Bass Edu
The Minor Major Sound
Being bass players, we are often renegades of a sort.
Many of us learn to play when a friend or a cousin or uncle puts a Fender bass in our hands, shows you a 12-bar blues and suddenly you are off and running.
The good part about starting out cold-turkey as a bass player is that you can get good quickly being around seasoned players. The downside is that it’s common to find yourself flying blind half of the time.
A common situation is when someone calls a minor tune like Summertime or a groove jazz tune with major chords on your blues gig.
If you don’t know much harmony it’s easy to sound like a novice. To move yourself forward as a musician you will want to know how to play a fuller palette of major key and minor key harmony.
The purpose of the video lesson is to provide an introduction to the minor major sound and minor key harmony, to hear helpful examples of that sound, and also to learn a way to start using it in your daily practice.
For the bass renegades out there, it is completely possible to become a very convincing bass player before you truly start to understand how to weave chord changes as a walking bassist or a soloist. And there is nothing wrong with that. But sometime in that process you will want to slow down long enough to truly dig into harmony to learn how to resolve a chord progression with confidence.
Click to download the play along mp3’s – any questions, please visit me online at basslessonswithkevin.com
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In the opening clip to my video lesson I play bass on the first A section (16 bars) of Nica’s Dream and then blow a solo on the next A. The great thing about this tune for our purposes is that it has twosuccessive minor-major chords up front, Bbm and Abm. And that can help to drive this sound home until you begin to truly feel and hear it.
Make sure to listen to the simple improvisations in the minor 2-5-1 section of the video lesson.
In this particular case I am only using the Bb harmonic minor scale material in a general way to play on a 4-bar vamp using those chords (Cm7b5 – F7b9 – BbmMaj7 – BbmMaj7).
The point is that I’m not demonstrating weaving changes using chord tones. I am just improvising using the scale material and that’s exactly what you can do to get yourself going on playing minor-key harmony. I call it generalizing the harmony and it’s an easy way to start to hear the overall sound, work on good phrasing, and challenge yourself to play the most smokin’ rhythm that you have.
If you’re not getting around that well on your instrument yet, make sure to use the play along 2-5-1 audio files to play long tones – it’s a great way to get used to the sounds in the key. I play quite a few long tones just for you in the playing samples.
Don’t forget to use the download link for some helpful accompaniment material.
I hope you can appreciate these things and that this lesson inspires you to dig deeper in your musical journey.
Please take your time and enjoy your practicing, make a new friend to get together and play music and always work to bring yourself forward as a musician.
Thanks for stopping in.
Remember… if you have any questions, you can always contact me online at basslessonswithkevin.com
Bass Edu
BASS LINES: Triads & Inversions Part I
Triads & Inversions Part I…
Hello bass players and bass fans! In this issue, we are going to study the triads and their inversions.
It is very important for all bassists to understand and master the triads, but it is even more important to understand their different inversions.
In Part I, we are going to learn what the triad is in fundamental position.
The Formula consists of root, third and fifth.
Degrees of the Triad
Major Triad: 1 – 3 – 5
Minor Triad: 1 – b3 – 5
Diminished Triad: 1 – b3 – b5
Augmented Triad: 1 – 3 – #5
Fig.1 – The C, Cm, Cdim & Caug triads
(Fundamental Position)
Bass Edu
Premiere! Bass Playthrough With Foetal Juice’s Bassist Lewis Bridges – From the Album, Grotesque
Premiere! Bass Playthrough With Foetal Juice’s Bassist Lewis Bridges – From the Album, Grotesque
Bassist Lewis Bridges Shares…
“Gruesome’s sparse intro marks a stark contrast from the intensity of the rest of the album. The original intention was to keep the bass simple but colourful, however as I worked on it, the lines grew more expressive and the more striking flourishes began to emerge. The intensity builds into a harmonic minor passage that takes us into the drop — a signature death grind cacophony. This is where Foetal Juice thrives. You’re getting a full-on right-hand barrage to in the face to take you into a groove-laden mulch-fest.
I owe my throbbing bass tone to the Darkglass Alpha Omega pedal borrowed from our sound engineer, Chris Fielding (ex-Conan), mixed with the clarity of the tried and true Ampeg SVT CL.
As mentioned earlier, colourful basslines are important, especially in a one-guitar band. Chucking some funny intervals and odd flourishes here and there brings life into the brutality. There’s no point sounding brutal if it’s not gonna be fucking evil too!
Recording this playthrough was hard work. This was not the fault of James Goodwin (Necronautical), who was kindly filming and is ace to work with, but because in true Foetal fashion, we had stinking hangovers — and that jam room was hot!”
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Bass Edu
Bass Lines: The Circle
Bass Lines: The Circle…
Hello bass players and fans of bass! This month we’re going to study “The Circle.”
The Circle of Fourths can also be called “The Circle of Fifths or just The Circle.
Practicing the scales, chords, and ideas in general via the circle has been a common practice routine for jazz musicians and highly recommended.
It is a disciplined way of working through all twelve keys.
Plus, many bass root movements to jazz and pop songs move through sections of the circle.
Fig. 1 – “The Circle”
See you next month for more full bass attack!
#bassmusicianmag, #basslines, #bmmbasslines, #groovemaniac, #thecircle, #thecircleoffourths, #thecircleoffifths,#scales & #chords.
Bass Edu
Approach Notes – Part 5
Continuing our lesson of Approach Notes, Part 5…
In continuing with the concept of approach notes being applied to chord tones, this lesson approaches the root, third, fifth, and seventh degree of each arpeggio inversion by incorporating a double chromatic approach from above, and a single chromatic approach from below.
The first examples approach the root of a G major 7th arpeggio as a double chromatic from above and a single chromatic approach from below -before continuing to the third, fifth, seventh, double chromatic from above/ single from below to the root, continue to the third, fifth, and come back down.
The next example approaches the first inversion of G major 7th arpeggio.
A double chromatic from above/ single from below approaches the third, continue to the fifth, seventh, root, double chromatic from above/ single below to the third, continue up to the fifth and seventh, and back down.
The third example approaches a second inversion of a G major arpeggio.
A double chromatic from above/ single from below approaches the fifth, continue to the 7th, root, 3rd, double chromatic from above/ single from below to the 5th, continue to the 7th, root, and back down.
This final example approaches a third inversion of a G major 7th arpeggio.
A double chromatic from above and below approaches the 7th, continue to the root, 3rd, 5th, double chromatic from above and below to the 7th, continue to the root, 3rd, and back down.
Be sure to pace yourself with these lessons to avoid burning out.
Being overly ambitious with your practice schedule can lead to unrealistic expectations. Try learning one approach note concept and one chord type a week. Change your practice routine as necessary and tailor it to your needs as a musician. Good luck!
Bass Edu
BASS LINES – The Blue Notes (Minor Blues Scale)
Hello bass players and bass fans! Happy New Year 2024!
In this issue, we are going to study the blue notes.
In blues, jazz, and rock, a blue note is a note that (for expressive purposes) is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical context.
The blue notes are usually said to be the lowered third(b3), lowered fifth(b5) and lowered seventh(b7) scale degrees. The lowered fifth(b5) is also known as the raised fourth(#4). Though the blues scale has “an inherent minor tonality, it is commonly ‘forced’ over major-key chord changes, resulting in a distinctively dissonant conflict of tonalities”.
Blue notes are used in many blues songs, in jazz, rock and in conventional popular songs with a “blue” feeling.
Formula:
The A Minor Blues Scale
1 – b3 – 4 – (#4/b5) – 5 – b7
A – C – D – (D#/Eb) – E – Bb
The grades(blue notes):
b3, (#4/b5), b7
C, (D#/Eb), Bb
See you next month for more full bass attack!
#bassmusicianmag, #basslines, #bmmbasslines, #groovemaniac, #thebluenotes, #minorbluesscale & #bluesscale
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