theory???

OK so I have played bass for about 15 years on and off. I have never had a lesson just had someone tell me what the strings were and went from there. Lately I have gained an interest in learning some of the technical sides to playing the bass. I have watched some video's on you tube and am trying to learn some more scales. So I guess to start my round of questions on theory I would like to know what diminished triad and arpeggio scales are. How do you find them on the bass? Why are the specific notes used? I understand the c major scale it uses all of the root notes of the major scale. But I have no idea what diminished triad and arpeggio scales are.

I am not sure that my question will transpose from what I am thinking to what you read but I hope it does. Am I asking the wrong questions? I don't know. Anyway, I know that music is mathematical and there are limited options of notes that can be played after each specific note that you play but how do I know what notes can be played?

OK well that's enough to get the ball rolling. Thank you all in advance for any help you can offer. And if there is already a topic about this please just point me in the right direction and I will go there.


Rick

So since I made this post I have gone around the web looking for some stuff and I found a good site. (I think)

Jazz Theory <<<<LInk

But just as with philosophy once you start finding answers it just raises more question.

So I guess I will start a running tab of questions.

Todays question, I will be quoting from the above site.

A triad can be extended by adding more thirds on top. For instance, if you take the C major triad ("C E G"), and add B, you have a major seventh chord (Cmaj7 or CM7), so called because the notes come from the C major scale.

The question is, if the chord being played by the guitarist is a Cmaj7 should I only use C,E,G, and B to start any runs that I would use as fillers?

I hope my questions are making sense, I really look forward to getting them answered. And yeah I am sure that I can find the answer but I would just be reading a technical book and I would loose the player insight and I would have to decipher even more fancy talk to understand what the writer is actually saying.

Thanks,
Rick

rgolie13 wrote:So since I made this post I have gone around the web looking for some stuff and I found a good site. (I think)

Jazz Theory <<<<LInk

But just as with philosophy once you start finding answers it just raises more question.

So I guess I will start a running tab of questions.

Todays question, I will be quoting from the above site.

A triad can be extended by adding more thirds on top. For instance, if you take the C major triad ("C E G"), and add B, you have a major seventh chord (Cmaj7 or CM7), so called because the notes come from the C major scale.

The question is, if the chord being played by the guitarist is a Cmaj7 should I only use C,E,G, and B to start any runs that I would use as fillers?

I hope my questions are making sense, I really look forward to getting them answered. And yeah I am sure that I can find the answer but I would just be reading a technical book and I would loose the player insight and I would have to decipher even more fancy talk to understand what the writer is actually saying.

Thanks,
Rick

Just listen to yourself and record that. There is no 'you cannot do this' or 'you must do this' in music. Do what sounds good, and sometimes you may find that that defies all logic.

ThreeLetterSyndrom wrote:
Just listen to yourself and record that. There is no 'you cannot do this' or 'you must do this' in music. Do what sounds good, and sometimes you may find that that defies all logic.

Though usually what happens when you make up a really good tune you find that there's a bucketload of theory to show why that riff sounds good happens loads of times to me and my guitarist

theory confuses me.

If you're looking for theory, check here:

http://www.studybass.com/

It's a great site covering a wide range of subjects. I think there's only a handful of people here who know much about higher level theory, so I doubt we'd be of too much assistance Of course, we will do all we can to help!

Smaz wrote:If you're looking for theory, check here:

http://www.studybass.com/

It's a great site covering a wide range of subjects. I think there's only a handful of people here who know much about higher level theory, so I doubt we'd be of too much assistance Of course, we will do all we can to help!

Raises hand. Maybe I'm coming off as smug here, but I know pretty high-level theory, so maybe I can help out.

Even though that, once you know theory, you'll just want to get rid of it, because it constantly invades your creativity

Theory is just a posh way of explaining something you are probably already doing. Diminished that, subdominant this, augmented whatever. Not that its not useful, it can be very useful but don't drown yourself in it(only if you want to that is). If your jamming with a guitarist and your playing seems to fit in with what he is doing then it probably does fit. Theory just explains why it fits.

Pastichio has hit the nail on the head once more.

I've always trained my ear. Listening and jamming. I always knew where my notes were, etc, but that was about it as far as theory went. I know a few scales. I (now) know how to apply them, etc, because I teach people.

But the first thing I noticed when I was learning theory is that it seemed to be a painfull and souless journey, that puts it all down in black and white, but without the magic. The way I learnt, seemed to be a better way to go. Listening to music. Watching bass players. Day after day after day. All types of music. Just absorb it all. Live it.

I never wanted to get into this "argument" on the net, because some people like to be academic about things, and learn that way. Some people are dreamers, and like the sounds. Both ways, to me, are fine. Each to his own. too much time is wasted on this on sites like talkbass and basschat. Time wasted that could be used to practise and learn something new.

So i'll end it there.

But one last thing: I'll never forget meeting a student of Berklee, over here and visiting, watching me play in my old band. I came off stage, and he, very impressed said I must have a massive knowledge of theory to be pulling off some of the stuff I was pulling off onstage that night.

I just said "Nope, I don't know anything about theory. I must have just got lucky, huh?"

Admin wrote:But one last thing: I'll never forget meeting a student of Berklee, over here and visiting, watching me play in my old band. I came off stage, and he, very impressed said I must have a massive knowledge of theory to be pulling off some of the stuff I was pulling off onstage that night.

I just said "Nope, I don't know anything about theory. I must have just got lucky, huh?"

Classic Hendrix situation there, that man knew nothing about theory it was all about colours for him, and we all know how good he was.

I do agree its a silly argument, the academics and the dreamers. Personally I am somewhere in between, I don't trust my ears like some people so I use theory as a crutch or a guide. I probably would never study it properly, I prefer playing bass than study any day, but I do know a little, how to construct scales using the circle of fifths, writing chord progressions based on scales. What I found was that its hard to get the music from music theory (if that makes sense) you get bogged down in terms and it just ends up being words on paper rather than sounds in your head. I wouldn't dismiss it either, as you may learn something from it, like trying out something that you never thought of doing before but for someone like yourself, at your skill level, you have probably thought of everything already lol.

Smaz wrote:If you're looking for theory, check here:

http://www.studybass.com/

It's a great site covering a wide range of subjects. I think there's only a handful of people here who know much about higher level theory, so I doubt we'd be of too much assistance Of course, we will do all we can to help!

Cool site, learned some new things


As it goes for theory I'm trying to learn enough of it so that I know what I'm talking about, but looking at music in a formulaic sense seems to take away the appeal for me personally like Dman said

I know a pretty good amount of theory but I can't apply it to the bass. My mind can't think"I'm playing in mixolydian so I should do this" fast enough. I can understand why when I play something cool it is cool, but I can't explain what I'm doing while I do it. So in my opinion theory won't really help bass playing all that much. It will give you a better understanding and appreciation for music however.

Music theory is one reason my studies at Marshall University was cut short. I spent countless hours in a classroom learning scales, modes, you name it. But all I really wanted to do was play. That made it even harder since I had already been playing the dreamer way for eight or so years. After three and a half months I said "Fuck this, I'm not sitting in a classroom to learn all this math when I was doing just fine on my own." That's the day I walked out of the music hall and went to the bar and played MY OWN way, and had a great deal of fun doing it. From then on I did all my learning on my own. What sounds good sounds good, that's all there is to it. I don't waste my time wondering why. I could give a rat's ass about theory. Music is not math.