Major-Minor

[quote name='thumperbob 2002' post='756115' date='Feb 24 2010, 02:32 PM']Dont suppose anyone has got the music for Georgia on my mind- Ray charles- or better Maceo Parker version? easy enough to work out but I am trying to improve my reading skills. Really appreciate it Bob[/quote] Bob - you have given me a great idea for my next Boot Camp Session. "Georgia On My" mind has a lovely chord sequence with lots of potential for making theoretical points, using substitutions etc and it can also be played in many different styles. So give me a couple of weeks or so (I'm fairly busy at the moment), and I'll present a set of bass parts for this tune, of varying difficulty. The Major

[quote name='Marvin' post='761298' date='Mar 1 2010, 10:30 PM'].... you don't get the pulse or rhythm of a piece from tab, it's a combination of just telling you what notes/ numbers to play and then cobbling something together yourself. Thanks.[/quote] Exactly ! Tab tells you so little its really not worth bothering with. And its so much easier to teach someone about theory and harmony if they can follow the written note. As with most techniques, reading music is about practice - just doing it regularly. That's what I'm aiming to provide with these sessions - material that isn't too difficult (well maybe sometimes !) but is also the kind of stuff you might get on a typical reading gig. All these things - reading, theory, technique, harmony - they are all intricately related, and as a bass player, you can't fully understand any one of these without reference to the others. The Major

[quote name='cameltoe' post='759122' date='Feb 27 2010, 02:18 PM']I might take a few lessons at some point, however I think the majority of teachers near me who teach bass are primarily guitar teachers. Thats not to say I won't learn something from them, but they may approach it from more of a 'theory' point of view when it comes to teaching bass. I'm fairly comfortable with the technique I use, but it's only once i try and do it correctly I realise how much easier it gets to reach all the frets without moving my left hand- with my technique, I slide my hand around more than I should have to, and any kind of big stretches are a pain. At the moment though, the 'correct' technique (apologies Will Lee and Randy Jackson) feels unsecure. And the thought of doing it WITHOUT gripping the neck with my thumb seems completely unrealistic for me at this point![/quote] I really would advise avoiding Guitar teachers trying to teach bass. The bass guitar is a very different instrument in many ways. I do know one guitar player who also plays bass extremely well, but he is very much in a minority. It's a bit like cello teachers trying to teach bass - absolutely ridiculous ! it should be against the law !! I also think it worthwhile having just a handful of lessons from someone who really knows what he / she is doing, even if it means travelling some distance. An occasional lesson from a top player is worth far more than regular lessons with an average teacher who just happens to live locally. The Major

[quote name='Marvin' post='761208' date='Mar 1 2010, 09:14 PM']I don't think I would describe someone who compiles 16 sessions accompanied with PDF and Mp3 files as lazy, and to make them freely available to such a motley bunch as basschaters. I've started reading through the first lesson and noted your explanation that the sessions are in not particular order. There certainly seems to be plenty there for all to get something out of the sessions, so it may mean coming back to a session. For me it will definitely be useful to use lessons that don't use tab as well, I find this makes me lazy and inhibits my learning, I may be wrong but I think using a stave will help me learn the notes on the fretboard. If it's helpful to you I'll certainly let you know if I encounter any problems. Many thanks.[/quote] Of course, everybody has differing ambitions in the music world, but just keep reminding yourself that TAB is rarely (if ever) seen on a music stand at a tv or film session / theatre pit / concert platform / etc etc Getting decent gigs / sessions is hard for everyone these days, but if you can read the dots on the stave proficiently, and at sight, you may well open up a whole new world of possibilities. The Major

Agreed - Napper is a great guy. I often had a chat with him when i popped in to Music Ground at lunchtimes. First met him when he was at The Bass Centre in Castlefield - actually i think it was called something else but had a Bass Centre franchise or something like that. Bought both my GK amps from Napper. The Major

[quote name='Marvin' post='760387' date='Mar 1 2010, 06:04 AM']I was going to purchase another tuition book, but I think Major's material would be more beneficial. Also there's no tab I noticed in this one so I can't be lazy and not start using the stave Great resource, very generous to make it available to us. Must remember though to start at the beginning ( being a beginner) and work through.[/quote] Hi Marvin - I did mention this in the first Session: I haven't approached these sessions in a graded manner ie sometimes I've put in stuff for the more advanced readers mixed in with easy reading. This is mainly due to laziness on my part. I just wanted to do stuff as it came into my brain rather than setting a "syllabus". So you might have to dig about for material that you are comfortable with. My purpose in doing these sessions is to try to get more bass players reading properly, and at the same time, helping everyone with theoretical understanding. Do please let me know what you have problems with and I'll prepare sessions accordingly. The Major

The Major's Bass Boot Camp - Session 16 "Creating a Walking Bass Line" The "Walking Bass Line", a defining characteristic of the jazz (or jazzy) sound, is, in it's basic form, a series of equally spaced bass notes (usually written as crotchets), creating a constant and well defined pulse. An essential part of Bebop, Swing, Trad Jazz, Hot Club, Big Band, and even Quicksteps and Foxtrots in the Ballroom Dancing world, this is a style of playing that all aspiring professional bass players need to be comfortable with, as it crops up not only in the jazz world but in theatre and concert work, cruises, TV and Radio sessions etc etc. I've kept all the following examples in the first 3 positions (on both BG and DB) so that those new(ish) to playing bass shouldn't find these pieces too hard and I've kept the tempos on the mp3s at a steady speed for clarity. Although I've used DB on the mp3's, everything in these pieces is relevant to BG players as well. On most gigs, you are unlikely to find detailed written walking lines with all the skips, rakes, pushes etc. What you will get is either a chord sequence with "WALK" or "4's" or "SWING 4's" written over it OR maybe a simple crotchet (1/4) line OR a combination of both. A Big Band arranger may well put in the occasional rake skip or push if it ties in with ensemble movement. So I will show you in these pieces how you can build a basic walking line and then vary and ornament it to make it more interesting, more swingy, more jazzy. I've used the "dotted quaver / semiquaver" method of writing swing parts for most of these pieces. For each of these examples, I've taken the chord sequence from a well known standard as the starting point. MBBC16a [attachment=43495:MBBC16a.pdf] [attachment=43501:MBBC16a.mp3] This is a 16 bar chord sequence in C major (starting in it's related minor key - A minor) played 3 times. In the first 16 bars, I've simply written notes taken directly from the chords marked underneath. So in bar 1, which is A minor 7, I've just used the root ( A ) 3rd ( C ) and 5th ( G ) of the chord. Placing the root again at the end of the bar means there is a nice "root position" movement to the next chord i.e. the A root moves to the D root of the next bar. But be clear - this is just one option - there are others we will come on to later. In bar 2, D minor 7, you will see that this time I've placed the 5th ( A ) before the 3rd ( F ). Sometimes it's good to clarify the underlying harmonic movement for the rest of the band (especially the soloists) and the 2 essential notes to do this are the root and the 3rd as they define the basic character of the chord. From bar 17, I've introduced some "passing notes" i.e. notes which aren't in the chord but move nicely from one chordal note to another. I've marked each one with an arrow. The first 2 (bars 17 and 18) are the second degree of each related scale e.g. bar 17 is A minor 7 - it's related scale is A Natural Minor - the second note of this scale is B. This second degree of the scale, called the "super-tonic", leads nicely to the 3rd of the scale, thus we get the 2 essential notes (root and 3rd) with a passing note between and the basic harmony becomes clear. In bar 20 I've included the flat 3rd (from the root C) - Eb although for clarity of reading, I've written it in it's enharmonic - D#). This note (the minor 3rd) needs to be treated with care as it insinuates a minor harmony, when the chord at this point (C maj7) is major. But by then moving to the major 3rd ( E ) we get a resolution which makes the fundamental harmony clear. The same happens in bar 26 - a Bb followed by a B. (This flattened 3rd played against a Major Triad is also called the "Blue Note" and is a charactreistic part of the jazz/blues styling). Bar 29 introduces some extraneous passing notes. The chord is D minor 7 (DFAC) yet I've shoehorned in a C# and an F# . The C# works fine as it is passing between 2 chordal notes. You can approach any root note from a semitone above or below and it will sound OK, so the F# moves nicely up to the G root of the next bar. The third 16 bar sequence (from bar 33) introduces "skips" - little notes added before each main crotchet beat. Pluck these with the 2nd finger of your right hand. They can also be "dead" notes - i.e. notes of indeterminate pitch. Bar 39 has some more extraneous notes - the D# and the Bb. Both notes work fine as they are just a semitone step away from the following chordal note. This is a common inclusion in the walking bass line - the semitone resolve to a root note. Left hand pizz: Look at bar 41 - the last note - Ab played with the first finger on the G string. This finger can then pull the string sideways to articulate the next note - the open string G. This is a great way to vary the sound quality and add in little extra notes without too much effort. This can also be done on the other strings but really it works best on the G. In bar 47, the G on the 3rd beat is more easily articulated by "hammering on" (H). Throughout these examples, wherever you see 2 notes joined by a slur, the second note is hammered or is a pull off. (Sometimes a pull-off can be written with a + on it ). MBBC16b [attachment=43496:MBBC16b.pdf] [attachment=43503:MBBC16b.mp3] This has the same chord sequence as MBBCa. Here I have introduced "rakes", "pushes" and triplet crotchets. In bar 3 you will see the first rake - a triplet of quavers from high to low across the top 3 strings landing on G on the bottom string. There are many variations to this little trick. Here are just a few. Use just the index finger to articulate this particular one. There is what we call a "push" at the end of bar 1, meaning a note which slightly anticipates the main beat. The D is written on the last semiquaver of the bar (actually of course its played on the last triplet quaver). In bar 7 there is a series of 3 pushes. In bar 25, you will see I've written triplet crotchets over the last 2 beats. An excellent way to vary the line and add tension. In bar 30 I've written in the left hand fingering that I tend to use for this dominant 7 rake. In the right hand, pluck the Bb with the middle finger, hammer on the B, play the next 2 notes also with middle finger and then move to the index finger to articulate the C. A word about tastefulness: I've crammed in lots of ornamentation into this and subsequent exercises. This is only for practice purposes ! I wouldn't advocate this level of messing about with the line on most gigs. The constant crotchet movement is the king here - only add the other stuff occasionally to pepper it up as and when you feel it is stylistically appropriate. MBBC16c [attachment=43497:MBBC16c.pdf] [attachment=43504:MBBC16c.mp3] In F minor - 4 flats - Bb Eb Ab Db. As this sequence is a little more tricky, I've kept this exercise to just the chordal notes and I've put a repeat mark at the end so you can build up stamina by playing round and round. MBBC16d [attachment=43498:MBBC16d.pdf] [attachment=43505:MBBC16d.mp3] The same as MBBC16c but now with all the passing notes, skips, rakes, pushes and triplet crotchets, and again there is a repeat sign at the end. MBBC16e [attachment=43499:MBBC16e.pdf] [attachment=43506:MBBC16e.mp3] So, another straight 4's example with no frills. But in this one, we go into "2 in a bar" for the mid section (from bar 17 ). Here I've written quavers rather than semiquavers but its still in a swing feel. Actually these notes are really triplet quavers but often written as straight quavers to make hand copying easier (not that many people hand copy music anymore !). The chords often change every half bar, so you only have 2 crotchet beats to make the harmony clear. One option is to just play the root note twice as in bar 1. Or, as in bar 2, you can play root and 3rd. Root and 5th works of course, but this way you don't define the chord in terms of major or minor. MBBC16f [attachment=43500:MBBC16f.pdf] [attachment=43508:MBBC16f.mp3] As MBBC16e, but now with all the bells and whistles. The Major

Practice isn't just something you do when you start learning an instrument. I've been playing for over 40 years and I still need to practice. For me there are three main aspects to practice: 1. To warm up the fingers, to strengthen all the muscles, to feel as one with the instrument. 2. To get my fingers around a particularly difficult passage or technical bit that someone else is asking me to play - like a composer or arranger or producer. 3. To find new ways to approach my own creative playing, to create lines, motifs, licks, riffs , tricks - or whatever else you want to call it. To be honest, I wish I could find more time to practice these days. After a long day of maybe 5 or 6 hours rehearsal or performance, its hard to find the enthusiasm to do more playing. But on a day or morning off, I always try to do enough to make me feel prepared for the next day or session. Playing on gigs or performing in concerts is actually quite bad for your technique. By which i mean that you can develop all sorts of bad habits that you then need to sort out in practice time. If I do manage a day or two without playing, it always takes me another half day to feel I'm back to where I was before the break. The Major

[quote name='billphreets' post='742528' date='Feb 11 2010, 08:49 PM']thanks major.. ive found all of these installments helpful, can never get enough reading practice![/quote] Cheers billphreets ! I'll keep on adding to the sight reading sessions. But the next session, which I'm working on right now, will be "Creating a Walking Bass Line". The Major

[quote name='danthewelshy' post='741308' date='Feb 10 2010, 06:54 PM']thanks once again Major! These are of great help as per usual, im currently working through the Motown styled one. Cheers[/quote] Thanks for the reply danthewelshy. Its good to know that somebody is able to use this stuff ! The Major

The Major's Bass Boot Camp (Session 15) 8 sight reading exercises, all in 6th position (bass guitar) MBBC15 - 6th position study (1) [attachment=42162:MBBC15.pdf] [attachment=42190:MBBC15.mp3] This rather classical sounding piece (no syncopation) features all the scale notes of E major that are available in the 6th pos. So once you have played the first 2.5 bars, you have covered all the notes that crop up thereafter. I have fingered each note just the first time it appears. E major has 4 sharps - F#, C#, G# and D#. MBBC15a - 6th position study (2) [attachment=42164:MBBC15a.pdf] [attachment=42191:MBBC15a.mp3] This is in the rather nasty key of Eb minor. There are 6 flats - Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb and Cb. MBBC15b - 6th position study (3) [attachment=42166:MBBC15b.pdf] [attachment=42192:MBBC15b.mp3] An exercise with multiple time signatures and key changes, starting in the really horrible key of Ab minor (7 flats - so every natural note is flattened). The rhythm of the first 2 bars might remind you of Leonard Bernstein's "America" from West Side Story ... "I'd like to be in A-me-ri-ca". This relationship between a 6/8 bar and a 3/4 bar is sometimes referred to as a HEMIOLA. This is a good exercise for getting your head around the difference between "simple" and "compound" time signatures - "simple" being divisible by 2, "compound" by 3. In bar 17, I have written a time signature change to 9/8. This means 3 main beats (foot-taps) each with 3 sub-divisions ie each main beat is a dotted crotchet (1/4) and each of 3 sub-divisions is a quaver (1/8th). MBBC15c - 6th position study (4) [attachment=42169:MBBC15c.pdf] [attachment=42193:MBBC15c.mp3] A 60's Motown type groove in A major - 3 sharps: F#, C# and G#. MBBC15d - 6th position study (5) [attachment=42171:MBBC15d.pdf] [attachment=42194:MBBC15d.mp3] Nominally in the Key of Bb, but with a bluesy dominant 7 feel. Lots of minor 3rds and flattened fifths (Db and F flat respectively). To be theoretically correct , the flattened 5th should be written as an F♭but often would be seen as an E ♮so I've used both options to help you get used to these 2 ways of writing the same note (the ENHARMONIC). MBBC15e - 6th position study (6) [attachment=42173:MBBC15e.pdf] [attachment=42195:MBBC15e.mp3] In a light latin ballad style. Another E major exercise. Mostly notes from the scale, but an occasional accidental appears - A#, D natural, E# (or F natural). MBBC15f - 6th position study (7) [attachment=42176:MBBC15f.pdf] [attachment=42196:MBBC15f.mp3] Key of F major (one flat - Bb) but like study number (5) above, this has a bluesy dominant character, so includes lots of 7ths written as accidentals. And, as before, the flattened 5th (of the F scale) is sometimes written as a Cb and sometimes as B natural. In bar 29 for instance, there is both a Cb and B, but note how I have used them. Where a Bb is preceded by the semitone above, it is easier to read when written as Cb. But when a C is preceded by the semitone lower, it is better with a B natural. Also notice, in bar 20, I have written an F# rather than Gb. As the next note is B natural, it's easier to "see" the relationship of a 5th between these two notes if written this way, as both notes are ON the line. If I had written Gb leading to the B, it would look like a sixth at first glance (one note in the space, one note on the line). I could of course have written the B as a Cb but then Cb moving to C natural is not ideal (and not wrong either - but the idea is to find the most instantly recognisable way of reading these notes and to then be able to find the best fingering). MBBC15g - 6th position study (8) [attachment=42179:MBBC15g.pdf] [attachment=42197:MBBC15g.mp3] A swingy bluesy feel in F minor (4 flats - Bb, Eb, Ab and Db). The dotted quaver / semiquaver construction is always interpreted as swing triplets in this style of writing. See Boot Camp Sessions 2 and 2A for more on this. The Major

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='734746' date='Feb 4 2010, 08:51 AM']It is the difference between 'classical' theory and 'jazz' theory.[/quote] As I've said before on this forum, music theory is .. erm .... music theory. I agree that if you go back in music history, you will find different sets of standards and accepted ways of doing things during different periods of music's development. I think we accept these days that every possible permutation of notes and rhythms has been tried over the last few hundred years, and that there are no longer any rules in music composition and performance. However, each genre of music has particular features that give it it's particular flavour. In the world of jazz, we use a template for improvisation (the chord sequence). In most cases this template is quite simple, and quite rightly so, as this helps all the players stay on track. The harmonic basis for these sequences is often a distillation of harmony prevalent in the "straight" music world prior to the development of jazz as we know it today. The big difference between the "classical" (as in 18th/19th century music) and "jazz" approaches is really more to do with rhythm and in particular, syncopation. When I was growing up in the 50's and 60's, classical musos were often referred to as being "square". I don't think I fully understood this term at the time, but now I can see what this meant. If you listen to Haydn Bach and Mozart for instance, you will rarely hear detailed syncopation (off beat accents) - they do exist of course, but they are not common. The music often feels "4 square" - nothing wrong with that of course, but to our ears today, it seems they were missing a trick. But of course they were restricted by the accepted standards of the day, and it took people like Beethoven and Berlioz to push the boundaries. By the time you get to Stravinsky and Schoenberg, all the old rules had been swept away, and nowadays we can listen to The Rite Of Spring without flinching. The development of music theory is at a point now where it is simply a means of communication from one muso to another, from composer to performer, from producer to session player etc etc. I believe it is a backward step to create divisions between music styles - we are all in one big music world, especially now that we have the internet to draw us all together. We can all learn from each other as long as we try to speak and read the same music language. The Major

RockChick I can only echo Doddy's opinion - GET A TEACHER ! That way you will learn more in 4 months that you have in 4 years ! The Major

The standard thinking on this is to write the key signature that you would expect ie a Bb blues would have 2 flats as in Bb major. But in truth a blues is not in a "key" in the standard way of thinking, as every chord is a dominant 7th (in the simple basic blues form) and there is no final resolution to a stable tonic triad. The whole basis of the blues "feel" (and much jazz and rock) is the instability of the Dominant harmony which never fully resolves. We always refer to the "home" tonality (Bb in my example above) as being the key of the blues and to do otherwise simply confuses the accepted norm. If the bandleader calls out "Blues in A" but actually expects E7 as the first chord of the sequence, mayhem will follow ! BottomEndian - I understand completely where you are coming from on this, but there is an accepted way of doing this and I don't think its a good idea to try to change the world ! The Major

The Major's Bass Boot Camp (Session 14) 4th and 5th position sight reading 6 exercises for you to look at: The first 3 are all entirely in the 4th position ie the 1st finger is locked to the 4th fret. Here I use the 1-2-4 fingering method, so Double Bass players can also use the marked fingering. As usual, you could use different fingering for these pieces but that would defeat the object ie for you to become totally familiar with the 4th position and able to read the part without looking at your left hand. [attachment=40701:MBBC14.pdf] [attachment=40702:MBBC14.mp3] [attachment=40703:MBBC14a.pdf] [attachment=40704:MBBC14a.mp3] [attachment=40705:MBBC14b.pdf] [attachment=40706:MBBC14b.mp3] The last 3 pieces use a mixture of both positions, sliding carefully from one to the other. [attachment=40707:MBBC14c.pdf] [attachment=40708:MBBC14c.mp3] [attachment=40709:MBBC14d.pdf] [attachment=40710:MBBC14d.mp3] [attachment=40711:MBBC14e.pdf] [attachment=40712:MBBC14e.mp3] For some of you, these pieces will be relatively easy - think of them as purely sight reading practice. However some of you may need to study them slowly, getting used to the different rhythms, then gradually taking the tempo up to the speed on the mp3s. I've introduced some cross-rhythms to test you out, and also to give you a feel for rhythmic complexity. We'll do more on this in future. Although the style of music is not really of any relevance here, I've tried to vary the styles presented, but of course my own preferences and experience rather obviously comes through. Actually it's quite tricky coming up with workable pieces when I restrict myself to just one or 2 positions. Please forgive the occasional oddity ! MBBC14 Although written with straight quavers, this is a "swing feel" piece. So every syncopated quaver is slightly delayed, as if it were a triplet quaver. See Session 2 and 2a for more on this. MBBC14a You may have noticed that I just put the fingering in on each note as it is first introduced in the piece. This has a steady tempo, but you need to think in semiquavers (16ths). You will find many of the rhythmic structures here in a typical Funk part. MBBC14b Again, Funk oriented, but this time with a Latin flavour. MBBC14c A sort of Tango piece. The little lines before some of the fingering mean a change of position. MBBC14d In 3/4 this time. In bars 55-58 and again at bars 69 to the end, I've introduced the idea of the cross-rhythm, in this case 2 against 3. So what does this mean ? Well, if you split a 3 beat bar into 2, the second note comes on the "and" of 2 ie the second quaver of beat 2. This can have a very pleasing musical effect, but can also be used to change the tempo and groove, as the new 2 beat pattern can take on a life of its own. We'll look at more cross-rhythms another time. MBBC14e A fair amount of syncopation in this one. The Major

Rich - many thanks for doing this. The Major

The Major's Bass Boot Camp Sight Reading in 5th Position (for Bass Guitar) Three exercises, all in 5th position. Although, as usual, you can finger these pieces in other ways, the whole point here is to become totally familiar with the 5th position ie the first finger plays the 5th fret, and it's one finger per fret. To be honest, although the 5th is the first position I use the one finger per fret method, even here it is quite a stretch (assuming you are using the correct technique) and I find these pieces quite tiring. Good practice though. [attachment=40294:MBBC13.pdf] [attachment=40297:MBBC13.mp3] [attachment=40295:MBBC13a.pdf] [attachment=40298:MBBC13a.mp3] [attachment=40296:MBBC13b.pdf] [attachment=40299:MBBC13b.mp3] Double bass players can make use of these pieces for reading practice - just ignore the fingering ! The Major

The Major's Bass Boot Camp (Session12) 5 string bass workout No preamble, no theory, just pure sight reading practice. This one is hard ! [attachment=40254:MBBC12.pdf] [attachment=40256:MBBC12.mp3] This is a little easier: [attachment=40260:MBBC12a.pdf] [attachment=40261:MBBC12a.mp3] And so is this: [attachment=40262:MBBC12b.pdf] [attachment=40263:MBBC12b.mp3] The Major

[quote name='jakesbass' post='710810' date='Jan 13 2010, 12:49 AM']These are fabulous Major. Really very useful info... Jake[/quote] Cheers Jake ! I hope everybody will realize that these Boot Camp Sessions are not meant to replace proper lessons with a good teacher! And I hope those who teach will use the material with their students if it fits in with their own methods. I've done a lot of teaching in my time, and always struggled to find suitable written material for Bass Guitar (there being plenty of Double Bass stuff). Hopefully this Bass Camp stuff will help all on basschat. It appears that many people want sight reading material more than theory lessons, so that is what I will concentrate on for now, but at all levels of difficulty, and I'll continue to put in the occasional theoretical paragraph. The Major

The Major's Boot Camp (Session 11) Alternative Fingerings There are always several different ways of fingering the same passage. And during rehearsal, I will usually try various options before finally deciding on the best. However, sometimes I just wing it during the performance and do what ever comes naturally. But to be this flexible, one has to have all the alternatives (literally) at one's fingertips. A good working knowledge of the fingerboard only comes with time and patience, and constant practice. Here I have written a short piece based on Grieg's "In the Hall Of The Mountain King" from "Peer Gynt". I hope Grieg will forgive me for taking liberties with his great melody ! [attachment=40091:MBBC11.pdf] [attachment=40092:MBBC11.mp3] I have fingered Bars 1 to 17 (for Bass Guitar) in the lower positions (using 4th finger in place of 3rd), and if I was sight reading with no prior visual scanning of the part, this is probably how I would finger it. This is also pretty much how I would finger it on Double Bass (but with 4th finger rather than 3rd on the A# and D#). Bars 17 onwards, however, are fingered further up the fingerboard, firstly in 7th position and then in 6th. This is clearly easier as long as you are familiar with this area of the board. This is how I would finger it having looked at the various options . Just to be clear, the E# is quite correct (rather than F natural) as it makes it easier to "see" the Major 3rd between E# and C#, especially as we then have E natural and C natural, also a Major 3rd. Its important to be able to spot intervals that can be easily played on the bass. There's no easy formula for this however - it's just down to practice. The Major

The Major's Bass Boot Camp (Session 10) Reading in "Cut Common" (2 in a bar) [attachment=40089:MBBC10.pdf] [attachment=40090:MBBC10.mp3] Its really very important to realize that TEMPO and NOTE LENGTH are 2 very different things. A crotchet (1/4 note) can, for instance, be played at any tempo. So if we take that tempo up to say 230 crotchet beats per minute, the minim will become our natural "foot-tap". As you will be aware, 4/4 is often referred to as Common Time - 4 crotchet beats in a bar. But if the tempo is fairly fast, such that the minim becomes the foot-tap, we call it Cut Common. This term is prevalent in the light music world (pop/jazz/theatre etc). In the classical world we call it Alla Breve . The sign for Common Time looks something like this: C and is often used instead of 4/4. You will see the sign for Cut Common at the start of the piece in the pdf, just after the bass clef sign. Its just a C with a vertical line through it. We also refer to this as "two in a bar". Sometimes on a part you might see "In 2". If a conductor tells us he will conduct a passage "in 2", we usually write ② under the stave (in pencil of course !). Note the accent sign on the 4th beat of bar 2. Just dig in a little more on this note. This exercise is designed to get you moving up the fingerboard. Watch out for the key changes ! From around bar 17, there are several ways one could finger this passage, but on reflection I decided this was the best. I'm not saying I would necessarily do this fingering on a gig - I might well do a combination of several options - but if you pin me down, I would think this works the best. From bar 33 we get quite long passages in just one position, using the one finger per fret option. I tend to hover around this middle of the fingerboard area when I'm sight-reading. It's a good point from which to jump to either high or low positions as required. This exercise has a swing feel. The underlying rhythm is compound ie each crotchet beat is divisible by 3. At this tempo it's difficult to hear this, but believe me its there ! So in bar 2, for instance, the quaver E is not exactly half way through the crotchet beat but is actually on the 3rd triplet quaver. In other words it is slightly later than a normal quaver would be. The whole "swing" thing is almost impossible to truly quantify, it being a matter of "feel" and groove. But I believe it helps to think of it in the way I have described here. If you are new to this style, don't get hung up on this. A feel for swing grooves will come with time and experience. Do lots of listening to jazz and funk and you will pick it up eventually. Have a look at Bass Camp Sessions 2 and 2a for more on this. The Major

[quote name='leftybassman392' post='709218' date='Jan 11 2010, 07:20 PM']Aha! You got them to pin it for you. Excellent stuff and no more than it deserves. [/quote] Actually I hadn't got round to asking about pinning. But many thanks to whoever did it. I'm planning to continue with this series for some time yet, so it occurs to me that I will be taking up rather a lot of space on the Theory and Technique page. Sorry if it appears i am hogging the limelight ! At the same time, I'm keen that as many people as possible will spot, and benefit from, this continuing series, especially as it is taking up quite a lot of my spare time ! So perhaps somebody in authority can let me know how to proceed. Should I continue to post these sessions in the usual place, with somebody pinning them later ? I do also intend to add to the existing Bass Camp threads with more exercises and examples. The Major

[quote name='stevie' post='708272' date='Jan 10 2010, 10:16 PM']Just a quickie re. syncopation. I read a while back that you should avoid counting - one and two and, etc. and should try to see the music as a pattern. It seems to have worked for me so far. What's your view on this?[/quote] Hi Stevie. It's a good idea to get used to counting in your head when you first start reading, and to a certain extent i think most accomplished players do effectively count, but it becomes a sort of subliminal counting. After a while, you start to recognize the various patterns that are at the root of our musical language, and the reading of notes becomes second nature. But to get to that point, you do need to dissect what you are reading and fully understand where the beats are, and counting in your head is all part of that. The one time when you do need to count accurately is when you have bars rest. In orchestral double bass playing this happens all the time, less so in the band world. But for instance, on a recent orchestral concert where I was also playing bass guitar, I had to count lots of bars rest at the start of a particular number, and although you might think this is easy, its also very easy to miss-count and end up coming in wrong ! Thankfully, I got it right ! The Major

The Major's Bass Boot Camp (Session 9) Syncopation - in 1st, 2nd and 3rd Positions [attachment=39894:MBBC9.pdf] [attachment=39895:MBBC9.mp3] As with any bass part, there are many ways you could finger this one. However, I've restricted the fingering here to just the first 3 positions, so if you are new to music reading, you can get to grips with this lower end of the fingerboard. You should, after some practice, be able to play this exercise without looking at your left hand. As usual, I have not fingered every note. You need to get used to looking at the notes, not the fingering. From bar 25 there is no more fingering. However, I have put the chord symbols in from this point. Note: The little lines that occur sometimes before the fingering simply show that there is a position change at this point. So for instance, the 1st note in bar 1 is a Bb with the 1st finger in 1st position. The line indicates a change of position. The C# is now played with 2nd finger in 2nd position. I hope this is clear. In this exercise, i have not written in the actual positions, partly due to lack of space, but also to get you thinking for yourself ! Also: Watch out for notes like the Eb in bar 13. The previous bar has an E natural, the natural sign lasting for the whole bar (ie both E's are natural in this bar). Bar 13 reverts to the E FLAT as it is in the key signature. Normally, I would put a guide accidental on that Eb, but as most people don't do this when preparing parts on computer, its as well to be prepared for this sort of thing. "Syncopation" refers to notes which don't start ON the beat and often carry on into the next beat and sometimes beyond. In bar 2 for instance, the 2nd note G starts half way through beat 1 and stops half way through beat 2. Look at bar 41: The last note E starts halfway through beat 4 and carries on until halfway through beat 2 of the next bar. This isn't the whole story with syncopation. There is more to it, but for now, this description will get you started. You may notice for instance in bar 5 that the Ab is two tied quavers. Why did I not just write a crotchet across the beat ? Well, sometimes that is how this would have been written. However, I am one of those (some would say old fashioned) musicians who believe that the half bar should be clearly visible. In this instance it is not really a problem, but in more complex music, it really helps to negotiate the notes if you can clearly see where the half bar comes. A little theoretical point: This crops up all the way through: In bar 1 which is a Bb major chord, you will see I have written both the minor 3rd (C#) and major 3rd (D). The off beat C# is really a "passing note", the D coming on the beat. We'll do more on this use of the "blue note" in a future session. But for now, just notice how easily that C# fits into the bass line. If it was a held long note, we might have to treat it more carefully at this register. The Major

The Major's Bass Boot Camp The Turnaround in 1st and 2nd Positions [attachment=39872:MBBC8.pdf] [attachment=39873:MBBC8.mp3] "Turnaround" is an expression you will mainly hear on a "busking" gig - and I am not referring to playing in the street - but the kind of gig where there is no (or little) written material. The players, probably Dance Band type musos or maybe jazzers, all know roughly the same set of tunes (Ipanima / Tramp / Foggy Day / Autumn Leaves etc etc) but there are no arrangements to play from, so someone, maybe the bandleader, calls "Lady Be Good - in G - 4 bar turnaround intro - 1,2,1234" and off they go. So what is this Turnaround ? Well, roughly, it's a series of chords that sets the key, creates an intro, maybe helping the vocalist to get their first note. Its also a musical devise for use within a composition, indeed some popular songs are purely based on a standard turnaround. The most common form of turnaround is Ⅰ vi ii Ⅴ (1,6,2,5) so in C it would be C Am Dm G and this is what I start this example with. I then mix in some substitutions - chords which can be used as alternatives. So in bar 7, you will see i have written an F chord rather than Dm. As this F is the Relative Major of D minor, you can see why it works well as a substitution. Similarly, in bar 10, i have used Eb diminished (Ebo) in place of the Am7 chord. A minor 7 is A C E G Ebo is Eb Gb A C So you can see there are 2 notes in common, the A and the C. Bar 15 - I have substituted F6 in the place of Dm7. The 2 chords are exactly the same notes DFAC but in F6 the root note is .. erm ... F ! In bar 18, for 3 bars, I've used subs that are a lot further away from the originals, but they still work well. Note: The STYLE of music is not relevant here, although you can probably recognize from how I have presented the track, that this is used a lot in the Rock and Roll and other 50's type music. In bar 25, I show how you can extend this 4 bar pattern by replacing the C chord (Ⅰ) with the iii chord (Em7). We then get an 8 bar sequence. Then in bar 29, I show how its possible to move things around so the sequence of chords starts on the ii (Dm) then moves to the Ⅴ (G7) the Ⅰ ( C ) and finally the vi (Am7). In bar 41, I have substituted an F chord for the Am7. There are many other alternatives. This is just an introduction to the idea of the Turnaround. Note also the slurs I have used in, for instance, bar 25 on the last 2 quavers. This means you make a single pluck (on the D#) and hammer down the E. This sort of articulation is often not actually written in band parts, but you can choose to put them in occasionally, and it can be very effective. From bars 45 to 50, I have not written the root note of the chord as the first note of each bar, instead using (mostly) the 3rd of the chord. The Major