BASS
INTERVAL AWARENESS | Adam Nitti
Whether you are a beginner or a more experienced player , you have probably discovered that one of the helpful characteristics of the bass guitar is its symmetric tuning . Because the bass is tuned completely in 4ths , it offers a lot of convenience when it comes to learning shapes and sounds . Regardless of where you play a phrase , scale , or other musical component , it can be transposed by simply moving it to another location and keeping the same shape . These “ movable patterns ” are what we lean on when it comes to associating shapes with specific sounds . For this reason , it is not enough to just spend time learning and memorizing patterns . We have to learn and memorize the sounds of the patterns , as well . In other words , our patterns have to likewise be used as ear training exercises if we want to develop as a player .
Scales , arpeggios , chords , and other musical components get their characteristic sounds from their formulaic construction . These formulas are made up of intervals . An interval is simply the distance between two notes . Most of the scales we learn are built from combinations of whole steps and half steps although there are some exceptions . In the case of a major scale , its formula represented in Figure 1 .
Other musical components , such as chords and arpeggios , which we will cover later , are built using larger intervals . Knowing all of your intervals ’ locations , shapes and sounds is going to be essential knowledge if you wish to become a seasoned player .
One of the interesting things about intervals is that in the context of actual lines and phrases , they are a much more defining element than the actual pitches played . Distilled down to the simplest explanation , when we listen to music , we hear a series of pitches separated by intervallic distance and time . The shapes of these phrases give them their melodic character . When an audience member or listener hears us play , we aren ’ t so much communicating with them directly through pitch names ... In other words , most listeners aren ’ t hearing our music and following along thinking “ A , C #, E , F #, B , C #, Eb , Bb , etc ...” What we are communicating is mostly perceived by the listener as a series of combined intervals that are ( hopefully ) put together to create cohesive , pleasing melodic phrases . The listener isn ’ t really concerned with what ‘ letters ’ we are playing . This point bears relevance because we will come to rely more on intervals than note names as we build our musical vocabulary .
So now that we fully understand the importance of internalizing intervals , it makes sense to learn their locations and sounds . Figure 2 shows a common reference pattern for the major scale . You may already be familiar with it . Notice that each scale degree has a number associated with it that represents its function in the scale . Within the pattern you can associate each note ’ s intervallic position with its function .
This is a great place to start with your intervallic awareness , but we also need to know alternative locations for intervals on the fingerboard . This is important because in a reallife performance situation , we don ’ t want to be reliant on scale patterns that constrain our fingerings to exercise-like positions .
Figure 3 shows two locations for each of the 7 intervals within a one octave major scale . One location comes from the reference pattern in figure 2 , and the other is played on a different string . Notice how the two different locations require us to adapt to different fingerings and locations on the neck in order to play them . For this reason , it forces you to become familiar with using different fingers on the root of the scale in order to have a wide enough reach to cover each interval !
Now that you have learned how to play each interval from two locations , let ’ s play an exercise that helps you to seamlessly switch between them for each scale degree .
Exercise 1 takes the C major scale starting from the 8 th fret E string , and demonstrates how to alternate between the two interval locations for each scale degree . This exercise does not require adherence to a strict fingering , but it does require you to think about how to best poise your hand position to be able to reach
Figure 1 Figure 2