Advice on theory needed

[calerbass]

Hi folks, i hope i explain the following right...........i took up learning the bass now bout three,four years ago, and along the way i learned some theory like modes etc, i cant read music but i find im fairly good at learning songs that i play by the tabs. i'm also now equally at home playing with my fingers as well as the plectrum, what i want to ask is .........is their an abc of what i should learn theory wise, their seems to be so much there to learn etc, what would be the most important stuff to learn as a bass player? I'm now getting to play with other musicians, albeit only once so far but it went well, and one more question.........if i guitarist says to me his playing a tune in G, would i be right in saying the bass riff root note would be in G?

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

[Eight]

I'd learn to read music first - there's lots of info out there relating to music theory but much of the stuff I've read would be harder to grasp if you can't read the examples.

Just 2p from someone who's also working through theory stuff.

[quote name='calerbass' post='846002' date='May 23 2010, 08:46 PM']if i guitarist says to me his playing a tune in G, would i be right in saying the bass riff root note would be in G?[/quote]
Not necessarily. He probably means in the key of G major (g a b c d e f#). So you could have any chord progression built on notes from that scale and your root notes would be based on the chord not the key.

E.g. A min, E min, D maj would give you the roots A, E, D. All in the key of G.

[Doddy]

I always recommend learning to read.It will allow you to access a whole
world of material that is otherwise unavailable to you. Also,in the gigging
world,TAB just doesn't exist.
As far as theory goes,I feel that one of the most important things to know
as a bass player is arpeggios. If you know what notes make up the chords,
you will be able to play lines that are not limited to just the root note.

[XB26354]

+1 - learning theory without being able to read makes things all the more confusing.

[Bilbo]

If you learn the six scales in all keys:

Major
Minor
Melodic Minor
Diminished
Augmented
Chromatic

(NB I do not include pentatonics or the blues scale here because, despite their inherent usefulness, they are only really a part of the other scales and make more sense if you know what they relate to)

Everything else (and there is a lot of everything else) comes from that (including Doddy's arpeggios).

And, yes, learn to read. TAB is for lightweights

[urb]

All great advice but don't forget the value of using your ears and listening and learning music and within that, theory. Ear training and being able to hear what certain chords sound like is another skill not to be overlooked on the flip side of looking at loads of dots or frets...

[Major-Minor]

I know you are all going to get sick of me plugging my Bass Boot Camp Sessions (pinned at the top of this forum), but as these things are taking up a fair amount of my spare time, I'm sure you'll agree I have the right to plug away !!?

Calerbass:

It's sounds to me that you have a long way to go yet !
May i suggest you start with Session 20 - the first of the "Getting Started with Sight Reading" sessions.
As others have said already, once you can read (even if only the basics), you will be able to take the theory on board so much easier.
Reading music is not INSTEAD of using your ears - but AS WELL AS using your ears.

The Major