The Major's Bass Boot Camp - Session 29

[Major-Minor]

The Major's Bass Boot Camp - Session 29

Getting Started with Sight Reading - in B minor

Also new in this session;

"Dynamics"
"Repeat Bar" signs
"Cues"

"Dynamics" in music generally refers to the volume level you play at; in other words, whether the music is loud or soft. In the classical genre, we go to great lengths during rehearsal to ensure that every note is played at a precise dynamic level, and composers and arrangers will employ a whole range of dynamic markings on their scores to get just the right effect.

To be honest, dynamic markings are notable for their absence in most pop, rock and jazz charts, but they do appear from time to time, so you need to be aware of them.
Indeed, the word "dynamics" in these genres is usually uttered by the sound engineer and refers to the squashing or compressing of the sound through the PA or recording desk so that there are no fluctuations in sound level.

But if you are taking the trouble to learn to read music, it is most likely because you want to work in the session world, TV, radio, cruises or theatres etc, so you need to have a thorough understanding of the terms used.

I should make it clear at this stage that we are not talking about the volume settings on either your bass or your amp ! Rather, it is the way you approach the articulation of the notes ie plucking in a softer manner for quiet notes and attacking hard for loud notes.

For the purposes of this Session, I'm going to introduce just 4 of the most commonly used dynamic markings - piano, forte, crescendo and diminuendo.

You may well be aware that the keyboard instrument that we know as the "piano" was originally called the "fortepiano". It subsequently developed into the "pianoforte" and that is the correct full title for this instrument, but of course we tend to abbreviate it to just the "piano".

"Piano" means soft in Italian and "forte" means loud. The pianoforte (the "softloud") was the first strung keyboard instrument that had a distinct dynamic range.

So these Italian words (like many others) have become part of the musician's language.
We tend to say "pee -ah -no " for the dynamic term and "pyan-o" for the instrument.
Forte is pronounced "for-tay".

When we write these terms onto the score or parts, we abbreviate to "p" or "f" and these symbols appear under the stave. A dynamic marking in a part is relevant to all the following notes until a new marking is written.

Crescendo is the Italian term for "gradually get louder". Usually this is abbreviated to either cresc. or a hairpin sign (< ) is written underneath showing precisely which notes should gradually increase in volume.

Diminuendo is the term for gradually reducing the volume level, abbreviated to "dim" or this hairpin: >


The "Repeat Bar" sign - ( ⁒ ) - is placed in an empty bar, but means you should repeat the preceding bar. Sometimes you will get a whole series of these signs.
There are other more complex versions of these signs which we will look at another time.


A "cue" refers to notes written on your part that are not for you to play, but which another band member is playing. These are here to help you know where you are in the piece if,say, you have a lot of bars rest to count, or to clarify what is going on. Sometimes these notes will be written small to differentiate them from your notes. (see MBBC29d for an example of a cue).

All the pieces here are in B minor which has 2 sharps like it's Relative Major - D.

MBBC29a
[attachment=58985:MBBC29a.pdf]
[attachment=58990:MBBC29a.mp3]
This first example includes all the dynamics as discussed above.
Bar 1 is "piano" (ie "p" meaning soft).
Bar 4 has a hairpin "crescendo" sign under the last 3 notes of the bar.
Bar 5 starts "forte" (ie "f" meaning loud).
Then the last beat of bar 7 has a diminuendo for 5 beats (ie getting softer) leading back to "piano" in bar 9, which starts the repeat of the first 8 bars for you to play on your own.

You should be able to follow the dynamics after that.

But just notice that I have written "cresc." in bar 37 and also a hairpin in bar 40. So this means at bar 37 start to gradually increase the intensity with an extra push in bar 40, but then suddenly quieter in bar 41 which is marked "p". This sudden change of dynamic is sometimes referred to as "subito _ ". Subito means "suddenly" in Italian. So you would say that bar 41 is subito piano (sometimes abbreviated to "sub p".

MBBC29b
[attachment=58986:MBBC29b.pdf]
[attachment=58991:MBBC29b.mp3]
Bar one is quite clear - start "piano" and then crescendo as the hairpin tells you. Then in bar 2, there is a hairpin diminuendo. Now you might say, quite rightly, that the long F# will of course naturally die away, so why bother writing the hairpin ? Well sometimes the dynamics are written in your bass part to show you what the rest of the orchestra or band are doing dynamically, You need to be aware of the general dynamic direction so you can react accordingly.


MBBC29c
[attachment=58987:MBBC29c.pdf]
[attachment=58992:MBBC29c.mp3]


MBBC29d
[attachment=58988:MBBC29d.pdf]
[attachment=58993:MBBC29d.mp3]
Here in bar 1 is an example of a "cue". You will hear the hi-hat play 3 crotchets before the bass comes in. This cue is marked on the part for clarity. It also helps you to understand the tempo.

In bar 20, you will see the first of the "Repeat Bars" in this piece. So each bar with one of these signs means you play exactly the notes as in the previous bar.


MBBC29e
[attachment=58989:MBBC29e.pdf]
[attachment=58994:MBBC29e.mp3]
A faster tempo for this one.


The Major

[voxpop]

Thank you Major for all the time and effort to up load all this info.

After 15 years of playing bass I have final started to learn how to read music. I've printed off all your lessons and will, over the next decade, plough through them and master this wonderful instrument call bass.

Thanks again.

Edited October 4, 2010 by voxpop

[geoffbassist]

Hi Major!
This is REALLY well presented. It's a great Resource.
Thanks for all your effort.
Cheers Geoff

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='voxpop' post='977288' date='Oct 4 2010, 04:17 PM']Thank you Major for all the time and effort to up load all this info.

After 15 years of playing bass I have final started to learn how to read music. I've printed off all your lessons and will, over the next decade, plough through them and master this wonderful instrument call bass.

Thanks again.[/quote]

+1 from me.

I'm painfully slow on the reading but it's satisfying when it comes good. And the earlier theory lessons are fascinating - more of this stuff would be very welcome.

One thing I would love to see (I don't know how sensible a suggestion this is...) would be a theory lesson that takes a popular song - an interesting one like a Brian Wilson or a Paul McCartney or a Jeff Lynne job - and dissects it and presents it in terms of how the bloody hell it works. I think this would be a good way to help people (well, me, certainly) understand the utility of some of the cleverer harmony stuff you're showing us. Do you think that would be possible?

[Major-Minor]

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='981040' date='Oct 7 2010, 10:48 PM']+1 from me.

I'm painfully slow on the reading but it's satisfying when it comes good. And the earlier theory lessons are fascinating - more of this stuff would be very welcome.

One thing I would love to see (I don't know how sensible a suggestion this is...) would be a theory lesson that takes a popular song - an interesting one like a Brian Wilson or a Paul McCartney or a Jeff Lynne job - and dissects it and presents it in terms of how the bloody hell it works. I think this would be a good way to help people (well, me, certainly) understand the utility of some of the cleverer harmony stuff you're showing us. Do you think that would be possible?[/quote]
That would be a great idea. Can you suggest a tune or 2 for me to choose from ?

The Major

[thisnameistaken]

Oh I don't know, I'd have to judge with my ear rather than any knowledge of what makes a song clever, wouldn't I? So I'd probably pick something that's actually really straightforward. I suppose 'God Only Knows' is an obviously complicated pop song with some unusual qualities, but I imagine we would get more out of it if you pick a song you're enthusiastic about.

[Major-Minor]

God Only Knows is a good choice. Leave it with me - I need to think carefully how to present this. In the meantime i might just finish the next Reading Session which is now underway.

The Major

[thisnameistaken]

Wow, awesome.

[stevie]

Major, I have an accurate midi for God Only Knows. Full arrangement but no chord names. If it would help.

[stevie]

Or alternatively, Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Buble. I'm just learning this for the hell of it, and it's quite interesting harmonically with some neat walking bass and some nice twiddly bits. It's not difficult to play.

The midi file is here: [url="http://www.cool-midi.com/download/michael_buble-havent_met_you_yet.htm"]http://www.cool-midi.com/download/michael_...met_you_yet.htm[/url]. And the (excellent) video is available on YouTube.

Edited October 10, 2010 by stevie

[Major-Minor]

Stevie - thanks for the suggestion. I'll certainly bear it in mind. I've already started making a few notes to myself on "God Only Knows" - I think this will be an excellent starting point for this type of analysis. And thanks for the offer of the midi files, but I prefer to work from the original recording.

It might be a while before this Session appears - its suddenly gone rather busy on the gig front, so I only have limited time to work on this.
Please bear with me !

The Major