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Applied for a music college

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Stryfer
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Post  Dead Goon Fri Nov 25, 2011 6:31 pm

The Manchester Music Base specifically. I went to an open day yesterday and had a chat with some of the tutors and they said that I needed to get more knowledge of scales and theory.

What I want to know is, why is learning scales relevant? I've asked this a lot of times and the answer has always been along the lines of construction of bass lines, improv. etc but I've never been told why it's needed for construction of bass lines and improv. etc. Hopefully someone can explain this to me in a way I'll understand. Thanks.

EDIT: The amount of different scales and types of scales seems kind of overwhelming... How do I go about this?
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Post  lololiet Fri Nov 25, 2011 6:50 pm

You could always just start with leearning the major and minor scales, the different scales are so interlocked that if you know a couple well you can approach the rest as variations of those scales, often the difference are only one or two notes.

Scales are mainly basically indicators of what notes sound right or out of place in a certain context. There has been written a lot about those feckers on this forum, if you look around you're bound to find something usefull.
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Post  Dead Goon Fri Nov 25, 2011 8:08 pm

So, pretty much if I'm playing in the key of C Major, for example, just stick to the notes in that scale when constructing a bass line to stay in key and I can't go wrong? There's probably a lot more to it than that but effectively that's the fruit?

EDIT: This kind of brings me to another question, what's the difference between playing in the key of C Major and playing in the key of A minor?
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Post  Pippynip Fri Nov 25, 2011 11:58 pm

Actually, that is pretty much it. I don't think there's anything else to it Razz

The difference between C major and A minor is that C major is happy and A minor is sad. It is the exact same scale with the exact same notes, but played from A to A instead of C to C, and that makes all the difference. For some reason. I just accept it Razz

Anyway, welcome to the forums!
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Post  Stryfer Sat Nov 26, 2011 6:53 am

A minor is just a mode of C major.
In jazz, these modes are the key to "staying interesting". They open up more options and variations. If the guitar player hits a C major chord, most bass players will stay in the C major scale. Of course, if you play A minor, it will still sound good, but radically different. Same notes, different note order.

I can't really comment further, since Victor Wooten disproved the importance of scales. He played a solo that consisted of all the "wrong" notes, on purpose, and it sounded just fine. In fact, I think that if you listen to some of the largest names in jazz today, they don't seem to really care which notes they play... (there is no note XD)

Of course there are those players who live by scales and everything they do revolves around the modes.
Let's just call the scales guidelines. A proven formula that always works.
I've even entertained the notion that they were created so that those lacking an ear for music can still play correctly. jocolor

I myself only stick to the major and minor scale - heavily - but anything beyond is purely a matter of feeling, not theory. Of course, if someone who knew a lot of theory came along, he could find the corresponding scale.
If physics says that everything is in motion, music says that everything is in scales.

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Post  Smaz Sat Nov 26, 2011 7:56 am

I can't tell you much about why scales and modes are important, but I think the best thing I've heard about them is 'You need to know the rules in order to break them' lol.

I have this book:

http://www.basslinepublishing.com/the-bass-player-s-guide-to-scales-and-modes.html

I'm not far into it, but it's the most useful resource I've found - it doesn't stick to the 'here is a pattern for a scale, play it' method most resources do.

There is also this site, which seems to cover quite a bit:

http://www.studybass.com/

I myself only know the major scale well, and the minor scale but never use it. I attend blues jams a few times a month, and get by just fine... Smile
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Post  MetalJacob Sat Nov 26, 2011 9:05 am

Smaz you don't happen to have the online/kindle version of that book do you?
buying books seems like such a waste to me
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Post  Dropthelines585 Sat Nov 26, 2011 2:39 pm

Awesome avatar.
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Post  Pippynip Sat Nov 26, 2011 3:46 pm

Smaz wrote:'You need to know the rules in order to break them'

THIS. YES. THIS.

Can't believe I forgot that.
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Post  Pastichio Sat Nov 26, 2011 7:26 pm

Read this thread, lots of good ideas on how to apply scales to your bass playing.



https://freebasslessons.forumotion.com/t1310p45-almost-everything-you-ll-ever-need-to-know-on-modes-and-scales
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Post  Dead Goon Sun Nov 27, 2011 11:37 pm

Thanks for the replies. I'm afraid it's all just going way over my head though, I'm starting to get a little anxious for the interview.
NOTE: I had to edit out all the URLS or else I couldn't reply.

Pippynip wrote:Actually, that is pretty much it. I don't think there's anything else to it Razz

The difference between C major and A minor is that C major is happy and A minor is sad. It is the exact same scale with the exact same notes, but played from A to A instead of C to C, and that makes all the difference. For some reason. I just accept it Razz

Anyway, welcome to the forums!

Thank you Very Happy

Smaz wrote:I can't tell you much about why scales and modes are important, but I think the best thing I've heard about them is 'You need to know the rules in order to break them' lol.

I have this book:

-

I'm not far into it, but it's the most useful resource I've found - it doesn't stick to the 'here is a pattern for a scale, play it' method most resources do.

There is also this site, which seems to cover quite a bit:

--

I myself only know the major scale well, and the minor scale but never use it. I attend blues jams a few times a month, and get by just fine... Smile

I read through the article on bass patterns and it was just way too overwhelming, I can't explain it. I understand what's in the article but on a larger scale it just gives me a headache trying to comprehend it. I feel really useless, I read through it all and I still don't feel like I can apply any of that


Dropthelines585 wrote:Awesome avatar.
Thank you very much Smile
Pastichio wrote:Read this thread, lots of good ideas on how to apply scales to your bass playing.

Reading that made me feel extremely useless. Same thing happened on the studybass website, it just all went way over my head and I felt really crappy afterwards because I didn't have a clue what I just read.
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Post  Stryfer Mon Nov 28, 2011 1:00 am

Taking it all in at once is overwhelming.
Read through it, try the patterns out, experiment and so on. It takes time to get the hang of it...something I've never gotten around to doing Laughing

It's like math: when you start with simple addition and subtraction, moving on to multiplication or fractions seems overly-complex. However, by the time you get around to more advanced aspects (trigonometry, f(x)...don't know the english terms), the previously mentioned become second nature.

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Post  Dead Goon Mon Nov 28, 2011 1:03 am

Nice analogy Razz Do you think it's worth taking a few bass lessons to get it explained to me in person in layman's terms and to get in a bit more practice and knowledge before the interview? I was going to but then I thought with all the stuff online it could make getting a bass tutor a bit... redundant?
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Post  Pastichio Mon Nov 28, 2011 6:39 pm

Dead Goon wrote:Nice analogy Razz Do you think it's worth taking a few bass lessons to get it explained to me in person in layman's terms and to get in a bit more practice and knowledge before the interview? I was going to but then I thought with all the stuff online it could make getting a bass tutor a bit... redundant?


Nothing beats a one to one teaching experience. The internet is a fantastic learning tool but having an experienced teacher help you along could be what you need.
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Post  Pippynip Mon Nov 28, 2011 6:44 pm

I'm at a music college as well, and lots of people are in pretty much the same boat as you regarding information flying over heads. The advice they were given, we were all given, was not to worry about it. Just keep working at it, step by step, piece by piece, and eventually you'll have a EUREKA moment and wonder why you were ever confused. Very Happy
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