Altered Major Chord

Hi,

A common alteration on the major chord is to add a #11.

The formula of a Cmaj7#11 is 1 3 5 7 #11

#11 is to raise the 4th degree by half step.

4th in C is a F. Raise half a step is F#.

So the chord tone in a Cmaj7#11 is C E G B F#.

You can easily improvise over the Cmaj7#11 with the C major Pentatonic or Lydian scale.

Have Fun!

Simple Chord Tone Solo

Hi,

Ever thought of starting a song with some simple solo bass lines?

The easiest way is to play chord tone (1 3 5 7) at a higher register.

Playing the guide tone (3rd, 7th) is a good way to solo.

You can practice soloing over a ii V I progression.

If we are in the key of D, you will have Em7 A7 Dmaj7.

Find the chord tones around the 12th fret or higher and experiment.

Most people will tell you to avoid playing the root note when you solo.

So find the 3rd and 7th note of each chord.

Em7 - G D
A7 - C# G
Dmaj7 - F# C#

When you are comfortable, slowly add other notes in the D major scale as your passing notes.

Have fun trying.

Simple Bossa Nova

Hi,

We are going to try playing Bossa Nova on the bass.

You can also try a simple progression like Gmaj7 Cmaj7 Gmaj7 Am7 D7 Gmaj7.

There are more complicated Bossa Nova progression that you can discover on the web.

Enjoy and have fun.

Rhythm Slap

Hi,

This rhythmic exercise can give our slapping a drumming feel.

 




The pattern is TPTT | slTPT

Just try it slow and repeat the pattern.

T is thumb (slap)
P is Pluck (pop)
sl is to slap the fretboard using your fretting hand

If you are having difficulties with the above pattern, my suggestion is to try one pattern first.

E.g. TPTT | TPTT - repeat or slTPT | slTPT - repeat

Some Bass Players to listen to for such slapping are:

1. Mark King
2. Anthony Wellington
3. Alexis Sklarevski
4. Yoshihiro Naruse (Casiopea)

Have fun.

First Inversion

Hi,

We will be playing the first inversion for a ii V I progression in C.

The tabs are below and very easy to follow.

You can use that as a simple walking bass line.








The concept is simple but the music is great.

Have fun.

Approach Notes

Hi,

This exercise shows you how to approach the chord tone from one note below.

We will use the C chord for this exercise. The notes in a C chord are C E G.






Your playing will sound more jazzy using this method.

Have fun!

Palm Mute

Hi,

Palm muting is a guitar technique to muffle the strings slightly.
To achieve this sound, place your palm just over the saddles on the bridge.
Most of the time I use my thumb to play the notes but bass player like Gary Willis will include his index and middle finger.
You can create the pedal rock sound using the palm mute technique.

Have fun.

Parametric EQ

Hi,

I am not technical enough to explain the function of a Parametric EQ but just share with you what I use.

I have been using the Yamaha NE-1 Parametric EQ for many years and I must say that it is a helpful tool to get a good tone on my bass. Once you use it, you will not want to do without it.

Usually a Parametric EQ device consists of 3 main elements: frequency, level and bandwidth.
The above NE-1 is easy to use because I just need to select either Deep or Shallow and adjust the frequency to my liking.

For those who are more technical, you can try out some units with two bands of Parametric EQ which is more precise. Some bass amps and mixing boards have build-in Parametric EQ as well.

You can research further if you are keen to understand the technology.

Major Pentatonic Scale

Hi,

Pentatonic scale is one of the favorite scales for guitarists and bassists.

This is another way of playing the major pentatonic scale fast (esp slapping).

The above is a G major pentatonic scale and you can play that over a Gmaj7, Em7 or Am7.

If you have a smart phone, you can try to download this application called 'Chordbot'.

This app allowed you to key in any chords for self practice.

Chordbot Lite is free and if you like it so much, you can download the full version at a nominal fee.

Have fun!

Tritone Bassline in Blues

Hi,

In the previous lessons, we learn about how tritone works.

Now we want to create a bassline using tritone in a blues setting.

In the key of G, the 1 4 5 blues progression is G7 C7 D7.

After holding the G note for one bar, you can try the lick below.

The lick combines the notes of a G7 chord and it's tritone (Db7).






Don't worry about getting the right timing for now. Once you are familiar with the lick then work on the timing.

You can apply the same concept for the C7 and D7 chord.

Have fun.

How Tritone Substitute Works

Hi,

We will be learning more about tritone substitute in this lesson.

In key of C, ii V I is Dm7 G7 Cmaj7

Tritone substitute also known as flat 5 substitute, will replace the dominant chord,

in this case, the G7 and replace it with Db7.

The new progression will be Dm7 Db7 Cmaj7.

The notes in a Db7 are Db, F, Ab and B

It is actually a G7 alter chord - G7(b9)#11 (with G as the root)

This is the reason why we could use a Db7 instead of G7.

Hope its clear.

Cheers

Drop 2 Voicing

Hi,

Want to find more ways to play chords on bass?

Let's try out the drop 2 voicing.

The interval of a major chord is - 1 3 5 7

For drop 2 voicing it will be - 5 1 3 7

So if we are looking at a Cmaj7 chord - C E G B

The drop 2 degree will be - G C E B

This is slightly different from the 2nd inversion - 5 7 1 3 (G B C E)

Hope this helps.

cheers

Improvisation Tips

Hi,

Happy 2012!

Anthony Wellington did a clinic for Aguilar and he was sharing some soloing tips.

First you loop this chord progression: Am7 (A C E G) Bm7 (B D F# A) Em7 (E G B D)

If you do not have a looper maybe can ask your guitar or keyboard friend to play.

Instead of thinking arpeggio or modes for each chord, just try to hear and play within the
G major Scale (G A B C D E F#).

Some notes may not sound that nice over the chords, so shift around and hear.

You can explore more ways but this is something that even a beginner can try.

Have fun!

C Major Scale Slapping Groove

Hi,

Recently I was playing around with my bass and came out with this simple exercise which sounded quite impressive when I slowly increased the tempo.





The notes from the above exercise are all in the C major scale.

Please note that the ghost note(x) is crucial for this exercise.
Make sure that you do not skip it.

(h) is hammered on. This technique will help you play fast when you slap.

Do practice this exercise using finger plucking as well.

Have fun!

Minor ii V i

Hi,

This is part 2 of using Chords to play ii V I

Instead of playing Dm7 G7 Cmaj7 which is ii V I,

for the minor ii V i, try Dm7(b5) G7 Cm7.

This is how a Dm7(b5) looks like on a 4 string bass.

---10----
---10----
---11----
---10----

I love the sound, hope you like it too.

Cheers

Tapping a Minor 9th Chord

Hi,

Bass player can play like a pianist on the fretboard by using the tapping technique.

This exercise will show you the arpeggio of a Gmin9 chord.

The notes are G on the 15th fret (E string), D on the 17th fret (A string), A on the 19th fret (D string) and Bb on the 15th fret (G string).








Use your left hand to tap the G note, followed by your right hand on the D and A note and the Bb with your right hand.

Beautiful sound!

Enjoy.

Using Chords to play ii V I

Hi,

A simple way of playing the ii V I progressions using chords on bass.








You will notice that the 5th is not used and you still get the jazz sound.

Have fun.

Chromatic Approach - Walking bass

Hi,

Chromatic approach note is where you play a note above or below the targeted note.

Here is an example of how we can play a common jazz progression with the chromatic approach.








The note inside the bracket is the chromatic note.

Hope this helps.

Have fun.

Double Tap

Hi,

Here is a simple double tap exercise to make the bass more interesting.






Use your right hand (index and middle) fingers to simultaneously press on the 12th fret D and G string. Play around with rhythmic patterns.

Hope this exercise will help you explore more ways to create music with bass.

Cheers

3 Positions for G Major 7

Hi,

The exercise below will help us to understand the fretboard and explore more ways to play the Gmaj 7 arpeggio.













The proposed fingering can be changed to your preference.

Do try the fingering on other major chords like Cmaj7 and etc.

Have fun.