Complementary Studies: Liam Marley
Date: 14/01/08 (J Kosminsky)
Planning Time: 1hr
Lesson Time: 1hr
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---------------
quarternote--------------
length
--------------------------|1--------------|2--------------|3--------------|4---------------
half
note--------------
length
--------------------------|1--------------|2--------------|3--------------|4---------------
whole
note--------------
length
Complementary Studies: Liam Marley
Pupil: Joe Kosminsky
Date: 17/12/07
Evaluating Time: 2hrs
Lesson four acted as another recap lesson so that certain techniques and exercises could be refined and polished to aid in advancing for the next couple of lessons. The advancement of the right (plucking) hand was imperative for future lessons as the bass patterns will get more complicated then the simple, nearly root noted bass lines. As these get more complex the fingers will have to be quick and nibble, needing a longer stretch and a lengthier stamina. This is why the lesson concentrated on improving the pupil’s right hand form so that coordination between the two hands could gained.
The subject of interval notes was demonstrated once more to allow the pupil to learn the patterns and to hear the pitch of the notes. Finally a basic lesson in music theory was implemented in this lesson so that the pupil would not be confused in future lessons when technical words are utilised.
Lesson Objectives:
1.) To persist with working on the pupil’s correct fingering techniques with both hands, this time concentrating on the right hand (plucking hand), using exercises such as walking across the strings (as seen in lesson 3, objective 2) to aid with the pupils string crossing.
Outcome: The right (plucking) hand had not really been a problem with Joseph as up till now he has been using his one finger to pluck the strings. This one finger technique could be seen as a similar technique to the thumb style of bass playing, however with less versatility and speed, as the thumb can act as a plectrum, which can give the player incredible speed much faster than the two finger technique. The one finger had been sufficient enough for the simple blues bass patterns that Joseph has been previously learning, but it will never enable the pupil the speed that is necessary for trickier bass patterns.
To progress with more challenging bass lines the pupil will have to begin using two fingers to pluck the strings. This is why the pupil practiced raking the strings one by one, with the fingers plucking the strings in a walking motion. Joseph accomplished this after ten minutes of practicing along to a blues bass line, with a minimum of unwanted strings being hit. The pupil’s ability to pick this technique up quickly stems from his experience with the six-string guitar.
2.) To continue with the explanation and demonstration of fifth and eighth interval notes, so that the pupil captures a better understanding of what they are and their purpose.
Outcome: Interval notes still acted as a problem with Joseph as he could never remember the correct pattern at which the eighth and fifth interval notes would be played. The pupil had the same difficulty in the previous lesson with differentiating between the two intervals; it was not until the intervals were put into the context of scales that it was understood fully. Explaining that a fifth interval was the fifth note that is played in a scale and the eighth interval (octave) is the eighth note in a scale put this subject into perspective. The pupil could already hear that the notes were in tune (with the root note), he just had to associate each interval note with its different fret placement.
After recalling the interval notes using the scale of C major, the next scale in line, G major, was then utilised to demonstrate fifth and eighth interval notes. This scale was used, as it was the first scale to incorporate accidental notes, i.e. sharps and flats. The major scale of G had one accidental note contained in its scale, which was an F#, the fifth interval note. Without delving into major scales too much, Joseph then demonstrated his knowledge of interval notes by playing the G root note and its fifth and eighth intervals.
G -|---------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------|
D -|---------------------------------------------|-------5------5--------5-5----------5-5-----------------|
A -|---------5------5--------5-5--------5-5--|------------------------------------------------------------|
E -|-----3------3------3-3--------3-3--------|---3------3------3-3---------3-3------------------------|
-----------------------Fifths------------------------------------Eighths (octaves)---------------------
3.) At this point it is important to give the pupil a basic understanding of music theory, so that they can progress rhythmically as well as technically. During this lesson the pupil will be taught the principles of beats and bars and the most common of timing signatures 4/4.
Outcome: This was the most difficult subject to grasp for the pupil, as there was so much to learn in one subject, especially at the end of the lesson when the pupil is tired and their concentration is fading. What made matters worse is that Joseph was not so keen in learning the theory side, as he was the practical side. The decision was made that a basic knowledge was necessary for the pupil to progress and learn the practical avenues of bass guitar.
Joseph was already familiar with beats and bars from his experience of producing music and programming drumbeats so this was not a section that had to be concentrated on. Instead the explanation of time signatures and note lengths were subject of discussion. These were confusing initially to Joseph, which was to be expected, especially as the time signatures can have more than ten beat values (with muted and dotted notes). However Joseph only had one note length to study, the crochet or quarter note, which happened to be the note we had been using for the blues bass patterns. After demonstrating the value of a quarter note, with Joseph then playing it himself to a 4/4 time signature beat, the pupil became more confident in understanding the basics of music theory and more open to the prospect of learning it.
