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Theory and Technique One by Rhayn Jooste
Tetrachord : scale series of four notes Legato: Bound, smooth; even passage of notes
Theory
If you have ever played scales, then you are unwittingly playing tetra chords; chances are you have never thought of scales as fragments that can be joined. These four note fragments can be connected in various ways to form larger 8 note segments, called scales. This lesson will concentrate only on 4 tetrachords:
Major 1 2 3 4 Minor 1 2 b3 4
Phrygian 1 b2 b3 4 Lydian 1 2 3 #4 (see music)
These can be added together to form the basis of the major scale and its modes. The tablature has been written across one string to help you learn and visualize the fragments. Aim to finger these in at least 2 – 3 different ways. An example (fingerings) of only the major tetrachord is included, you need to mould the fingerings for the others.
Modes.
Below is a chart with each mode and its two tetrachords. Each tetrachord can be added to another to form the 7 modes of the major scale. Modes are a mother scale (Ionian/major) that has 7 ways of opening: e.g. Dorian mode is 2 – 2, Aeolian is 6 – 6 etc.) Take special note that each tetrachord is conjoined with a tone (fret between) or a semi-tone (next fret) to the next. As an added bonus I have put the basic chord type these modes will work over in the last column. (see Giant Steps example)
| Position | Mode | Tetrachord | Join | Tetrachord | Chord |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ionian | major |
tone |
major |
maj7 |
|
2 |
Dorian |
minor |
tone |
minor |
min7 |
|
3 |
Phrygian |
phrygian |
tone |
phrygian |
min7 |
|
4 |
Lydian |
lydian |
semi-tone |
major |
maj7 |
|
5 |
Mixolydian |
major |
tone |
minor |
Dom7 |
|
6 |
Aeolian |
minor |
tone |
phrygian |
min7 |
|
7 |
Locrian |
phrygian |
semi-tone |
lydian |
min7b5 |
Finally, understand and HEAR the difference between each tetrachord and their relationship to the scale you are building. This will aid your aural skills and help identifying them when heard in musical situations.
Technique
Tetrachords work wonderfully with hammer ons and pull offs. This technique forms musical passages that are smooth and connected with little or no space between notes and not picked.
Aim for even strikes with your left hand. The right hand pluck should be at the same level in energy as your next left hand finger. The rookie mistake here is to play a passage with a loud first note and then inaudible hammers or pull offs after. There are some starter exercises for those new to this technique or those a little rusty. Remember a pull off is actually a pull down – the left hand finger plucks the string in a down ward motion. NOT pulled off the strings! That is just its technical term.
Practice these with out an amp, once you can hear all notes clearly so will the electronics in your amp and cabs. Included in the tab are some musical ideas. Most of all remember practice can be fun, so do the exercise first to warm up and then place them in musical situations and burn up the fretboard or mark the giant steps changes. The only limit is your imagination.
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Photo: Self-portrait by Melissa Auf Der Maur
Melissa Auf Der Maur is a Canadian bassist who played with Tinker, Hole, and The Smashing Pumpkins. She released her own work and is a photographer with photos published in Nylon, Bust, and National Geographic. She released her ‘90s Rock Memoir “Even The Good Girls Will Cry” on 17 March 2026.
KB: Did you always want to be a singer-musician growing up?
I’ve played music my whole life. In school, I played trumpet and sang in a children’s choir, so music was always within me. My mother was the first female disc jockey on the Montreal airwaves; her record collection played a huge role in my inspiration and love of music.
KB: When did you start playing bass, and why this instrument?
When I was 19, the early 90s music explosion began to percolate in tiny clubs around the world. I was lucky to be a ticket girl at Montreal’s underground music club. In one year, I saw Hole, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, White Zombie, and The Breeders – all had female bass players. That’s when the seed was planted. By the age of 22, I was the bass player of Hole.
KB: Which brands of basses have you used in your career, and which one are you using now?
The first bass that I learned on was a vintage Squier Precision. Hole was sponsored by Fender guitars, so I upgraded to Fender Custom Shop Precisions. That is all I play, but I have a cool vintage 8-string Greco that I use on recordings to thicken up guitar parts.
KB: What equipment do you use or have you used with your basses?
Ampeg SVT amps and cabinets, a couple of Sans-Amp pedals, and that is it.
KB: How did you become a member of Hole, and what is your fondest memory of that time?
Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins was helping scout a replacement for (RIP) Kristen Pfaff, Hole’s bass player. My band, Tinker, opened for them on the Siamese Dream tour, so Billy had seen me play and could vouch for me. Courtney trusted her talented friend, and that was it. I initially said “no thank you” due to my commitment to my photographic studies and the drama and chaos surrounding the band during the “Live Through This” album release. Courtney took it as a good sign that I said no, so convinced me to reconsider, and soon after, I accepted their invitation, in the name of helping put females in the male-dominated landscape of rock music. My fondest memory is every show we played as a mostly female band, symbolizing what a woman could do in a rock band. Every show had a purpose: get more women to play music.
KB: You are a photographer as well. What makes a great picture? Do you shoot in color or b/w?
I started shooting photographs at age 15. Initially only shot black & white and worked in the art school darkroom. In university, I took a color photography course, and shifted mostly and forever to that, because it was easier to process film on the road when I joined a rock band. I experimented with many cameras, point and shoots, manual, polaroids, medium format, and vintage finds. The trick to a good photograph is to shoot many and all the time – the magic is in the edit and selection process.
KB: Are there artists you would love to collaborate with or wish you had?
??I’ve been lucky to collaborate with some of my favorite musicians in my career. I would still love to collaborate with a new generation heavy electronic artist on an analog bass, heavy electronic drums, and synths collaboration project. Take me out of my usual zone, merging the past and future: my love of 80s dark new wave and new artists exploring that genre. It was very futuristic back then, and we are now, after all, living in the future. I am in the mood to play bass to heavy beats I want to dance to.
KB: What are your 7 favorite bass lines in music across all genres? And why these 7?
“Mountain Song” – Jane’s Addiction (love a rambling, rolling bass line – feels like the ocean waves)
“Black Top – Helmet” (was the first bass line I taught myself)
“Gold Dust Woman” – Hole from “The Crow 2” Soundtrack (it was my first bass line contribution to the band)
“Get Ready” – The Temptations (Motown just feels so good, because of the bass)
“Lucretia My Reflection” – Sisters of Mercy (makes me want to hit the dance floor and play bass simultaneously)
“Be My Druidess” – Type O Negative (full chord bass playing at its best by iconic, demonic, Peter Steele, RIP)
“Romantic Rights” – Death from Above (1979 – unique distorted overdriven tone, combined dance rhythm and melodic intelligence, all in one shot – also! Shout out to a bass & drum only band, which is awesome, and we should have more of, but the bass player needs to be a killer to fill that role.
KB: What are you currently up to?
Releasing my ‘90s Rock Memoir “EVEN THE GOOD GIRLS WILL CRY”. Visceral healing process, it was to get it out of me and write it, but I suspect the real magic will begin by putting it into the world and reflecting with others on what the magic of the ‘90s was all about. Powerful music decade that carried us into what is now a brave new world of digital corporate weirdness – may the past shed a light on our future. That’s my hope for this book release and tour.
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