Bass Guitar For Dummies

Contents

• Foreword xv
• Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 3 Icons Used in This Book 4 Beyond the Book 4 Where to Go from Here 5
• Part 1 : Getting Started With the Bass Guitar 7
• Chapter 1 : The Very Basics of Bass 9 Discovering the Differences between the Bass and Its High-Strung Cousins 9 Understanding the Bass Player's Function in a Band 10 Forging the link between harmony and rhythm 11 Moving the song along 11 Keeping time 11
• Chapter 2 : Gaining the Tools and Skills to Play 21 Getting a Handle on Your Bass 21 Holding Your Bass 22 Strapping on your bass: Strings to the outside 23 Voila! Standing with your bass 23 Sitting with your bass 24 Placing Your Hands in the Proper Positi
• Chapter 3 : Warming Up: Getting Your Hands in Shape to Play 57 Understanding the Sound Your Bass Makes 58 Performing Right-Hand Warm-Ups 58 Right-hand same-string strokes 59 Controlling the strength in your striking hand: Right-hand accents 61 Skating acr
• Part 2 : The Bass-ics of Playing 69
• Chapter 4 : Reading, 'Riting, and Rhythm 71 Reading Notation: No Pain, Much Gain 71 Chord notation: The chord chart 72 Music notation: Indicating rhythm and notes 72 Tablature notation: Showing strings, frets, and sequence 73 The vocal chart: Using lyrics
• Chapter 5 : Understanding Major and Minor Structures 93 Building Major and Minor Scales 94 Major scales 95 Minor scales 96 Building Chords: One Note at a Time, Please 97 Triads: The three most important notes of a chord 98 7th chords: Filling out the tria
• Part 3 : Making the Moves, Creating the Grooves 127
• Chapter 6 : Creating the Groove 129 Anatomy of a Groove: Putting Together the Necessary Elements 129 Getting your groove skeleton out of the closet 130 Playing a song using only the groove skeleton 132 Choosing the right notes for a groove 133 Creating Yo
• Chapter 7 : Going Solo: Playing Solos and Fills 167 Soloing: Your Moment to Shine 167 Playing with the blues scale: A favorite solo spice 168 Jamming with the minor pentatonic scale: No wrong notes 171 Using the major pentatonic scale: Smooth as can be 17
• Part 4 : Using the Correct Accompaniment For Each Genre 183
• Chapter 8 : Rock On! Getting Down with the Rock Styles 185 Rock 'n' Roll: It's The Attitude! 186 Hard Rock: Going at It Fast and Furious 191 Pop Rock: Supporting the Vocals 193 Blues Rock: Doin' What "Duck" Does and Playing a Countermelody 195 Country Roc
• Chapter 9 : Swing It! Playing Styles That Rely on the Triplet Feel 203 Swing: Grooving Up-Tempo with Attitude 204 Jazz: Going for a Walk 205 Working the walk 206 Applying a jazz blues walking pattern 211 Blues Shuffle: Walking Like Donald Duck (Dunn, That
• Chapter 10 : Making It Funky: Playing Hardcore Bass Grooves 221 R & B: Movin' to Rhythm and Blues 222 The Motown Sound: Grooving with the Music of the Funk Brothers 225 Fusion: Blending Two Styles into One 226 Funk: Light Fingers, Heavy Attitude 229 Hip-H
• Chapter 11 : Sampling International Flavors: Bass Styles from Around the World 237 Bossa Nova: Baskin' in a Brazilian Beat 238 Samba: Speeding Up with Bossa's Fast Cousin 239 Afro-Cuban: Ordering Up Some Salsa (Hold the Chips, Please) 240 Reggae: Relaxing
• Chapter 12 : Playing in Odd Meters: Not Strange, Just Not the Norm 253 An Odd-Meter Oldie but Goodie: The Waltz 254 Beyond the Waltz: Navigating Beats in Odd Meter 255 5/4 meter: Not an impossible mission 256 Take a groove you know and make it grow 259 7/
• Chapter 13 : Groovin' in a Genre: It's All About Style! 269 Playing Grooves in Each Genre: One Simple Song, Many Genres Strong 270 Pop: Backing up the singer-songwriter 271 Rocking by the quarter or eighth note 271 R & B/Soul, with or without the dot 272
• Chapter 14 : Eight Degrees of Separation: The Beatles' Solution 285 Playing Your Rhythm Straight or Syncopated 286 Pumping eighth notes 286 Syncopating the bass beat 287 Making Harmonic Choices 290 Feeling fine (with roots and 5ths) 290 Walking along Penn
• Part 5 : Buying and Caring For Your Bass 305
• Chapter 15 : Love of a Lifetime or One-Night Stand? Buying the Right Bass 307 Assessing Your Needs Before You Buy 308 Thinking long-term: Moving in together 309 Thinking short-term: Help me make it through the night 309 How many strings are too many? 309
• Chapter 16 : Getting the Right Gear for Your Bass Guitar 317 Making Yourself Heard: A Primer on Amplifiers and Speakers 318 Going with a combo or separate amp and speaker 318 Opting for solid state or tubes 319 Picking a speaker size 319 Setting the tone
• Chapter 17 : Changing the Strings on Your Bass Guitar 327 Knowing When It's Time to Say Goodbye 328 Off with the Old: Removing Bass Strings 328 On with the New: Restringing Your Bass 330 Ensuring a Long Life for Your Strings 335
• Chapter 18 : Keeping Your Bass in Shape: Maintenance and Light Repair 337 Cleaning Your Bass, Part by
• Part 337 The body and neck 338 The hardware 338 The pickups 338 The fingerboard 339 The strings 339 Making Minor Repairs to Your Bass 340 The taming of the screw(s) 340 Taking care of the finish 341 Leaving the electronics to the experts 341 Adjusting th
• Part 6 : the part of Tens 349
• Chapter 19 : Ten Innovative Bassists You Should Know 351 Stanley Clarke 351 John Entwistle 352 James Jamerson 352 Carol Kaye 352 Will Lee 353 Paul McCartney 353 Marcus Miller 353 Jaco Pastorius 353 Victor Wooten 354 X (Fill in Your Own) 354
• Chapter 20 : Ten Great Rhythm Sections (Bassists and Drummers) 355 Bootsy Collins and Jab'o Starks 356 Donald "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson Jr 356 James Jamerson and Benny Benjamin 356 John Paul Jones and John Bonham 357 Joe Osborn and Hal Blaine 357 Jaco Pa
• Appendix Audio Tracks and Video Clips 361
• Index 375