Scott Devine How to Expand and Develop Your Bass Lines (L#2) In this tutorial I demonstrate how you can start to add different chord tones within your bass lines This gives you loads more options and helps you to be much more creative with your playing The tune I use as an expample is John Mayer's 'Perfectly Lonely' You can download this on itunes Arpeggios (hord Tones) Major F Major R rd th 7th R R rd th 7th R 4 2 0 2 D Minor G Dominant 7 R rd th 7th R R rd th 7th R 8 7 7 2? hord Sequence 4???????????????? opyright 20 Scott's Bass Lessons
How to Expand and Develop Your Bass Lines Part 2 (L#a) 02: Ex Target the th with a chromatic run œ œ# œ œ X 4 œ œ # œ œœ œ œ œ œ# œœ œ j œ X 2 X 6 7 œ œ œ# œ œ œ œœ X 4 04:4 Ex2 Leading up to the rd œ œ# œœ œ œ J œ œ œ œ# œœ œ œ # œœœ n œ œ J œ œ# œœ œ œ œ X 6 7 X 4 X 6 7 8 X 7 8 9 7 9 06:4 Ex Leading up to the root F D G7 œ r œ j œ # œœ œ œ r œ j œ œ# œ œ œ œ R J œ# œ œ œœ # œœ X 2 4 X 2 2 opyright 20 Scott's Bass Lessons
How to Expand and Develop Your Bass Lines Part (L#b) Scott Devine First off, try playing through the chords always starting on the root Now lets try switching between starting with the root, then starting with the rd on the following bar 0:24 Ex œ œ jœ œ œ œ j œ œ œ j œ 7 7 2 X 2 X 2 œ r œ œ j œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ# œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœ œ J œ X 7 8 9 7 9 7 2 "What you should do now is go through the chords and write the rds above the chords Start trying to put the thirds on the irst beat of the bar" opyright 20 Scott's Bass Lessons
2 02:0 Ex Play using only root notes F D D œ j J œ œ œ œ J œ j œ œ œ œ X X X 04:0 Ex2 Add the th F D G7 œ r œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ R œ œ R œ œ œ œ œ œ X X X 0 "The irst port of call is the th of each chord" 06:0 Ex Add rd F D G7 œ r œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ R œ X 0 X X 2 F D G7 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ# œ œ R X 7 7 7 X X X X 7 7 7 8 9 opyright 20 Scott's Bass Lessons
How to develop and expand your Bass lines part, 2 & (L#2,) Your Action Plan To get the most out of these two tutorials you're going to have to work on your chord tone knowledge; the bass lines that we build throughout these lessons use these as the foundation for every idea Take the chord progression I use in the video tutorial Write it out so you have a visual reference to look at, then work slowly through each of the triads for each chord making sure you can visualize them within the first five frets Obviously you should be aiming to learn them over the entire fingerboard, so if you know them well enough in the first five frets already now is a great time to move further up the neck making sure you learn them in each position (make sure you really know them before moving position) Time and time again students tell me they know their fretboards well, and time and time again after a little investigation I prove to them that they don't Knowing your fretboard and being able to visualize the chord tones on it is one of the most important things you'll ever work on, and when mastered will completely transform your bass playing and musicianship opyright 20 Scott s Bass Lessons
2 Start slow There's no point rushing with these exercises as in the end it will hold back your progression Work through each step of the tutorials First the roots Then roots and fifths Then start adding in the thirds, chromatics and so on Make sure you can create a convincing bass line using each technique In my opinion the 'king' of the techniques discussed within these tutorials is the great and legendary bassist James Jamerson I want you to make a study of his playing You've probably heard him hundreds of times before and not even realized, as he is one of the most recorded bass players of all time and performed with artists such as The Jackson, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, The Supremes you get the idea! Set a month aside to study his bass lines Transcribe as many as you can And most importantly, when are transcribing make sure to analyze how the bass lines are constructed This is the key to getting the most out of transcription By analyzing why the bass lines work ie he's using roots here, thirds there etc, it will give you the ability to construct bass lines like this yourself This is what you should be aiming for! Scott Devine opyright 20 Scott s Bass Lessons