Latest
Theory and Technique Two by Rhayn Jooste
Pattern: a regular form or sequence. Scale: a series of sounds in alphabetical order.
Theory
Music is math, or to put it another way music is made-up of patterns, which are logical in construction and design. There are many different ways of patterning music here we will be dealing with linear ones. This style of writing lines was high fashion in the Renaissance and Baroque eras so check out some of Dowland’s lute Fantasies or Scarlatti’s keyboards sonatas.
The most basic patterning is in a set of 3 or 4 notes, and these can be extended by combining intervals into the equation. As there are so many we will concentrate on the most obvious. The good news is that, as you will only ever be playing across two strings at a time; the math of working out each pattern is easy. An example of a 4 note linear pattern would be combinations of: 3 + 1 (across strings); 2 + 2 (across strings) or 1 + 3 (across strings). See the How to Work it Out Section in the music. Practice this example slowly till your hands and head get it; and all you will have to do is apply the method and mold it to what ever shape or numbers you’re working with as the patterns will all only ever be combinations like this.
Instead of musical examples I have written a study that will incorporate the C major scale (and its modes) in various patterns. I have set out the patterns in single bars before the study along with a handy how to practice section in the music. Each one of the single bars should be practiced in an octave (see musical example) or across one string. In order to really benefit from this article pattern all scales that you use or know.
Technique
We all know what a scale is right? I mean its one of the first things we are shown on the fret board; but do you know why? It is to improve left hand dexterity and strengthen coordination between hands. Scales are the simplest way of securing the fret board underneath the fingers. How many of us are stuck playing scales just up and down though? The thought of running endless scales up and down can get boring and tends to put a lot of people off practicing them. The musical study in this article will hopefully help alleviate this and give you devices to use in improvisations and bass line construction. It will also help with cementing the fret board geography in your head as keys especially if you transpose the ideas. Aim to have the fingers land squarely in the allotted fret just behind the wire with only enough pressure to keep the note clean. Good choices of sliding fingers will also help, but as that is personal to each player they have been left out the tab.
So a quick recap: A scale is a series of notes that outline in pitches a certain key or mode. In layman’s terms a scale could be seen as Lego blocks. Try the below diagram across one string to test this out. Each scale has within it the possibility of other scales called modes (see T & T One). These are just a rearranging of the Lego blocks. There are as many scales are there languages, each has its own distinctive sound, syntax and construction. If you worked through last months article you should have at least three ways of playing a major scale across the fret board and be ready to pattern them.
Study One uses the modes of the C major scale. Each mode is targeted (see the targets in the dots) and uses a different pattern. The study ascends the fret board in linear motion and descends in arpeggios (7th chords). That way you get used to seeing, playing and understanding where you are on the fret board. Watch out for those stretches and always practice with a metronome to gain rhythmic stability.
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
Click to follow Bass Musician on Instagram @bassmusicianmag
FEATURED @kilianduartebass @meridian_guitars @adamovicbasses @marleaux_bassguitars @jcrluthier @sandbergguitars @ibanezuk_official @dingwallguitars @torzalguitars @ariaguitars
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
Click to follow Bass Musician on Instagram @bassmusicianmag
FEATURED @bacchusguitars @franz.bassguitars @mendesluthieria @ramabass.ok @meridian_guitars @adamovicbasses @shukerbassguitars @fantabass.it @andys_vintage_guitars @valdesbasses
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
Click to follow Bass Musician on Instagram @bassmusicianmag
FEATURED @murraykuun_guitars @ja.guitars @combe_luthier @overloadguitars @kevinhidebass @franz.bassguitars @indra_guitars @petercrowdesign @baboomin_bass @jcrluthier
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
Click to follow Bass Musician on Instagram @bassmusicianmag
FEATURED @sandbergguitars @benevolent_basses @rayriendeau @olintobass @wonkorbasses @bite.guitars @adamovicbasses @maruszczyk_instruments @skervesenguitars @ramabass.ok
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.
Visit online:
Official Website
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
Spotify
Gear News: Fender Unveils Highly Anticipated Vintera III Series
New Music: Oteil Burbridge & Lamar Williams Jr. New Single, Hush
Interview With Bassist Virginia Franks
Nathan East, Echoes of a Lineage – April/May 2026 Issue
Gear Review: Italia Leather Straps
Mar 2 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Mar 9 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Mar 16 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Mar 23 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram