Building Great Bass Lines

If you want to be a great bass player, you need to understand chord structures and bass lines.  A great bass line is a string of notes that move smoothly from one chord to the next.  Generally the notes go up and then come down, a nice swing from low to high to low again.

I am really into studying bass and the composition of bass lines to jazz standards.

I am using my musical notation software to write walking bass lines to jazz standards.   This is giving me insights into jazz and chord structures.

My musical notation software allows me to write out a sheet of music, using the notes that I choose myself.  Then it lets me play the music back on my computer, so I can hear how the composition sounds.  If I don’t like the sound, I can change the notes to make it better.

I am studying something called “voice leading,” which means that when you play one chord (say Cm7 followed by F7), you move from the last note in C7 to the nearest note in F7, not necessarily to the root note, but to whatever note is closest.  It could be the 1^st, 3^rd, 5^th or 7^th of F7 in this example, but it can also be a passing note, a note in the respective scale that is not a note in the chord.

You could play Cm7 followed by F7 using chord notes in order:  C Eb G Bb  --  F A C Eb and it would work but sound dorky.  Using voice leading you could smooth out the bass line by playing the chords in this order:  C D Eb G, F G A C.  of course, D is not a note in Cm7 and G is not a note in F7, these are passing notes that smooth out the bass line and it sounds good.  The best use of passing notes are on the 2^nd and 4^th notes in the chord.

I am writing out a bass line to Autumn Leaves in G minor (Bb major) just to solidify my understanding.  I won’t do this for every song in my repertoire, but I will study each song separately to get the gist.

More about this later.

Minor 7th Arpeggios

To change a major 7th into a minor 7th arpeggio, you flat the third and the seventh notes.  See chart below.

Learning Double Bass: Attack On All Fronts!

Lately I am obsessed with learning to play jazz on a double bass (also called string bass, stand-up bass or acoustic bass).  I give not a scatological expression for anything else.  I get on these kicks, where I want to learn as much as I can as quickly as I can.  So I listen to jazz music, paying particular attention to the bass, I read articles on how to play jazz bass, I play exercises, I read musical scores, and I play along to backing tracks.  Lately I have even used a free musical notation program to write my own bass lines from the chord sequence of a song, e.g. "Blue Monk."

Today I finally understand what a 1-6-2-5 chord progression is.  There are many different chord progressions, all described by equally strange numeric references.  The 1-6-2-5 is used in "rhythm changes" jazz tunes, such as "I Got Rhythm."

In other words, when it comes to double bass, I am attacking on all fronts simultaneously.

Ultimately, after digesting a ton of music theory, you have to actually sound good.  So lately I have emphasized playing to backing tracks or the recordings of actual songs.  I don't want to just ad lib, I want to play the chord sequences in clever but accurate ways.  Sounding great on bass is the one overriding goal.  All the rest of it, i.e. the theory, just supports that goal.

I am in my second semester of Beginning Big Band class.  The band leader is a gigging jazz trombonist who really knows jazz and swing, and he is leaning on me to improve (he seems to like me, though).  He is always telling the brass section to "Listen to the bass!  Listen to the bass!"  The bass lays down the rhythm and chord changes that keeps the rest of the band on track.  If I screw up, the whole band can get lost, especially the soloists.  That's a lot of pressure on me not to screw up (i.e. losing my place in the song's bar sequence).

I have learned so much since beginning this class, but there is so much more to learn.

Chords in the Major Scales

Yesterday I purchased the five study packages from Scott's Bass Lessons and learned some new things.  One of the most important is that the chords in each major key always follow the same pattern.  Knowing this, you can figure out the chords in any major key you play.  You take the seven notes of the major scale and play a major chord for the 1st, a minor chord for the 2nd and 3rd, a major chord for both the 4th and the fifth, a minor chord for the sixth, and a diminished chord for the 7th.  

See the chart below.  The major scale for the Key of C is C, D, E, F, G, A, B.  SO, the chords for the key of C are C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am and B diminished.  The chart shows all chords in each major key.  The chart can be a useful reference when playing jazz or blues chord progressions.  For example, if someone tells you that the progression is a ii-V-I progression in Bb, you would know the chords referred to are Cm, F and Bb.

To better understand how chords relate to scales, see this discussion at musictheorysite.com.

Useful Chart for Major Scales (aka the Ionian Mode) and Key Signatures

Here's a chart I made in Excel of all the major scales (which are also called "the Ionian Mode"). You may find the chart helpful in learning your major scales and notes therein.  When you play each scale, say the note you are playing and it will help you learn notes in the major keys.

Another use for the chart should be to recognize your key signatures that are found on sheet music.  Up near the clef (be it treble clef or bass clef) in the uppler left hand corner of the music staff, you will generally see a number of flat symbols (b) or sharp symbols (#).  These signify the key in which the music is played.  No sharps or flats means Key of C; 1 flat is Key of F, 2 flats, Key of Bb, and so on.


For example, if there are two sharps indicated in the Key Signature, what key are we in?  Consult the column on the far right of the graphic.  Yep, we are in the Key of D.  In the rightmost column we see that the two sharps in the Key of D are F# and C#.

You can see in the chart which notes are sharp or flat for any of the twelve keys.

Here's another graphic on Key Signatures. I found this on the web at this location.  This graphic shows also the minor key associated with the major key.  (I'll explain later.)

Note that C major key is the same as A minor key.  Here's why:  the notes in the C major scale are
C D E F G A B

The notes in the A minor scale are:
A B C D E F G

The Key of C and the Key of A minor have the same notes and are therefore harmonic equivalents of each other.  Here's another example, chosen at random:

The A minor scale above is the Aeolian mode of the C major scale.  It has a distinct minor sound to it.  To play the Aeolian mode, just take the usual major scale and flat the 3rd, the 6th and the 7th notes of the major scale.

Notice the 3rd note in the A minor scale is a C.  "A major" chord is A C# E (the 1, 3 and 5 of the 7 note scale).  A C E is "A minor" chord -- the 3rd is always flatted in a minor chord, and C# becomes C.

The notes in the F major scale are F G A Bb C D E;
The notes in the corresponding minor scale of D minor are D E F G A Bb C.
Same notes, played in a different order.  The first is sounds like the first scale we learned in grade school:  Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do. The second has a spooky minor sound to it.

To find the minor equivalent of any major scale, go to the sixth note (or degree) of the major scale.  The sixth note will name the minor equivalent.  For example, in C scale, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, we see that A is the sixth note in C scale.  Therefore, A minor is the harmonic equivalent of C major.

A Road Map to Learning Bass

I have been struggling with the question for years.  What things do you need to learn to become a competent bass player?  I think I have a pretty good idea now.  First off, it's great if you have a good series of instructional videos that demonstrate the concepts herein.  I use the Bass Lessons and Tips of Dale Titus, the best series of instructions I have found yet (and they're free).  Dale has numerous videos on both music theory and bass technique, and they follow a logical sequence so that each builds on the one before. Each video is only a few minutes long and easy to watch. See a list of his videos here.  I will refer to them in this post.

Here are the steps.

1.  Learn the four strings, from top to bottom:  E, A, D, G.  Learn to tune your bass to these notes.  I suggest using an inexpensive digital tuner, which you can buy in any music store.  If you try to do it with an untrained ear, you are liable to break a string.  Your bass must be in tune before you try to learn anything.

2.  Learn how to name the notes on each string, moving from an open string to the first fret, second fret and so on.  See the simple chart on the bottom of this page.   Know what a half step is and what a whole step is.  Play each string from open to the 12th fret, naming the notes as you go.  If it helps, sit down and draw the neck and the frets on a piece of paper and then name each note on each string.

3.  Learn to play the major scales.  I suggest learning them in "Circle of 4ths Order," even if you don't have a clue as to what the Circle of 4ths is. (I'll explain later.)  Consult the chart linked above.  Learn to play each scale by memory; listen to the sounds of the notes, and say the notes out loud as you play them.  (Watch Dale's videos here, here and here.) This will train your ear and also make you learn the bass neck.  All bass runs, riffs and chords are made up of elements of the scales; learning the scales is like learning the alphabet.  You can't write novels without learning the alphabet.  You can't be a competent musician without learning the scales.  Note:  If you're a beginner, don't worry about playing the scales in a fancy way -- just play them up and back down again.  Once you learn the simple basics, you can expand from there, e.g. by playing the scales in thirds as Dale demonstrates in the videos.

Start with the C scale.  Play it carefully, making each note clear, without string rattle.  If you're new to bass, your fingertips may hurt a bit.  Don't worry, they will soon toughen up -- it's part of the process.  Play the scale forward and then backward, i.e. C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C, C-B-A-G-F-E-D-C.  It will sound like "do mi re fa sol la ti do, do ti la sol fa mi re do."  (Remember when we learned that in third grade?)

After a week or so, you should be able to play all of the scales.  Most of them are quite repetitive, you simply shift your start position to a different fret and play the same motions.

4.  Learn to play the major triads, or chords.  When playing bass with a band, you are actually playing chords, or parts of the scale.  You don't play the entire scale, generally you just play three notes when playing major chords (from the major scale):  you play the 1st (or root) note, the 3rd note, and the 5th note.  Look at the chart of major scales.  What are the notes in C major chord?  They are C, E and G (1, 3 & 5).  What are the chords in, say Bb (B Flat) major chord?  Consult the chart.  They are Bb, Db and F (B flat, D flat and F).  See this video on how to play major triads.  It is quite instructive.

5.  Learn to play the natural minor scales.  The minor scales are much like the major scales, except that the 3rd note and the 7th note are flatted.  That means they are played one fret back from where they are played on the major scale.  The sound of the scale is different so listen carefully and memorize the sound.

6.  Learn to play the minor triads, or minor chords.  A simple rule to remember is that a minor chord is just a major chord with a flatted third.  So if C, E & G are C major chord, C minor chord would be C, Eb and G.  (The "b" stands for flat).  Remember, to flat a note you just move back one fret.  If E is played on fret 7 of the A string (2nd string from the top), then Eb is played on fret 6.  See this video on how to play minor triads.

7.  Learn to play the Major Pentatonic Scale and the Minor Pentatonic Scale.  These are short and easy to learn, but they further train the ear and provide the basis for some bass lines you will use later.  Practicing them also helps develop your fingering skill.

8.  Learn the Modes.  Modes are the major scales played in a different sequence.  The different sequences produce very different sounds and further train the ear, increase knowledge of your neck, and provide the grist for bass grooves and bass lines you will learn later on (generally, ones you create yourself).

Dale Titus covers all of the modes.  Consult his link for a listing of all his videos.  I will provide charts for each mode, to give you a visual reference and perhaps make it easier for you to learn them.

The modes are these:

• Ionian Mode -- Just the major scale, no difference.
• Dorian Mode -- The major scale, but you start on the 2 and play up to the octave and back again.  For example, C major scale is C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C, and the Dorian mode of that scale is D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D. 
• Phrygian Mode -- Major scale, but start with the 3rd, e.g. for C scale this would be E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E and back down again.
• Lydian Mode -- Major scale, start and end with the 4th (F, for C Scale).
• Myxolidian Mode -- Major scale but start and end with the 5th note in the scale, which is G for C scale.
• Aeolian Mode -- Start with the 6th note in the scale, which is A for C scale.
• Locrian Mode -- Start with the 7th note in the scale, which is B for C scale

9.  Learn higher triads or chords, as follows:

• Diminished Triads
• Augmented Triads
• Major 7 Arpeggios (arpeggios are just chords, played one note at a time)
• Minor 7 Arpeggios
• Dominant 7 Arpeggios
• Minor 7 (Bb) Arpeggios
• Tritone Substitutions  (different chords sometimes have the same notes as other chords, played in different sequences.  Tritones allow you to substitute one chord for the other to create dissonant bass sounds -- great for jazz and improvization).

10.  Learning to Apply All of the Above!  The whole idea is to be able to play bass well, and these elements of knowledge will help get you there.

11.  Other Things to Learn:  Fingering and plucking techniques, slapping, harmonics, playing technique.  See Dale Titus's site for a whole list of these.

Don't get discouraged or be impatient.  If everyone could be a great bass player, it wouldn't be any fun.  Add to your knowledge and skill a bit at a time.  Imagine where you will be a month, three months, or a year from now!  Don't worry about learning the higher skills until you have mastered the basic ones.  (If Step 9 scares you, ignore it until you are ready.)

For questions, you can leave a comment or email me at stogiechomper "at" gmail.com.

UPDATE:  Dale Titus has left Dana B Goods where his great lessons are linked.  He is now teaching private bass lessons from his home in Folsom, California.  His website is here.  You can contact him through his website.

Decoding the Upright Bass: Voice Leading

A few years ago I became very interested in how a computer works, so studied various programming languages, i.e. machine language, Basic and C.  I wrote programs and debugged them, and figured out how to do things.  It was very instructional and also very intuitive.

Now I want to figure out how an upright bass works, and the program that I need to learn and apply is music theory.  Right now I am studying "voice leading," which is moving from one chord to the next, but since bassists play one note at a time, you must play the appropriate note in the "next" chord.  Specifically, you must play the closest note in the following chord to keep the intervals as small as possible.  This results in a smooth, fluid bass line.

For example, if you play F7 chord and then Bb7 chord, you could just play the straight arpeggios in order:

F7   = F, A, C, Eb
Bb7 = Bb, D, F, Ab

It would sound right but not very cool or fluid.  Instead, you might play Bb7 this way:
D, F, Ab, Bb (on the second and first stings)

Or also like this:
D, Bb, Ab, F (open D and then on the third and fourth strings)

With "voice leading" you play the nearest note in the next chord, which in this case is third of Bb, or D, as above.  Voice leading is the key to constructing professional, smooth sounding bass lines, by stringing the chords together in a fluid line.

The only way to learn to play "voice leading" chords in a bass line is to figure them out.  Take all the chord changes in the key of F (a blues key), figure out the voice leading note (or transition note), then play all the chords as a bass line.  Memorize the changes, play them like scales to instill them into your subconscious.

Shane Allessio, an accomplished upright bassist, discusses voice leading at the following link.

Learn To Read Bass Notes: The Bass Clef

Learning to read notes is not as difficult as you may think; it merely takes repetition of exercises. Reading notes is useful when studying bass riffs and exercises.

Here is the bass clef with the bass notes that are playable on a four string bass guitar or upright bass. The first two notes, low C and low D, are not playable on a four string bass, but I put them in just for theory's sake.

NOTE: Read from the bottom of the staff first. The first space note is A, followed by C, E and G (remember "All Cows Eat Grass").  Read the line notes from bottom to top also; the first line on the staff is G, followed by B, D, F and A ("Good Boys Do Fine Always").

Bass Lesson 1: Learning the Bass Neck: Notes on the Neck, Sharps and Flats

If you want to play bass, you need to know your bass neck thoroughly, and you need to be able to identify key changes and chord changes by ear and react instantly.

Let's take a look at the bass neck.  In the diagram below, the red notes depict open strings; the blue numbers depict the frets, and of course, the black notes are what you are playing.


Here's the bass neck showing only the major notes from the nut to the 12th fret:

If you move up the neck from left to right, you call the "in between" notes sharps (#) and if you move down the neck (from right to left), you call the in between notes flats (b).

Here's the bass neck, showing the sharps between major notes.

Let's get oriented. If you are playing a right-handed bass, you play the above notes with your left hand and pick the strings with your right hand. Looking down at your bass neck, the bottom string in the above graphic is actually the top string, the thickest of the four strings. That's the E string (so called because when you play that string "open," without any left hand fingers touching it, the note is E). The string below it is the A string, then the D string and finally, the G string.