Pupil: Joe Kosminsky
Date: 21/01/08
Evaluating Time: 3hrs
This sixth lesson was a much needed refresher lesson for Joseph as a lot time had been missed due to the Christmas and New Year period. The objectives in this lesson repeated previously taught objectives so that a summary of what has been learnt could be compiled and understood.
During this lesson the pupil managed to put into practice the subjects learnt from the previous five lessons. These all went generally well, with predictable problems such as Joseph’s finger techniques, interval notes and fret board knowledge. The final objective – an adaption to the blues bass line, was hard to grasp at first, due to the additional notes and the pupil’s lack of finger span.
Lesson Objectives:
1.) To recap on the anatomy of the bass, asking the pupil to name as many parts as they are able. Do they know how the sounds are formed and which parts do what job?
Outcome: Joseph was able to name the majority of these parts and give a quick description of what each one did. These were of course simple explanations, i.e. the pickups act as a microphone to capture the string sounds, as I did not expect the pupil to explain the technology behind each component.
(Figure 1 - pickups on a Fender Jazz bass guitar)
Joseph only managed to get two components wrong, which were the bridge, (as shown in Figure 2) and the nut, (as shown in Figure 3). These can easily be mistaken for each other, as the nut seems to bridge the strings onto the fret board from the gears. All in all he successfully named the instruments components and a little more experience with these parts will aid in when playing and maintaining his own instrument.
(Figure 2)
(Figure 3)
2.) To recap and persist with the pupils fingering techniques, where their fingers are placed on the fret board and how much pressure is applied to the strings to form a note. Does the pupil know how to change from one fret to another efficiently as well as from one string to another?
Outcome: At this stage the pupil has not managed to build enough stamina in his fingers and wrists as Joseph still complains of his fingers hurting after practicing. This is why his technique was analysed and scrutinised so that the pupil doesn’t put too much pressure on the strings so that damage can be done. However at the same time, there cant be too little pressure so that resonance, from where the strings are not fretted correctly, can be heard, (as demonstrated in the sound file below).
(SOUND FILE OF FRET RESONANCE)
Joseph still has the tendency to stray from using chromatic techniques (one finger per fret) and neglects to incorporate his fourth finger, as this seems to be his weakest finger. Attempts are made to push the pupil to use this weaker finger as much as possible so that it does not get neglected altogether and so a resistance can be built for longer use.
3.) Refresh the pupil on both fifth and eighth interval notes, making sure that the pupil understands the basics behind theses notes and that they know where they can be found on the fret board.
Outcome: This was a recap to make sure the pupil had finally understood the concept of interval notes and the specific intervals that make up the notes, i.e. a fifth interval note is five intervals away from the root note (the beginning note in a scale).
Joseph is still having problems with the intervals, even though he can demonstrate each pattern he still has difficulty associating the correct pattern with the correct interval. This is why the pupil needs a push in the right direction so that he finds one correct pattern, which leads to him finding the other.
4.) The pupil should hopefully know by now a handful of notes (usually between the first and fifth frets) as the aim for this lesson is to get the pupil to go through and name the position of each note on the bass from the open string to the twelve fret on all four strings.
Outcome: Joseph so far has neglected to learn the fret board, which is why time was set-aside during lessons. With each passing lesson that Joseph practiced this aspect of the bass, the more he became proficient in it. Joseph grew more confident with his fret board knowledge, especially on the first string (the E string), however the same problems of recalling the sharp and flat notes still arise. Joseph always recognises that notes F and G both have sharps, however he struggles with recognising the B flat and the E flat.
After this exercise Joseph did feel more confident with the fret notation, however this exercise needs to be implemented outside of lessons otherwise he will forget the notation and will struggle to progress with the instrument.
5.) Previous taught bass lines will be covered again, from the basic blues bass line which uses a root to fifth note pattern (as shown in Figure 4) to the reggae bass line which utilises both fifth and eighth octave notes to create a groove.
G-|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
D-|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
A-|--3---------------------|--3--------------------|--3--------------------|--3---------------------|
E-|---------------3--------|---------------3-------|---------------3-------|---------------3--------|
G-|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
D-|---3--------------------|--3--------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
A-|---------------3--------|--------------3--------|--3--------------------|--3---------------------|
E-|-------------------------|-----------------------|---------------3-------|---------------3--------|
G-|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
D-|--5---------------------|--3--------------------|------------------------|------------------------|
A-|---------------5--------|--------------3--------|--3--------------------|--3---------------------|
E-|------------------------|------------------------|---------------3-------|---------------3--------|
(Figure 4)
Outcome: None of these bass lines were a problem for Joseph to play, none of them surpassed his potential. Only at a fast tempo, which Joseph was not familiar or able to play at, would they hindering his performance. This is why each new bass pattern learnt would be played at a comfortable tempo to enable a steady progression, as Joseph had a tendency to get ahead of himself and speed up the pattern.
The basic blues bass line was by now a regular pattern played almost every lesson, so this no problem to play; nor was the addition to this pattern – the bay-on-bass bass line which added an extra note after the root note to change the groove of the original basic blues bass. However the reggae bass pattern, which utilised both fifths and eighth interval notes, had been forgotten and so the bass pattern, along with the rhythm of the bass line had to be demonstrated to the pupil once again. The rhythm is irregular compared with the basic blues bass line and the right plucking hand had more activity, due to the increase of notes and the length of notes involved. Joseph however, was unable to grasp the correct rhythm initially due to the note lengths. As the last set of notes in the bar were shorter in length and closer together, (refer to Figure 5), which meant they had to be played quicker and at this stage Joseph had to slow the tempo right down.
G-|------------------------|------------5-5-5-5---|-------------5-5-5-5---|-------------------------|
D-|------------5-5-5-5---|------------------------|--3----------------------|-------3----3-3-3-3---|
A-|--3---------------------|--------3--------------|------3-------------------|---------3--------------|
E-|------3-----------------|------------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------|
---|-------bar one-------|---------bar two------|--------bar three-----|--------bar four-------|
(Figure 5)
6.) An adaption of the previously played blues bass line, that will become useful to the pupil as a bass player, will be introduced during this lesson
Outcome: This was a difficult bass line to learn after spending so much time playing the basic blues pattern. The pupil found the additional notes and the need for a larger finger span hindered his performance, as did he not only have to stretch his fingers across four frets, instead of one, but he also had a new pattern to learn. However by decreasing the tempo at which the pupil played the pattern, enabled Joseph to concentrate on the new bass pattern so that the additional notes could be mapped out on the fret board and his finger span could be fine tuned.
This objective aided the pupil as it gave a first glance into the structure of major scales, as the unison (root), third and fifth interval notes of major scales were used to construct this new blues bass pattern . It also demonstrated to the pupil the practical implications of interval notes, not just in this new pattern but also with other bass lines.
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