Theory the very basics.

[Plampers]

Hi all,

Well I have been trying to learn the bass, just started a few weeks back. I have the bass guide for dummies that I was working through but the theory side of music etc has completely baffled me. I just don't get it. I moved on to just learning some easy tabs to get used to the fret board but I don't want to scrimp on understanding the theory. I am 29 and this is he very first time I have tried anything musical, so I was wondering if any one knows of some good theory sites or perhaps another book that really breaks it down. Sadly lessons are not affordable at the current moment.

Any ideas where I can start?

[Hobbayne]

Have a look on youtube for Scotts Bass Lessons. He,s da man!!

[rk7]

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1374003646' post='2144189']
Have a look on youtube for Scotts Bass Lessons. He,s da man!!
[/quote]

Oh yes, Scott is the best, and a nice chap too.

Also, go to YouTube and live there for a wee while. There are hundreds of video lessons on there.

thank you please

RK

[jakenewmanbass]

It's as simple as the alphabet up to G and the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 11 and 13
realise from scales what notes you are playing then learn how chords are made. Then you have the ingredients to understanding what you are doing.
It's pretty simple but it does seem to take some people a bit of time to make the connections with sounds...

[Plampers]

Cheers for the replies.

Just subscribed to Scott's site.

I think I am one of those people it takes time to form a connection.

[51m0n]

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1374004853' post='2144205']
It's as simple as the alphabet up to G and the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 11 and 13
realise from scales what notes you are playing then learn how chords are made. Then you have the ingredients to understanding what you are doing.
It's pretty simple but it does seem to take some people a bit of time to make the connections with sounds...
[/quote]

Music theory in a nutshell.

2 minutes for Jake to write down what takes most people a lifetime to assimilate

[JapanAxe]

The chapters on scales in Otto Carolyi's 'Introducing Music' (Penguin), price from 1p on Amazon, really helped me back in the day. Also get a guitar chord book, write the names of the notes down for every chord, and you'll soon sus the formulas - I did.

[Coilte]

Perhaps you could ask specific questions as to what baffles you at present ? This is the trouble with learning alone, especially when you are starting out, i.e. you cant ask a book any questions.

In the mean time here are two links which might be of help. The "StudyBass" site is especially good. In the exercises, if you put the cursor arrow over the notes, it gives the sound of that note. Start at the beginning and slowly work your way through the lessons.

[url="http://www.studybass.com/study-guide/"]http://www.studybass.com/study-guide/[/url]

[url="http://www.billygreen.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Music%20Theory%20-%20Basic,%20Intermediate,%20Advanced.pdf"]http://www.billygree...%20Advanced.pdf[/url]



FWIW, some advice I would give is first, dont rely too much on tabs. Instead develop your ear by trying to work out the bass line for songs yourself, and play along.


Secondly, you have only being playing for a few weeks, so naturally, you are going to be confused about a lot of things. Be patient and take things in baby steps. If you do, things will start to click into place and you will start getting those "light bulb" moments.


Best of luck with it.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Coilte

[iceonaboy]

Loads of videos on yoo choob and loads of books out there. Welcome to the world of bass playing, you will love it

[Coilte]

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1374054332' post='2144643']
Loads of videos on yoo choob and loads of books out there.
[/quote]

Indeed there is, and this is the problem. For someone just starting out, like the OP, there is so much lessons/information out there, that it can be overwhelming and hard to know where to start. Also the majority of lessons on You Tube are "one offs". If you dont know the basics, you may not understand the concept of what is being taught. This is why I posted the "StudyBass" site for the OP. Each lesson builds on what went before.

[iceonaboy]

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1374055251' post='2144664']
Indeed there is, and this is the problem. For someone just starting out, like the OP, there is so much lessons/information out there, that it can be overwhelming and hard to know where to start. Also the majority of lessons on You Tube are "one offs". If you dont know the basics, you may not understand the concept of what is being taught. This is why I posted the "StudyBass" site for the OP. Each lesson builds on what went before.
[/quote]

Fair point mate but there are indeed lessons for beginners in books and videos too. Your link looks like a good place to start

[Coilte]

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1374055443' post='2144667']
Fair point mate but there are indeed lessons for beginners in books and videos too.
[/quote]

I agree, but in my experience with lessons on You Tube (dont get me wrong, there are good lessons here) there are very few [b]structured [/b]ones. Often, you might get one or two beginner lessons, then you are left high and dry, with no follow through.

[Zenitram]

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1374004853' post='2144205']
It's as simple as the alphabet up to G and the numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 11 and 13[/quote]

Why are 8, 10 and 12 missing?

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1374056201' post='2144679']
Why are 8, 10 and 12 missing?
[/quote]

A good question; I shall try to answer, but with less concision than Jake, though..!

In Jake's post, there are several seperate concepts mixed into one short sentence. We'll need to unravel a little...

We'll take a major scale (Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Si Do...) firstly. Two remarks: They can be numbered (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8...), and the last note is the same as the first (Do, an octave higher...), so doesn't 'need' a seperate number. As intervals, we'd refer to a 3rd, for instance, as being between the 1 and the 3 (Do... Mi...), or a 5th (Do... Sol...). We wouldn't (often...) use intervals above the octave; it can happen, but an interval of an 8th we'd call an octave.
Another notion in there is that of chords. These are combinations of notes. A very common way of 'constructing' chords is to start from 1 note (Do, for instance...), and add alternate notes in sequence. This would be (for the 'Do' example...) adding a 3rd (Mi...), then a 5th (Sol...) then a 7th (Si...) perhaps a 9th (Re an octave higher...) etc... This 'process' is often referred to as 'stacking 3rds', as each added note is a 3rd abve the preceding one. This process doesn't use 8ths, 10ths or 12ths, purely by the arithmetic of the numbering system we started with.
I hope there's some degree of clarity in this rough answer. The question is a good one, but really the short answer could be "It's not important; forget it for now...". Take these two together, then, and make what sense you can.
Subject to completion, correction and/or contradiction from others; hope this helps...

Edited July 17, 2013 by Dad3353

[jakenewmanbass]

Thanks for the elaboration dad, in fact we as bass players do often use 10ths, I just wanted to keep it as simple as possible for now...
The major part of my message is that the basic ingredients of theory are kindergarten maths, and learning that is not nearly as difficult as learning to be able to lay down a killing bass line on a recorded song right 1st time and for take after take with the ability to change what you're doing on request from a producer (which is what I spent last monday doing )

[jakenewmanbass]

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1374013607' post='2144345']
Music theory in a nutshell.

2 minutes for Jake to write down what takes most people a lifetime to assimilate
[/quote]
Oi!! are you calling me a slow typer?? it took me 1.58 actually

[Plampers]

Thanks for the great replies. I'm going to work through the study bass site slowly, that seems pretty informative.
As some people have said youtube is good but there is so much there i found it potluck, I could get one good lesson but then I couldn't find a follow up.

As to what baffles me..well the basics. Scales and chords. From Scott's devices bass lesson on scales I have a better idea. I think I need to get to know the notes by name and it may help me. I can work them out but I couldn't just find a certain note fast.

Well I wanted to learn, nothing worth doing is easy..right

Again thanks for the info/ replies

[51m0n]

Remember there are two sides to this coin, music theroy is just that, how the language of music is constructed and what it means, how scales are constructed, what chords are, how chords and scales relate to each other, what modes are. You dont [i]need[/i] an instrument to get this stuff in good order in your head. It truly is simple maths, and some genuinely simple rules to learn and you can construct with absolute accuracy the notes for any chord or scale in any key, which sharps or flats are related to which key, and why.

This is not nearly as daunting a task as it might appear. I can say this honestly because I can do it (or at least enough to figure keys and harmony and scales and modes out). And I dont need a bass or to even visualise a bass neck at all, its just simple maths. In other words it is unrelated to the notes on the neck of your instrument, it truly is theoretical.

However, learning how to apply all this information, this theory, in a controlled way, absolutely requires you to learn exactly where those notes are, and also (in order to apply theory fluently and without pause in a real musical situation) most people learn the patterns that the notes in certain chords and scales make in various areas of the neck,. In fact Scot Devine has a couple of interesting tutorials about this. I am not suggesting you become a fully pattern based player (normally that can become stiffling, although Gary Willis swears that this is how he does it), but that there isnt a need to necessarily be processing every note theoretically at all times.

I hope that makes some sense!

[Zenitram]

Right well I've memorised the letters from A to G and have learnt the numbers up to 13 but not including 8, 10 and 12. How am I doing?

[jakenewmanbass]

[quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1374080288' post='2145101']
Right well I've memorised the letters from A to G and have learnt the numbers up to 13 but not including 8, 10 and 12. How am I doing?


[/quote]
Excellent good man...
Now, realise that when playing a major scale you will conform to the following rules.
Starting on G 3rd fret E string, use the following left hand fingering
24, 124, 134
applying the principal of one finger per fret and one step through the alphabet at a time.

This will result in a basic truth being discovered, that is that the intervals (gaps or specifically frets) between the notes of any major scale are always the same.
Therefore once you have learned the fingering pattern for 1 major scale you have learned it for them all (this is true of stringed instruments)

You can apply this to any starting note on the bass, and if you take the time and trouble to carefully observe what notes you are playing whilst executing the above, you will discover that conforming to these rules reveals what flats or sharps any given key has, only open strings will interfere with seeing these rules but they can be learned quickly and separately. I anticipate people having some problems with this, I have simple answers to any questions arising (I've explained it to hundreds of students 1-1)

Edited July 17, 2013 by jakenewmanbass

[Plampers]

Well, I have learned the c major scale slowly this evening. I can even remember the notes by saying them aloud as I play. So by now i know this scale your saying I can start on the 3rd fret on E string( which is a g) and follow the pattern and that is also a major scale?

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Zenitram' timestamp='1374080288' post='2145101']
Right well I've memorised the letters from A to G and have learnt the numbers up to 13 but not including 8, 10 and 12. How am I doing?


[/quote]
I'm sorry, but you're now over-qualified for becoming a drummer. Never mind, you now have 90% of the skills required to be a music teacher. Well done (probably..?)

[jakenewmanbass]

[quote name='Plampers' timestamp='1374089220' post='2145230']
Well, I have learned the c major scale slowly this evening. I can even remember the notes by saying them aloud as I play. So by now i know this scale your saying I can start on the 3rd fret on E string( which is a g) and follow the pattern and that is also a major scale?
[/quote]
Yup
you will come across the notes G A B C D E F# G
it will be the same shape as the C Major, which is why you have to play an F#... keep that shape

[jakenewmanbass]

And if you move the whole thing up 1 fret it's Ab major, another fret and it's A major etc etc

[jakenewmanbass]

when you follow this advice through E-F and B-C some fun explanations will begin