bobbass

Not sure who played this.

When writing key signatures, order of sharps.. Father Christmas Gave Dad An Electric Blanket.. When reading a sharp key signature, look at the final sharp sign, and a semitone up is the major key. When writing flat key signatures, look at the penultimate flat sign, and that is the major key. Order of flats.. Blanket Explodes And Dad Gets Cold Feet. Then just learn how many flats or sharps each major key has. Jump down a minor third (or three semitones) and this will give you it's relative minor key. G major has the same key sig as E minor. F maj the same key sig as D minor. etc..

I think that most of the time young people who seem to lack ability are those who do not practise. This is down to a lack of interest in music as a whole. However hard they find the basics, it is often possible to get them playing. If you can find out any tune/band they enjoy, and get them playing the root notes (not the proper bass line) with one finger any way they can. The idea at this stage i think is to give them the ability to listen and enjoy music. Many children or young teenagers have not had the exposure to music, or their parents do not have a record collection. They have not heard of the beatles for instance. These kids are a blank canvas. They other difficulty with the bass, is that it is designed to accompany other instruments. Without the ability to do so, it is hard to understand it's musical role. Even if they can just play E A D G i can think of endless chord types to play on the piano with them. Anything to get them playing with another person. (ie, me) Lack of ability is fine, as long as they have either the desire or discipline to practise. Sometimes i move too fast and then realize i need to take a few steps back. But there are ways of making the musically boring early stages a little more interesting and interactive. I try anyway, although i do understand your frustration!

Here are a few I've taken down, not all finished but enough in there. [attachment=61787:P_Y_T.pdf]

Cheers fellas, Having practised for a couple of hours, I reckon I get a more consistent sound floating the thumb, and a bit of a warmer tone due to the position of my fingers. Definitely has potential. Seems like it changes from player to player.

Just a hello before I get back to my bass. It's a wonderful drink.

At the moment.. 2 octave scales over 4 strings Major, melodic minor, harmonic minor and modes thereof. Chords of each scale type, then with upper triads (1,3,5,7, 9, 11, 13) If nothing I have to learn, then choose a standard jazz tune. Melody, walking bass, soloing. Maybe some repetitive exercises in front of the telly. It makes Back in Black a piece of p@ss.

Hi all, I am trying to develop a more efficient right hand technique and from watching various players and youtube clips it seems everyone teaches a slightly different method. At the moment, i plant my thumb on the E string and leave it there using my ring finger to mute the A when playing the G. On 5 string, I rest on the B and 'float' down to the E. As with any new way of playing, I find the floating thumb trickier, especially on passages with much fast string crossing and octaves. Any tips?