Complementary Studies: Bass Guitar Lessons: RH

Complementary Studies: Liam Marley

Date: 19/03/08 (R Hamilton)
Planning Time: 1hr
Lesson Time: 1hr

Lesson Footage:

(1O MINUTE VIDEO FOOTAGE OF THE HOUR LESSON)

For the fifth lesson the pupil will concentrate on fret board knowledge to aid their progression with the instrument. This is a very important section to learn, as without this knowledge the pupil will be hindered in their practical performance and their theory knowledge. An adaption of the blue’s bass line that the pupil has been playing so far will be introduced to give the pupil an idea of how to change a groove of a given bass line, this will be followed with a recap of last lesson’s music theory section.

Lesson Objectives:

1.) To progress the pupil’s knowledge of the fret board, running through each note from the first fret to the twelve fret on all strings.

2.) To evolve the simple and basic blues bass line to the groovier bay-on-bass blues bass line. This will enable the pupil to get a feel for different grooves and rhythms that are capable with the instrument.

3.) To recap on the previous lesson’s music theory section so the pupil can grasp a better understanding of the principles of rhythm, i.e. beats, bars and time signatures.

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.) After playing the obligatory five to ten minutes warm up, a large section of the session will be dominated by fret board knowledge. This is to help with the pupils overall fret board knowledge, but not just with the notation but also with the pupils fret board perception - where they are on the fret board in terms of moving from one note to the next desired note. This fret board perception is equally important as learning the correct notation so that either looking for a G sharp or knowing where one is on their bass guitar does not hinder a player’s performance.

2.) It is important for the pupil to evolve with their playing, whether it is the theory side or the practical side of the instrument. During this lesson though the pupil will be introduced to the bay-on-bass technique, which simply adds another note or even a ghost note (where the note is not fretted when played) after the original note played but just before the next following note. This can be demonstrated in the tablature below, with the additional bay-on-bass note being highlighted in bold.

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

3.) As last lessons music theory section would have been overwhelming for the pupil without any previous music theory knowledge, this section will be repeated at the end of the lesson so it can be explained and fully understood.

This section will be explained by using practical examples to convey to the pupil topics such as beats (tapping a foot against the floor in rhythm and time) and bars (tapping a foot against the floor four times to simulate a 4/4 music beat). Other examples will be utilised by playing the bass guitar itself along with a drum track so the pupil can get the full idea of a bar with beats.

After beats and bars are explained, the notion of time signatures will be next. This section on music theory is more difficult to explain and grasp as note lengths have to be discussed and demonstrated. The pupil will be taught that as the top number describes the number of beats in a bar, the lower number descibes the length of the note being played.

This will be demonstrated with the use of a drumbeat as the beats per bar, while the note values will be demonstrated with the bass playing different note lengths.

--------------------------|1--------------|2--------------|3--------------|4---------------
quarter
note--------------