Compiled and written by Bass Player and Music Educator
George Urbaszek
http://www.creativebass.com and http://www.creativebasslessons.com
Welcome to Creative Bass eMag Number 13
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Buy NowFretting-Hand Fingering Advice
Several months ago I had a visit from a 55-year-old (novice) bass player
named Rob who had bass lessons from a guitarist for almost one year.
Rob developed severe carpel tunnel syndrome and had to have an
operation on his fretting hand. His operation was only about a week
old when he visited me, and quite frankly, it scared me to see an
actual live case displaying the results of incorrect technique.
Needless to say, Rob had been using the one-finger-per-fret guitar
technique.
This case may be extreme, but there are many more instances of
similar gravity. My opinion is "Why stretch if you don't need to."
I
can go into the finer details of anatomy, etc., but I won't in this
eMag. An important thing to consider is that on the bass we usually
are required to play mostly within the octave position, i.e. three
frets apart. If arpeggio shapes are to be played over four frets,
then the one-finger-per fret method is employed.
Do this test:
1. Place the pad of your right-hand thumb on the underside of your
left-hand wrist.
2. Stretch your left-hand fingers to simulate the spacing of the four
widest frets on the bass.
3. Now relax the fingers to a three-fret spacing and, with your right-
hand thumb, feel the difference in your left wrist tension.
What it comes down to is to USE THE TECHNIQUE REQUIRED FOR EACH
PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCE and not a one-technique-suits-everything
approach.
The lesson in today’s lesson is for you to play along to the bass lines
I have recorded.
They are the individual sections of “I Feel Good”, the song we have
been working out over the past few transcription sessions. Each section of the
song is recorded once and uses a CLICK TRACK so you can hear the syncopations.
Just use the “CLICK HERE for AUDIO” function to download the MP3
audio files to your computer, then play along at your heart’s content.
To give you a reminder of each previously transcribed section, below is a synopsis of previous sessions with the audio links at the end of each mini review.
1. The first “I Feel Good” section, which could be considered the Chorus because it is the most recognizable part of the song
How many different notes in the first bar? Three. LOW – HIGH – MID = Root – Octave – Seventh (alternating) = D D C# D C# D C# D
Second bar. The syncopated rhythm (worked out before) uses notes 1 –
8 – b7 – 5 (D – D – C – A) and back to 1 (D) for
the beginning of the next bar.
Play the 2-bar riff in one position between the 5th and 7th frets.
Bar 5 goes to the IV-chord – starts on low G, 3rd fret, E-string – same shape as before.
Bar 7 goes back to the I-chord (D). But wait. It doesn’t go D D – it goes C D. Problem cleverly solved.
Bars 9 and 10 go V V (A A) IV IV (G G) – easy.
2. The Unison Riff
The ascending unison line in bars 11 and 12 begins with a major triad.
The next note is the flat 7, making a dominant 7 arpeggio.
The next note is higher still and seems to “hang” a bit openly.
It is E.
The unison line is D F# A C E.
3. The Bridge
The Bridge is just sax and drums, but we will play the notes anyway.
Same root as before (D) with octave, flat 7 and that last note … so cool
– the flat 3 (F)
“When I hold you …” descending bass line over the IV-chord.
Bass starts on G, does 2 G’s, 2 F’s, 2 E’s, 2 D’s –
times 2.
Goes back to the I-chord – same bass sequence: DD CC BB AA x2
Goes back to the same sequence off the G.
Ends differently – 3 quick notes - chromatic from G to A, i.e. G G# A
4. The Tag
The tag is the same as the end of every chorus except for the extended ending.
It goes up to the 9th and then descends over the minor pentatonic scale from
E to D C A G F D.
Check it out! All notes of the descending run are on the “dots”,
the fingerboard makers; this makes it very easy to visualize.
That’s basically it. A few more play-alongs from beginning to end wouldn’t
hurt.
Get the form right, get it tight and have some fun!
Links
Check out the Contrabass Shoppe http://www.contrabass.co.uk/csbasses.htm for some beautiful photos of old and new double basses
Lots of bass guitar history, photos, explanations and links at http://www.answers.com/topic/bass-guitar-2?cat=entertainment
And here is a link to one of my greatest teachers, Kai Eckhardt http://www.kaizone.com/bio.html
That’s it for this edition of the online Creative Bass eMag.
Enjoy!
George Urbaszek
Bass Player and Music Educator
Serving Bass Players Worldwide since 1996