Date: 26/11/07 (J Kosminsky)
Planning Time: 2hrs
Lesson Time: 1hr
The third lesson will expand the pupil’s knowledge slightly but will in turn challenge them a little too. This lesson will introduce the utilisation of fifth and eighth (octave) notes. These will aid the pupil, when confident and competent enough, to add different but subtle notes into a composition to make the piece more interesting while still being in tune. The use of fifth and eighth notes “jazz” a bass line up and makes it more exciting to play instead of a monotonous root note bass line.
Lesson Objectives:
1.) To recap on the anatomy of the instrument with the intention of the pupil to name 3 or 4 parts of the bass after hopefully studying the diagram given from the last lesson.
2.) To persist with working on the pupil’s correct fingering techniques with both hands, concentrating on the left hand (fret hand) some more; as throughout the learning stage it is the more important hand. Pace and stamina are achieved through this fret hand, along with stretch (of fingers across the fret board) and speed. However time will be taken in this lesson to discuss the role of the plucking hand.
3.) To introduce fifth and eighth interval notes to the pupil, at this stage not concentrating on their musical explanation and relationship, so they can understand that they sound in tune to the root note they are playing. This will be demonstrated to the pupil in the form of Reggae music, where if they feel confident enough they can attempt to play along to some music or just play a bass line on there own.
Introduction:
The pupil will be asked how he/she thought the previous lesson had gone and whether they are anxious about anything during this week’s lesson. After this the lesson ahead will be explained with some aims set so that the pupil has specific goals to reach.
Lesson Material:
1.) The anatomy of the bass guitar will be discussed again with the aim that the pupil attempts to name 3 to 4 parts of the bass guitar that’s in front of them. This will aid the pupil in becoming more familiar with their instrument and therefore more aware of what they can achieve with the bass, (in terms of de-tuning, changing the sound of their bass through tone and pick-up volume control, etc.).
2.) Fingering techniques will be constantly worked on and watched closely during the early stages of learning so that mistakes and bad habits are not consistent. The left (fret) hand will be concentrated on again during this session, however a short amount of time will be taken up for the discussion of the plucking hand (right).
A lot of the time the plucking technique is neglected due to people thinking it will come naturally to them over time and that no practice will be needed. However this is not the case, the more practice with both hands, the more co-ordinated they become together enabling the hands to flow quicker and enabling the bass player to be more relaxed and confident in their playing. A simple exercise for the plucking hand consists of “walking” across the strings with the fingers; this is demonstrated in the diagrams below.
Lesson Time: 1hr
The third lesson will expand the pupil’s knowledge slightly but will in turn challenge them a little too. This lesson will introduce the utilisation of fifth and eighth (octave) notes. These will aid the pupil, when confident and competent enough, to add different but subtle notes into a composition to make the piece more interesting while still being in tune. The use of fifth and eighth notes “jazz” a bass line up and makes it more exciting to play instead of a monotonous root note bass line.
Lesson Objectives:
1.) To recap on the anatomy of the instrument with the intention of the pupil to name 3 or 4 parts of the bass after hopefully studying the diagram given from the last lesson.
2.) To persist with working on the pupil’s correct fingering techniques with both hands, concentrating on the left hand (fret hand) some more; as throughout the learning stage it is the more important hand. Pace and stamina are achieved through this fret hand, along with stretch (of fingers across the fret board) and speed. However time will be taken in this lesson to discuss the role of the plucking hand.
3.) To introduce fifth and eighth interval notes to the pupil, at this stage not concentrating on their musical explanation and relationship, so they can understand that they sound in tune to the root note they are playing. This will be demonstrated to the pupil in the form of Reggae music, where if they feel confident enough they can attempt to play along to some music or just play a bass line on there own.
Introduction:
The pupil will be asked how he/she thought the previous lesson had gone and whether they are anxious about anything during this week’s lesson. After this the lesson ahead will be explained with some aims set so that the pupil has specific goals to reach.
Lesson Material:
1.) The anatomy of the bass guitar will be discussed again with the aim that the pupil attempts to name 3 to 4 parts of the bass guitar that’s in front of them. This will aid the pupil in becoming more familiar with their instrument and therefore more aware of what they can achieve with the bass, (in terms of de-tuning, changing the sound of their bass through tone and pick-up volume control, etc.).
2.) Fingering techniques will be constantly worked on and watched closely during the early stages of learning so that mistakes and bad habits are not consistent. The left (fret) hand will be concentrated on again during this session, however a short amount of time will be taken up for the discussion of the plucking hand (right).
A lot of the time the plucking technique is neglected due to people thinking it will come naturally to them over time and that no practice will be needed. However this is not the case, the more practice with both hands, the more co-ordinated they become together enabling the hands to flow quicker and enabling the bass player to be more relaxed and confident in their playing. A simple exercise for the plucking hand consists of “walking” across the strings with the fingers; this is demonstrated in the diagrams below.
3.) The last part of the lesson will consist of the introduction of fifth and eighth interval notes to the pupil. The theory behind the interval notes will be neglected to be explained at this point as not to over complicate the lesson and confuse the pupil; just as long as the pupil understands that these notes, in relation to the root note (the note being the main note on which a chord is built and the note that a scale is named after), are in tune and sound right together. This is why the pupil will play the root note of C on the A string and will be shown where first its eighth or octave note is and then where its fifth interval note is. A basic explanation of the these interval notes will be given in terms of the scale C major, as shown below….
------------------------------------------1st---2nd---3rd---4th---5th---6th---7th---8th
Scale of C major--------------------C-----D------E------F-----G-----A-----B-----C
As displayed above the root note or the first note is a C and its eighth note is also a C, however this is a different pitch and in this case a higher sounding C. Although these two notes are the same, they are different in pitch and break up the continuous use of the root note, adding a little jazz to the bass line. The pupil will now play C and its eighth interval note (as shown in the tablature below).
G ------------------5--------------5--------------5-----------------5----------------------------------
D --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A ----------3-------------3--------------3-----------------3--------------------------------------------
E --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The fifth interval note of C is a G and will be played by the pupil as shown in the tablature below.
G -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D -------------------5--------------5--------------5---------------5-----------------------------------
A -----------3--------------3--------------3----------------3------------------------------------------
E -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fifth interval notes are commonly utilised by bass players as effective tools to ‘spice up’ a compositions bass line. Jamaican Reggae music is a perfect example of this, as the majority of bass lines consist of fifth and eighth interval notes to create a groove, such as in the tablature below.
G --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D ----------------5-5-5-5-5-5-------------------------------------5-5-5-5-5-5---------------------
A -----------3--------------------------------------------------3----------------------------------------
E ------------------------------------5---5-------3-------------------------------------5---5-------3-
The root note C (fret 3 on the D string) is played and is joined by its fifth note G (fret 5 on the D string), which is followed by an A (fret 5 on the E string) acting as a fill-in to the lower fifth G note (fret 3 on the E string). This bass pattern used by the artist Yellowman in ‘Mister Chin’, although simple adds melody and change to the composition instead of a monotonous root bass.
The pupil will be asked to play a simple Reggae bass line like in the tablature above, at their own pace, making use of both fifth and eighth interval notes.
------------------------------------------1st---2nd---3rd---4th---5th---6th---7th---8th
Scale of C major--------------------C-----D------E------F-----G-----A-----B-----C
As displayed above the root note or the first note is a C and its eighth note is also a C, however this is a different pitch and in this case a higher sounding C. Although these two notes are the same, they are different in pitch and break up the continuous use of the root note, adding a little jazz to the bass line. The pupil will now play C and its eighth interval note (as shown in the tablature below).
G ------------------5--------------5--------------5-----------------5----------------------------------
D --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A ----------3-------------3--------------3-----------------3--------------------------------------------
E --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The fifth interval note of C is a G and will be played by the pupil as shown in the tablature below.
G -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D -------------------5--------------5--------------5---------------5-----------------------------------
A -----------3--------------3--------------3----------------3------------------------------------------
E -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fifth interval notes are commonly utilised by bass players as effective tools to ‘spice up’ a compositions bass line. Jamaican Reggae music is a perfect example of this, as the majority of bass lines consist of fifth and eighth interval notes to create a groove, such as in the tablature below.
G --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D ----------------5-5-5-5-5-5-------------------------------------5-5-5-5-5-5---------------------
A -----------3--------------------------------------------------3----------------------------------------
E ------------------------------------5---5-------3-------------------------------------5---5-------3-
The root note C (fret 3 on the D string) is played and is joined by its fifth note G (fret 5 on the D string), which is followed by an A (fret 5 on the E string) acting as a fill-in to the lower fifth G note (fret 3 on the E string). This bass pattern used by the artist Yellowman in ‘Mister Chin’, although simple adds melody and change to the composition instead of a monotonous root bass.
The pupil will be asked to play a simple Reggae bass line like in the tablature above, at their own pace, making use of both fifth and eighth interval notes.
