First electric bass lessons

To start our bass course we need to have some basic knowledge

of music and our instrument.

First let's know a little about the parts of the BASS (Bass).

PINS

DIAPASON

TABLETS FRETS

BODY
ROPES

VOLUME CONTROL

BRIDGE

In music there are seven notes: DO, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, SI

The names of the bass strings are as follows:

Notes are written on a special grating called a staff.

Also in music there are three keys “C, FA and SOL”

The bass is studied with the bass clef on the 4th line of the staff.

Name of notes

NOTE: As you can see, the notes always have an established order, meaning that no
matter which note you start on, they will always follow the same order.

MAIN ALTERATIONS
The sharp, flat and square are the signs we call main alterations:
  
These alterations modify the notes that carry them in the following way:

The sharp increases half a step to the note that carries it.
The flat decreases half a tone to the note that carries it.
The first square cancels the effect of the previous ones.

DO RE MI FA SOL LA SI DO RE

EXERCISE:
Write the corresponding note, example:
Above the note SOL is: LA
Below the note SOL is: FA
Above the YES note is:
Below the RE note is:
Above the LA note is:
Below the MI note is:

NOTE:
The piano helps us to clearly identify the tones and halftones in this way we have that above F there
will be an F# and then a G, G#, A, A# etc.

THE NOTES ON THE BASS ARM

Now we can write the notes to the bass fretboard taking into account the elements
mentioned above.

NOTE:
Currently there are basses with 4, 5, 6 and more strings

Draw the complete arm of your bass and write all the notes on it.

DURATION OF NOTES:
Before starting to read a score we need to know the duration figures of the notes and
their symbols, which are the following:

SYMBOL/FIGURE VALUE/DURATION NAME

4 STROKES UNIT

2 HALF STROKES

1 FOURTH TIME

½ TIME OCTAVES

2 IN 1 TIME OCTAVES

¼ TIME SIXTEEN-SIXTHS

4 IN A SIXTEENTH TIME

NOMENCLATURE OF THE HANDS FOR THE STUDY OF THE BASS:

For the right hand it is the following:

THUMB (p)
INDEX (i)
MEDIUM (m)
CANCEL
LITTLE FINGER (mq)

For the left hand it is the following:

THUMB (guide)
ONE 1)
TWO 2)
THREE 3)
FOUR 4)

2m
1 ai
3

4 mq

Q
Q

LEFT HAND RIGHT HAND

BASICS
OF THE
 CONSTRUCTION OF BASS
LINES
Next we will begin the study of harmony in the BASS.
Here we will study: intervals, scales, arpeggios, degrees, chords and the construction of
bass lines in different styles.

BASIC CONCEPTS OF HARMONY

Harmony:
It is the part of music that studies the formation and combination of
chords.

Music is the science of combining sounds.

And in it there are 7 sounds, which once grouped will look like this:

DO RE MI FA SOL LA SI

These sounds (notes) go up (ascending) or down (descending)

If we number the notes we will have the order like this:

8
7
 6
5
4
3
2
1

Observe that the distance from note number 1 to note number 8, which is
the repetition of the first, will be called the octave.
Now what would we call the distance from the note:

DO (1) to the note E (3)

DO (1) to the note SOL (5)
C to the note Re
DO to the note SI

Notes are also read and written using letters (of the alphabet) which are
called “cipher” .

DO c
RE d
MY A
N
D
FA F
SU g
N
TH T
E O
YE b
AH

C=C, D=D, E=E, F=F, G=G, A=A, B=B

Tones and semitones on the piano

A semitone on the piano is the distance from one key to another.

A tone on the piano is the distance between every two keys.

Now we not only have the seven natural sounds we also have five altered
sounds (which we will call sharps or flats)

The five sounds we are missing are the following

C C# or Db D D# or Eb EF F# or Gb G G# or Ab A A# or Bb B

C# D# F# G# A# C# D#
Db Eb Gb Ab Bb Db Eb

CDEFGABCDE

OBSERVE

If we move to the right we will be ascending (treble)

If we move to the left we will be descending (severe)

Remember: from one key to the next there is a half tone (semitone), every two keys
there is a tone.
Exercises
Find the distance between the following notes

C - D ______ C - D ______

C - F ______ C - D ______

C - B ______ D – F_______

C - E ______ G – A ______

C - C ______ E – D ______

C - A ______ B – C ______

C - G ______ G – C ______

Now also write how many tones or semitones is the distance between note
and note.

C - D ______ C - D ______

C - F ______ C - D ______

C - B ______ D – F_______

C - E ______ G – A ______

C - C ______ E – D ______

C - A ______ B – C ______

C - G ______ G – C ______
 INTERVALS

Interval is the distance from one sound to another.

The intervals can be:

 Ascending or descending
 Melodic or Harmonic
 Consonants or dissonants
 Diatonic, natural or chromatic

There are five types of intervals:

a) Amended
b) Fair
c) Elderly
d) Minor
e) Diminished

There is also the double augmented and the double diminished

MODEL INTERVALS

They are those that result from the diatonic scale of C major, on its first
degree (tonic), which is C.

2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th

Taking as a basis the intervals that result from the C major scale,
The fair intervals are:

Righteous Seniors

a) 1st a) 2nd
b) 4th b) 3rd
c) 5th and c) 6th
d) 8th d) 7th

1st 4th 5th 8th

2nd 3rd 6th 7th

SMALLER INTERVALS

The intervals that can become minor are only the MAJOR ones.

a) 2nd
b) 3rd
c) 6th
d) 7th

CLASSIFICATION OF INTERVALS
First fair Same sounds
( or Unison ) 0 tones

Second Elderly 1 tone

Minor ½ tone

Third Elderly 2 tones

Minor 1 ½ shades

Quarter fair 2 ½ tones

Fifth fair 3 ½ shades

Sixth Elderly 4½ tones

Minor 4 shades

Seventh Elderly 5½ shades

Minor 5 shades

Eighth fair 6 shades

SCHEMATIC TABLE OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF

INTERVALS

Double Augmented
Increased
Elderly
Minor Fair
Diminished
Double Diminished
REMEMBER
 If the largest interval decreases by ½ it becomes smaller
 If the major interval increases by ½ tone it becomes Augmented
 If the minor interval decreases by ½ tone it becomes diminished
 If the Just interval increases by ½ tone it becomes increased
If the interval just decreases ½ tone it becomes diminished

Note: All intervals can be converted to augmented (double augmented) and

diminished (double diminished)

CONSTRUCT THE FOLLOWING INTERVALS (ASCENDING OR

DESCENDING) TAKING THE NOTE GIVEN TO YOU AS A STARTING
POINT.

MAJOR AND MINOR SECONDS

d d
c c
F F
b b
TO
T
AN
D
O
A
N
MAJOR AND MINOR THIRD PARTIES D

d
d
c
c
F
F
b
b
T
T
O
O
A
A
N
N
D
D
FAIR QUARTERS

d
d
c
c
F
F
b
b
T
T
O
O
A
FAIR FIFTHS A
N
N
D
D
d
d
c
c
F
F
b
b
T
T
O
O
A
A
N
N
D
D MAJOR AND MINOR SIXTHS

d d
c c
F F
b b
T T
O O
A A
N MAJOR AND N MINOR SEVENTHS
D D

d
c
F
b
T
O
A
N
D
IDENTIFY THE FOLLOWING DIATONIC INTERVALS

3rd M
IDENTIFY THE FOLLOWING CHROMATIC INTERVALS
 SCALES

Diatonic Scale: it is the succession of seven sounds plus the repetition of

the first

tetrachord

It is the succession of four consecutive sounds, which form TONE, TONE

AND SEMI-TONE (1/2 TONE)

1st tetrachord

2nd tetrachord
Major “mode” model scale

The Major (diatonic) scale is made up of two equal tetrachords joined by a

tone, and is taken as a model to know how to study and construct all major
scales.

Formation of Scales (major) by uplink of tetrachords

Formation of Scales (major) by downlink of tetrachords

Linking the tetrachords upwards, the SHARPS appear
Write the order in which the sharps appeared:

Linking the tetrachords downwards, the FLATS appear

Write the order in which the Flats appeared:

The armor results from this order.

HOW TO FIND THE MAJOR KEY IN THE SHARP SERIES (#)

To find the tone we have two options to consider

 When you have the key signature, you are asked to identify which key
the key key belongs to:

In this case, to find the major key to which it belongs, we locate the last
sharp of the series and that sharp we raise ½ tone and that will be our
TONIC
This way in the previous example we would have that if we raise C# ½ tone
we will reach D and that will be our tonic.
 By having the tone we must find the key signature of said tone

NUMBERS WITH WHICH THE DEGREES OF THE SCALE ARE

REPRESENTED
The degrees of the scale are represented with Roman numerals.

I II III IV V VI VII

According to their tonal function, the degrees of the scale are called:

I.- TONIC
II.- Supertonic
III.- Through
IV.- Subdominant
V.- Dominant
VI.- Superdominant
VII.- Sensitive

CHORDS
Chord: It is the superposition of THREE or more sounds, by thirds.

Construction of major, minor, augmented and diminished chords

To build the chords we will follow the following formula

The result of putting two thirds above a note (X) is the following.

3rd m 3rd M 3rd m 3rd M

3rd M 3rd m 3rd m 3rd M
__X___ __X___ _ X__ _ X__
TO. greater than. minor a. decreased A.Aumen.

Now that we know the formula(s) to construct the chords, let's see what
chords we have left in the MAJOR (diatonic) scale, let's start with our
model scale “C Major”
REMEMBER

The degrees of the scale are represented with Roman numerals.

According to this we can now know that:

1st degree of a “Major Scale” is MAJOR

2nd degree of a “Major Scale” is

3rd degree of a “Major Scale” is
4th degree of a “Major Scale” is
5th degree of a “Major Scale” is
6th degree of a “Major Scale” is
7th degree of a “Major Scale” is

COMPLETE THE TABLE:

I II III IV V VI VII

CHORDS AND DEGREES IN ALL MAJOR SCALES

Now that we know the degrees and chords of the major scale, we can learn
the chords and degrees of the major scales that we already know.
 CONSTRUCTION OF LINES BY STYLES
THE BALLAD
This style is characterized by having long notes, generally round and white.
However, we can also use figures of eighths, dotted quarters, but it is best
to use long notes.
In this style we can mainly use the fundamentals of the chords with which
we are working in the second part of the measure.
It is necessary to work with the leading of the fifths of the chords. Now
observe how the villas are conducted.

This is a good example of driving fifths. (on some occasions we can also
drive the third ones)

Now let's work with this piece and analyze how the bass line moves in this
style.