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june 4, 2021
Morning, Gemini! I've recently been into playing the Bass
guitar... It's a pretty awesome instrument and I've been on
it since December.
Music in general is cool. You got major scales
C D E F G A B C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1
You can play a major scale in any key with the system:
10111101
(Where 1 is a whole step, and 0 is a half-step)
Each major scale has a corrisponding minor scale:
A B C D E F G A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1
You can play a minor scale in any key with:
1011011
(the two above use all the same keys, only starting in
different places)
Chords aren't played that often on bass, but they're
important. You can make a C major chord by:
This is called a "C Major 7", because it goes up to B, the
7th note in the scale. 7-chords are super popular in jazz,
and you can just as easily play "C E G" without the B.
Also this works for all notes, not just C!
You can play a minor C chord by:
That's all! Nice.
There are progressions, like 245, usually written in roman
like "ii V I" to denote minor/major keys in lower/uppercase.
A ii V I progression in C is:
D G C
Because D is the 2nd note in a C scale, G is the 5th, and C
is the 1st (or "root"). This progression is a popular jazz
progression, and it's used in "Sunday Morning" by Maroon 5.
You rest your thumb on the top (largest) string, lifting it
when it needs to be played.
You play with your index and middle fingers, always
alternating.
You should find ways to silence the other strings that
aren't being played. This usually doesn't take much.
Play lots of major, minor, and chromatic scales in a few
octaves and read some sheet music.
Play songs you like, listen to cool bass guys on YouTube.
To play an octave on a bass, play an open string, then the
12th fret, OR:
Music is cute, still trying to figure it out...