

which is the same fingering pattern, starting at the 1st fret of the E string.
A song written using these 7 notes would be said to be in the key of F major
You can keep going up the fingerboard if you like, starting again on the new
new F: if you do this you'll repeat the 1st note as the 8th note, the 2nd
note as the 9th note, and so on. In F major, the result would look like this:

G-----------------------------2--3--5--7--9--10
D-----------------0--2--3--5-------------------
A--------0--1--3-------------------------------
E--1--3----------------------------------------

and you can see that the 2nd note and the 9th note are both G, and 3rd note
and the 10th note are both A, etc. Sometimes G will be called the 2nd or the
9th, depending on the circumstances.

Once you've chosen a key for the song, you can then start choosing the chords
to use in the song. Because you now only have 7 notes to choose from, the
number of chords you can form is reduced. For example, suppose you are writing
in the key of C major, and you want to form a chord with C as the root note.
You can't use C minor, because that requires an E-flat, which is not a note
of the C major scale. However, you can form the C major chord, by using the
1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the scale: C, E, and G. (This is why the three
notes of the C major chord are called 1st, 3rd, and 5th: they are the 1st,
3rd and 5th note of the C major scale). If you wanted to form a chord with
D as the root note, you can't form D major (it requires a F-sharp) but you
can form D minor using D, F, and A, the 2nd, 4th, and 6th notes of the scale.
So, if you are writing in the key of C major, you will end up using the chord
D minor rather than D major. If you wanted to form a four-note chord with
G as the root, you would use the G, B, D, and F (the 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th
notes) and you would get a G7 chord.
The main purpose of choosing a key is to guide you in selecting the chords
to use in your song. Consider, for example, the song "You Shook Me All Night
Long" by AC-DC. It's in the key of G major and goes like this:

Verse: (repeat as needed)

G C G C G D G D G D
G-----------|------------------|------------|----------------
D-----------|------------------|------------|----------------
A---------3-|-3--3-----3-----5-|-5--5--r----|-------5-----5--
E---3--r----|-------3-----3----|----------3-|-3--3-----3-----
 She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean, she was the best damn
woman that I've ever seen.

Chorus: (repeat as needed)

G C Bm D C Bm
G-------------|---------|------------|----------
D-------------|---------|------------|----------
A-----0--2--3-|-3--2--5-|-5--0--2--3-|-3--2-----
E--3----------|---------|------------|-------3--

You Shook me All Night Long You really shook me yeah,

The bass plays mostly root notes. Between the verse and chorus the bass line
makes two changes: first, it plays only roots in the verse, but starts playing
some passing notes between roots in the chorus; and second, the verse
contains rests between long notes, but in the chorus there are no rests and
the notes are connected to one another.
However, the main thing to notice about this song at the moment is the
choice of chords. The song is on the G major scale: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G.
In TAB it looks like this:

G--------------------------
D-----------------2--4--5--
A-----0--2--3--5-----------
E--3-----------------------

and notice that all of the notes of the bass line, even the passing notes in
the chorus, come from this scale. The chords used are G major (G,B,D), C
major (C, E, G), D major (D, F#, A) and B minor (E, G, B), and all of those
notes come from the G major scale as well. In fact, in the whole song, both
guitar parts, bass line, and vocal line together, you won't find any notes
that are not part of the G major scale.

In general, once you've chosen a key, you've chosen whether to have major
or minor chords for each of the notes in the scale, and what kind of 7th to
use if you use one. I'll work out the chords for the G major scale, but you
should notice that you'll always get the same types of chords for any major
scale you might pick:

G major scale: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, [ G, A, B, C, D, E ]

Root Note Notes Chord 7th 7th chord

G G,B,D G major F# G maj7
A A,C,E A minor G A min7
B B,D,F# B minor A B min7
C C,E,G C major B C maj7
D D,F#,A D major C D7
E E,G,B E minor D E min7
F# F#,A,C F# dim E E half-dim7

In general, in a major key the chords formed using the 1st, 4th, and 5th
scale note are major, the ones formed on the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th notes are minor,
and the one on the 7th note is diminished. You can refer to the chord simply
by the number of the scale note that is the root note: so we say that in the
key of G major, D major is the fifth chord. Usually it's written out using
Roman numerals, so that we say that in the key of G, G major is the I chord,
A minor is the II chord, C major is the IV chord, etc.

Now that we know what root notes to use to form chords, and what type of
chords (major, minor, 7th) to use, we've pretty much decided which chords can
be used and which can't be. The next question is, in what order should we
use these chords? The answer is, you can use them in pretty much any order
you want, except that the song should begin and end on the I chord. However,
there are some very common patterns that are used. One of them we've already
run into in Wipeout and the 12-bar blues: it is the pattern

I IV I V I

where the first I chord gets 4 measures and each of the other chords gets two
measures. There are a number of other common patterns. For example, there is:

I IV I V I

which is the basic pattern from I Saw Her Standing There, by the Beatles. It
is in the key of E, and uses the chords E, A and B7.

E A E
Well she looked at me, and I, I could see
B7
That before too long, I'd fall in love with her...
E A
Yeah I'll never dance with another, oooh
E B7 E
Since I saw her standing there.

A twist on this pattern is to present the V and IV chords in the other order.
For example, there is

I V IV I

which is the basic pattern of the chorus of Fortunate Son, by Creedence

Clearwater Revival It's in G major so it uses G, D, and C as chords.

G D C G
It ain't me, It ain't me, I ain't no Senator's son, no.
G D C G
It ain't me, It ain't me, I ain't no Fortunate Son.

You can also throw in some common minor chords. A very very common
pattern in jazz music is

I II V7 I

where the II chord is minor. However, since most jazz songs don't have words,
it's hard to provide an example. You'll have to trust me that if you listen
to jazz you'll hear it a lot.

You can also use the sequence:

I VI IV V I

where the VI chord is minor. This pattern is the basis of the song "Lollipop"
with each chord getting one measure. In the key of F major it'd go like this:

F Dm B flat C7
Lollipop, lollipop, oh lollie, lollipop (repeat ad nausem)

Try playing these chords on a piano or guitar and you'll see that they sound
quite natural played in that order. However, if you play the D minor chord
as major instead (using the F# instead of F) you'll find it a little jarring,
because the F# is not a note of the F major scale.
You can also use II instead of IV, if you want to get a second minor chord
into the sequence:
I VI II V I

One song that does that is the following popular folk song, Today, which is
in D major and uses D, B minor, E minor, and A7 chords:

D Bm Em A7
Today, while the blossoms still cling to the vine
D Bm Em A7
I'll taste your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine
D Bm Em A7
A million tommorows will all pass away
D Bm Em A7 D
Ere I forget all the joy that is mine, today.

Folk music in particular tends to use very common chord changes and repeat
them over and over, and if you want to develop your ability to recognize the
common changes, it's not a bad idea to listen to some folk music because you
will hear them very clearly there.

There is one last piece of information about chord patterns that every bass
player ought to know. It summarizes all the information about how chords move
from one to the next in a simple way. It's called the Circle of Fifths,
and it's created by writing out the 12 notes in this order: each note is
followed by the 5th note of its major scale. Thus, if we start with C, we
follow it with G (the 5th note of the C major scale). We follow the G with D,
which is the 5th note of the G major scale, and D is followed by A, and so on
around the octave until we get to F, which is followed by C, and we're back to
where we started. The complete Circle of Fifths looks like this:

C
F G
Bb/A# D
Eb/D# A
Ab/G# E
Db/C# B
Gb/F#

There are two basic rules for chord changes. The first is that short movements
along the circle sound more natural than long ones. For example, the chord
change C major to G major is very natural, whereas the change C major to E
minor is more awkward. The second rule is that clockwise moves (forward) make
the song seem to be developing forwards, whereas counter-clockwise moves
(backward) make the song be resolving. The chord changes we gave above are
these:

E A E B E (I Saw Her Standing There). This one involves only single

step movements. Starting on E, we go back, forwards, forwards, back.

G D C G (Fortunate Son). This one starts by going forward one step, then
jumps back two steps, then resolves by going forward one step.

D Bm Em A7 (Today). This one begins with a three-step jump forward, but

then resolves back one step at a time.

F Dm Bb C7 (Lollipop) This one begins with a three-step jump forward, th

en comes _four_ steps back, then two steps forward and resolves with a gentl
e single step back.

Almost all chord movements in all songs involves jumps of 4 steps or less
along the Circle, and most of them only 1 or 2 steps. The Circle of Fifths is
an invaluable guide to picking up bass lines off a record. The general steps
you can follow are these:
1. Listen to the first note and the last chord of the song. This root note
of this chord will almost invariably be key of the song. Thus, if the first
chord is A major, then the song is very probably in the key of A major.
2. Listen to the song and try to figure out the sequence of chord changes.
If you can hear each chord, great: but if you need to guess, guess short steps
on the Circle of Fifths before you guess longer ones. eg, if the song opens
on A major, it's very likely that the next chord is either D major or E major,
and it's very unlikely to be F minor or D flat major.
3. Once you know the sequence of chords of the song, then start trying to find
the individual notes of the bass line from the chords that are being played,
and from the likely passing notes between those chords.

In the next lesson we'll talk about scales other than major scales, and how
to build songs and bass lines on those scales.

Slapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #1

================================
Doug Wellington
[email protected]

This is the first in a series of lessons on slapping and popping on the

bass guitar. It was inspired by discussion on the Usenet News group
REC.MUSIC.MAKERS.BASS and will be distributed there and on The Bottom
Line.

Ian Stephenson ([email protected]) started with a lesson on tapping,

and I am going to continue in his style, which means using ascii TAB
and NOTATION. If anyone has better suggestions for presentation,
please write to me at the above address. Like Ian, I would like to get
some feedback as to how you like this lesson and its format.

We'll start with some real basics, and progress from there. The first
thing to decide is how to hold the bass for slapping. There are two
extremes. The first, which I call the Tony Oppenheim style, uses a
low positioning of the bass. This results in the arm being straighter
and the fingers of the slapping hand being perpendicular to the strings.
The other extreme, practiced by Stu Hamm, is to have the bass higher
which results in the forearm being perpendicular to the strings and
the elbow resting almost directly above the bridge. I suggest that
you try both styles and see which one is more comfortable. If you
hang your bass low, try the Oppenheim method. If you are more of a
"jazzer" and have your bass up high, then the Stu Hamm method will
be easier. I think I'm a jazzer, so I wear my bass up as high as
my strap will go. :-)

One of the most important things in slapping is developing good speed.

The best way to be fast is to learn to relax as much as possible. It
is especially important to relax the slapping hand. Let your hand hang
down naturally by your side. Now, without changing the position of
your fingers, bend your arm and hold your hand over the strings right
at the end of the fretboard. This is very close to the position you
want your hand to remain in.

Mute the strings with your fretting hand. Keep your thumb down behind
the neck, with the contact point about half way down. Your thumb should
be pointing almost straight up. Rest your fingers lightly on the
fretboard, just enough to keep the strings quiet. Try to keep your
fingers as straight as possible.

Keep your slapping hand at the end of the fretboard, with your thumb
hanging over the last frets and your first finger between the end of
the fretboard and your pickup. Now, twist your slapping arm so that
your thumb moves away from the bass. The arm itself should remain
stationary and just rotate. You only have to twist enough so that
your thumb is at most 3 inches (75 mm) away from the strings. Rotate
the arm back towards the bass, let your thumb hit the E string, then
bounce back. Do this almost as lightly as possible, just enough to
hear a "click". Repeat this motion several times, always hitting the
E string. Once you feel comfortable with this, move to the A string
and continue until you feel comfortable with that. Then alternate
slaps on the E and A strings.

Now for some noise! Lift your fretting fingers off of the strings,
and try some slaps. Slap once and then lightly mute the strings
again. Repeat this until you get a nice consistant sound and can
dampen the strings quietly. (We'll get into left hand slaps in
a future lesson.) If you have a metronome, set it to somewhere
between 40 and 50 beats per minute, and slap and mute one note
per beat. Start slow and strive for consistancy. You want a
nice steady beat and a smooth mute.

OK, OK, I know you guys are itching to go on, so I'll give you
one more tidbit before signing off until the next lesson. Another
important element of slapping is hammer ons. A hammer on is when
you play a note with your fretting hand, usually right after you have
played one with your picking hand. To demonstrate, place the first
finger of your fretting hand on the fifth fret of the A string, and
slap the A string. Now firmly place your pinky finger of your fretting
hand down onto the seventh fret, sounding a higher note. Cool, huh?
Start up the metronome again, and setting it to between 40 and 50,
practice this slap and hammer on until it is smooth. Don't bother
muting this, let the notes ring. Slap the note on the beat, and then
hammer on half way in between the beats. Go for smooth and steady!

__
|-----------------| |--/--\--------------------
|-----------------| | \ | .
|--5----7---------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / . O
S H |-----/-------O------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------

Once you get that down, let's combine a slap and hammer on with a slap
and mute. Start with your first finger on the fifth fret of the A
string. Slap the A string, then hammer on to the seventh fret. Now
slap the open E string, then mute. Release enough pressure on the
A string to stop the note just as you slap the E string. Keep the
muting as noiseless as possible. TAB for this looks like:

q q q q
|-------------|
|o-----------o|
|o-5--7------o|
|--------0----|
S H S M

Work this up by starting slowly (40-50 beats per minute) and then
moving up. Make it smooth and relaxed now and it will be lightning
fast later. So, work on this and we'll add to it next time.
Slapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #2
=================================
Doug Wellington
[email protected]

Today's topic: Popping and muting

Last time I left you all with this slap, hammer on, slap and mute
pattern:

q q q q
G |---------------------| q = quarter note
D |o-------------------o| S = Slap
A |o---5---7-----------o| H = Hammer on
E |------------0--------| M = Mute quietly
S H S M

I hope that you all started slowly, like I suggested, and have gotten
to the point of having a nice clean clear sound. Work on the sound
now and we'll worry about the speed later. You'll be surprised at
how soon it will happen.

Now that you've started to get comfortable with slapping, let's add
popping to our bag of tricks. To "pop" a string, place your first
(index) finger of your slapping hand part way under the string
(just enough to grab it), pull the string out lightly and then let it
pop back against the fretboard. Keep your hand in the same relaxed
position we talked about last time. Keep your first finger just stiff
enough to pull the string out. Try popping the G string now.

As with slapping, do it as lightly as you can. You want to play with

as little energy as possible. Remember, speed will come from relaxation.
Pull just enough to get a good solid "crack" sound. This sound will be
quite percussive and if you're like me, the first time you get a good
pop with the amp turned up, it will make you jump! Go for it.

Now turn on your metronome and set it to between 40 and 50. Practice
popping the G string on each beat, and mute with your fretting hand
half way in between beats. Hold your fretting hand as before, with
your thumb about half way down behind the neck, and keep your fingers
straight. When you pop, leave the tips of your fingers touching the
E, A and D strings and lift just the base of your fingers off of the
G string by moving your hand forward, pivoting your wrist slightly.
After the pop, you can mute by moving your hand back. You should be
able to keep the E, A and D strings muted the whole time.

Once you feel comfortable with this pop - mute process, let's pop with
a slap. A very common technique is to slap and pop notes one octave
apart. Place the first finger of your fretting hand on the fifth fret
of the A string, and the fourth finger of your fretting hand on the
seventh fret of the G string. Start up your metronome again (it's
still on 50 isn't it?) and practice a slap on the A string and a
pop on the G string. Slap on the beat and pop in between. Don't
move your fretting hand or worry about muting, just let the notes ring.

e e e e e e e e
G |-----7---7---7---7---| e = eighth note
D |o-------------------o| S = Slap
A |o--5---5---5---5----o| P = Pop
E |---------------------|
 S P S P S P S P

Now, you may accidentally touch the E or D strings, so let's talk more
about muting. We're already using the first and fourth fingers for
fretting notes. Rest your second (middle) finger lightly on the E
string to mute it. You'll have to keep the second finger almost
straight, and bend your first and fourth fingers to do it.

Here comes the tough part. So far we have used the first, second and
fourth fingers to fret the A string, mute the E string and fret the G
string respectively. We could try muting the D string with the third
finger, but since the third and fourth fingers are so dependent upon
each other, it is hard to keep them working separately. So, to mute
the D string, flatten your first finger at the first joint just enough
to rest it against the D string. Just let your third finger "hang out"
next to the second finger.

Practice the slap and pop for a while, keeping the metronome set to
between 40 and 50. Listen carefully to make sure that you aren't
hearing the E or D strings ringing. You may also want to hit them
on purpose to make sure that you are muting them properly. Muting
is the hardest and most important part of slapping cleanly!!!

Work on this slow slap and pop until you get a clean sound with only
the two notes ringing. Alternate popping with your first and second
fingers. Try to get the volume levels equal with each.

A WORD OF WARNING: Take it easy here. Popping can be real hard on

your fingers! Before you know it, you can get blisters and that will
definitely cut into your progress. Stop early, take a break and then
go back to it.

OK folks, practice the pop and mute and the octave slap and pop and
we'll go further next time.

Take it slow!

Slapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #3

================================
Doug Wellington
[email protected]

OK, you guys should be real good with the octave slap and pop, the
pop and mute, and the slap, hammer, slap mute, so we'll get into some
combinations today.

First, let's talk some more about muting. (Did I mention that muting is
about the most important thing in the slap and pop style?) Last time, we
did an octave slap and pop and let the notes ring. Let's clean up the
sound now, by lifting the fretting finger after the slap or pop. You can
either wait until just before playing the next note, thus holding the notes
and making a long tone (legato) or you can stop the note quickly, making a
short tone (staccato). Both sounds have their uses, but let's have you work
on the staccato now. Play the same octave pattern we discussed last time
(fifth fret of A string, seventh fret of G string), but instead of letting
the notes ring, let up on the pressure almost immediately after you slap or
pop, making each note a short tone. Just let up enough to stop the note
from ringing. Don't actually take your finger off of the string. Again,
set your metronome for a slow tempo, and make this sound good and clean.
 S = short tone O O O O
--- --- --- ---
S S S S S S S S __
|----7---7---7---7----| |--/--\------------------------------
|.-------------------.| | \ | .
|.-5---5---5---5-----.| |---@--|-----------------------------
|---------------------| | / .
S P S P S P S P |-----/-------O-----O-----O-----O----
| /
S = Slap |---/--------------------------------
P = Pop |
|------------------------------------

Once you feel comfortable with that, let's add in that slap, hammer, slap
and mute pattern we learned in lesson one. Stay at the same position.
Slap two octave patterns starting at the fifth fret on the A string then
slap the A string and hammer on to the seventh fret. Slap the open E string,
then mute. Start up your metronome again and play this pattern, with all
slaps occurring on the beat, and the pops, hammers and mutes occurring in
between. Remember, we're still using quiet mutes. We'll get into slap-mutes
in the next lesson.

O O
--- ---
__
|--/--\------------------------------------------|
| \ | . |
|---@--|-----------------------------------------|
| / . O |
|-----/-------O-----O-----O----------------------|
| / |
|---/--------------------------------------------|
| |
|------------------------------------------------|
| |
| -O- |
| |
| S S S S L L L M | S = Short tone
|----------------7-----7-------------------------| L = Long tone
|------------------------------------------------| M = Mute
|-------------5-----5-----5--7-------------------|
|-------------------------------0----------------|
S P S P S H S M

S = Slap
P = Pop
H = Hammer on
M = Mute

Now, let's add a little movement to this line. Start the pattern on the
fourth fret of the A string. Slap and pop one octave pattern, move up to
the fifth fret of the A string, slap and pop an octave and then slap and
hammer on the A string and slap and mute on the E string. Start slow and
keep it clean!

bO O
--- ---
 __
|--/--\------------------------------------------|
| \ | . |
|---@--|-----------------------------------------|
| / . O |
|-----/------bO------O-----O---------------------|
| / |
|---/--------------------------------------------|
| |
|------------------------------------------------|
| |
| -O- |
| |
| S S S S L L L M | S = Short tone
|----------------6-----7-------------------------| L = Long tone
|------------------------------------------------| M = Mute
|-------------4-----5-----5--7-------------------|
|-------------------------------0----------------|
S P S P S H S M

S = Slap
P = Pop
H = Hammer on
M = Mute

Once you feel comfortable with that, try holding the slapped and popped
octave notes for the whole duration (eighth notes) and see how this legato
style changes the "feel". The legato notes should almost seem to drag.
Playing staccato keeps things moving. Then, try playing the slaps as
long tones and the pops as short tones. (I think this sounds best of all.)
Also, try letting the last slap on the open E string ring. This sounds
good at the end of a phrase or song. Experiment, and have fun.

Lastly, here's a simple pattern for you to play. See if you recognize it.
HINT: it's part of a theme for a TV comedy show

Staccato:
|------5---------|---------------------|
|----------------|---------------------|
|---3------------|----1--2--3--3--3----|
|----------------|---------------------|

More again soon!

-Doug

Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #1

================================
Ian Stephenson
[email protected]

This is the first in a series of lessons on tapping and related techniques for
bass guitar. I hope to explain both the physical side of things, and some of
the theory behind the notes. I'm starting from ABSOLUTE basics so it should be
very easy to follow - get this stuff nailed and the rest is easy too. Please
mail me if you thing I'm going too fast or too slow. The very existence of this
course depends on feedback - unless I know people are reading this then I won't
even write part 2. I'll try and address any problems or suggestions I receive
in future lessons.
Tapping is often seen as a technique used exclusively for solos but this isn't
necessarily the case and I'll try and provide examples of each lesson point
that demonstrates its use in a supporting SONG context. On a related note I
will feel free to digress into other techniques as and when I feel that they
are interesting or necessary to place a piece of tapping in context.

The techniques I'll outline form a PART of a good bass players toolbag. You
don't have to be an experienced bass player to follow this course, but if you
are starting from near absolute scratch then make sure you spend time acquiring
other techniques. This stuff will sound great, and may make an audience notice
you if the band is working well - but if you can't pedal quavers then the band
isn't going to work, and you're just going to look daft.

Tapping can be roughly divided into two styles - the Billy Sheehan (+Eddie Van
Halen) and the Stu Hamm (Joe Satriani) style. I'll touch on both, but
concentrate on the latter, as it tends to be more harmonically driven, and is
more applicable to a typical band situation.

OK - enough waffle lets start...

Sit down with your bass and with the index finger of your
LEFT hand play the A string at the 12th fret by hammering on (don't use your
right hand at all):

__
|-----------------| |--/--\-------O------------
|-----------------| | \ | .
|--12-------------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / .
H |-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------

Easy huh? Make sure that it sounds clean. Practise ending the note as well as
starting it by lifting you finger a small fraction away from the fretboard so
the string is damped. There should be no rattles, and the note should end when
you want it to.

Now keep your left hand in about the same position and bring your right hand
round so your elbow is over the bridge(ish), and your fingers are over the
fretboard. Rest your thumb on the top side of the neck and place your fingers
over the 14th fret - index finger over the D string, middle over the G string.
This is your basic arm position (though like all basic things you'll grow to
learn when not appropriate). Now bring your right index finger down onto the
string to tap your first note.
-O-

---
__
|-----------------| |--/--\--------------------
|----14-----------| | \ | .
|-----------------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / .
T |-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------
Once again practise starting and stopping the note cleanly - it should be just
as good as the note hammered with your left hand.

Now lets put those two together...

-O-

---
__
|-----------------| |--/--\----------O---------
|o------14-------o| | \ | .
|o--12-----------o| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / . .
H1 T1 |-----/--------------------
| / .
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------

Repeat this until you feel comfortable with it. Listen to the sound of the
interval (the gap between the notes) - I'll deal with this in a few weeks, but
you should start listening now, so that you'll be ready.

Now its time to bring in another finger - the middle finger of your right hand.
It should have been hanging over the 14th fret of the G string up till this
point so try tapping there.

O
---

---

---
__
|------14---------| |--/--\--------------------
|-----------------| | \ | .
|-----------------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / .
H2 |-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------

Once you're comfortable with this, start put it together with the other notes.

First:

O
---

---

---
__
|-------14--------| |--/--\-----O--------------
|-----------------| | \ | .
|---12------------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / .
H1 T2 |-----/--------------------
| /
 |---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------

Then:

O
---

-O- ---

--- ---
__
|----------14-----| |--/--\--------------------
|------14---------| | \ | .
|-----------------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / .
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------

And then finally:

O
---

-O- --- -O-

--- --- ---

__
|----------14-----| |--/--\-----O--------------
|------14------14-| | \ | .
|--12-------------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / .
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------
Loop all of these until you're completely comfortable with them - Your going to
be able to play these in your sleep (with your eyes shut goes without saying -
seriously! you shouldn't need to look at the fretboard, though it is excusable
to start off with, or when learning something new).

[This might be a good time to take a break if you've had problems with the
previous stuff - get it right before progressing]

Right now lets shift that whole pattern down a whole tone

-O-

---
O O
--- --- ---
__
|---------12------| |--/--\--------------------
|-----12------12--| | \ | . O
|-10--------------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / .
|-----/--------------------
| /
 |---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------

Get that sorted, and we'll move down again...

O
---

-O- --- -O-

__
|----------10-----| |--/--\--------------------
|------10------10-| | \ | .
|--8--------------| |---@--|---O---------------
|-----------------| | / .
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------

Now as a final exercise lets put those last three together to form our first
song:

e e e e e e e e e e e e s s s s s s s s
|--------14----------12----|------10--------10-------12----|
|o----14----14----12----12-|---10----10---10--10---12--12-o|
|o-12----------10----------|-8----------8--------10-------o|
|--------------------------|-------------------------------|

Next time the band play's All Along the WatchTower (in the key of A) you'll be
able to hold down the chords, and keep the sound interesting during the guitar
solo :-)

I'll develop this riff during the next lesson.

Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #2

================================
Ian Stephenson
[email protected]

At the end of the last lesson you should have played the following
riff from "All Along the WatchTower":

e e e e e e e e e e e e s s s s s s s s
|--------14----------12----|------10--------10-------12----|
|o----14----14----12----12-|---10----10---10--10---12--12-o|
|o-12----------10----------|-8----------8--------10-------o|
|--------------------------|-------------------------------|

While that's all very pretty, we need to get a little more intense as
the song progresses. This lesson looks at two variations of this
riff.

The technique we can apply to this riff is "Double Stopping" -

playing more than one note at once.
Previously we brought two fingers of the right hand down separately.
Now bring them down in exactly the same way, but both together.

O
---

-O-

---
__
|-----14----------| |--/--\--------------------
|-----14----------| | \ | .
|-----------------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / .
T |-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------

You should find this fairly easy, and should be able to play:

q q e e q q q e e e e
|-------14-----------12----|------10--------10-------12----|
|o------14-----------12----|----------------10-------12---o|
|o-12----------10-10-------|-8----------8--------10-------o|
|--------------------------|-------------------------------|
H3 T12 H1 H1 T12 H1 T12 H1 T12 H1 T12

Note I've marked an alternative left hand fingering here, using the
third finger to fret the A at the 12th fret. This reduces the
necessary hand movement, but you should make sure that you get the
sound consistent between both fingers.

I've only notated the most basic of rhythms here. Playing it straight
will give the heaviest sound, but the riff may be looped indefinitely
so try shifting the rhythm around. You should be able to make the two
hand parts "bounce off each other".

The notes we're playing are taken from the chords Am, G and F as
follows

O
--- -O-
O
-O- --- ---
O
-o- --- -O-
__ o

|--/--\----------O---|--------|----o----||
| \ | . | O | ||
|---@--|-------------|--------|----O----||
| / . | | ||
|-----/--------------|--------|---------||
| / | | ||
|---/----------------|--------|---------||
| | | ||
|--------------------|--------|---------||
| | | ||
| Am | G | F ||
| | | ||
| | | ||
|----------------14--|---12---|---10----||
|----------------14--|---12---|---10----||
|----------------12--|---10---|---8-----||
|--------------------|--------|---------||

(The Major and minor chords are differentiated by the notes I've
indicated as "o" (little "o") - we're not playing those yet. You may like to
analyse how this works)

Double Stopping will help to thicken the sound, but the basic problem
with this riff is that if you play this, then nobody is playing the
bass part! That's fine for a while, but not exactly great for the big
intense ending.

The answer of course is to split your hands, and use the left hand to
play the bass line one octave below where we've being playing it:

O
---

-O-

---
__
|-----14----------| |--/--\--------------------
|-----14----------| | \ | .
|-----------------| |---@--|-------------------
|--5--------------| | / .
H T |-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
| O
|--------------------------

That's pretty easy in itself, and gives a much fuller sound.

Unfortunately you may find it a little harder when used in context.

q q e e q q q e e e e
|-------14-----------12----|------10--------10-------12----|
|o------14-----------12----|----------------10-------12---o|
|o-------------------------|------------------------------o|
|--5-----------3-----------|-1----------1--------3---------|
H2 T12 H1 H1 T12 H1 T12 H1 T12 H1 T12

This is will take some getting used to - particularly those of you

who have been looking at the fretboard, as you can't watch both hands
at once (I did warn you!). The only answer is familiarity with the
bass - learning to feel your way round. Don't worry if you can't get
this right now, but keep it in mind as something to practise,
alongside future lessons.

The new chords may be written:

O
--- -O-
O
-O- --- ---
O
-o- --- -O-
 __ o

|--/--\----------o---|--------|----o----||
| \ | . | o | ||
|---@--|-------------|--------|----o----||
| / . o | | ||
|-----/--------------|---o----|---------||
| / o | | o ||
|---/----------------|---o----|---------||
| O | | o ||
|--------------------|---O----|---------||
| | | O ||
| Am | G | F ||
| | | ||
| | | ||
|----------------14--|---12---|---10----||
|----------------14--|---12---|---10----||
|--------------------|--------|---------||
|----------------5---|---3----|---1-----||
(Again I've marked notes that are implied as "o", played notes as
"O"). Its pretty obvious why it sounds better.

Once you have mastered the splitting of your hands, you may like to
try the first riff again with the bass line an octave down:

e e e e e e e e e e e e s s s s s s s s
|--------14----------12----|------10--------10-------12----|
|o----14----14----12----12-|---10----10---10--10---12--12-o|
|o-------------------------|------------------------------o|
|--5-----------3-----------|-1----------1--------3---------|

Particular effort must be put into playing the F at the first fret of
the E string - Hammering on requires a little more effort close to
the nut, as there is less available movement from the string (it
being anchored not very far away). You may have to hit the string
just a little harder (or those with rapid detuning machanisms may
take the string down a tone - Kubickis are great for this, as the nut
is moved while the note remains in the same place).

While very basic, these riffs are in fact quite hard, and should be
enough to keep you occupied for quite a while.

Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #3

================================
Ian Stephenson
[email protected]

In the previous lessons we've used double stopping to form chords. We

have also considered moving the left and right hand parts further apart.
We'll continue with this idea now by moving the two hands even more
independently.

Consider the following chord:

-O-

---
O
 ---
__
|-------12--------| |--/--\--------------------
|-------12--------| | \ | .
|----7------------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / . O
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------

It should sound fairly dissonant, but provided your sound isn't overly
bassy it won't be too bad in context.

We can then move the bass note (resolving it) to a G while keeping
the right hand harmony notes constant:

-O- -O-

--- ---
O O
--- ---
__
|-----12-----12---| |--/--\--------------------
|o----12-----12--o| | \ | .
|o-7-------------o| |---@--|-------------------
|---------3-------| | / . O
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|-------------------O------

Once you're happy moving your left hand while holding your right
still, we can move to an Am in the same way we did last week to get
the classic opening riff to "Purple Haze" (or at least sufficient
outline to carry the rhythm while the guitarist shows off)

O
-O- -O- -O- ---

--- --- --- -O-

O o O
--- --- --- ---
__
|--/--\-------------------------|-------------------------------||
| \ | . | ||
|---@--|------------------------|-------------------------------||
| / . O O O O | ||
|-----/-------------------------|-------------------------------||
| / | ||
|---/---------------------------|-------------------------------||
| | O O ||
|-------------------------------|--O--O-------------------------||
| | ||
| e e e s s+q q | e e q e e q ||
| | ||
|-----------------12-----12-----|--------12--------------14-----||
|o----------------12-----12-----|--------12--------------14-----||
|o----------7--7------7------7--|-------------------------------||
|-------------------------------|--3--3----------5--5-----------||
 L4 L4 R12 L4 R12 L4 L1 L1 R12 L3 L3 R12

(The timings are an approximation - with all lessons you should

experiment to find a comfortable groove).

Once you've got this working you may feel that the initial E lacks
the emphasis you'd like to place upon the begining of such a great
riff.

Last week we tackled the problem by taking the note down an octave.
In this case that's an open string so we can't hammer it on. We could
tune down, but the proximity of the nut would reduce the volume, and
in any case - tuning down is inconvenient. The answer is to sound the
open E with your right hand.

Moving in and out of the position used for tapping is often

inconvenient - going to a walking finger style is too slow, and a
plectrum is out of the question! However, you should find that your
right hand is in a pretty good position to slap the bottom E - it's
perhaps a little further up the fretboard than is desirable but it is
quite workable (See Doug's slapping lesson #1 for details of the VERY
simple slap we're now going to use). Simply twist your right hand,
bring the thumb down on the E string and let it bounce back.

Of course if the right hand is slapping then the left hand is going
to have to play the double stop. This is accomplished by bringing your
third finger down flat across the G and D strings at the 12th fret.
With both this and the slap, experiment to find the optimum amount of
force.

-O- -O-

--- ---
O O
--- ---
__

|-------12-----12---| |--/--\--------------------
|o------12-----12--o| | \ | .
|o-----------------o| |---@--|-------------------
|--0--0-----0-------| | / .

|-----/--------------------
RT RT L3 RT L3 | /
|---/----------------------
|

|--------------------------
-O- -O- -O-

Putting the whole thing back together we get:

O
-O- -O- -O- ---

--- --- --- -O-

O o O
--- --- --- ---
__

|--/--\-------------------------|-------------------------------||
| \ | . | ||
|---@--|------------------------|-------------------------------||
| / . | ||
|-----/-------------------------|-------------------------------||
| / | ||
|---/---------------------------|-------------------------------||
| | O O ||
|-------------------------------|--O--O-------------------------||
| | ||
| -O--O- -O- -O- | ||
| | ||
| e e e s s+q q | e e q e e q ||
| | ||
|-----------------12-----12-----|--------12--------------14-----||
|o----------------12-----12-----|--------12--------------14-----||
|o------------------------------|-------------------------------||
|-----------0--0------0------0--|--3--3----------5--5-----------||
RT RT L3 RT L3 RT L1 L1 R12 L3 L3 R12

That's all for now.

Ian

LESSON POINTS: Increased independance of hands

Mixing conventional right hand techniques

Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #4

================================
Ian Stephenson
[email protected]

Virtually all the notes that we've been playing so far have been
related harmonically as either fifths or octaves. This is largely
because at bass frequencies, smaller intervals do not give a
sufficient gap (in terms of Hertz) to allow your ear to tell them
apart. This can be most clearly seen on a piano where the left hand
(the bass) often plays octaves while the right plays a much closer
harmony (usually thirds or less). If you were to play thirds at bass
frequencies they would sound a muddy mess.

If we look a little more closely at the idea of left hand fifths,

there are two ways they can be played in the context of the tapping
we've done so far. We can either place the root on the E or the A
string. We'll consider each of these in turn.

We'll use the A Major Chord (as it's the one we're most familiar
with), so placing the root on the E string, and tapping the fifth and
octave on the top strings we get:

O
---

-O-

---
__
|--------14-------| |--/--\--------------------
|--------14-------| | \ | .
|-----------------| |---@--|-------------------
|----5------------| | / .
|-----/--------------------
 | /
|---/----------------------
| O
|--------------------------

The fifth of the A chord is E. This is easiest played on the seventh

fret of the A string, so we may alternate between this and the root.

O O
--- ---

-O- -O-

--- ---
__
|-------14-----14-| |--/--\--------------------
|-------14-----14-| | \ | .
|-----------7-----| |---@--|-------------------
|----5------------| | / . O
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
| O
|--------------------------

Looping this round should give you a pretty good idea of where we're
heading this week.

The alternative to placing the root on the E string is to play the root
on the A string. We can't play this using open strings, as you can't
hammer on an open string, so we'll play this at the twelfth fret

O
---

-O-

---
__
|-------14--------| |--/--\------O-------------
|-------14--------| | \ | .
|----12-----------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / .
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------

We've played that plenty of times, so we can quickly add the fifth on
the E string. Moving up a fifth is harmonically the same is moving
down a fourth, so this note is again found at the twelfth fret.

O O
--- ---

-O- -O-
 --- ---
__
|-------14-----14-| |--/--\------O-------------
|-------14-----14-| | \ | .
|----12-----------| |---@--|-------------------
|----------12-----| | / . O
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------

This is the same E as we previously played on the A string, 7th

fret, but now the A is above it, and we've reached it by moving
down. This is particularly obvious when we move between the two
patterns:

O O O O
--- --- --- ---

-O- -O- -O- -O-

--- --- --- ---

__
|--/--\------O-----------------------------------|
| \ | . |
|---@--|-----------------------------------------|
| / . O O |
|-----/------------------------------------------|
| / |
|---/--------------------------------------------|
| O |
|------------------------------------------------|
| |
| |
| |
|----------------14-----14------14----14---------|
|----------------14-----14------14----14---------|
|------------12--------------------7-------------|
|-------------------12-------5-------------------|

When we move between chords we can choose which INVERSION we use to

minimize hand movement, and to keep the bass line moving in a
melodic fashion. In the following example we move from a C major
chord with the C on the A string, playing a G on the string below
(this is known as 2nd inverson), to an A minor root position (A at
the bottom on the E string, with a fifth on the A string).

O O
--- ---
O O
-0- -0- --- ---

--- --- -O- -O-

--- --- --- ---

__
|--/--\----------------------|---------------------|
| \ | . | |
|---@--|---------------------|---------------------|
| / . .|. O |
|-----/----------------------|---------------------|
| / O .|. |
|---/------------------------|---------------------|
| | O |
|--------------------0-------|---------------------|
| |
| |
| |
|----------------17-----17---|------14-----14------|
|----------------17-----17---|------14-----14------|
|------------3---------------|----------7----------|
|--------------------3-------|---5-----------------|

This vamp forms the basis of the Stu Hamm track "Country Music (A
Night in Hell)". Repeat it round until you've got a really
comfortable rhythm going.

Before considering the whole tab we need one more trick - a major
third for the right hand. I'll cover these in more detail next time,
but for now place your right hand in a position to play a fourth (as
we have done so far), and just stretch your middle finger a little
further so it plays one fret further down:

O
--- #O-

-O- -O-

--- ---
__
|---14-----13-----| |--/--\--------------------
|---14-----14-----| | \ | .
|-----------------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / .
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------

You should now have few problems with the full rhythm part to "Country
music". It's mostly based on the stuff we've covered this week.
Watch out for the slapped parts (marked with a T). You should be
able to slap these without moving your hand too far away from the
tapping position (see lesson 3).

|---------|---17---17---17---17-----|---17---17---17---17-----|
|---------|---17---17---17---17-----|---17---17---17---17-----|
|-------2-|-3---------3-------------|-3---------3-------------|
|-3--5----|------3---------3--------|------3---------3--------|
T T T

|---14---14---14---14-----|---17---17---17-17---17-----|
|---14---14---14---14-----|---17---17---17-17---17-----|
|------7---------7--------|-3---------3----------------|
|-5---------5-------------|------3------------3--------|

|---14---14---14---14-----|---17---17---17---17-----|
|---14---14---14---14-----|---17---17---17---17-----|
|------7---------7--------|-3---------3----5--------|
|-5---------5-------------|------3------------------|

|---16---16---16---16-----|-------------------------|---||
|---17---17---17---17-----|-------------------------|---||
|------5---------5--------|-----------2--3--------2-|-3-||
|-3---------3-------------|--3--3--5--------3--5----|---||

T T T T T T T T T

Have Fun
Ian

LESSON POINTS: Left Hand Fifths

Introduction to Right hand Major Thirds

Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #5

================================

Ian Stephenson
[email protected]

Last time we just touched upon the all important technique of tapping
major thirds. Physically it's pretty straight forward, and you should have
mastered it with few problems. This week we'll consider how the interval is
used within simple chords. To do this I'll need to run over some basic
music theory - I hope it doesn't scare anyone too much.

Previously all the right hand paterns that we've considered have been
based on the interval of a fourth (thats five frets!). This is the easiest
interval to tap, as it's the interval between adjacent strings. It's the
interval between the root and the fourth note of the scale, but is
harmonically more common as the interval between the fifth and the octave:

-O-
__ O
|--/--\-------------------O--------
| \ | . O
|---@--|------------O--------------
| / . O
|-----/-------O--------------------
| / O
|---/------------------------------
|
|----------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 O
^ ^ ^ ^
\_______/ \_______/
4th 4th

Triads (the basic three note building blocks of chords) are formed by
starting on a note of a scale, and playing every other note above that. If
we consider the key of C Major (as it has no sharps or flats), and start
on the first note (ie C) we get the notes C, E and G.

-(O)-
__
|--/--\----------------------------
| \ | . O
|---@--|---------------------------
| / . O
|-----/----------------------------
| / O
|---/------------------------------
|
|----------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 O
^ ^
\_______/
4th

This shows clearly how 4ths are important in basic (ie I'm generalising,
and glossing over things) harmony. Where ever we start on the scale we
always form triads in the same way by skipping every other note:

O
-O- ---
O
-O- --- --- -O-
O O
-O- --- --- -O- --- -O-
__ O O
|--/--\--------O-------O-------O------
| \ | . O O O
|---@--|-------O-------O--------------
| / . O O
|-----/--------O----------------------
| / O
|---/---------------------------------
|
|-------------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6

(Note I left the 7ths out - they work slightly differently, but that's
for another time!).

No matter which note you start on you'll always find a fourth interval at
the top of the chord between the fifth and the octave.

A Major third is found between the root and the third degree of a Major
scale, so going back to our C Major example:

-O-
__ O
|--/--\--------------------O--------
| \ | . O
|---@--|------------O--------------
| / . O
|-----/-------O--------------------
| / O
|---/------------------------------
 |
|----------------------------------
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 O
^ ^
\____/
Maj 3rd

Hence we find a Major third at the bottom of all Major chords. However,
we have to be a bit more careful with thirds than we do with fourths,
because if we start on a different degree of the scale we get a different
interval between the notes of our triads. The reasons for this are a bit
complex, but the results can be most clearly seen by considering a piano
keyboard:

=========================================
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| +++ +++ | +++ +++ +++ | |
| | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | |
| C | D | E | F | G | A | B | C |
| | | | | | | | |
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+

If you start at C and count the number of semitones between it and its
third (E) you'll find you move 4 steps. However, if you count the number of
steps between D and its third, F (remember there are no sharps or flats in
the key of C) you'll find there are only three steps. If you work it out
(as I suggest that you do) you'll find that C, F and G have four steps to
their third, while D, E and A have only three (as I said before - ignore B,
it's a bit odd).

As you've probably guessed, 4 steps are a Major third, and hence C, F and G
are Major chords in the key of C Major. A three semitone gap is a Minor
third, and therefore D, E and A are minor chords. To generalise this, in a
major key the chords I, IV and V are Major, and the chords II, III and VI
are minor.

As a final twist before moving on to some fretboard based examples, look

again at the C Major chord, but this time consider the interval between
the third (E) and the Fifth (G). Count the semitones and you'll find
you've got a MINOR third. If you look at a MINOR chord (D minor) you'll
find that the interval between its third and fifth is a MAJOR third! This
gives us a neat trick where we can use the same Major third interval to
play completely different roles in two chords - say Amin (ACE) and CMaj
(CEG) - A Minor is the RELATIVE MINOR of C Major.

If we play an E at the 12th fret we can tap its octave on the 14th fret.
By stretching the middle finger a little further than we would for a
fourth we can comfortably tap the third (g#) at the 13th fret.

(#)-O-

-O-

---
__
|--/--\----------------------------
| \ | . #
|------13-------| |---@--|--#------------------------
|------14-------| | / . O
|---------------| |-----/----------------------------
|---12----------| | / #
T |---/------------------------------
|
|----------------------------------

From here we could easily move to the other major chords of this key (A
and B - IV and V remember) by moving the bass note up a string, and
tapping fourth intervals. However, we can alternatively bring in the
relative minor (C#) by just moving the bass note:

(#)-O-

-O-

---
__
|--/--\----------------------------
| \ | . #
|------13-------| |---@--|--#------------------------
|------14-------| | / .
|---------------| |-----/----------------------------
|---9-----------| | / # O
T |---/------------------------------
|
|----------------------------------

If we string these four chords together we get:

-O-
O
-O- -O- --- ---
O O
-O- --- -O- -O- --- -O- -O- --- -O- ---------

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---------
__ O
|--/--\----------------------|---------------|-O-------------|-----------|
| \ | . # | | | |
|---@--|--#------------------|---------------|---------------|-----------|
| / . O | | | .|
|-----/----------------------|---------------|---------------|-----------|
| / # | O | | .|
|---/------------------------|---------------|---------------|-----------|
| | | | |
|----------------------------|---------------|---------------|-----------|
| E | C#m | A | B |
| | | | |
|---------------------13-----|--------13-----|--------14-----|-----16----|
|-----------------14------14-|----14------14-|-----14----14--|---16--16-o|
|----------------------------|---------------|-12------------|-14-------o|
|-------------12-------------|-9-------------|---------------|-----------|

All very well I hear you say, but it's hardly rock'n'roll. Well Satch
knows a good thing when he sees it, and he used a very simple Relative Minor
trick on the main riff from the track "A Day at the Beach (New rays from
an ancient sun)" on "Flying in a Blue Dream":

|---------16-------14-------12-------14-------16-------|
|o-----5--17----5--14----5--12----5--14----5--17------o|
|o----------------------------------------------------o|
|---3--------3--------3--------3--------3---------(7)--|
^Second Time

|---------16-------14-------12-------14-------16-------|
|o-----9--17----9--14----9--12----9--14----9--17------o|
|o------------------------------------------------(5)-o|
|---7--------7--------7--------7--------7--------------|
^Second Time

This isn't strictly accurate (I've changed the key, and simplified it
somewhat), but it clearly illustrates how the Major third is used in two
roles - as part of the G Major chord in the first section, and then as
part of the relative minor E minor chord in the second section. Notice how
the right hand is identical for both sections, but by moving the bass note
we change the sound completely.

I hope that this all made some kind of sense to you all. I've covered a
lot of information this week - don't worry if it didn't all sink in
straight away, it'll take time before you feel comfortable with it. However,
I think you need to at least have seen this stuff to get the most from
tapping. Going polyphonic gives you a lot greater choice of notes to play,
theory gives you some sort of hints as to what might work.

If this does cause you a great deal of hassle then send me some email, and
I'll try and clear up any gray areas. I had this stuff drummed into me
about ten years ago so I'm not really sure how much of a challenge this
will present to those of you who haven't seen it before (That which is
obvious does not need discussing! - cool quote :-)).

Don't Panic
Ian

LESSON POINTS: Triads (Chord Construction)

Major Thirds
Relative Minors

Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #6

================================
Ian Stephenson
[email protected]

Having covered the third pretty thoroughly last time, we're now going
to consider the interval of a fifth - largely from a practical point
of view, I'm sure some of you will be glad to hear!

Fifths are found throughout the major scale (any note, except the 7th,
and the note 4 places above it form a "perfect" fifth). However, more
importantly right now - a fifth is found between the root and the third
note of any triad:

-O-
__
|--/--\----------------------------
| \ | . O
|---@--|---------------------------
| / . O
|-----/----------------------------
| / O
 |---/------------------------------
|
|----------------------------------
1 3 5
^ ^
\__________/
5th

Quite usefully, because of the way major and minor thirds combine to
form major and minor chords, it doesn't matter if the chord is major
or minor - the fifth is always the same. It's (almost) always safe
to play a fifth! Often in rock the chord is left unspecified (Maj/Min),
as this sounds good on an overdriven guitar. Hence the root and fifth
together form the basis of the rock guitarist's arsenal - the Power Chord.

OK - enough waffling. I promised this would be a practical lesson so

let's play some fifths.

Hammer on (with your left hand) an E at the twelfth fret of the E string.
Now play its octave at the 14th fret of the D string with your right
index finger as normal, but raise your elbow slightly to angle your arm
more, and play a B at the 16th fret of the G string with your third finger.
You might also find it useful to angle your wrist down a little so your
fingers run diagonally across the fretboard.

-O-

---

-O- ---

--- ---
__
|--/--\----------------------------
| \ | . #
|---------16----| |---@--|--#------------------------
|------14-------| | / . O
|---------------| |-----/------#---------------------
|---12----------| | / #
T T |---/------------------------------
|
|----------------------------------

Once comfortable with that try playing both notes at once:

-O-

---

-O-

---
__
|--/--\----------------------------
| \ | . #
|-------16------| |---@--|--#------------------------
|-------14------| | / . O
|---------------| |-----/------#---------------------
|---12----------| | / #
 T |---/------------------------------
|
|----------------------------------

Harmonically, we can use a fifth anywhere we would use a fourth (as

moving up a fifth is equivalent to dropping down a fourth and vice
versa), so to go back to an old standby we could play:

-O-
O O
--- --- -O- -O- ---

-O- --- -O- --- --- --- ---

O O O O
--- --- --- --- --- --- -O- --- -O- -O- -O---- ---
__
|--/--\----------------------|---------------|--------------|----------------|
| \ | . # | | | |
|---@--|--#------------------|---------------|--------------|----------------|
| / . O | | | . |
|-----/------#---------------|-O-------------|--------------|-------O--------|
| / # | | O | O . |
|---/------------------------|---------------|--------------|----------------|
| | | | |
|----------------------------|---------------|--------------|----------------|
| E | D | C | C D |
| | | | |
|---------------------16-----|--------14-----|-------12-----|----12-----14---|
|-----------------14------14-|----12------12-|----10----10--|--10--10-12--12-|
|----------------------------|---------------|--------------|----------------|
|-------------12-------------|-10------------|-8------------|-8-----10-------|

Yes, it's "All Along the WatchTower" AGAIN! However, this is the second
most common chord pressing in rock music so it's worth learning to play
well (Try listening out for it sometime - it's everywhere!). Go back to
the previous exercises and try applying the variations we applied to them
to this new version (remember we're now playing it in the key of E, but the
previous version was in A).

If you compare the two versions of this progression (fourths vs. fifths),
you'll probably find you prefer the old version. Excessive use of fifths
tends to sound thin (at least in this context), so they're usually used
only in passing and as part of more complex chords (you'll see what I mean
next time).

Because of this, it's hard to find a good final example that uses fifths
to a great extent. The example I've chosen is the end of the bass intro
to "Had Enough" by Mr. Big, and uses both left and right hand double
stopped fifths. The full intro is pretty hairy, but this bit is quite
easy and is instantly recognizable:

Harm.....
|---16----------------|--16-----------|----------------|-----5-------|
|---14----------------|--14-----------|----0-2-0-2-----|--3-----5----|
|-------12----10------|-----12---10---|----------------|-------------|
|-------10----8-------|-----10---8----|-0--------------|-------------|
T H H T H H H P H
You should now be able to put together most basic chord progressions,
by playing roots (and perhaps fifths) with your left hand, and by
playing fourths (5th + Octave), Thirds (Root + Third), and Fifths
(Root + Fifth) with your right. For homework, try working out some
I, IV, V progressions with the root on both the E and A strings, and
using, in turn, each of the right hand intervals you've seen here.

For example, in the key of A, you could start in any of these places:

|-----14-------| |-----21-------| |-----18-------|

|-----14-------| |-----19-------| |-----19-------|
|--------------| |--------------| |--------------|
|--5-----------| |--5-----------| |--5-----------|

|--------------| |--------------| |--------------|

|-----7--------| |-----14-------| |-----11-------|
|-----7--------| |-----12-------| |-----12-------|
|--5-----------| |--5-----------| |--5-----------|

|-----14-------| |-----21-------| |-----18-------|

|-----14-------| |-----19-------| |-----19-------|
|--12----------| |--12----------| |--12----------|
|--------------| |--------------| |--------------|

Enjoy...
Ian

LESSON POINTS: Right Hand Fifths

Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #7

================================

Ian Stephenson
[email protected]

The interval of a fifth, which we considered last time, sounds weak when used
extensively, so this week we'll examine how it can be combined with the fourth
interval we've previously used to produce what is probably the most useful of
all right hand tapping patterns.

Play an A chord at the twelfth fret as usual, then follow it with a fifth
based pattern similar to the one we looked at last time:

-O-
O
--- --- ---

-O- --- -O- ---

--- --- --- ---

__
|--/--\----------O------------O---------
| \ | . #
|-------14-------16-| |---@--|--#-----------------------------
|----14-------14----| | / .
|-12-------12-------| |-----/---------------------------------
|-------------------| | / #
T T T T |---/-----------------------------------
|
|---------------------------------------

Now rather than keeping your fingers straight, play the fifth by hooking your
third finger round behind your middle finger. With practise you should find a
hand position which is a comfortable compromise between the the fourth and
fifth hand positions you've been using previously. By using this hand
position you can smoothly mix both fourths and fifths to provide passing
notes:

/--\
-O-
O O O
--- --- --- ---

-O- --- -O- --- --- -O- ---

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

__
|--/--\--------O----------------------------
| \ | . #
|---------14----16-14----14-| |---@--|--#---------------------------------
|------14----14-------14----| | / .
|---12----------------------| |-----/-------------------------------------
|---------------------------| | / #
T1 T2 T1 T3 T2 T1 T2 |---/---------------------------------------
|
|-------------------------------------------

The B-A transition is a pull-off. You should be able to remove your third
finger from the string cleanly enough to leave the A ringing, and to provide
a smooth transition between the notes. Make sure your timing is tight on
this example - in particular there should be no delay in shifting between
hand positions. In fact there should be very little hand movement involved
once you've found the correct technique.

This fingering position is VERY important. It crops up everywhere, but its

main uses (in terms of chord construction) are in resolving suspended fourths:

-O-
O
--- ---

-O- --- ---

--- --- ---

__
|--/--\--------------------------------
| \ | . #
|-----------14--16--| |---@--|--#----------------------------
|-------14----------| | / . O
|-------------------| |-----/------#-------------------------
|---12--------------| | / #
T T T |---/----------------------------------
|
|--------------------------------------
Root Fourth
 Octave Fifth

And outlining ninth chords:

-O-
O
--- ---

-O- --- ---

--- --- ---

__
|--/--\----------O---------------------
| \ | . #
|-----------14--16--| |---@--|--#----------------------------
|-------14----------| | / .
|---12--------------| |-----/--------------------------------
|-------------------| | / #
T T T |---/----------------------------------
|
|--------------------------------------
Root Octave
Fifth Ninth

Ninth chords are very important on bass, as the large intervals involved
prevent the sound from being muddy, while still providing a complex sound.
I hope to cover them in more detail in a later lesson.

To avoid confusion with fourth and fifth hand positions, I'll probably refer
to this hand position as a ninth position, regardless of the harmonic role
it's playing.

OK, time for the examples.

The first example is a pattern I sometimes use for the middle section of
"Panama" (Van Halen). The section is pretty quiet, and can sometimes drag -
depending on the atmosphere, this riff can pick things up nicely and fill in
the gap.

|-----21----21----23-21---21-|-21----21----23-21----21--|
|o-------21----21-------21---|----21----21-------21-----|
|o----7----------------------|-------------5------------|
|----------------------------|----------------------8---|
\___/ \___

|-----21----21----23-21---21-|-21----21----23-21----21--|
|--------21----21-------21---|----21----21-------21----o|
|----------------------------|-------------5--------8--o|
|-----8----------------------|--------------------------|
___/ \___/ \___

The final example this week is an all time fave of mine - Stu Hamm's "Kings
of Sleep". This makes repeated use of the ninth position, while the left hand
plays the bass line. Note how the same right hand notes play different roles
within the chord depending on the bass note.

This version is written for a standard bass - those with Kubicki's can use
the extender, and drop some of the notes down one octave to be consistant
with the record. Alternatively non-kubicki users could raise everything one
tone.

Repeat
|---14----16-----|----14--------|---14----16---------|---14-------------|
|------14--------|-------14-----|------14------------|------14----------|
|-------------4--|--------------|-5------------7-/9--|-7---------7-9-7--|
|-5--------------|-2------------|--------------------|------------------|
H T T T H | H T T | H T T T H S | P T T H H P |

DC
|---14----16-----|---14--------------|---14----16------|---14-----------|
|------14-----11-|------14--------11-|------14-----11--|------14--------|
|-9--------------|-9--------11-12----|-9---------------|-9--------------|
|----------------|-------------------|-----------------|----------------|
H T T T H | H T T H H H | H T T T H | H T T H H P |

Enjoy...

Ian

LESSON POINTS: Ninth Right Hand Position

Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #8

================================
Ian Stephenson
[email protected]

We've now covered most of the basic tapping techniques used by the likes of Stu
Hamm. We'll develop these further in future lessons, but we'll take a brief time
out from that style to briefly consider the tapping used by Sheehan. This syle
is more closely releated to Eddie Van Halen's guitar, and relies heavily on
interplay between both hands on a single string. Physically these techniques are
simpler, but require a lot of experience to make them work in a song.

Normaly only a single note is tapped at a time, so its personal preference which
finger you choose - either the index or middle finger is fine. Sheehan places
his middle finger behind his index finger to give extra strenth (and his little
finger behind his ring finger when needed). You may or may not find this
beneficial - it is however important to hit each note cleanly, and somewhat
harder than in previous lessons.

Starting of with a simple line on the top G string:

-O- -O-

--- ---
O O
--- --- --- ---
__
|--/--\---------------------------------
| \ | . O O
|-12-7--0--12-7--0--| |---@--|--#-----------------------------
|-------------------| | / .
|-------------------| |-----/---------------------------------
|-------------------| | /
 T T |---/-----------------------------------
|
|---------------------------------------

Tap the octave then pull of to the preplaced left hand, then pull of to the open
string. By moving bits of the pattern around complex harmonies can be implied.
This works well on bass, as the large intervals between the notes ensure that
the sound does not get muddy:

|-12-7--0--12-7--0-|-12-5--0--12-5--0-|-10-5--0--10-5--0-|-9--5--0--9--5--0-|
|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|
|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|
|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|

(this chord progression is based on the intro to "Equinox").

The next thing to do is turn the whole thing upside down! Rather than starting
at the top, and using pull off's start on the open string, and hammer on the
7th, then tap the octave. This requires slightly more precise timing:

-O- -O-

--- ---
O O
--- --- --- ---
__
|--/--\---------------------------------
| \ | . O O
|-0--7--12-0--7--12-| |---@--|--#-----------------------------
|-------------------| | / .
|-------------------| |-----/---------------------------------
|-------------------| | /
T T |---/-----------------------------------
|
|---------------------------------------

once you've got this, try reversing the Equinox line to use hammer ons.

Once you're comfortable playing the riff in each direction, try combining both
up and down paterns:

|-12-7-0-7-12-7-0-7-|-12-5-0-5-12-5-0-5-|-10-5-0-5-10-5-0-5-|-9-5-0-5-9-5-0-|
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|---------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|---------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|---------------|

As always experiment different numbers of repeats, and tempo's.

Now lets make the left hand work a little harder, by introducing a few more
notes:

-O-

---
O O
--- --- -O-- -O- ---
__
|--/--\---------------------------------
| \ | . O
|-12-7-5-0-5-7----| |---@--|--#-----------------------------
|o---------------o| | / .
|o---------------o| |-----/---------------------------------
|-----------------| | /
T 3 1 1 3 T |---/-----------------------------------
|
|---------------------------------------

or:

-O-

---
O O
--- --- -O-- -O- ---
__ O
|--/--\---------------------------------
| \ | .
|-12-7-5-4-5-7----| |---@--|--#-----------------------------
|o---------------o| | / .
|o---------------o| |-----/---------------------------------
|-----------------| | /
T 4 2 1 2 4 T |---/-----------------------------------
|
|---------------------------------------

Of course there's no need to just move in a single direction at a time. Try:

-O- -O-

--- ---
O
--- --- --- -O-
__ O O O O
|--/--\---------------------------------
| \ | .
|-12-4-7-4-12-4-5-4-| |---@--|--#-----------------------------
|o-----------------o| | / .
|o-----------------o| |-----/---------------------------------
|-------------------| | /
T 1 4 1 T 1 2 1 |---/-----------------------------------
|
|---------------------------------------

The variations on this sort of riff are endless, but one particularly
interesting twist can be found on the track "Summer Nights" (Van Halen - 5150).

|-----------------|----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------|----------------------------------------------------|
|----------5-4-0--|-7-4-0--4-7-12-/14-\12--7---------------------------|
|-----------------|----------------------------------------------------|
T s s

This riff is played by both guitar and bass immediatly before the chorus. The
left hand is all hammered on. The right hand part slides the tapped note up a
tone and then back down in a particulary cool fashion. Practise this to make
sure so can do it cleanly and quickly (its easy overshoot the top note). We'll
encounter more complex slides in the next few lessons.

Thats about all there is to say about single string tapping - the basic
techniques are very simple. The hard part is knowng how they can be applied.
Practise moving different parts of the riffs around, using different intervals -
pretty much anything sounds good on its own, so you just have to try everything,
and learn how it sounds ready for when you need it. Try and work out how the
notes can be related to chords, as this will make it easier to integrate ideas
into songs.

This weeks final example is a bit of a killer - the bass intro to Mr Big's
"Addicted to that rush". Billy himself is quoted as saying of this track: "It's
like a tightrope walk -it's fun; you've got to balance and it's a little
precarious. Playing it live, you have to be ON, but the challenge makes it more
interesting", so lesser mortals are likely to have some problems (the main one
being the 224 BPM tempo).

|-14-12-14-12-14-12-14-12-14-12-14-12-14-12-14-12-14-12-14-12-14-12-14-12-|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
T p H p T p H p T p H p T p H p T p H p T p H p

This is played 7 times (all those notes are only the first bar! - for the
curious they're tripplet semiquavers, everyone else just play 'em as fast as you
can :-(). The A is played alternatly by the left and right hands. There's then 8
bars of guitar before the bass joins in again:

|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
|-13-10-12-10-7--10-13-10-12-10-7--10-|-13-10-12-10-7--10-13-10-12-10-7--10-|
|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|

|-12-9--11-9--7--9--12-9--11-9--7--9--|-12-9--11-9--7--11-17----9--12----12-|
|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|

gs g s
|14-12-9---------------------------|-12-9-12-13-12-9/11-14-12-14-17-14-12/14|
|--------13-12-10-12-10-12-13-12-10|----------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------|----------------------------------------|

^1/2
|-17-14-17-20-17-14-20-17-19-17-14-17-|-20-17-19-17-14-17-20----------------|
|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------|

Don't worry to if you can't play this at full tempo - start slowly, and learn
the pattens (you should find that much of it is just variation on what you've
already seen). Build up the speed slowly making sure you're still getting all
the notes cleanly.

That should keep you busy for a few weeks!

Ian

LESSON POINTS: Single String Ideas

Intro to Right hand Slides

Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #9

================================
 Ian Stephenson
[email protected]

Last lesson one of the things we looked as was the Van Halen "Summer Nights"
lick:

|-----------------|----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------|----------------------------------------------------|
|----------5-4-0--|-7-4-0--4-7-12-/14-\12--7---------------------------|
|-----------------|----------------------------------------------------|
T s s

We're going to start off this time by developing this idea of right hand slides.

Start of with a simple one fret slide:

bO
-O- --- -O-

--- --- ---

--- --- ---

__
|--/--\---------------------------------
| \ | .
|-12-/--13-\-12-----| |---@--|--------------------------------
|-------------------| | / .
|-------------------| |-----/---------------------------------
|-------------------| | /
T |---/-----------------------------------
|
|---------------------------------------

Make sure that you can play this in time, at pretty much any tempo. If your no
carefull this could turn into a sort of reflex action where you have little
control over how long you spend on each note.

Now try sliding two frets:

O
-O- --- -O-

--- --- ---

--- --- ---

__
|--/--\---------------------------------
| \ | .
|-12-/--14-\-12-----| |---@--|--------------------------------
|-------------------| | / .
|-------------------| |-----/---------------------------------
|-------------------| | /
T |---/-----------------------------------
|
|---------------------------------------

The control becomes more important here, as you have to make sure that you go
from the low note to the high note without overshooting, at the tempo YOU
require, not the speed your fingers want to. Sometime you'll want the note
between to be heard in passing, other times you want to move between the two
notes as quickly as possible.

Finally try a minor third:

-bO-
 -O- ---- -O-

--- ---- ---

--- ---- ---

__
|--/--\---------------------------------
| \ | .
|-12-/--15-\-12-----| |---@--|--------------------------------
|-------------------| | / .
|-------------------| |-----/---------------------------------
|-------------------| | /
T |---/-----------------------------------
|
|---------------------------------------

Once you've got the up slides, try sliding DOWN these intervals:

|-13-\--12-/-13-----| |-14-\--12-/-14-----| |-15-\--12-/-15-----|

|-------------------| |-------------------| |-------------------|
|-------------------| |-------------------| |-------------------|
|-------------------| |-------------------| |-------------------|

Now lets put those slides into a musical context:

This is the bass/rhythm part to Satriani's "Always with me, always with you".

|-------------------|------------------|------------------|---------------|
|o------13/14\13----|------13/14\13----|------11/13\11----|-----9/11\9---o|
|o---14----------14-|---14----------14-|---11----------11-|---9--------9-o|
|--7----------------|-7----------------|-0----------------|-2-------------|

|----------------|------------------|-----------------|---------------||
|------9/11\9----|------11/13\11----|-------9/11\9----|-----8/11\8----||
|----9--------9--|---11----------11-|----9----------9-|---9--------9--||
|--4-------------|-0----------------|-2---------------|-2-------------||

In actuall performance, I probably would only slide the first two bars, and then
use what we've called the right hand 9th position to play the rest. However the
bigger intervals should make good practise :-).

So far I would guess that you've been using your middle (or index) finger to do
most of the work, so go back, and work through the examples using each finger in
turn.

We can now put these multi-digital skills into practise on the Stu Hamm riff
from "Flow My Tears" (Free Radio Albermuth(?sp?)).

|--------11----------19-|\16-------------14------||
|o-----9----17----------|----14-------12--------o||
|o---7---------17/19----|-------15\14-----------o||
|--0--------------------|-------------------8-7--||
p ^----^ ^-^
left Hand Left

[transcription originaly by George Dibos. I've adapted it for Non-Ex-Factor

Basses - Kubicki Users can drop the piece 1 tone, to return it to the original
key]
The open string is played as a pull of following the repeat - just slap it
(gently!) with your thumb first time around.

I've marked the left hand parts, the rest is played by using three fingers of
your right hand. Use your index finger for the A string, middle finger for the D
string, and third finger for the G string. It's quite easy - just make sure you
place all those sldes cleanly, moving quickly (but NOT rushing) between the
notes with no overshoot.

keep practising...

Ian

LESSON POINTS: Right hand Slides

Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #10

=================================
Ian Stephenson
[email protected]

In lesson 7 I talked about the right hand 9'th position, and that it was VERY
important. This time I'm going to elaborate a bit more on the subject, looking
at 9th chords played with the left hand. Most of the ideas may not be strictly
tapping, but they oftern are used to underpin tapping ideas.

We used a left hand ninth chord in the "Flow my Tears" example from last time:

O
---

---
__ O
|--/--\---------------------------------
| \ | . #
|----------11-------| |---@--|--#-----------------------------
|-------9-----------| | / . O
|----7--------------| |-----/------#--------------------------
|-0-----------------| | / #
|---/-----------------------------------
|
|---------------------------------------

-O-

Ninth chords, contructed by stacking 5ths (E-B, B-F#), are excellent chords for
use on bass, because they have harmonic complexity (ie they sound nice) without
containing any clusters of notes which sound muddy at low frequencies. The very
open sound is ideally suited to bass, and produces in interesting tonal
background on which you can develop other ideas.

[technically these aren't 9th chords, as they don't contain 3rd's or 7th's -
prehaps E5+9 would be a better description of the above chord, but I'll stick
with E9]

Prehaps the most famous use of ninth chords is the Police's "Every Breath You
Take". Simplifying the guitar line, first without the ninths, we get something
like:

|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----9-------9---|-----9-------9---|-----6-------6---|-----6-------6---|
|---9---9---9---9-|---9---9---9---9-|---6---6---6---6-|---6---6---6---6-|
|-7-------7-------|-7-------7-------|-4-------4-------|-4-------4-------|
B Ab

|-----9-------9---|-----11-----11---|-----------------|----------------||
|---9---9---9---9-|---11--11-11--11-|-----9-------9---|----------------||
|-7-------7-------|-9-------9-------|---9---9---9---9-|----------------||
|-----------------|-----------------|-7-------7-------|-7--------------||
E D B

Play this using your standard technique (fretting with the left, and picking
with your right), until your left hand is comfortable with the stretches, then
try playing the line entirly using hammer ons.

Now, stretch out your little finger to get those ninths - this may be a problem
at first (If you find it too much of a stretch, then transpose the patern up a
few frets - once you're comfortable move it down a few frets to make it more
difficult):

|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----11------11--|-----11------11--|-----8-------8---|-----8-------8---|
|---9---9---9---9-|---9---9---9---9-|---6---6---6---6-|---6---6---6---6-|
|-7-------7-------|-7-------7-------|-4-------4-------|-4-------4-------|
B9 Ab9

|-----11------11--|-----13-----13---|-----------------|----------------||
|---9---9---9---9-|---11--11-11--11-|-----11------11--|----------------||
|-7-------7-------|-9-------9-------|---9---9---9---9-|----------------||
|-----------------|-----------------|-7-------7-------|-7--------------||
E9 D9 B9

Once you've mastered that, you'll find that a lot of stuff starts to make sense.
The chord crops up over and over again - particularly in Stu Hamm style stuff.
For example, here's part of "Surely the Best" (also found in Quahogs - for those
that don't know Stu's wife is called Shirley Best).

||----------------------21----19-17-14-12-14-12---|
||o------12-17-------19----------------12-14-12---|
||o---10-------17-19-------19---------------------|
||--8---------------------------------------------|
^....^9th

|--------------------22----20-17-13-13-15-13------|
|-----20-18-------20----------------13-15-13-----o|
|---6-------18-20-------20-----------------------o|
|-4-----------------------------------------------|
^...^9th

|-------------------16------16-14----------|------9-11-------10-12-14--|
|-----9-14-------14---------------14-------|---10---------10-----------|
|---7------14-15---------15----------14-15-|-9----------8--------------|
|-5--------------------5-------------------|---------------------------|
^...^9th ^.......^9th

|---------------------------------------|----------16---------------------16-||
|-----9-----16------------9----14-------|----12-14----14-12-------12-14-15---||
|---7----16----14-16----7---15----14-15-|-10----------------14-10------------||
|-5-------------------5-----------------|------------------------------------||
^...^9th ^...^9th

This also provides a good exercise in right hand slides.

We also find more 9ths in "Terminal Beach", though some of these are best played
using both hands:

+---21------21-----------19--+(19)---------------------+
+o--21------19-----------21--+(21)---19-21-19-17-------+
+o--14------16-----------17--+(17)---------------------+
+---12------14-----------15--+(15)---------------------+
^..........^ 9th

+-------------21/23--21--+(21)----------------------+
+-18-------19--------17--+(17)----------19--20------+
+----16------------------+-----17----17-------------+
+-------14---------------+--------15----15--14------+
^.....^ ^.....^

+-------21--21-------19----+(19)--------------------+
+-------21--20\19----17----+(17)----------19-17-----+
+----14-----16-------17----+(17)-------17-----------+
+-12--------14-------15----+(17)----15--------------+
^.....^

+-21-------21---------+(21)------------------+
+-21-------19---------+(21)-----------------o+
+-14-------15---------+(15)-----------------o+
+-12-------13---------+(13)------------------+

[This transcription by [email protected] - check the

archives for the full version of this piece]

The basic tonality of the piece is set by 9ths in the left hand.

Because the 9th chord we're using is so open, you're free to add extra notes
into the chord with your right hand. Experiment by playing some simple
progressions using 9th chords, and then expand this with new notes above the
basic chord.

Once you start looking for them, these chords are very common in this style of
music. Look out for them, and you'll have a good start on breaking down pieces
into managable chunks.
Ian

LESSON POINTS: Left Hand 9'ths

Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #11

=================================
Ian Stephenson
[email protected]

Back in lesson 1 I suguested that your fingers should be parallel to

the strings, so that each finger relates to one string. This idea works well

for chordal work where notes are spread evenly between the strings, but
breaks down when we need to play scaler ideas.

To play melodies, you need to rotate your right hand from the "fourth"

position, through the "fifth" position so that your fingers are pointing

almost straight down. This should allow you to play with one finger per

fret, much as you would with your left hand. Your thumb should be resting

gettly behind the neck.

There's not really much to say about this technique, so lets try playing a

major scale:

|------------------11-13-14-13-11----------------------------------|

|---------11-12-14----------------14-12-11-------------------------|

|---12-14----------------------------------14-12-------------------|

|------------------------------------------------------------------|

2 4 1 2 4 1 3 4 3 1 4 2 1 4 1

Once you've got that, we can attempt a few simple tunes:

Merrily We Roll Along

|---------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|

|---11----------|-11-11-11----|-------------|-11-14-14----|

|------14-12-14-|-------------|-14-14-14----|-------------|

|---------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|

|---------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|

|---11----------|-11-11-11----|-------11----|-------------|

|------14-12-14-|-------------|-14-14----14-|-12----------|
|---------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|

Largo

|---------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|

|---13-16-16----|-13----------|----13-16-13-|-------------|

|---------------|----16-14----|-16----------|-16----------|

|---------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|

|---------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|

|---13-16-16----|-13----------|----13-------|-------------|

|---------------|----16-14----|-16----16-14-|-14----------|

|---------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|

On Top of old Smokey

|---------|----------|-16--------|-13-------|-(13)-----13-|-------13-|

|---------|----13-16-|-----------|----------|-------------|-14-16----|

|------14-|-14-------|-----------|----------|-------------|----------|

|---------|----------|-----------|----------|-------------|----------|

|---------|----------|-----------|----------|------|------|----------|

|-16------|-(16)-----|-(16)------|----13-16-|-16---|------|-------13-|

|---------|----------|--------14-|-14-------|------|-16---|-(16)-----|

|---------|----------|-----------|----------|------|------|----------|

|----------|---------|-----------|----------|| Watch out for where you

|-14-13----|---------|-----------|----------|| play the same fret on

|-------16-|-14------|-(14)------|-(14)-----|| different strings

|----------|---------|-----------|----------|| consequutivly

These should all be played entirly with the right hand.

We can now go back, and add a bass line:

Merrily We Roll Along

|---------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|

|---11----------|-11-11-11----|-------------|-11-14-14----|

|------14-12-14-|-------------|-14-14-14----|-------------|

|---5-----------|-5-----------|-0-----------|-5-----------|

|---------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|

|---11----------|-11-11-11----|-------11----|-------------|

|------14-12-14-|-------------|-14-14----14-|-12----------|

|---5-----------|-5-----------|-0-----------|-5-----------|

I'll leave the other two as an exercise. Hint: they're both in the key of B,

and only require I (B), IV (E) and V(F#) chords.

To finish the lesson here's two tunes to tackle - "Always with me, Always

with you", by Joe Satriani, and the Stu Hamm version of "Linus and Lucy",

both of which depend on this technique. Get the two halves working on their

own before trying to play the left ands right hand together. "Linus & Lucy"

is particularly hard in this respect, as the left hand part is a bit of a

stretch (refer to the lesson on right hand ninths for some exercises to make

this easier), and the rhythms of the two parts are awkward to fit together.

Always with me, always with You

|-----------|----------|-13-------|--------------|
|-----13-14-|-16-------|----16-14-|-13-14--------|
|-----------|----------|----------|-------16-----|
|-7---------|-7--------|-0--------|-2------------|
|-----------|----------|----------|--------------|
|-----------|-------13-|-14-13----|--------------|
|-----------|-14-16----|-------16-|-9------------|
|-7---------|-7--------|-0--------|-2------------|

|-----------|----------|----------|--------------|
|-----------|-9--------|-11-/-13-\|-11-----------|
|------9-9--|------9-9-|----------|--------------|
|-7---------|-7--------|-0--------|-2------------|

|-----------|-13-------|----------|-------------||
|-13-14-16--|----16-14-|-13-------|-16----------||
|-----------|----------|----------|-------------||
|-4---------|-0--------|-2--------|-2-----------||

This should be pretty easy if you've managed the previous examples. The fingers
point to the floor, except on the third line, where you move bac to standard
position.

Linus & Lucy

+------------------|----------------|-------------------|---------------+
|-----5-----5------|----------------|-----5-----5-------|---------------|
|---5-----5--------|---5-7---5-7----|---5-----5---------|---5-7---5-7---|
+-3-----3--------3-|-3-----3------3-|-3-----3---------3-|-3-----3-----3-+
--' `---' `---' `---' `---

+-121416--161412-14|14-----12-----12|-121416--16--------|---------------+
|-----5-----5------|----------------|-----5-----5-------|---------------|
|---5-----5--------|---5-7---5-7----|---5-----5---------|---5-7---5-7---|
+-3-----3--------3-|-3-----3------3-|-3-----3---------3-|-3-----3-----3-+
--' `---' `---' `---' `---

+-121416--161412-14|14-----12-----12|-12----1414--------|---------------+
|-----5-----5------|----------------|-----8-----8-------|---------------|
|---5-----5--------|---5-7---5-7----|---8-----8---------|---8-10--8-10--|
+-3-----3--------3-|-3-----3------6-|-6-----6---------6-|-6-----6-----3-+
--' `---' `---' `---' `---

+-12----1414-------|----------------|
|-----5-----5------|----------------|
|---5-----5--------|---5-7---5-7----|
+-3-----3--------3-|-3-----3------3-|

[This transcription based on one by Webb]

Have fun...

Ian

Lesson Points : Scaler playing/hand position

Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #12

=================================
Ian Stephenson
[email protected]

When we looked at sliding notes, the final example was the arpegios for
"Always with me, always with you". The final chord being F# major in root

position:

|------------------------------------------------------------------|

|---------8---11---8-----------------------------------------------|

|-----9----------------9-------------------------------------------|

|-2----------------------------------------------------------------|

At the time, the point of the exersise was to slide between the two notes on

the D string. However its tricky to do this acuratly, and the slide doesn't

sound quite right anyway. Ideally we'd like to tap the note, but if you

attempt to play the 9-8-11-8 pattern in a "ninth" hand position you'll find

that the stretch is too much, and your third finger sort of collapses, and

your nail just runs along the string (unless you've got BIG hands).

The trick is to bring your thumb from behind the neck, across your palm, and

use it to play the fifth of the chord(11). You'll find that you use the

outside edge of you thumb, just to the side of your nail, rather than the

tip.

The thumb is usefull whenever you need that extra stretch, but you should

probably consider it as a last resort, as its more clumsy, and offers less

control of the note than fingers do. However its oftern just about the only

way to play basic (non-exended) chords.

A number of variations on the above arpegio show how the thumb can be

usefull:

Minor Scale Major Major

|-----------|----------|----------|-------11-|--------------8-11--||

|-------8---|-------8--|----8--11-|----8-----|---------8-11-------||

|----9------|-9--11----|-9--------|-9--------|----9-11------------||

|-11--------|----------|----------|----------|-11-----------------||

T 1 2 1 T 2 1 2 T 1 2 T T 1 T 2 T 2 T

These are all quite easy, as the thumb can be moved across the fretboard far

more comfortably than fingers can. In fact you can play some quite

rediculous intervals:

|-------------|------6-----||

|---------10--|----7---7---||

|-----11------|-13---------||

|-15----------|------------||

The exact circumsances under which you'd WANT to play such intervals are

hard to describe, but once in a while your thumb can bail you out if a

really tricky chord. For example, from "Tears in the Rain":

|---------------17---------------------17------------|

|-----------15-----15--------------15------15--------|

|-------19-------------19-------19-------------19----|

|--10----------------------10------------------------|

L T 1 2 1 T L T 1 2 1 T
This weeks final example is an arpegiated accompaniment to the verse of

Bryan Adams' "One Night Love Afair" (Reckless). This part was written to

replace the accoustic guitar part found on the album, when I was playing it

in a 3 piece band.

|--------------7-----------|--------9-----11--9-----9---|

|o-------9--------9-----9--|-----9-----9---------9-----o|

|o----9-----9--------9-----|--7------------------------o|

|--7-----------------------|----------------------------|

L 1 2 1 L 2 1 2 L 1 2 1 3 2 1 2

|--------------7-----------|--------8------------8------|

|--------9--------9-----9--|-----9-----9------9-----9---|

|-----9-----9--------9-----|--------------11------------|

|--7-----------------------|--4-------------------------|

L 1 2 1 L 2 1 2 L 1 2 1 T 1 2 1

|--------11----13-11----11-|--------9-----10--9-----9---|

|-----11----11-------11----|-----9-----9---------9------|

|--------------------------|----------------------------|

|--2-----------------------|--0-------------------------|

L 1 2 1 3 2 1 2 P 1 2 1 3 2 1 2

The first couple of bars are a good illustration of how both hands can be

used together to create complex arpegiated patterns. However by bar four the

lefthand bass line requires that only the right hand is available for the Ab

minor chord. At this point the thumb comes to the rescue, getting you

through to the final (ninth poisition) bars.

Enjoy

Ian

Lesson Points : Use of the thumb