xvincex Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Ok here is the situation, I always played bass using FRET NUMBERS instead of the notes names.... I always played by earing or songwriting, now I actually I want to buy some medium-advanced guitar bass tabs books to develop my skills. I have played piano for 10 years so I have no problem with READING the notes etc.. I'd just like to know if there is any good books out there who could help me to learn the basics of what note is which fret on the bass etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a boy named sue Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 You already know how to work it out...EADG and a semi-tone for each fret. I'd buy some "play along with the CD" music and play from the sheet music; eg. Bach for bass (I've only heard about this one), Standing in the shadows of motown (too many notes for me ) or What duck done (probably best for learning to read on IMHO). A man is not usually called upon to have an opinion of his own talents at all; he can very well go on improving them to the best of his ability without deciding on his own precise niche in the temple of Fame. -- C.S.Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xvincex Posted August 24, 2004 Author Share Posted August 24, 2004 How are bass tabs represented in books? Any screenshot please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a boy named sue Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 No bass tabs. Just sheet music. Turn on the CD and do your best to keep up...repeat. A man is not usually called upon to have an opinion of his own talents at all; he can very well go on improving them to the best of his ability without deciding on his own precise niche in the temple of Fame. -- C.S.Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xvincex Posted August 24, 2004 Author Share Posted August 24, 2004 Oh, so just like piano books right? My bass is tuned C#,G#,C#,F# which is pretty low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbroni Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 If you tune CGCF then there aren't gonna be any tabs for you. Who cares tab sucks if you know how to read piano then why can't you read for bass. Or why would you revert to lowly tab? The notes are linear starting from where you have it tuned. Think of each string as a seperate piano, with a different starting point. The notes ascend with the fret number. I can't think of one scale or chord book in the world that would work with your tuning, thats not bad. Your situation is different. That is a good thing that you try different tunings, but will be difficult for learning basics. I know what you are going thru. I am also self taught, and I feel like there are holes in my knowledge and I don't know how to ask the right questions to fill the gaps. The notes go in order. C-C#-D-D#-E-F-F#-G-G#-A-A#-B-C Note: there is no E# or B #. Just start from you open note on the c string. Fret 1 would be C#, Fret 2 would be D and just climb up from there. On the G string, fret 1 would be G#, fret 2 would be A. I hope this isn't insulting your intelligence, I'm not sure what you are asking. Anyway you can tune any way you want. The notes climb up with each Fret in the order I describe above. Playing every note including the black keys in a sequential pattern from middle C on the piano to the next octave of C is the same as playing every fret in order on your bass. Together all sing their different songs in union - the Uni-verse. My Current Project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xvincex Posted August 24, 2004 Author Share Posted August 24, 2004 Oh damn it's very easy then. Yeah I know bass tabs wouldn't fit my actual tuning. I've got a second bass tuned EADG though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Originally posted by xvincex: I have played piano for 10 years so I have no problem with READING the notes etc.. I'd just like to know if there is any good books out there who could help me to learn the basics of what note is which fret on the bass etc...Check out this website. HTH Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PickPunk Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 just curious being a new comer to this whole theory business, how come there isnt an E# or B# on the fretboard? peace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLroomtempJ Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 an e# is an f a b# is a c. by the same measure, a Cb is a b an Fb is an E sharping or flatting a note is going above or below it by a half step. jason 2cor5:21 Soli Deo Gloria "it's the beauty of a community. it takes a village to raise a[n] [LLroomtempJ]." -robb My YouTube Channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a boy named sue Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Originally posted by PickPunk: just curious being a new comer to this whole theory business, how come there isnt an E# or B# on the fretboard? peaceSimply because there isn't! The notes are named so that you don't get sharps or flats in C major or its relative minor (A min ?). Don't worry (too much)about what the note is called, just worry about its relationship to the starting note of the key of the song (and the last note you played). eg for C major you have I V VIII being C G C etc. (I may have the capital and lower case mixed up here). The 'relationship' simply means how many semi-tones to get to that note -- this is different to the number of scale notes in between the two notes. this is a good place to start. The white notes got to be letters to black ones didn't! The next question is, why are the frets spaced as they are? Bach invented even temper so that pieces could be played in all keys without retuning (cause his bass player didn't own a fretless bass -- and the transpose function on his keyboard wasn't working), the frequency of each note is the 12th root of two times the one before eg 42Hz, 44.49Hz...84Hz. (Hz -- cycles per second) However, some (non-western) musical traditions tune in steps smaller than semi-tones and have 24 (say) notes to an octave. When I sing I often refer to these other traditions. When I play bass I can't see any reason for notes other than I-V-VIII.... A man is not usually called upon to have an opinion of his own talents at all; he can very well go on improving them to the best of his ability without deciding on his own precise niche in the temple of Fame. -- C.S.Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cthulhu Fhtagn Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Originally posted by xvincex: Ok here is the situation, I always played bass using FRET NUMBERS instead of the notes names.... I always played by earing or songwriting, now I actually I want to buy some medium-advanced guitar bass tabs books to develop my skills.What is a "medium-advanced guitar bass tab"? Tabs is tabs. You can get tabs for some music which are nothing but major chord quarter notes, or you can get tabs of some of Claypools stuff that look like a year's worth of "pick six" drawing. My suggestion would be to part with about $25 US and pick up the Bass Tab White Pages (unless I waaaaay don't understand what you are talking about). There you have the tab, the notation, and the tuning. You will probably hear this 700 times on this forum, you will be better served by learing to read the sheet music. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a boy named sue Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Originally posted by tom rivet: The next question is, why are the frets spaced as they are? Bach invented even temper so that pieces could be played in all keys without retuning (cause his bass player didn't own a fretless bass -- and the transpose function on his keyboard wasn't working), the frequency of each note is the 12th root of two times the one before eg 42Hz, 44.49Hz...84Hz. (Hz -- cycles per second) However, some (non-western) musical traditions tune in steps smaller than semi-tones and have 24 (say) notes to an octave. When I sing I often refer to these other traditions. When I play bass I can't see any reason for notes other than I-V-VIII.... [/QB] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_tuning for a much less funny explanation A man is not usually called upon to have an opinion of his own talents at all; he can very well go on improving them to the best of his ability without deciding on his own precise niche in the temple of Fame. -- C.S.Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Capasso Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 vince - yeah - just start reading. You clearly know what notes are on the bass. Take some of your old beginner piano books and read the bass clef (left hand) parts. If you aren't sure if it sounds right, play the piano to check!! For the "more mature" among us, the original post reminded me of the guides to learn to play those air-driven organs popular in the 60's - the ones with the chord buttons. Many had the notes or numbers on the keys...or the music was written with numbers. Tom www.stoneflyrocks.com Acoustic Color Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground. - Theodore Roosevelt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenLoy Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 Okay, you know notation on piano, right? Music for bass is written on the bass clef. It's written an octave higher than it's played. You know how to play this note on the piano, right? http://benloy.com/BassClef.jpg When you play that note on the bass, it'll sound like this: http://benloy.com/TubaClef.jpg This is because most of the notes on the electric bass are so low that they would be difficult to read if written as they sound on the grand staff. Because of this, they're written an octave higher so that they lie within the staff and are easy to read. Grab your bass (the one you have tuned EADG) and sit in front of the piano. Start by finding your open E, A, D, and G strings. Next, find the C I just showed you (hint: it's on the A string somewhere between the nut and the 5th fret). Find the fingering for a C major scale. It'll be easy on piano, but not so easy on bass. If you start doing this and get frustrated, find a teacher. Having someone actually sit with you and show you these concepts will be easier. I can also recommend Rufus Reid's "The Evolving Bassist" as a good book to start with getting used to reading notes on the bass. It starts with open strings and moves to chromatic scales and major scales and arpeggios. It also immediately starts applying these scales and arpeggios to commonly used jazz chord symbols right away, which'll give you a leg up when you start reading charts...but I'm getting ahead of myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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