Grasping the theory - simple methods & resources?

[highwayman]

So I'm about six weeks into my bass journey & I'm enjoying myself; I've had four lessons so far and can play along pretty much to one song that I asked my teacher to show me and bits of two others, I can also do a hammer-on and string muting.
So far all of the tracks I've taken to him have been plectrum-specific but I intend to learn a finger-only number next.

So far so good, but so I don't just become good at copying what I've been shown, I want to learn/understand the theory of my chosen instrument and this is the bit I'm finding tricky. Starting at the nut I can just about name the frets up until the 12th on each string, but only in order & very slowly - it just seems a mystery!

I've bought 'Music Theory for the Bass Player' by Ariane Cap, but I think it's a bit advanced for a complete beginner, though I intend to keep it.

I've always been far more 'right brained' than left, with a lifelong well of creativity; while beyond (good) personal accounting, I've always struggled with mathematical concepts - which may explain my need for help in this area.

Any suggestions of beautifully simple methods/resources for grasping the basics and advancing please?

[Steve Woodcock]

Hi Highwayman,

If you are currently having lessons then this is really something that your teacher should be covering with you, if all they are doing you is teaching you songs and offering you no insight in to anything but playing the notes then I would (respectfully) suggest you save your money as this alone you can do by yourself with the help of YouTube etc. Have you discussed this with your current teacher? Learning the notes on the neck is the very first thing I cover with my students - here is a link to a very helpful exercise from one of my former teachers, Joe Hubbard: [url="http://www.joehubbardbass.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/The-Random-Note-Finder-Exercise.pdf"]http://www.joehubbardbass.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/The-Random-Note-Finder-Exercise.pdf[/url]

I'm not familiar with the book you mention so can't comment on the level it is pitched at, I am aware of a bass orientated book by Sean Malone called 'Music Theory' that covers the basics well. If you have any specific questions perhaps I can help?

[zbd1960]

There are two small books aimed at general music theory, not bass specific: AB Guide to Music I and II by Eric Taylor, about £6 each. These are published ABRSM. These cover everything you need up to Grade 5 theory and possibly beyond..

[highwayman]

Thank you gentlemen, I'm going to raise this with my teacher next week; in fairness I'm happy with the fact that he's empowered me to play along with a song of my choosing within weeks and he's also shown me the arpeggio shape. I guess an hour a week tuition isn't enough to ask all of the questions that might arise - thankfully I have Basschat!

Stickman, thanks for the exercise link; that one is for a six string bass, do you have one four four strings please?

Can someone answer this please, why are there no B# & E# - their omission makes it harder to learn the sequence?

Edited May 7, 2016 by highwayman

[Steve Woodcock]

[quote name='highwayman' timestamp='1462614721' post='3044350']
Stickman, thanks for the exercise link; that one is for a six string bass, do you have one four four strings please?

Can someone answer this please, why are there no B# & E# - their omission makes it harder to learn the sequence?
[/quote]

Just ignore the top and bottom strings, the middle four are the same as a 4-string bass.

If you visualise a piano keyboard you will see that there are no black keys between B and C or E and F, therefore B# and E# are the 'enharmonic equivalents' of C and F, just like C♭ and F♭ are the enharmonic equivalents of B and E; enharmonic equivalent just means the same note called by a different name.

When you start learning about keys you will learn when it is correct to name the note B# rather than C (this would be in the key of C# major) and E# rather than F (this would be in the keys of F# major and C# major).

[Guest bassman7755]

I put together a list of wikipedia theory topics [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/275549-theoryreading-music-where-should-i-start/page__view__findpost__p__2942210"]here[/url]

Edited May 7, 2016 by bassman7755

[ArianeCap]

Hi Highwayman,
i am the author of Music Theory for the Bass Player, the book you mention in your post. I wanted to make sure you knew that I have free videos up on my blog that take you through many concepts in the book. The question you ask about E# for example is in the chapter on notes and the video that goes with it is here:
http://arisbassblog.com/lesson-on-notes/

Thank you for buying my book and if you have any bass or theory questions, ask away on the blog or shoot an email. I try to answer as many as I can. I am also putting together a 20-week coaching program to go through the book with help.

For help finding the notes check out the videos (page two and three in the archives) and chapter called 'notefinder' and 'Name-a-dot'.

Happy playing and hope this helps!

Greetings from California
Ariane

[Dad3353]

I looked up '[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Music Theory for the Bass Player'; although no longer a beginner, it looks to be very progressive, very complete, very readable. Duly noted for ordering. I have quite a few books of the sort in my modest library; this one will get my attention more than some others. Jolly good stuff. [/font][/color]

[highwayman]

Thanks for the helpful replies everyone.
Ariane, thank you for the link - I've just watched it & shall be putting the exercises to practice.
I really think one aspect of learning is to appreciate that if we were where we wanted to be then the journey would be without value; so six weeks in I should accept that some challenging concepts are natural & that it's part of the learning process.
One thing Ariane (& with respect to my current teacher) - California has the weather but please consider relocating to Manchester as the lesson commute's a bit far...

[joey1234]

Hey, I am not a bass teacher by any stretch of the imagination but I can tell you from my own bass playing experience (15 years) some things that might help with what you are wanting to learn.

So you mentioned you have learned all the notes up to the 12th fret. so the 13th fret on any string will be the same as the 1st fret, 14 fret same as the second. As it is a full octave.

I used to struggle knowing the note names on frets Don't worry in time it will be like 2nd nature to you. Also if you know about 2 strings down 2 strings across? So on your e string (your fattest lowest string) Play the 5th fret (which is a) then go two strings down and two frets across you have an A (its a octve).

Joe

[highwayman]

Thanks for that Joe!

As I said to my tutor yesterday, the fact that I'm even asking these questions now means that I'm trying to get my head around music theory - six weeks ago I just wanted to be shown some cool bass-lines.

Edited May 11, 2016 by highwayman

[Steve Woodcock]

[quote name='highwayman' timestamp='1462993395' post='3047712']
As I said to my tutor yesterday, the fact that I'm even asking these questions now means that I'm trying to get my head around music theory - six weeks ago I just wanted to be shown some cool bass-lines.
[/quote]

Great stuff!

[Grangur]

I too hAve Ariane's book. It's great and covers a lot of ground. At this stage I would use it as something to dip in and out of. It will be a book that stays with you for a long time.

Ariane's videos are great. You might also like to visit studybass.com. There are some great lessons there.

Also, enrol for a free trial period of Scottsbasslessons.com Academy. Scott does a load of free stuff on YouTube, but the subscription material is a whole league above the free stuff. The cost of subscription is about the same as 4 1-2-1 lessons, and for thst you get hundreds of hours of info and videos.

I've been playing for about 6 years and I find the more rewarding music to play is making up my own 12 bar blues lines. It may not be for everyone, but it does provide the basis of the bass lines in a lot of music. A good book to start with on this is John Liebman's Blues Bass: The Complete Method.

After you have a few blues lines learned and some knowledge of scales and harmony you can really help your playing move on.

[Guest bassman7755]

For learning note names I recommend [url="http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wgo.bnw&hl=en"]this [/url]app. I've tried loads and this is the easiest to use most useful. Really useful for whenever your away from your instrument and a have a spare 5 minutes.

[highwayman]

Thanks for the app tip - just bought it!

[FuNkShUi]

Being motivated to learn is the main thing here.
If you want to learn, you will.
All the concepts and theories will sink in, it just wont happen overnight.
Stick with it

[Bilbo]

If you want to understand sharps and flats, try looking at the notes on a piano. Then think of what it would look like if the whole piano alternated between black and white notes.

[highwayman]

Thanks Bilbo - the piano would look odd if the keys were alternate all the way across...

Just to give you an idea of how far I've come in just a few weeks: I was put off about asking my tutor to show me songs with alternate tuning as I was worried that I'd get 'lost' whilst adjusting the machine-heads at home - now I'm happily going from E to C# and A to F# as I have some knowledge of where they exist in relation to one another. Elementary stuff but I'm still pleased.

Edited May 19, 2016 by highwayman