Bass-ics from a �Self-Taught Bassist�Nick Pierce�Special Thanks: Crystal Pelham, a bassist with actual training�Also featuring way too many memes and references!!!

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.

Topics and Content

• Backstory: Choosing Your Bassist
• Equipment: Choosing Your Bass and Gear
• "Bass"-ic Technique: Hand position, playing technique, EQ Settings and Tone, etc.
• Scales and Keys: It's Just a Fret to the Left
• Jazz Band Applications: Walking Patterns, Bass Lines, and Sounding Hipper than You Are
• Advanced Techniques: Tritone Subs, Harmonics, Slap
• Q&A, ask throughout

Choosing Your Bassist

Interest

Bass Clef

Theory: Understands Half and Whole Steps

Good Time

Bonus: Plays outside of school (garage band, worship band, etc.)

Strong Candidates: Bassoonists, Low Brass, guitarists, orchestral bassists/cellists, garage band bassists

You might not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like!!!

Choosing Your Bass

4 String for first bass, save 5-String for your Second Bass 

Fender Jazz (J) Bass: the standard. Precision (P) Bass also acceptable

Squier: owned by fender, same instruments made with cheaper materials

Standard shape, no V's or Z's

Active vs. Passive Pick-Ups: 

• Active=9v battery, punchier sound
• Passive=no battery, less punchy sound
• Active pickups, battery drained whenever the bass is plugged in. 
• Recommended: Passive, play it safe

Other Brands, same principals apply: 

Ibanez, MarkBass, Jackson similar designs

Dean, my first bass

Yamaha: fine

Rogue: cheaper options

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Fretless Basses: Cool sound, much harder to play in tune. Schools shouldn't own them, let ambitious students buy their own. 

Choosing Your Amp

• Recommend Brands: Fender,  Acoustic, Ampeg
• School amp: 50-100 watts is plenty for most, maybe up to 200 for large halls or stadium use
• Make sure amp can plug into the sound system as well, Input AND Output
• Student Amp: any practice amp, don't overthink 
• Online retailers: Sweetwater, Guitar Center, Music and Arts
• In Denver: Drum City Guitar Land
• Transportation: Dolly, Cart, Casters on bottom. Wheels!!!
• Accessories: extension chords, long quarter inch cables, 

Tone and Technique: EQ

DON'T: Crank only the bass

DO: Turn up the Treble for clarity, adjust bass and mids for resonance

DO: Adjust for the room. Boomy room=less bass

DON'T: turn the gain up too high

To Find the Sound: 

Start with everything straight up, and then tweak to find the sound you want. 

Is it Plugged In?

• Plug everything in first!
• Then, power on. 
• Plugging in while the power is already on, and volume is up, can damage the amp (loud popping). 
• When the student is done playing:
• Turn the amp off
• Unplug the bass and amp 

Bass-ic Info

• Tuning: 
• Four Strings Standard: E-A-D-G 
• Ascending 4ths, same as Upright Bass or Guitar
• 5-String Bass, adds a Low B String
• No alternate tunings: rock only
• 5th string only essential for Musicals, sometimes
• Notation: 
• Sounds one octave lower then written, same as Upright Bass
• Positions: Never heard of them, never think about it 
• Upright Equivalents: 2nd and 4th fret = 1st position 
• 6th and 8th fret = 3rd position (on orchestra bass)
• Electric players use frets, not positions, but can be useful for orchestral converts

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• Strings are patterns of 4ths, each fret raises the pitch one half step. Once you hit the 5th fret everything resets, so all patterns you learn in the first 4 frets can be utilized starting on the 5th fret.

Tone and Technique: Hand Position

Left Hand

• Thumb on back of neck, palm off the neck
• Fingers Spread: One finger to One Fret
• Move whole hand, avoid stretching
• Pad of the finger, as close to fret bar as possible

Guitar Techniques: It's Still a Guitar

• Hammer-Ons
• Play a note
• Add a finger to move up a second or third, hard enough to "hammer" the string
• Similar to slurring, changing notes without plucking in the right hand

• Pull-Offs
• Play a note with the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th finger
• Pull off that finger to descend to a lower note without plucking with the right hand
• Think of "plucking" with a left hand finger

Scales and Keys: It's Just a Fret to the Left

Hint: Each fret is one half-step. 

Power Chords: Not Just for Rock Guitar

"Power Chord" Shape in Action

• Using Power Chord shapes as a basis, this is how I might improvise a Rock Ballad bass line. The first four bars are the chorus from "Written in the Stars" from "Aida," by Elton John. The next four bars are what I would probably play. Note most of it uses the Power Chord shapes from the previous slide. 
• Note: the written part does go down to lowe Eb, outside the range of a 4-string bass. I bought my five string specfically to play this show and others like it.

Jazz Applications: One Scale to Rule Them All

• Default Hand Shape=full chromatic scale, adapt to power chord shape as needed. 
• Walking: use scales more than arpeggios (arpeggios can sound very 50's rock)
• If using Arpeggios, add chromatic tones when moving to next chord
• Examples: techniques applied in ii-V-I progressions. 
• Review: ii-V-I is a common jazz progression. You can improvise over all three chords with the scale of the last Major chord. 
• In Bb: Cmin-F7-Bbmaj. All three chords use modes of the Bb major scale: Dorian-Mixolidian-Ionian. One set of notes. 
• This does carry over to Bass Lines. 

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Up and Down Scales: ii-V-I

• Simplest bassline in a ii-V-I, go down the scale of the last chord. Use scalar motion to move from one chord to the other: descending scales are easiest, 
• Use ascending, then descending scalar patterns to play bass lines 
• Avoid argeggios; sounds dinky 
• Walking Lines should still be Melodic

It Goes Like This, the 5th, the 4th (Chromatically)

• From the Root, play the 5th, descend chromatically to the 4th. Now you've moved around the circle of 4ths, and you're on the root of the IV chord. Do it again on the new chord, and you've played a ii-V-I. 

Now in a Bossa Style

• Everything applies in a bossa style, using only the root, the 5th, and occasionally the third. 

Tritone Subs: 

• Instead of ii-V-I, try ii-bii diminished-I. 
• Why it works: C7=C-E-G-Bb. F#dim=F#-A-C-E.  Two shared pitches. 

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Other Bass Line Rules

Setting the Style: Legato First

General Style for all Music

• Unless Otherwise Notated (rests), connect ALL notes
• One note resonates until the attack of the next note
• Dampen with right hand finger, OR by lightly lifting left hand finger

Genre Specific

• Swing
• Legato and connected, always
• Lightly accent 2 and 4, support the drum set (enables set to do less, add more fills, or drop out completely)
• Fill: strum through all open strings while moving down, follow demo
• Latin: listen and imitate, unwritten rests follow drum set
• Funk: slap and pop, follow drum set, be a percussionist

Harmonics: Not Just for Tuning

• Lightly touch a string at certain points on the neck with the left hand, then pluck with the right hand. This creates a Harmonic. 
• Can be used to tune; higher octaves are easier to hear. 
• 5th fret on one string matches 7th fret on the next
• 7-4-5=N-B-C
• Can be used for melodic playing as well; i.e. Jaco Pastorious. 
• Clearer sound when plucked closer to the bridge. 

Fun Fact: This is Not Brendan Fraiser in "George in the Jungle"

Slap, for Funk and Profit

• Full Explanation in video, extended version in resources slide. 
• Note: Power chord and Octave shape in use. 
• Good slap practice: Chameleon, Get in Line, funk lines with octave "pops"

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Maintenance and Repairs: Coming Soon to Your Schools Bass on Concert Day!!!

Strings

Change like guitar strings, run nut through bridge and tighten at top of neck (righty tighty lefty loosey)

New strings need time to stretch, change a week before gig if possible

Frequency: meh? I've gone 10+ years on one set, apparently I'm not weird

Electronics

Access through panels in the back, need screwdriver.

Can tighten various parts with screwdriver and/or allen wrench. 

More complicated then that, send to shop. 

Note: back panel also accesses batteries for Active Pickups

Truss Rod Adjustments

• Affects the bowing of the neck. Some bowing is normal, otherwise the frets wouldn't work. Too much, you'll bend notes out of tune. Too little, fret buzz. 
• THIS IS NOT YOUR JOB; RECOGNIZE IT, SEND TO SHOP. 
• Truss Rod adjustment: $100-$120 at Guitar Center. 
• Special Tools: $60, expertise not included. 

Recommended Listening

Jaco Pastorious: 

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Victor Wooten: 

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Stanley Clark

Ida Danielson 

Kinga Glyck 

Marcus Miller 

Zuri Appleby

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Youtube channels:

Charles Berthoud

BassBuzz

Rich Brown

Nate Navarro

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Additional Resources

Guitar Amp Buying Guide, Sweetwater Music: https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/guitar-amp-buying-guide/

Jazz Bass vs. Precicion Bass: the Key Differences: https://www.musiciansfriend.com/thehub/jazz-bass-precision-bass-differences

"The Music Lesson," by Victor Wooten. https://www.amazon.com/Music-Lesson-Spiritual-Search-Through/dp/0425220931

Updated Slap Lesson with Victor Wooten: https://youtu.be/75Qg6dfL6x8

Powerpoint Link and Resources Folder

Additional Gear Recommendations

• Basses

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Markbass/MB-Yellow-JB-Electric-Bass-1500000417159.gc

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Yamaha/BB234-Electric-Bass-Vintage-White-Black-Pickguard-1500000139289.gc

• Amps

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Markbass/CMB-121-Black-Line-1x12-150W-Bass-Combo-Amplifier-1500000407537.gc

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Gallien-Krueger/MB108-25W-1x8-Bass-Combo-Amp-with-Tolex-Covering-1415030761153.gc

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Acoustic/B300C-1X15-300W-Bass-Combo-with-Tilt-Back-Cabinet-1500000240899.gc

Thank you

• More Questions?
• Nick Pierce: npierce@pcsdk12.org
• Crystal Pelham: crystalpelham@gmail.com