[Electric bass fingering] The importance of scale practice and the idea of 1-octave scale fingering using 3-position 2-fret fingering! Let's organize your fingerings!

Here, I will explain how to think about fingering when playing a 1 octave scale using the 3-position XNUMX-fret fingering method.

<Importance of scale practice>

Electric bass practice begins with scales, followed by scales...

Bass lines and bass solos are basically constructed using the sounds on the scale.There are also cases where only chord tones are played like an arpeggio, the root and fifths are repeated, and only the root is played continuously.Phrases are constructed by fragmenting the scale into several successive notes and rejoining them.

Since the bass line of any song is constructed along some scale,By accumulating practice of the corresponding scale in advance, the learning speed of new songs will increase.

Scale practice is also very effective in memorizing the positions of notes on the frets.If you organize and memorize the fingerings and scale positions, you will be able to improvise a phrase on the bass line or play a solo, and your fingering will be smoother.

Improve your basic skills by practicing scales on a daily basis apart from practicing songsThis is a must-have for playing the electric bass the way you want it.When practicing scales, it is important to associate the image of the scale (right brain) with the image of fingering (left brain) and learn them at the same time.

Electric bass practice begins with scales, continues with scales, and goes on forever!

table of contents

2 octave scale fingering strategy
1. Summary

2 octave scale fingering strategy

Think about fingering when playing a 2 octave scale!

Question: From which position, through which octave position, to which two-octave position?

The electric bass has the same scale in multiple positions.For this reason, there are multiple paths that go up two octaves, and the fingering paths may look complicated at first glance.1 position 3 fret fingeringYou can organize it surprisingly easily by using .

Now let's break down the 2 octave fingerings into 1 octave and sort them out!

There are up to 4 ways to go up two octaves on a typical 5-string bass.Some paths cannot be realized due to lack of frets or strings depending on the starting note (R0 position).

(1) R0 -> R1 a -> R2 d path
(2) R0 -> R1 b -> R2 d route
(3) Path of R0 -> R1 b -> R2 e
(4) Path of R0 -> R1 a -> R2 e
(5) Path of R0 -> R1 c -> R2 e

Since the guitar has 6 strings, it can cover more than XNUMX octaves in one position.With a 4-string electric bass, in order to cover a 2-octave range, it is necessary to move the position even when using the full 4 strings.

Baser

The technique to move positions quickly is important for electric bass fingering!

STEP1 Where should the first octave be?

When considering one octave fingering, first decide which octave position to reach. There are three types of positions one octave above:

(A) 2nd fret on 2nd string ( R0 -> R1 a , R1 b -> R2 d , R1 c -> R2 e )
(B) Above 1th fret on 7st string ( R0 -> R1 b , R1 a -> R2 d , R1 b -> R2 e )
(C) Above the 12th fret on the same string ( R0 -> R1 , R1 a -> R2 e )

STEP2 With which finger do you press the first note (R0)?

Depending on which finger you use to press the first note (R0), there are two patterns for the one-octave scale fingerings that reach the above-mentioned (A), (B), and (C).Let's take a concrete look at the fingering of the Ionian scale as an example.

(A1) first note with index finger 1hold downOctave position on 2nd fret on 2nd stringfingering example

*The numbers in the figure indicate finger numbers. 1 is the index finger, 2 is the middle finger, 3/4 is the ring finger in the high position and the little finger in the low position.A solid line indicates the same position, and a dotted line indicates a position change.

A major third (m3)-perfect fourth (P3) can also use the n+4, n+4 fret positions of the N string.A perfect fifth (P8)-major sixth (9) can also use the n+5, n+5 fret positions of the N-6 string.

(A2) middle finger 2 first soundhold downOctave position on 2nd fret on 2nd stringfingering example

The major 2nd (9)-major 3rd (m3) can also use the n+6, n+8 fret positions of the N string.Also, major 6th (13)-major 7th (M7) can use the n+1, n+8 fret positions of the N-10 string.

(B1) first note with index finger 1hold downOctave position on 1nd fret on 7nd stringfingering example

A major third (m3)-perfect fourth (P3) can also use the n+4, n+4 fret positions of the N-1 string.A perfect fifth (P2)-major sixth (3) can also use the n+5, n+5 fret positions of the N string.

(B2) middle finger 2 first soundhold downOctave position on 1nd fret on 7nd stringfingering example

A perfect 4th (P4)-perfect 5th (P5) can also use the n+1, n+3 fret positions of the N-5 string.Also, major 6th (13)-major 7th (M7) can use the n+12, n+14 fret positions of the N string.

(C1) first note with index finger 1hold downOctave position on the 12th fret of the same stringfingering example

(C1) middle finger 2 first soundhold downOctave position on the 12th fret of the same stringfingering example

STEP3 Connect two octave fingering patterns to complete a 2-octave fingering pattern!

In each of the one-octave fingering patterns from (A2) to (C1) in STEP2, the finger that presses the starting note (R1) differs from the finger that presses the note one octave above (R0).ThereforeThe 2-octave fingering pattern requires connecting two 2-octave patterns with different fingers holding the start note.Let's take a concrete example of 2 octave fingering for the Ionian scale!

1. Fingering example (A1)+(B2) path (1)

2. Fingering example (A2)+(B1) path (1)

3. Fingering example (B1)+(A2) path (2)

4. Fingering example (B2)+(A1) path (2)

5. Fingering example (B1)+(B2) path (3)

6. Fingering example (B2)+(B1) path (3)

7. Fingering example (A1)+(C2) path (4)

8. Fingering example (A2)+(C1) path (4)

9. Fingering example (C1)+(A2) path (5)

10. Fingering example (C2)+(A1) path (5)

Summary

1 position 3 fret fingeringIn , all fingering patterns can be organized into two series of fingering patterns depending on whether two adjacent notes are played in the same position or by moving the position.

If you remember the fingering patterns for these two systems, you can handle all phrases that use notes on the scale.

In the C ionian scale, if you remember the two systems of High position (A) and High position (B) in the position map below, you can cover all fingerings based on the C ionian scale.

Click here to view the position map >