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BASS GUITAR PRIMER"10 Bass Lessons: Instant Download"by Mark John Sternal
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Bass Guitar Lesson 8 - Writing Bass Lines & Fills:
Page 17 teaches you how to write bass lines and fills.
INTRO TO BASS LINES
Use different scale notes and positions together to create bass lines. To start, use scale notes only. Try any combination of scale notes. If you are playing with another musician, he or she should use chords taken from the scale you are playing. FOR EXAMPLE: C, F, & G are scale notes that can be used as chords, if the other musician is playing a rhythm using these chords the most basic bass line would be to play the notes that name each chord, but you can easily play a more interesting bass line by using the natural scale along with the chords. To make your bass lines stand out, you can use the different techniques and applications provided in this book, and even invent a few of your own. As you get more comfortable, you can begin to change keys, and even scales during a bass line, song, or even solo. There is no end to the possibilities of what you can do to any single note or group of notes. Take this scale and explore every possibility. Music is emotion. Learn to put your personal feelings into your playing: Happiness, sadness, love, hate, excitement, aggression, etc... These are your personal feelings that you can express in your music. *Write them, learn them, play them fast and slow.
Question And Answer Phrases
Question and Answer, (Q & A), phrasing is another technique used for creating bass lines. Pick a scale position. By playing any combination of scale notes, other than the root note (key note), you can write a melody that sounds incomplete. This will pose as a question. To complete the question, play any combination of scale notes, ending on the root note. This will pose as an answer.
The natural scale can either be used as a Major or Minor key as explained on page 9. There are also other modes of the natural scale, as well as key changes which will be covered starting on page 73.
Major Key Q & A Example:
For the question, play B, D then E.
For the answer, play D, B, end on C.
Minor Key Q & A Example:
Take our scale which is in the key of Am.
For the question, play C, D then E.
For the answer, play D, C, end on A.
Take some time and see how many 3 and 4 note Q & A phrases you can write.
Another way to play a question phrase is to play any combination of scale notes, including the root note, but not ending on the root note.
Minor Key Q & A Example: A, C, D, C/ A, C, D, D.
You can also play different combinations of Q & A phrases.
Example:
1. Place your focus on the question phrase(s): Q, Q, A.
2. Place your focus on the answer(s): Q, A, A.
*The last few pages of this book offers blank note pages for you to write your own bass lines.
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