HI MY “BASS FRIENDS” AND COLLEAGUES!

IT’S REALLY COOL TO BE HERE AGAIN. BASS MUSICIAN MAGAZINE IS FANTASTIC! I’M VERY HAPPY TO GO ON WITH THESE LESSONS DEDICATED TO THIS NEW TECNIQUE CALLED ‘CHROMATIC APPROACH NOTES’, THAT I LEARNED FROM MY MENTOR CHARLIE BANACOS. I HAVE TAKEN THE IDEA AND MODIFIED IT ON MY OWN, TRIED IT FOR MYSELF AND THEN FOR MY STUDENTS… AND IT WORKS! NO ONE WAS ABLE TO PLAY IT VERY FAST!

CONCERNING LESSON 3…

I RECEIVED SOME PRIVATE EMAILS ABOUT THIS STUFF. ALSO THIS TIME I HAVE TO REMIND YOU THAT THIS IS A COURSE ABOUT IMPROVISATION DEDICATED TO BASS PLAYERS WHO WANT TO INCREASE THEIR MUSICAL SKILLS. THIS IS NOT A COURSE THAT WILL HELP YOU TO IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS – SMILE- BUT WE’LL WORK OVER SOME TECNIQUES I THINK WILL BE VERY USEFUL FOR YOUR MUSICAL IMPROVEMENT.

DURING PAST LESSONS WE DISCOVERED SOME NEW EXERCISES ABOUT CHROMATIC APPROACHES… I REPEAT OVER AND OVER THAT IF YOU LISTEN TO SOME GREAT JAZZ PLAYERS YOU WILL NOTICE THAT CHROMATICS ARE THE CORE OF BEBOP.

BEBOP IS THE FIRST “MUSICAL LANGUAGE” AND WE HAVE TO KNOW IT IF WE WANT TO DO A GREAT JOB WITH IMPROVISATION. I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO LISTEN TO MODERN PLAYERS DURING THEIR SOLOS AND YOU WILL EASILY HEAR A GREAT BE BOP SOUND “FLAVOUR”.

THIS LESSON I PROPOSE TO YOU IS THE FOURTH EXERCISE OF A LONG SERIES DEDICATED TO BEBOP STYLE. I HOPE YOU STUDIED ALL MY PAST LESSONS ABOUT THIS TOPIC. 

EXERCISES:

1) TAKE THE EXERCISE… WHAT HAPPENS HERE? USE A Cmin7b5 ARPEGGIO. YOU HAVE TO APPROACH CHROMATICALLY EVERY NOTE IN THE ARPEGGIO FROM THE LOWEST NOTE TO THE HIGHEST NOTE THAT YOU FIND ON YOUR INSTRUMENT (THIS IS WRITTEN FOR A 24 FRETS 4 STRING BASS… BUT YOU CAN ADAPT IT TO EVERY BASS)

REMEMBER DO NOT USE A METRONOME! ONLY WHEN YOU HAVE THE EXERCISE “UNDER YOUR FINGERS”, SHOULD YOU USE ONE. AS USUAL PLAY THE EXERCISE AS FAST AS YOU CAN! IF YOU PLAY THIS EXERCISE SLOW, THIS STUFF DOESN’T WORK FOR YOU! OK?

2) TRANPOSE THE EXERCISE IN ALL KEYS!

STAY TUNED

CIAO

ANDREA