In this video, I show how to play extended arpeggios on major 7th chords.
for those unfamiliar with extended arpeggios, they are a continuation of the arpeggios past the 7th. These are called the upper structure notes or “extensions”. These extensions add different flavour to chords and are useful when attempting melodic passages. They are widely used in jazz.

Because bass players love playing in E minor/G major, I’ve put this lesson beginning in G major. The arpeggio includes these notes:

G B D F# A C# E

The C# is not derived from the G Ionian (Major) scale, but C is sharpened to prevent the clashing of the 3rd and the 4th (minor 2nd, ugh…) You will notice that there is a pattern of alternating Major and Minor 3rds. This may help you memorize it easily. The inversions to which I’m referring in this video are simply other 4 note arpeggios found within this extended arpeggio simply by beginning on a different chord tone.

I’ve provided you with a couple of my own exercises. These will build dexterity and fretboard familiarity.

The subtitles should explain what I’m doing, if you’re still stuck, don’t hesitate to ask.

Download the PDF TAB

Optional download of video, mp3, pdf and Guitar Pro 5 tab here
http://www.tradebit.com/visit.php/213998/product/-/153244846
To practice Major triads as chords in root, 1st and 2nd inversion Im using Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as example.

Thx to the great bassplayer and Playbassnow.com teacher Adam Neely for opening my eyes with this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfD_tNAfy78&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Check his other videos

Cool!

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Cool!

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Different fingering possibilites for arpeggiating a Dominant 7 chord
Good for learning the fretboard and get started with walking bass
When playing from the root its called “rootposition”
From third its called “first inversion”
From fifth its called “second inversion”
From flatted seventh its called “thirdt inversion”

Having fun with ringing or droning open strings, for some beautiful solo pieces.
In the example I use the A aolian scale (A B C D E F G), the A major scale (A B C# D E F# G) , The A mixolydian (A B C# D E F# G) and the D major scale (D E F# G A B C#)

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Download original video here

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Download original video lesson from Wupload

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Stay tuned for the rest of the series!

-Adam

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Since we started with Major 7 arpeggios and Minor 7 arpeggios in the last couple videos we’ve seen that all 7th chord arpeggios are in a way easier to deal with since you’re not going to be shifting as rapidly, but because there’s one more note than in the triad arpeggios (Major, Minor, Augmented,Diminished), there are a lot more options for position shifts and fingering. This video isn’t exhaustive, but it will give you some ideas for shifting and practicing the shape in one and two octaves.

Enjoy! Oh, and for those who find this series too challenging/too easy, I have a couple other lesson series in the pipeworks, so stay tuned.

-Adam

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Since we started with Major 7 arpeggios, we’ve seen that all 7th chord arpeggios are in a way easier to deal with since you’re not going to be shifting as rapidly, but because there’s one more note than in the triad arpeggios (Major, Minor, Augmented,Diminished), there are a lot more options for position shifts and fingering. This video isn’t exhaustive, but it will give you some ideas for shifting and practicing the shape in one and two octaves.

Enjoy!

-Adam

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Good luck!

Part 2

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This is a clip from one of my correspondence lessons. I was demonstrating how to use one tonal key centre over an entire set of chord changes (Auntumn Leaves)… but, altering the dominant chords within the piece. I also used a fair amount of chromaticism to spice things up a little.

Tabs available here

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Part 2

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Running arpeggios up and down the neck is fine, but just doing this will not really have any great effect on your playing. By practicing them using my continuous arpeggio exercises (explained in the following tutorials) you will find that arpeggios really unlock the mysteries of the fretboard. You’ll actually start ‘seeing’ the arpeggios all over the neck which in-turn will stop you having to jump around the fingerboard unnecessarily as you will have whatever harmony you need under your fingers wherever you are on the neck.

These exercises are hard and it will take a lot of practice… but it really will transform your bass playing and your understanding of harmony. Work them into your daily practice routine and you will start to see the benefits. Good luck in the shed! S.
Part 1

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Part 3

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Part 3

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The 2nd in my diary entries talking about things I’m learning at the ICMP (Institute of Contemporary Music Performance) in Kilburn where I won the scholarship to study a Bass Higher Diploma. This entry is all about the blues scale based in G. The groove is constructed by purely thinking about inversions and is an exercise in learning to play them fluidly and to improve fretboard knowledge. Click here to download fretboard diagram

Knowing your major scales in every part of the bass neck in all positions is invaluable and should be practiced daily. The exercises i have given you in the following tutorials will really open up the geometry of the bass neck and if practiced alongside the arpeggio exercises you will truly start to ‘see’ the available harmony for any chord sequence all over the bass. By practicing each different fingering of the major scale and then incorporating the continuous scale exercises you will also be practicing them modally as well.

Take your time and be patient, the continuous scale exercises are tough to start with! Remember, becoming a great musician is a lifetimes worth of study… so enjoy the ride!

Happy shedding,

S.

Part 1

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Part 2

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Learning to play over this progression and being able to use the different substitutions available is an invaluable practice method and is something that will really help every aspect of your playing. Be patient and methodical within your practice, it sometimes takes a while for your ear to get used to the sound of certain substitutions. Soon you will start to hear the substitutions discussed in these tutorials in many of the solo’s you have listened to or transcribed in the past.

Get in the shed and good luck! S.

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Hope you all enjoy!

-Adam

What can happen if you change the start point of your pattern…..

A practical theory lesson on the importance of learning and practicing triads, their inversions and different fingerings. Using triads as target notes will help you gain control better control of your fretboard.
In this lesson we explore the Major triad (root, Major third, perfect fifth)

Download iPod friendly m4v version

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It’s important to stress the fact that no, you don’t have to be actually singing the lyrical content as you play it. You merely use the lyrics as a guide to what you end up playing, and that way it becomes easier to “hear” what you are going to improvise.

Hope you enjoy.

E maj scale in 4th steps over 2 octaves

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Here’s a “Chord Scale Primer” with instructions for constructing basic diatonic chord scales and a list of all 7 diatonic chord scales in C major, as well as a page listing the 5 Secondary Dominant chord scales.

http://adamneely.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/chordscale-primer.pdf

http://adamneely.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/secondary-dominant-chord-scales.pdf

Enjoy!

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Here’s a “Chord Scale Primer” with instructions for constructing basic diatonic chord scales and a list of all 7 diatonic chord scales in C major.

http://adamneely.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/chordscale-primer.pdf

Enjoy!

The minor tetrachord is a four note scale that can be played with 4 different patterns/fingerings, you should practice them all.

Pattern formula is whole step, half step, whole step.
Here is Pattern 1,  4 notes on 1 string,

A method/series to learn the modes and common scales by dividing an eight note scale into 2 four note scales (the brain has an easier time remembering 1234 1234 than 12345678) You only need to learn 4 different tetrachords to be able to play all 7 modes : Ionian Major, Dorian minor, Phrygian minor, Lydian, Mixolydian Major, Aolian minor, Locrian half diminished.

Playlist with Four different fingerings for a minor tetrachord:

First all patterns played in sequence, then one by one:

Playlist with Four different fingerings for playing a One octave Dorian Minor  scale (a C Dorian minor scale is contructed of two minor tetrachords, the C minor and the D minor tetrachord)

Go to previous lesson on Major tetrachords HERE

The Major tetrachord is a four note scale that can be played with 4 different patterns/fingerings, you should practice them all.  Pattern formula is whole step, whole step, half step.

And when you have learned the Major tetrachord scale you can easily play the Major scale (see video #6 to 13 in the video playlist)

This is a a method/series to learn the modes and common scales by dividing an eight note scale into 2 four note scales (the brain has an easier time remembering 1234 1234 than 12345678).

You only need to learn 4 different tetrachords to be able to play all 7 modes : Ionian Major, Dorian minor, Phrygian minor, Lydian, Mixolydian Major, Aolian minor, Locrian half diminished.

Playlist with Four different fingerings for a Major tetrachord:
First all patterns played in sequence, then one by one:

Playlist with Four different fingerings for playing a One octave (Ionian) Major  scale (a C Major scale is contructed of two Major tetrachords, the C Major and the D Major tetrachord)
and four different fingerings for playing a Two octave (Ionian) Major scale

And you can download the Major tetrachord shape with 4 different fingering options below
And go to the next lesson HERE

In this post I’m going to use standard notation and one note ;  “A”. You can use any note that you like.

I’ve included two handwritten examples showing how standard notation looks compared to the yardstick concept.

I would suggest getting a paper and a pencil (with a good eraser) and start experimenting!

One “trick” when reading standard notation is to not get overwhelmed by a bunch of notes.  See the beats first. As you become comfortable with how each subdivision feels it will become easier and easier.

Groove Concepts 1:

• The first four systems show different permutations of beat 1.  Play through each one as needed until you’re comfortable.
• The second four systems utilize each of those same permutations on beat one and in other places within the bar.  Play each one until you feel comfortable.

Here are some audio examples in the same order as they are in on the pdf.

Before I continue; let me acknowledge that the way that I am going to begin explaining this comes from one of Anthony Wellington’s lessons on Victor Wooten’s Groove Workshop DVD.  I thought that it was brilliant how he explained this concept using a diagram that he called the “Yardstick of Time and Groove”.

Remember that the goal is to become comfortable with each subdivision so that you can acknowledge it without thinking about it. This is a great way to visualize rhythm and can also serve as sort of a primer for learner how to read standard notation. (DO NOT BELIEVE THE HYPE – You should learn to read music if you don’t already.  If you’re going to be any kind of serious musician you are going to be able to open more doors if you can read – Period.)

Anthony uses a diagram that looks like a ruler for this exercise. (please forgive my pitiful artwork)

• Set your drum machine to a medium tempo.
• Use a pencil with a good eraser or a white board because you’re going to make a ‘tick mark’ underneath each line where you want to play a note. Any note will do.
• You don’t have to keep writing tick marks once you become comfortable.  Just feel.

1. 1. Play each down beat individually until you are completely comfortable. That could mean for four bars you may just play beat 3 of the bar until it becomes comfortable. I know that they are just down beats but be honest with yourself.  And play them short (the equivalent of a 16^th note)

1. 2. Play each up beat individually ….

*It’s ok to just hang onto one sub-division until you just know how it sounds. For instance, if you have trouble feeling the “and of beat three”, just loop the one bar pattern and play only on the “and of beat three” until it becomes second nature.  Remember – writing your name didn’t come automatically –you had to practice writing it one letter at a time.

1. 3. Play the “e” of each beat individually.  Are you detecting a pattern? Same rules as 1 and 2 apply here.
2. 4. Play the “a” of each beat individually….
3. 5. Play through this one bar pattern and displace the note that you play each time until you come full circle and then do that in retrograde!

Example:  (the bold indicates what subdivision is played)

II: 1 e+a  2 e+a 3 e+a 4e+a :II

II: 1 e+a  2 e+a 3 e+a 4e+a :II

II: 1 e+a  2 e+a 3 e+a 4e+a :II

II: 1 e+a 2 e+a 3 e+a 4e+a :II

II: 1 e+a  2 e+a 3 e+a 4e+a :II etc….

6. Then, in retrograde: rest until you hit the ‘a’ of beat four, the ‘and’ of beat four, the ‘e’ of beat four, the downbeat of beat four, the ‘a’ of beat three….

example 1 (the video/audio are out of sync)

Gmaj scale exercise in triads over 2 octaves (african feel)

Improvisation over C maj7 chords (C E G B) with two scales:

- C major scale = C D E F G A B C

- C lydian mode = C D E F# G A B C

www.bassebruno.com

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Do you still remember all the different modes?

Here is another example with almost all of them within one tune, in 6/8 groove

Instead we divide it into 2 parts – so we get two four note scales (called tetrachords) – identical patterns where the first (called the lower Major tetrachord) G A B C:
Whole step (G to A), whole step (A to B), half step (B to C)

And the second (called the upper Major tetrachord) D E F# G
Whole step (D to E), whole step (E to F#) and half step (F# to G).
The beauty of it is that it is easier to remember 2 x 4 notes than 8 notes in a sequence, its easier to get an overview of the fretboard when you condense the scale into smaller scale units.

More info on tetrachords HERE and on www.notreble.com there are some good articles too,  HERE

And you can download the Major tetrachord shape with 4 different fingering options below

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Chords are

| Am7 | G7 | FMaj7 | FMaj7 Bm7b5 |

You can play the A minor aolian/A minor pentatonic scale

or see it as

C Major ionian / C Major pentatonic

Favorites also inlude E minor pentatonic (great sound)

Download backingtrack here

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A continuation of the theme from previous video (Minor 7 chord improvisation with scale substitution ) , how to improvise over a D minor 7chord, this time using the pentatonic scales contained in the C major scale or any of the modes derived from it – look below

C major ionian and/or C major pentatonic
Dm dorian and/or D minor pentatonic (of course)
Em phrygian and/or E minor pentatonic
F major lydian and/or F major pentatonic
G mixolydian and/or G major pentatonic
Am aolian and/or A minor pentatonic
Bm locrian

These all contain the same notes, but you target the notes differently by cheating the brain to see new patterns

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A practical theory lesson on how i approach improvising over a static m7 chord groove. In jazz, funk and rock, if a solo section consists of a static m7 chord, most often the Dorian minor scale is used (1, 2, b3, 4 , 5, 6, b7). The dorian minor scale is built on the 2nd step of the Major scale.
In this example the D dorian minor scale is 2nd step (or mode) of the C Major scale – or in other words it IS a C major scale just starting on the 2nd step/degree.
So on any given minor7 chord we can improvise a Major scale a whole step below.
ie if we play over a Em7 chord , we can play a D Major scale

For beginners and maybe a reminder for the rest uf us;-)

Getting to know the fretboard of the bass guitar using target notes and arpeggios.

I use simple major and minor triads in the examples – root , third and fifth

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Lecture about the foundation of the music we know – the major scale ; its use and why its such a good idea to learn.

Whole thing is almost 30 minutes but ive divided it into three parts, first today – so hang in there;-)

We are “harmonizing” the major scale – building a chord an each step of the scale and numbering them as we move along (this is also known as the “Nashville number system” used by the studio musicians fro writing down songs)
Also an introduction to learning to analyze the most common chords and progressions in songs, so we can learn tunes faster and transpose them easily too .

For further written explanation revisit this lesson on playing bass lines over triads

The 5 positions for the pentatonic scale.

The A minor or C Major pentatonic scale, they share the same notes, so you can look at the 5 notes A C D E G , either as steps of the A minor pentatonic scale:

A = root (1)
C = minor third (b3)
D = fourth (4) E = fifth (5)
G = minor seventh (b7)

Or as steps of the C Major pentatonic scale:

C = root (1)
D = second (2)
E = third (3)
G = fifth (5)
A = sixth (6)

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iPod m4v (original)

Flash flv

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iPod m4v (original)

Flash flv

Ive attached an image of the 5 positions as 5 colored “boxes”

(Click the image for full size)

Since Jaco brought the bass from the last into the first row here and then we have the possibility to play the theme of a song with our bass, or at least to double it together with another instrument.

In Latin music this happens often that the bass plays the same line along with the piano or the brass section.

This example mixes up latin feel with funky style….

The Locrian mode has the formula 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7. Its tonic chord is a m7b5.(Bm7b5 in the Key of C).

Happy new year!

Mixolydian scale G7: G-A-B-C-D-E-F-G  (Merry mixolydian christmas to all the bass-freaks out there….)

Lydian scale in F(maj7): F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F. The only difference to a ionian scale is the raised forth. So you can play lydian over

any maj7 or maj7/+11 chord.

Phrygian scale Em7: E-F-G-A-B-C-D-E  (1, b2, b3, 4, 5, b6, b7). Used often in flamenco+oriental music, but works also on

calypso grooves like this one…..

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Dm7 dorian scale: D-E-F-G-A-B-C

Try to transpose this lick to all different keys….

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This a continuation of the playing over triads series, go to previous lesson and backing track HERE

In this example i cram almost everything i know in playing the bassline over the progression:

Chordnotes – Major triad 1, 3, 5 sometimes with a 6th added.
Scale notes – When doing the walkup or walkdowns from one chord to the other i just use the notes from C major scale.
Chromatic passing notes in between scale notes – For example, on the F chord, if you are goin from the 3rd A to the 5th C, you can use notes inbetween in passing – A (A# B) C.
Inversions of the chords – the root position of the Major triad (you can add the octave too) is 1, 3, 5, then first inversion 3, 5, 1 and the second inversion 5, 1, 3.
Doublestops (2 note chords) – Playing the root plus the 10th (an octave + a third)

Playing this in a band would surely get me fired for overplaying, but again, its an example of possibilties and inspiration for you to in learning to play over these fairly simple Major chords.
And we havent even touched the use of the 7th, as i basically play over triads with a 6th added here and there, but its the pure major chord sound witch is used a lot in most rock and pop songs.

Quicktime version

iPod version

This is a lesson 2 in this series, go to lesson 1 HERE or continue after this to lesson 3 HERE

iPod version here

Im just playing the notes from the triads  in a fairly strict up and down fashion over the music in this exercise – in a real playing situation i would of course vary the patterns – mostly put emphasis on root notes, use other rhythms , add scale notes etc..

But this is for you to get equally comfortable with the third (3rd )  and the fifth (5th) as well as the root

Now we use the C, F and G Major triads in a chord progression

Another way to learn this is by looking at at the chords as steps of the major scale (for explanation revisit lesson 1)

We are in the key of C so:
C Major is the 1st step of the C Major scale,
F Major is the 4th step of the C Major scale,
and G Major is the 5th step of the C Major scale

Optionally you could look at -The same chord sheet as above where numbers replaces the letters making it much easier to transpose

The positions revisited:

The C , F and G Major triads played in different positions up to the 7th fret, please memorize them, you will gain a great advantage in being able to break out of the “only playing root notes” box

(Click the image for full size)

iPod version

This is a prepatory exercise for Ch11 Using Major triads in basslines

The C , F and G Major triads played in different positions up to the 7th fret, please memorize them, you will gain a great advantage in being able to break out of the “only playing root notes” box

(Click the image for full size)

Explanation of  why you should learn this;-)

Since most western music harmony is based on the 7 steps of major scale, and that the chords built on the major scale are VERY common and should be memorized and transposed since they cover the foundation of MOST songs you will ever play.

And most pop and classic rock is composed either on a guitar or piano playing simple chords  (often by a non guitarist or non pianist), hence the “easy” keys and chords (C, G, D, Am, Em…) that  are VERY common.

So if we take the 7 steps of the major scale and build a simple chord on each step, in this case a triad (a three note chord):

• 1  C E G – spells a C Major triad – written as C
• 2  D F A – spells a D minor triad – written as Dm or D-
• 3  E G B – spells a E minor triad – written as Em or E-
• 4  F A C – spells a F Major triad – written as F
• 5 G B D – spells a G Major triad – written as G
• 6 A C E – spells a A minor triad – written as Am or A-
• 7 B D F – spells a B dimished triad – written as B0 or Bdim, but is not thatcommon and is often changed to a G Major triad with B in the bass – G/B

To build a triad from a scale, you play every other scale note, ie the C Major triad is the 1st,  3rd and 5th step of the C major scale, the D minor triad is the 2nd,  4th and 6th step, the E minor triad is the 3rd,  5th and 7th step….

So we have:

C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim

and if you look it as scale steps from the C major scale, it translates to:

1, 2m, 3m, 4, 5, 6m, 7dim

If we only use the Major chords we get :

C, F, G or the scale steps 1, 4 ,5

Which is a very common progression – ie Blues, Rock ‘n’ roll (Chuck Berry, Elvis…)

| C | C | C | C |
| F | F | C | C |
| G | F | C | G |

Or written as numbers (the scale steps) as the Nashville studio musicians do:
| 1  | 1  | 1 | 1  |
| 4 | 4 | 1 | 1  |
| 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 |

A very wise thing to do since you can transpose to all keys more easy just thinking in scale steps

| 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | in C is
| C | F | G | C |

And transposed to G is

| 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| G | C | D | G |

Go to next chapter of this tutorial with a song built on the 1st, 4th and 5th step ogf the major scale using the triads you have learnt in the video

Music theory for understanding the modes of the major scale.

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