JK - Lesson Plan: Lesson 6

Complementary Studies: Liam Marley

Date: 21/01/08 (J Kosminsky)
Planning Time: 2hrs
Lesson Time: 1hr


This sixth lesson acts as a refresher for the pupil so they can recap on what they have learnt so far, as lesson one for some pupils were around ten weeks ago. The pupil will be asked all aspects of the bass material covered so far, including the parts of the bass, correct fingering techniques, eighth and fifth interval notes, fret board notation, accidental notes (flats, naturals and sharps) and blues bass patterns. Not only will past lessons be re-touched on but also an adaption to the blues bass line will be introduced.

It is important in this lesson that the pupil gets to grips with all these subjects, in this and the next lesson, so that they can begin to progress with the instrument.


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?

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?

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.

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.

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 the diagram below) 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--------|


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.


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 pupil will be asked once again to name as many parts of the bass guitar as possible, however this time around it will be expected of the pupil to have the ability to name at least four and explain their purpose, e.g. the pick-up is used in a similar manner to the microphone to pick up the acoustic sound of the instrument so that an amplifier can then convey those sounds.

2.) As an on-going subject, correct fingering techniques are vital to a bass players way of life, as this constitutes a players ability to play notes smoothly and cleanly. This is exactly why the pupil’s technique is studied and scrutinised so. The pupil will be asked what they think the correct form for string fingering is, with both hands, while their technique is studied and corrected where necessary.

The pupil’s left hand form should incorporate the one finger per fret technique to enable good practice and eventually to progress speed across the frets, while the right hand should be able to walk across the four strings gracefully utilising one finger after another (the first and index finger).

3.) During this lesson the pupil will be asked whether they have an understanding of intervals, the distance between two notes, in particular the intervals of fifth and eighth notes. These have been concentrated on in previous lessons in an attempt to drill it into the pupil’s head, as they can be useful notes when compiling a bass line.

For this lesson the pupil will be asked to demonstrate these interval notes, with first the easier eighth or octaves notes and then the fifth notes as shown in the tablature below.

G-|---------------5-------|---------------5-------|------------------------|------------------------|
D-|------------------------|------------------------|-----------------5-----|----------------5------|
A-|--3---------------------|--3--------------------|------------------------|-----------------------|
E-|------------------------|------------------------|---3-------------------|--3--------------------|

-----------------------------Eighth or octave notes----------------------------------------

G-|------------------------|-----------------------|-----------------------|------------------------|
D-|---------------5--------|--------------5-------|-----------------------|------------------------|
A-|--3---------------------|--3-------------------|-----------------5-----|-----------------5-----|
E-|------------------------|-----------------------|---3-------------------|--3--------------------|

------------------------------Fifth interval notes--------------------------------------------



4.) The pupil will be asked to play each fret in descending order, beginning with the first fret on the E string while attempting to name the notes of these frets. As long as the pupil knows which notes have which accidental values (flats, naturals and sharps) then they should be able to name each note consecutively as in the figure below.

Note -----E-----F-----F #-----G-----G#-----A-----Bb-----B-----C-----C#-----D-----Eb-----E
Fret----open---1st---2nd---3rd----4th----5th----6th----7th---8th---9th---10th--11th--12th

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.


5.) The pupil will be asked to play previously taught bass patterns, such as the basic blues bass (as shown in Figure 1 below), a bay-on-bass, in the pattern of a blues bass (as shown in Figure 2) and finally a reggae style bass groove (as shown in Figure 3).


G-|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|--------------------------|
D-|------------------------|------------------------|--3---------------------|--3----------------------|
A-|--3---------------------|--3--------------------|--------------3---------|---------------3---------|
E-|---------------3--------|---------------3-------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
(Figure 1)

G-|------------------------|------------------------|------------------------|--------------------------|
D-|------------------------|------------------------|--3----------3---------|--3---------3------------|
A-|--3---------3----------|--3----------3---------|----------------3------|---------------3----------|
E-|---------------3--------|---------------3-------|------------------------|--------------------------|
(Figure 2)

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-----------------|------------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------|
(Figure 3)

If the pupil is unable to play these from memory then a quick example will be played to recap the pupil’s mind.


6.) Finally a walking bass line will be introduced to the pupil in the format of a blues bass line.


G -|---------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
D -|---------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
A -|---------------2--------5--------2---------|--------------2--------5--------2--------|
E -|-----3---------------------------------------|-----3------------------------------------|

G -|---------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
D -|----------------2---------5--------2-------|--------------2---------5--------2-------|
A -|-----3---------------------------------------|-----3------------------------------------|
E -|---------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|


This will aid the pupil in a number of ways, firstly it will further the pupils hand form (with both hands), enabling them to exchange between notes more fluidly. This will also progress fret board knowledge, as the pupil should be observing what notes they are striking instead of acknowledging a repetition of frets. The exercise should also benefit the pupil in matters of note usage in a bass composition e.g. which notes will be in tune with each other.

The pupil should hopefully notice the significance of one of the notes that they are playing, i.e. the third note in the bass line (in the case of the tablature example, the fifth fret on the A string) is actually a fifth interval note of the root (first) note being played.