(This page is part of a set. Click here to return to the main bass page.)

Introduction

I. About the Bass

Types of basses and their parts; stringing; tuning; holding the bass; string numbering; hand and finger position; musical alphabet and the fretboard; right- and left-hand exercises; first bass line.

II. Simple Bass Lines with Catchy Rhythms

String dampening; right- and left-hand finger techniques; major scales; creating bass lines using major triads; rhythmic possibilities for bass lines; the “Intergalactic Bass Rhythm” with variations; first syncopated rhythms.

III. Developing More Bass Lines and Fills

Shifting from triad to triad; building bass lines combining rhythms with triads; changing bass patterns within a song; fingering rule exceptions; minor scales; minor triads; creating bass lines for songs using major and minor triads; fills and how to use them; bass lines with slash chords.

IV. Walkups, Walkdowns and Syncopation

Walkups and walkdowns; changing positions; connecting chords; fills within sections; eighth-note fills; understanding the blues or shuffle rhythms; learning new syncopated rhythms; using syncopation with chord notes; introducing the eighth-note groove and its rhythmic possibilities.

V. Reading Tablature

Learning how to read TAB – a simple music notation common to all fretted sting instruments; rhythmic notation; time signatures; songs and licks written out in TAB

VI. Reading Standard Music Notation

Introducing standard music notation – a universal music notation common to all instruments; note values; rests; time signatures; sharps, flats and naturals; key signatures; learning to read on every string and up the fretboard with songs and licks.

Theory: Intervals, Scales, and Triads

Learning the basics about intervals; how to recognize different intervals on the bass and in music notation; how to play major and minor scales in the nine most frequently used keys; how to play major triads; minor triads, diminished triads and augmented triads.

Appendix

Button symbols; commands and shortcuts; Animated Fretboard; song looping; tools (Metronome, Recorder, and Finger Tracker); bass set-up; amplifying the bass; Instant Feedback.