Learning Notes

[4stringheavy]

Hi all! I've been playing the bass for about year or two now and I have no problem learning tabs but I don't know the notes on the fretboard. Any suggestions on any good practice procedures for this? I also plan on taking lessons for this in the future. Just at a point to where I would like to create my own bass lines but I feel like I'm stuck because I don't know the note part of it.

THanks.

[Phil W]

Sing or say each note name as you play it.

Don't touch tab, it is evil.

Well, not exactly, but in isolation without learning to read any proper music or learn music by ear it is.

Find a beginners' bass book. Play every note up and down each string and name it, play every scale and name the notes, play around the cycle of fourths and name the notes.

 

I also recommend getting a teacher as soon as possible..but it's easy to learn the names of the notes from a book.

[fingertalkin]

Try this site: http://www.studybass.com/

[4stringheavy]

Thanks guys for the input! When I got the first reply from Phil I went downstairs and got started. It is helping alot.

Finger, thanks for the link. I just started that web site.. It looks pretty great. I'll definately be going through the whole lesson thing on that web site and see how it goes. Thanks again fellas.

[Nicklab]

I definitely agree with Phil on getting a good teacher. One of the most valuable lessons I ever had with my teacher was when we actually drew the neck of the bass and we mapped out the location of every note. It was something I could always look back at whenever I felt the need. And along with that we worked on playing a note and saying the name of the note. These exercises can sound mundane, but they're geared towards getting that knowledge base that you really need built.

[Rocky McDougall]

I have my students play all scales and name the notes outloud, even when they are alone. I think it is more effective than just thinking the note in your mind. If you can't download a bass neck fretboard with notes, make your own.

[Bottom End]

Play each note and name it, and play that note on each fret it occurs on the fretboard.

 

Play that same not wherever it occurs on one string, then go to the next.

 

Once you know that note's location everywhere, add the note, and it's fifth, everywhere; then the thrid, then the octave, eveywhere. This is what I've been doing lately and it really makes me more comfortable in adding fills and building lines.

 

Also, get familiar which notes you can play other than the root; like if the guitar goes to a G, you may be able to hang out on the D.

 

Get a cvopy of "Standing in the Shadows of Motown, and learn how Jamerson made melodic lines that comlimented the singing, but made the song.

[4stringheavy]

I really appreciate the help everyone has given me in these forums. I have been on other forums and not gotten any help at all before. I'm really glad I joined here. Thanks again.

[jlrush]

Cool, hope you stick around. And BTW, welcome to the forum.

[5 string Mike]

...

Don't touch tab, it is evil.

Well, not exactly, but in isolation without learning to read any proper music or learn music by ear it is.

...

 

Bingo

 

Tabs are sometimes good if you are trying to learn a song and need a quick & dirty overview, but they aren't going to teach you how to be a bass player. In reality, 90% of the tabs out there are wrong anyways.

 

There is a wealth of great information here. I'd suggest the 'welcome to the lowdown' thread as something to look at. There is a good variety of stuff in there.

 

...Just at a point to where I would like to create my own bass lines but I feel like I'm stuck because I don't know the note part of it.

THanks.

 

If you want to write your own stuff, great. Just remember it's not always as easy as it looks so don't get discouraged if you aren't playing like your hero in a week. As you learn the notes, the next step is to understand how they relate to each other through keys, chords, scales, etc. It might seem a little too technical at first, but a good place to start is to understand basic chord structure- like the difference between a major chord and a minor chord and the 'root, third, fifth' language, for example. That will help you write lines that sound good and make sense. As you learn the notes and how they relate to chords, etc. you'll start seeing the connection as to why, like in Bottom End's example, if the guitar is in G, you can play something in D.

 

I'd also like to suggest blues as a good genre to learn how to build lines. Blues, rockabilly, that kind of stuff uses a lot of 'walking' bass lines and it helped me tremendously to understand the relationships between chords and notes, where they were on my bass, and how the same notes can be used in so many different ways to make different lines for the same song.

 

Stick with it and before long, you'll be rocking the bottom in no time

 

Good luck and welcome.

[Eric VB]

Another vote for finding a qualified bass instructor.

 

I agree with what everyone has said so far to a point.

 

The problem is dealing with actual pitches. There may be 8 locations to play an "E" on a 4-string bass, but they're not all the same octave. Do the freboard-to-pitch maps take this into account? If so, are they using Helmholtz (which variation) or scientific pitch notation? What do I do if I have to switch between different systems? Is it EE = E1 and e' = E4?

 

Do these notations provide enough of a mental framework for someone to truly internalize the language we call music? Or is it still necessary to introduce a piano keyboard as a visual reference?

 

If at a later date we decide to learn another music interface (another instrument), how can we take what we learned on bass with us? The notes are all the same, we just produce them differently.

 

Well, there's already a standard written language for music. And it works with any instrument you play. And it can visually show intervals just like a piano keyboard. It's standard music notation, i.e. "sheet music".

 

I'm not saying everyone needs to learn standard notation to the point of being able to sight read. I'm just saying it's not a bad system for learning music.

 

True, standard notation itself isn't going to teach someone music theory (as a tool to compose music), but music theory can be taught using standard notation.

[4stringheavy]

Everything you all have posted really sounds great. I have never even thought of starting to learn bass like you guys have explained in your posts. All this info is going to put me in a direction I didn't even think of going to. And your quote 5 string.....

 

"If you want to write your own stuff, great. Just remember it's not always as easy as it looks so don't get discouraged if you aren't playing like your hero in a week."

 

I know that won't happen anyway. Flea is my insperation and trying to be like that guy is pretty near impossible.

I don't want to be like him, but I do love the style he has. I want to be me but be able to play the type of music that I like, which is a very wide array of funk, blues, jazz, rock, and others. Thank you all again very much. This is all helping me greatly.

[Rocky McDougall]

If you would like to learn about music theory and how it relates to what you want to accomplish, I would recommend going to Wikipedia and looking under "Music Theory" it has endless information that will help you. Start with what is "Theory" and "Scales". It is a great place to start your adventure.

Rocky

[getz out]

Find a teacher. Take a music theory class. Learn some keyboard.

[...]

Find a teacher. Take a music theory class. Learn some keyboard.

 

But that's hard and requires something resembling discipline. Can't I just take a magic pill or play video games, fall asleep, and wake up with mad skilz?