Theory Lessons.

[jeremy c]

I am making a new thread title for my theory lessons so they will be easier to find.

[jeremy c]

Theory lesson

First of all you need to know chords, chords and more chords:

Ive made a list of as many chords as I could think of at the moment and made a few notes about each one.

Major 1-3-5

Minor 1-b3-5

7 1-3-5-b7

9 1-3-5-b7-9

11 1-3-5-b7-9-11 dont ever play the 3rd

13 1-3-5-b7-9-11-13 dont ever play the 11th

Ma7 1-3-5-7

Ma9 1-3-5-7-9

Ma11 1-3-5-7-9-11 you probably wont ever see this one.

Ma13 1-3-5-7-9-11-13 you probably wont ever see this one.

m7 1-b3-5-b7

m9 1-b3-5-b7-9

m11 1-b3-5-b7-9-11

m13 1-b3-5-b7-9-11-13

6/9 1-3-5-6-9

6 1-3-5-6

m6 1-b3-5-6

m(Ma7) 1-b3-5-7

sus4 1-4-5

7sus4 1-4-5-b7

9sus4 1-4-5-b7-9

7b9 1-3-5-b7-b9

7#9 1-3-5-b7-#9

7b13 1-3-5-b7-9-b13

7b9b13 1-3-5-b7-b9-b13

7b5 1-3-b5-b7

+ 1-3-#5 also known as aug. or augmented

+7 1-3-#5-b7 augmented seventh chord

o 1-b3-b5 diminished: looks like the sign for degrees

o7 1-b3-b5-bb7 double flat seven is of course the same note as 6

1-b3-b5-b7 same symbol with a diagonal line through it. This is known as a half-diminished chord. (sorry I cant put this symbol into my post)

m7b5 1-b3-b5-b7 same chord as half-diminished.

add 9 1-3-5-9

sus2 1-2-5 (I know we already had a debate about this name, but I see it often)

5 1-5 or 1-5-8 the famous power chord. 1 and 5 only. Technically not a chord because it only has two notes.

There may be more, there are always more.

First of all, if you expect to play jazz, you must know all of these. You must know them instantly, if you have to stop and think, you dont know them well enough. You should know fingerings for all these chords, at least one fingering, but two would be nice and three would be nicer. You should know fingerings that have no open strings (moveable fingerings) and fingerings that do include open strings. You should be able to play the notes in any order or any octave.

The Simandl bass method has a nice exercise about 2/3 way through the book which takes major triads and mixes them up in various orders using the whole range of the bass. You could create similar exercises for other types of chords. And of course explore various possibilities on how to finger all this stuff.

Of course we know that 9=2, 11=4, 13=6. Remember you never have to play the notes in order.

It would be nice if you knew the names of all the notes in the chords, but its a little more important to be able to find them on your bass first. You should now what the various intervals sound like.

Now we want to get to the other notes that you can play beside chord notes. In general, you can fill in the spaces between chord notes with scale notes. You can also fill in the spaces between chord notes with chromatic notes.

All this works in rock as well as jazz. In jazz walking lines you want to connect one chord to another. You can use a chord note, a scale note, or one or more chromatic notes to do this.

Thats the next lesson. Ill give various examples then.

Now we get to scales. If you are playing blues scales, you are not playing jazz. Use these for making up rock riffs or soloing over the blues, please.

There are many types of scales and modes. Jamey Aebersolds teaching materials feature a this scale goes with this chord method. This is a method for soloists. Many older jazz players hate this approach and insist that your style must start with chords. Im in the middle somewhere.

As we start filling in the spaces between the chord notes with scale notes, the normal major notes 2,4, and 6 dont always work. For instance on a diminished or half-diminished chord they wont work at all. On a half-diminished chord the appropriate scale is usually a locrian scale, 1-b2-b3-4-b5-b6-b7.

Daves description of a whole tone scale for a 7b5 or a +7 chord was right on, but other note choices will work as well. The diminished scale is a very hip scale, Michael Brecker plays it all the time (and he got it from John Coltrane). I cant say that I really use it in bass lines, but its a great soloing scale.

Now normally I get paid to teach this stuff in lessons, you just got it all for free. How about leaving your bass at my house to rewire as well?

Next lesson, Ill talk more extensively about modes, scales, and connecting notes. But learn your chords first!

[jeremy c]

You could organize the chords into categories.

I major chords:

major, 6, Ma7, 6/9, add9, Ma9

I minor chords:

minor, m6, m7, m(Ma7)

V chords:

7,9,13, 7b9, 7#9,7b13,7b9,7b9b13,+7,7b5

II chords:

minor,m7,m9,m11

II chords in minor keys:

m7b5 (also known as half-diminished)

suspended chords (often used as V chords):

sus4,7sus4,9sus4,11

other:

+, o

Lesson on connecting coming soon!

[jeremy c]

Theory lesson 2

Today I am going to talk about the non-chord notes you may use.

I am writing out my examples using numbers. These numbers always refer to the major scale. Figure out your own fingering. I cant notate any rhythms using normal text format, youre on your own for figuring out what I mean. Normally thats why people take lessonsits hard to figure out what things sound like from a book unless you are a good reader, and if you are a good reader than you probably dont need lessons.

First of all, since most chords have some types of 1s, 3s, 5s and 7s, the remaining notes are 2, 4, and 6.

In major and dominant chords, the 6th is the safest note to use.

This gives us such basic one or two measure patterns such as:

1 3 5 6 8 6 5 3 (quarter notes)

11 33 55 65 (eighth notes)

1 6 5 3

1 3 5 6 5 (play a dotted quarter for the first note, eighths for the others)

1 3 5 6 5 6 5 3

and with 7th chords,

1 3 5 6 b7 6 5 3

11 35 b75 65

11 85 b76 53

158 b76b7 1b71 b76b7 8 (in the third group play the b7 below the 1this is like the groove for Fire by the Ohio Players)

and many other combinations.

You can get the classic Motown sound by playing:

8568 568 568 565 (sorry, youll just have to figure out where the ties gothe first note is the only one on a downbeat)

The next note to consider is the 2nd.

You can play:

1 23 568 and get something that sounds like the My Girl guitar riff.

1 23 565

and many other combinations.

Notice in all the examples that I give, you still are outlining 135 or 135 and b7.

The 4th is a dangerous note, if you land on it, it will sound like you changed chords. You can still use it as a melodic passing tone, such as:

1 8 33455 6 5

Just listen to what you play and see if it works.

All the above works on minor chords as well, but you have to be careful with the 6th.

Sometimes the 6th note will not work at all, you should be able to hear when it doesnt.

This is dependent on whether you a playing a minor 7 chord or are actually in a minor key and will lead us into a discussion of 4 kinds of minor scales, natural, harmonic, melodic and dorian. Thats in a future lesson.

A few minor examples:

1 2 b3 2 1 1 5 b7 5 1

11 2 b3 88 5 b3 1

Next it is time for chromatic passing tones.

Examples:

11 34#45 5b75 6

5 b7 7 8 8 (downbeat is on the first 8)

11 2b33 565

88 33 44 #4#4 55 66 b7b7 77

Notice once again that the chromatic notes are in between the chord and scale notes, and the 1 3 5 and b7 are still prominent.

Now its walking time.

The following are all examples of 4 quarter notes per bar.

Were playing a blues. The first bar has a C7 chord. The second bar will start with an F7.

Here are a few of the multitude of possibilities:

All chord notes:

1353 CEGE going to F

1535 CGEG

1135 CCEG

1358 CEGC

1531 CGEC

1585 CGCG

a few scale notes:

1356 CEGA

1235 CDEG

1653 CAGE

1231 CDEC

1123 CCDE

8b765 C Bb A G

a few chromatic notes:

1 2 b3 3 C D Eb E

135b5 C E G Gb

1 #1 2 3 C C# D E

1 6 5 b5 C A G Gb

185b5 CC G Gb

Thats 17 choices for measure one. If you came up with 17 choices for each measure and then mixed them up, you would have 17x17 x17 x17 x17 x17 x17 x17 x17 x17 x17 x17 or some number (which is too big for my calculator to show) in the range of 10 to the 16th power or a one with 16 zeros after it as the number of ways you could walk through a blues.

Have fun!

Next lesson: Scales.

[jeremy c]

Lesson 3

 

Scale Fragments

 

We will get to entire scales in the next lesson. Please be patient.

 

First of all we will start with scale fragments. Since we are bass players, one common goal is to connect one chord with another.

 

A typical chord change is I to IV or C to F.

 

We can play some sort of bass line on the C and when it is time to get to the F, we play the scale notes:

CDE or 123 and that will get us to the F.

If you are going from any chord to any other chord, you could use scale notes to get there, its just a matter of how much time you have and what rhythm you play the connecting notes in.

The only major exception would be if you are going from a Cm7b5 chord (half diminished) to an F (which is probably some kind of F7). Then your connection notes should be

CdbEb or 1 b2 b3. If Im walking, Ill often play 1b2b3b5

 

Now lets talk about scales going down.

 

There are four ways to walk down from C to F.

Ill give you the four ways to walk down and explain each one as I go.

 

C B A G 8 7 6 5 Use this to walk from a C major chord to any kind of F chord

C Bb A G 8 b7 6 5 Use this to walk from C7 to F or F7 or from Cm7 to F or F7

C Bb Ab G 8 b7 b6 5 Use this to walk from C7 to Fm or from Cm7 to Fm7

C Bb Ab Gb 8 b7 b6 b5 Use this to walk from Cm7b5 (half diminished) to C7

 

End of lesson.

[jeremy c]

Lesson 4

 

Scales part 1.

 

I know weve been waiting a long time to get to this. Many teachers teach this at the beginning. I strongly recommend waiting until you thoroughly know your chords and connections before working on scales.

 

First of all there is a major scale:

 

CDEFGABC

Or in numbers 12345678

 

People talk about the modes all the time. Apart from Greek history, modes come from starting a new scale on various notes of a major scale.

 

This would give you:

CDEFGABC Ionian

DEFGABCD Dorian

EFGABCDE Phrygian

FGABCDEF Lydian

GABCDEFG Mixolydian

ABCDEFGA Aeolian

BCDEFGAB Locrian.

 

This is nice information and useful to practice but you arent going to learn much usable information for a bass player.

 

Lets try it a different way. I will name all the notes starting on C and give the scale numbers.that way well see how each mode differs from the major scale

 

C D E F G A B C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ionian (Major)

C D Eb F G A Bb C 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 8 Dorian

C Db Eb F G Ab Bb C 1 b2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 8 Phrygian

C D E F# G A B C 1 2 3 #4 5 6 7 8 Lydian

C D E F G A Bb C 1 2 3 4 5 6 b7 8 Mixolydian

C D Eb F G Ab Bb C 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 8 Aeolian (Natural minor)

C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 8 Locrian

 

Practicing (and hearing) the scales this way makes much more sense for a bass playerafter all you still need to know where the 1 and 5 is at all times.

 

Once again, youre on your own for fingerings. I could suggest things, but then you wouldnt be finding the notes yourself.

 

The three most important scales for a bass player to know are Major, Mixolydian and Dorian. Number four is the Aeolian or natural minor. The next lesson will cover minor scales and minor keys.

 

If we are playing a major chord, or are playing simple music in a major key, we can use any note in the major scale. Once again an explanation of what a key is will come in a future lesson.

 

Imagine a C chord strummed over and over. Now just take the notes in a major scale and make something up.

 

Now try a chord progression like //C /Dm /Em /F /G /Am /G /C //

It is possible to play all kinds of basslines over these chords where you hit the root on the downbeat and play a variety of notes in between. And it is perfectly possible and logical to play only notes which are in the C scale.

 

Next is the Mixolydian scale. It is just like the major scale, except that the 7th is flatted. And guess what, it works on a 7th chord, which is just like a major chord, except that it includes a b7. (as in 1 3 5 b7 or C E G Bb).

 

Now we have someone strumming a C7 chord. Use the Mixolydian to make up basslines.

 

Next we have the Dorian scale. Once again, it is like a major scale, except that it has a b3 and a b7. And there is a chord which has a b3 and a b7: a minor 7 chord.

 

Strum a Cm7 chord and make up things using your Dorian scale. Most slap riffs use this scale. If we are in a minor key---this wont always work, but if we are staying on a m7 chord for any length of time, Dorian is a pretty good option.

 

OK, there are a few modes left.

 

We use an Aeolian in minor keys: such as when you have two chords, Am and Dm, or three chords Am, Dm and Em. More on that in the future.

 

You use a Locrian over minor seven flat five chords (half diminished). Remember that a m7b5 chord has b3 b5 and b7 and the scale has these notes as well as b2, 4, and b6.

 

Now were getting to the final two.

 

A Lydian mode has a sharp 4. This scale is an option, perhaps the second option, for soloing over a major seventh chord. George Russell wrote an entire book about this concept and taught it to all his musicians.

 

A Phrygian has b2, b3, b6, and b7. It is sort of Spanish sounding, please no offense to any native speakers or Spaniards. Youre not going to use it a whole lot, maybe on III chords (if you know what they are and when you are on them and youre not thinking in the home key) or maybe on a chord progression which goes from Cm7 to DbMa7.

 

The next lesson will cover many of the artificial scales, or scales which are not derived from the major scale.

[RobT]

Thank you jeremyc. I know I can never get enough of this stuff!!!!

[Cowbell]

Wow, I'm very glad you posted all this information for us. Thanks a ton jeremy.

 

Also, thats pretty amazing that you can post all that in just 5 minutes!

[ClarkW]

Putting together music theory is like doing a 10,000-piece puzzle that takes your whole life.

 

I feel like I just cheated and found a big chunk of 100 pieces all stuck together straight out of the box because the die-cutter didn't chop them all the way through.

 

For some reason, lessons were presented such that they built upon the foundation that I already had without trying to make me relearn something, and also managed to enlighten me and further my knowledge significantly.

 

You mentioned that people usually pay you for this sort of thing, and you're doing it for free for us here. Honestly, I don't know what I could pay you for something that was...priceless.

 

My gratitude and sincere thanks will just have to do for now.

[Dan South]

This is great stuff!! The key here is that when you start thinking about the relationships between notes, you can play grooves in any key, because music is no longer a matter of SPECIFIC notes, but about intervalic relationships that can be moved from key to key.

 

Hey, that "Classic Motown Groove" reminds me of "Like A Virgin."

 

[Soulquarian]

Could you go into detail and break down what minor and major chords are exactly? I don't understand anything about them except that I play the roots. I never learned them, but I've always been too embarrassed to ask another musician. Thanks!

[Mike F.]

ive been thinking also about a payment for the afforementioned services and the answer i have is to attempt to order one of youre cd's, i downloaded a couple of the songs some time ago, and while its not my normal thing, im attempting to grow a bit.

 

also my request, could we attempt to remove the other posts from this thread besides jeremy's for an ease of archiving, possibly making it a locked thread for jeremy?

 

please please dont make me put on the flame suit for the question, i mean no offense to the others that have posted here, i just want to make it easier for everyone to print.

 

if enough people find this disagreeable, ill just sit in the corner and shut up again

[Jode]

"I know all the music theory there is to know, basically."

 

Yngwie Malmsteen, 1988

 

Asshole.

[jeremy c]

I certainly don't mind replies, it lets me know if I'm on the right track and my lessons make sense to enough people.

[Mike F.]

im sorry i dont mean it that way, but i cant seem to convey myself very well over this medium

 

and they would make perfect sense to me if i could figure out how to play a chord now...

 

and actually i should retract that, ive managed a few, they just sound awful so it makes me think im barking up the wrong tree, but im getting the hand positions a bit better and i see the simalarity (sp) between the scales ive been looking at and the chords now

[davebrownbass]

Originally posted by Soulquarian:

Could you go into detail and break down what minor and major chords are exactly? I don't understand anything about them except that I play the roots. I never learned them, but I've always been too embarrassed to ask another musician. Thanks!

I'll bus in and answer this one...that way Jeremy can stay focused on his developing walking bass lines.

 

A Chord: in it's most basic form, it's the Root-Third-Fifth note of a scale. (Also called a triad.) As you can see, this definition is VERY basic; however each of the chord above ('cept the suspensions and power chord) uses the R-3-5 as the basis of a more complex chord.

 

It is vital to learn this chart:

 

ace

bdf

ceg

dfa

egb

fac

gbd

 

That's all the chords there are. Of course, they are altered in all kinds of ways. For example: d-f-a in this form is the D minor chord (more on that later)...but when you play it in the key of D, F becomes F# and you have D major.

 

By the same token, play dfa in the key of Ab and you get Db-F-Ab (Db major chord.) Play it in the key of E and you get D#-F#-A and you get the D diminished chord.

 

And so on. Every key uses each chord in the above list exactly once.

 

INTERVALS: An interval is the musical distance between 2 notes. All intervals of the same quality sound similiar, and have the same emotional content. For example. D-F is a minor 3rd. E-G is a minor third. D-F# is a Major third.

 

INTERVALS IN SCALES: An easy way to organize intervals in your head is to account for them when applied to a scale. A Major or minor scale has 8 unique intervals...a chromatic scale has all 12 unique intervals.

 

D E F# G A B C# D is the D major scale. It (as well as ANY major scale) contains the following intervals.

 

M=Major

m=minor

d=diminished

p=Perfect

 

D-E is M(ajor)2

D-F# is a M3

D-G is a P4

D-A is a P5

D-B is a M6

D-C# is a M7

D-D is a P8

 

Notice...in the major scale, all the intervals are either Major or Perfect. That's a really good reference point to know.

 

Now...let's look at the notes we left out:

 

D-Eb is a m(inor)2

D-F is a m3

D-G# is an Augmented 4, which equals

D-Ab a diminished 5. These two "enharmonic" (enharmonic means sounds the same, spelled differently) intervals are very important.

D-Bb is a m6

D-C is a m7 (also called a "Dominant Seventh" because this interval occurs naturally in a dominant chord.(A Dominant chord is a chord based on the fifth scale step)

 

That's all the intervals. Now, let's define Major and Minor Chords:

 

A Major Chord is ANY chord which contains a Major Third and Perfect Fifth above it's root. D-F#-A, CEG, Bb-D-F. Notice that these chords are altered by the key signature of the scale, which automatically turns the third Major (All Major Scales have Major thirds.) In D-F#-A, F# belongs in the key of D, forcing a major third. In Bb-D-F, Bb is the root note of Bb major, again, forcing a Major third Bb-D

 

A Minor Chord is any chord which contains a minor third and Perfect Fifth above it's root. D-F-A, C-Eb-G, B-D-F or Bb-Db-F are all minor chords. Again...look at the key signature...In this case...D-F#-A (Major Chord) has it's third lowered to F nat....voila...a minor chord.

 

There are 2 other basic chord forms:

 

An Augmented Chord is any chord with a M3 and Aug. 5 C-E-G#

 

A diminished Chord is any chord with a m3 and dim. 5 C-Eb-Gb.

 

Now...how does this apply to you? You must learn how to play these intervals...there are several ways. I just can't seem to figure out how to describe it without a fingerboard diagram.

 

Let's give it a shot. Major Third: Play a second finger anywhere on the A string. Now, without moving your hand, play a first finger on the D string. (an example: D-F#, fifth and fourth frets, respectively.)

 

Minor Third: Play a third finger anywere on the A String. Now, without moving your hand, play a first finger on the D string. (an example: D-Fnat, fifth and third frets, respectively.)

 

Minor Third, alternate and useful fingering:

 

Play a first finger on any note on any string. Then, play 4 on the same string, one fret per finger. That's also a minor third.

 

If you play the conventional major scale fingering for any major scale, you get all the major intervals:

 

2--4

1-2--4

1--3-4.

 

Hope that helps.

[Greg A]

Thank you so much Jeremy. You are a generous person to simply up and do this for people like me who know a certain amount of theory, but need a concise guide to make it all fit together.

In fact while I'm at it let me just say that the generosity and general coolness of the people on this forum is incredible. Thanks to you all.

 

Now I'd better get off my ass and apply this stuff...

[jeremy c]

Due to a request which I am taking seriously, we are going back to a very beginning step.

 

This is a simple lesson on the difference between major and minor without a bunch of theory to confuse you.

 

Below Ive shown how to play an E major chord and an E minor chord on a piano and on a guitar.

 

Somehow get your hands on a guitar or keyboard and play these. If you cant do that, get someone to play them for you.

 

Listen carefully. They sound different. You should be able to hear a difference. If you cant, listen some more.

 

Here are some very simple fingerings for the notes in an E major chord on your bass and the notes in an E minor chord. Have someone play the E chord for you on a guitar or piano, or tape yourself playing it and play back the tape. Now hammer on the open E string a bunch of times and then hit the other two notes from time to time. In the major chord you will be hitting then note on the fourth fret which is G# or the third of the chord (which is also the 3rd note of the scale).

 

Do the same thing with the minor chord. In the minor chord you will hit the open string E and then the note on the third fret which is G or the minor third of the chord (also known as b3).

http://home.jps.net/~jeremy/tab.gif

 

If you hit the G# on the minor chord, it will sound wrong. If you hit the G on the major chord it will sound wrong. If you cant hear this, I cant help you. http://home.jps.net/~jeremy/chords.gif

[Dan South]

Originally posted by Soulquarian:

Could you go into detail and break down what minor and major chords are exactly? I don't understand anything about them except that I play the roots. I never learned them, but I've always been too embarrassed to ask another musician. Thanks!

You've come to the right place. Dave and Jeremy have given detailed and eloquent answers to your question. I'm going to attempt to answer it in another way, actually in the simples way possible.

 

Let's think about one string. I'll randomly choose the A string for the purposes of illustration, but this works on ANY string on ANY bass, guitar, dobro, mandolin, banjo, or ukulele.

 

If you play the open A string, you're playing the note A. As you play each successive fret on the A string, you play a note that's a little bit higher in pitch each time. The pitch change from fret to fret, or from the open string to the first fret, is called a half-step because it's a small change.

 

If you move up one, two, three frets, or three "half-steps" from the open A, you have moved up to a new note that's a bit higher than A. You're moved up to C. The distance from A to C is a MINOR THIRD. It's called a THIRD, because the distance from A to C is three notes - A, B, C. And it's called minor, because if you played these two notes together (on two separate strings), they would have a somber, minor tonality to them.

 

A and C together are two-thirds of a minor chord. We only need one more note to complete the chord. We need to go up a little higher to find that note. How much higher? Four more frets above C. So that's (1) C#, (2) D, (3) D#, and (4) E. So the last note of the chord is E.

 

Put the notes together:

 

A (three frets) C (four frets) E

 

and that makes a minor chord.

 

Why did we choose E as the final note? Let's defer the answer for a minute and make a MAJOR chord starting from the same root note of A. All we really have to do is replace the minor third © with a major third. The other two notes (A and E) stay the same. To reach a MAJOR THIRD, we'll count up one, two, three, FOUR notes from A. That's (1) A#, (2) B, (3) C, and (4) C#. C# is our major third. Combine that with the A (root) and E (fifth) to make an A MAJOR chord.

 

A (four frets) C# (three frets) E

 

Only the middle note (the third) has to change to convert a minor chord to a major chord and vice versa. Hence, the third is a powerful note harmonically. The root (A) and fifth (E) are like a foundation that supports the third (C or C#), which adds the harmonic COLOR of the chord.

 

Okay, why did we go up to E in those examples? Because a chord is made of the root, third, and fifth notes of a scale. What's the A minor scale? There are different variations, but the natural minor will work for illustration.

 

A B C D E F G A

 

where

 

A = root

B = second (sometimes called the ninth)

C = third

D = fourth

E = fifth

F = sixth

G = seventh

and

A = octave (or the root note all over again)

 

Notice that E is the fifth.

 

Let's look quickly at the A MAJOR scale.

 

A B C# D E F# G# A

 

I won't spell out the intervals, but you can see that E is the fifth again. So whether you're making a major or a minor chord, the fifth is the same note.

 

Okay, let's review, but this time let's NOT use an open string. This will demonstrate that the pattern works anywhere.

 

Let's start on the G on the E string. First move up three frets from G:

 

one fret = G#

two frets = A

three frets = A# (also known as Bb)

 

Bb is our minor third to make a G minor chord. So far we have:

 

G (three frets) Bb

 

We have to move up four more frets from Bb to locate the fifth note.

 

one fret = B

two frets = C

three frets = C#

four frets = D

 

So, D is the fifth, and the G minor chord is

 

G Bb D

 

Remember, to convert this to a G major chord, all we have to do is raise the third (Bb) one fret to a B.

 

G B D

 

Got it?

 

Cool!!!

[bspangleyahoo.com]

The info contained in this thread is really useful and concise, not to mention well written. I'm posting this reply mainly to get this visible again for any begining or intermediate players with similar questions.

[davich]

Great thread, and free! Is it??

[wraub]

Thank You Jeremy.

Thank You Dave.

Thank You Dan.

 

You are some of the reasons this forum always keeps improving, and always brings me back.

You guys are the best.

 

Peace,

 

wraub

[_Sweet Willie_]

Well, this thread is cool, really cool.

 

I've read the thread a few times, but tonight I picked up my bass and started doing some arpeggios based on Jeremy's list of chords. Then I made myself try these arpeggios in a couple of different positions. Then I made myself really think about the notes I was playing -- not just the 1-3-5 or 1-3-5-6-9, but A-C#-E or Bb-D-F-G-C. Then I read the post about grouping/categorizing the chords. Oh my! And that's only 3 posts into the thread, and only the end of lesson #1!

 

This is good stuff, folks. Really useful stuff. Thanks y'all who have contributed.

 

Peace,

--sweets

 

[Luke73]

Hi, real live newbie here

 

I've been reading this forum for a few days now, and this thread has prompted me to register, and reply.

 

I want to convey a huge thanks to the likes of jeremyc, davebrownbass, Dan South, and others who take so much of their time to help others. These people are priceless! Thanks

 

The information here is invaluable to bass newbies like me, and it's really appreciated. Hopefully I can be a meaningful contributor in the future

 

Cheers,

 

Luke.

[jeremy c]

It was just pointed out to me by someone named Eric, that my keyboard pictures had mistakes in them. Shame on everyone else for not noticing.

And shame on me for making a mistake. First one I've made all year.

 

here's the picture again with the keyboards fixed.

http://members.aol.com/jeremyzone1/goodchords.gif

[_Sweet Willie_]

Bump.

 

Lotsa good stuff in this thread, especially when combined with the "Playing jazz" thread and the "chordal work" thread.

 

Peace.

[jeremy c]

Thanks for the bump, Willie. I went back an edited the keyboard picture in the earlier post. Everything is copacetic now.

[_Sweet Willie_]

I'm starting to think that this thread needs a monthly "bump." Last time I bumped it to the top was early June, so here it is again at the end of June!

 

I'm going to print it out and take it on vacation with me, along with a music notebook, and do some pencil and paper work. Who says I can't become a better player when I don't have my bass in hand?!

 

Can anybody see any next steps for where to take this theory discussion and build on what's already there?

 

Peace.

[ibescotty]

Everytime it's bumped I go back over it and get a little farther. Keep with the bumpity bump bump bump.

[Afro_Man]

I'd also like to say a huge thank you to EVERYBODY on this whole message board for all the help you have given me and others (for free too!) in the last few minutes i think i've gone from being an awful bass player to an ok one, this is priceless stuff and i will certainly be recommending this board to the few bass players i know. Once again thanks.

Afro xx