BASS
THINGS TO “ BRUSH UP ” ON | Gary Lunn
No matter where you are in your career it ' s never too late to go back and study . There are certain aspects of the inner workings of musicality that are always pertinent to bass players . They can be on a musical , literal , or spiritual plane . There are basics and specifics , factually and conceptually . No matter what they are , I have found that they are all of equal importance . I hope that some review helps you gain further insight to the foundation that IS the bass .
Intervals are one of the most essential building blocks for bass lines . Essentially , they are the numbers of half steps , or “ semi-tones ” between two notes . For example , starting from “ C ” on the bass ( A-string , 3 rd fret ), if you played an “ E ” ( D-string , 2 nd fret ) at the same time , you will have just played a major
3 rd interval . Why ? Because , in the key of C , E is the 3 rd of the scale . So , you have played the “ 1 ” and the “ 3 ” in the key of C , which is actually the first 2 notes in a C triad . You are probably asking yourself , “ What ’ s the big deal ?” The importance is that on a bass-clef staff , the first note you played is a C , which is the 2 nd space from the bottom . The 2 nd note is the E and it ’ s the 3 rd space from the bottom . Therefore , whenever you see any 2 notes that are only separated by one line or space , it will always be a 3 rd interval . This initial realization was of incredible importance to me because it helped me to understand how the relationship between the notes on the bass was directly related to the relationship of the notes in the staff .
Another commonly used interval is the 5 th .
Play a G on the bass ( E-string , 3 rd fret ). Now play a D ( A-string , 5 th fret ). You ’ ve just played a “ perfect ” 5 th ( all 5 th ’ s are perfect because there is no such thing as a major 5 th or a minor 5 th ). You have also just played the “ 1 ” and the “ 5 ” in the key of G . On the staff , the G is the bottom line and the D is the middle line . All 5 th intervals are line , skip a line , to line or space , and skip a space , to space .
To clarify things so that you can become familiar with all of the available intervals , here ’ s a list for you . I will list them in ( half steps , or in measurements of one fret increments ), and all in the key of C : Minor 2 nd – 1 semitone – C to C #, Major 2 nd – 2 semitones - C to D , Minor 3 rd – 3 semitones - C to Eb – Major 3 rd – 4 semitones - C to E – Perfect 4 th – 5 semitones – C to F .