The Bass Book

The Laymans Guide to Bass Playing

by Shaun Ritchie

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 To Play any harmonic instrument you must be able to think freely about what you are playing.
To think freely you must know what it is you’re thinking or at least trying to think. We don’t
always have the ability to organize our thoughts in the moment of playing. This clogs us up on
the inside and nothing gets accomplished except gibberish and empty finger motions.
Like a baby, that knows what it wants to tell you, but can only communicate in grunts, cries, and
foul odors; we as players take this form when we are still in the infancy of musicianship. Most
of us know what we want to say melodically speaking, or who we wished we played like, but we
can't quite do what we envision in our heads.
These are the skills I developed in music to think more freely. I am not a master yet, but what I
know may be helpful to those struggling to break out of a stagnant point in their playing. I still
know what the struggle, daily, to overcome your own limitations, means.

Copyright ©2016 by Shaun Ritchie

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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 Table of Contents

Lesson 1- The Neck of the Bass

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Lesson 2 - Intervals
7
Lesson 3 - Major Scale
8
Lesson 4 - Triads and Chords
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Lesson 5 - Chords II
16
Lesson 6 - The Dorian Mode
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Lesson 7 - Phrygian Mode
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Lesson 8 - The Lydian Mode
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Lesson 9 - The Mixolydian Mode
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Lesson 10 - Aeolean Mode
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Lesson 11 - Locrian Mode
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Lesson 12 - Pentatonic Scales
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Lesson 13 -The Blues Scale
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Lesson 14 - Finger Exercises
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 Here are a few of my lessons and tutorials on music in general and Bass playing more
specifically.
Each Lesson will be broken down into small parts that are easy to understand, that eventually
make up the whole. Music is much like math in the way that each concept builds a staircase
based off of the last step. In order to move forward you should have a firm grasp of the last
concept. I will try to keep it as simple as I can and retrace the route I myself took to becoming a
bass player.

Lesson 1 - The Neck of the Bass

Lesson 2 - Basic Intervals

Lesson 3 - The Major Scale

Lesson 4 - Triads and Chords I

Lesson 5 - Chord Building II

Lesson 6 - The Minor Scale

Lesson 7 - The Phrygian Mode

Lesson 8 - The Lydian Mode

Lesson 9 - The Mixolydian Mode

Lesson 10 - The Aeolean Mode

Lesson 11 - The Locrian Mode

Lesson 12 - Pentatonic Scales

Lesson 13 - The Blues Scale

Lesson 14 - Finger Exercises

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List of ingredients - not necessarily in order of Importance:

Knowledge (notes, shapes, positions)

Technique (developing your sound, others playing styles, exercises)

Theory (general music theory applying to all instruments)

Listening (other players, all types and genres, live shows)

Playing (jamming, bands, free flowing, teaching, composing)

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 Lesson 1- The Neck of the Bass

The Musical Alphabet builds the language of music, and it’s also only twelve letters long. This works just like
the English Alphabet, kind of. Used in conjunction notes make Chords and complex harmonies, like speech.

The Musical Alphabet is as follows: A- A#- B- C- C#- D- D#- E- F-F#-G-G#- These simply repeat in a cycle
over and over again on the neck of your bass or guitar or on the keys of the piano.

This is how the notes lay out on a 4 String Bass.

Practice playing through them and name them as you go along.

Memorize them as soon as you can, this will be essential as you progress as a musician.

This is also known as the Chromatic Scale, or more simply - every note.

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 Lesson 2 - Intervals

An interval is simply the distance between two notes.

In what context they are used defines the interval in name.

The most basic interval on the bass is the Half Step. This would be the distance from one fret to the very next
fret.

The next basic interval is the Whole Step. This is the distance from one fret, skipping a fret to the next fret.

When working these out for yourself. Take note that I’m describing these from the reference of the root of the
major scale - every time. For example, 1-2 means - One to Two - or scale degree one to scale degree two of the
major scale.
1-3 would be -One to Three

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 Lesson 3 - Major Scale

The Major Scale and Building Chords

The Major Scale is the fundamental building block for playing western music, and is especially important in
playing a stringed instrument, i.e., guitar, bass, and piano.

Half Step = the shortest distance between two notes in western music.

On guitar or bass this is “one fret” as from the note “F” to F#.

Whole Step = the distance of two half steps or from “F” to “G”

These distances are very important in building musical relationships, scales, and chords.

The “formula”, using whole and half steps, of the Major Scale is =

W-W- H – W- W- W –H

Or

Whole- Whole-Half-Whole-Whole-Whole-Half

Then you are back at “one” or your Root.

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When playing the Major Scale presented here the Numbers do not represent the Scale Degrees mentioned later.
These Numbers represent your fingers!
Each Finger on your Fretting Hand is 1-2-3-or 4.

Index = 1
Middle = 2
Ring = 3
Pinky = 4

This “Formula” is transferable to any starting note you may have.

The formula is a “movable pattern” that works in any key.

Once you know the pattern then you can move it at will,

and make changes to it according to the scale or mode to be played.

Learn the Major Scale in all 12 key centers.

Say the Names of the Notes as you play them to learn the names and the sound associated with them.

II

Each Note in the Major Scale has a number associated with it in addition to the note name.

The first being one the second being two and so forth.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8(this called your Octave)

Building chords requires use of Intervals and these numbers which the sucessive lessons will cover.

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 Lesson 4 - Triads and Chords

Building Chords using the Triad

Triad = a simple 3 note chord

We will cover 4 main types of Triads -

Major

Minor

Half Diminished

Augmented

Formulas for building Triads

Major = 1-3-5

Minor = 1- b3-5

[b] Pronounced “flat”

Half Diminished = 1-b3-b5

Augmented = 1-3-#5
[#] is pronounced "sharp"

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 These are simple 3 note chords but they provide the foundation to building more complex chords and
understanding music theory and harmony.
By learning to build chords you expand the note choices you have in any given playing situation. Instead of
pounding the Root over and over again, you now can expand your selection of notes and allow your ear to guide
you to a bass line that says something and comes from the heart.

Practice these in all 12 keys, learning how the paterns lay out on the neck and also how they sound compared to
each other.

Study the note names and say them to yourself aloud or silently while you play in each key; for example:

The key of G -
Major Triad = G-B-D
play it and name it
Minor Triad = G-Bb-D
play it and name it
Half Diminished Traid = G-Bb-Db
play it and name it
Augmented Triad = G-B-D#
play it and name it

Try to learn it in different positions on the neck of your bass as well.

Do this for every key, there are only 12 notes so it won't take forever.

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 Lesson 5 - Chords II
7th Chords

Now that we have covered the basics of building triads using the 1-3-5 and five of a given scale, we will now
add a note and build a bigger chord.

The next type of chords we will cover are 4 note chords called Seventh Chords.
These Chords simply add the Seventh Degree of the Scale to the Chord.

The formulas are based on the triads we learned in lesson 4 so these will be easy to learn and increase our pool
of available notes to choose from when playing chords or a bass line around a given chord structure.

We will add the 7th degree of the scale to build 7th chords.

Again we will learn the four main types of chords and broaden them by adding one more note. These will cover
most playing situations we will encounter. We will add two chords that we haven’t covered now, the Sus b9
chord and the Dominant 7.

Extensions
In addition to 7th Chords we will cover Extensions,using the numbers 9-11-13
giving us the ability to make chords with 5 notes or more.

But first we have to learn the Extensions. These are used in addition to the 1-3-5-7 formulas for building chords.
the Extensions are 9-11-13
These are simply Octaves of the numbers 2-4-6
To use these you just add them to the chord when specified, as in Maj7#11

That Chord would be built like this -

1-3-5-7-#11

Since 11=Octave of 4 we simply add the octave of the 4th degree and then #(Sharp) it.

In the key of G Maj. this would be

G-B-D-F#-C#

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 Chord Inversions
Each Triad and Seventh Chord has what are called inversions. Meaning the order of notes in the chord are
changed around. Piano players and guitarists do this on a regular basis. Bass players can use these in a variety of
ways. It can add flavor to your walking bass lines as well as help you outline a chords harmony without always
emphasizing the root continually.

Triad Inversions
Root Position
1-3-5

1st Inversion
3-5-1

2nd Inversion
5-7-1

7th Chord Inversions

Root Position
1-3-5-7

1st Inversion
3-5-7-1

2nd Inversion
5-7-1-3

3rd Inversion
7-1-3-5

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 Formulas for building 7th Chords

Major = 1-3-5-7

Minor = 1- b3-5-b7

Half Diminished = 1-b3-b5-b7

Augmented = 1-3-#5-7

Sus b9 = 1-4-5-b7-b9

you may also add the 3 above the b9 to keep from causing dissonance

Dominant = 1-3-5-b7

For Example:

The key of G -
Major 7th chord= G-B-D-F#
play it and name it
Minor 7th chord= G-Bb-D-F
play it and name it
Half Diminished 7th chord= G-Bb-Db-F
play it and name it
Augmented 7th chord= G-B-D#-F#
play it and name it
Dominat 7th = G-B-D-F

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 I will only give the Formula for the Susb9 Chord and not show a diagram because I don't use a set Arpeggio
for this chord, but rather the Phrygian mode or Mixolydian mode to play over this which is better covered in
advanced harmony.

*Phrygian has a naturally occurring minor triad , but the chord this mode is most played over is called Susb9
chord.

There are of course more types of chords than what we have covered so far.

Each mode of the Major Scale builds it's own type of chord from it's naturally occurring 1-3-5-7. When we
harmonize the Major Scale we get a set of chords built from the root of each note of the Major Scale.

These Scales are known as The Modes.

This is a table of the Harmonization of the Major Scale. It will Show the Name of the mode, the chord type it
builds and the Roman Numeral associated with it and the Chord type that the scale builds.
Roman Numerals are used as a kind of shorthand when writing a chord progression, such as a blues, when
someone say's it's a 1-4-5, and in roman Numerals I-IV-V, this is an easy way to tell someone a progression of
chords that can be easily transposed to any desired key. Uppercase Roman Numerals designate a Major Chord
and lowercase designate minor.

I will use this table to show the relationship of the Modes to that of the Major Scale. Since the Modes are
derived from the Major Scale.

This Chart may look small but it contains most of the Knowledge you need to be the bassist you
hear yourself to be in your head.
I will go into detail about each part of this chart and guide you through its explanation, and into its application.
If you pace yourself and set goals you can achieve what you desire, but you must take the first step on your
own.

Use this chart for reference and memorization practice.

Throughout this book you will become familiar with it’s’ workings.

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 Lesson 6 - The Dorian Mode

The Dorian Mode is the second scale in the harmonization of the major scale.
There are several types of minor scale, the one that we are dealing with at this time is called the Dorian Mode.
This scale is simply the next in succession with the major scale. If you play a major scale and then start from the
Second note and continue to the octave of that note, you will have the Dorian Mode.

The Dorian Mode is a ii (two) chord in the Harmonization of the Major Scale, which means that whenever we
start to analyze tunes, any ii (two) chord will use the Dorian Mode. When you encounter a ii-V-I progression,
the Dorian Mode is used to play a bass line or solo over the ii chord.

For Example: ii-V-I progression in the key of G Major:

[ A-7] [D7][G Maj7]
The A-7 Chord will be A Dorian Mode.

As you can see from lesson 4 on building chords and triads, the chord that occurs in the Dorian Mode is a
Minor Chord when you use the 1-3-5-7 of the Scale.

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 Lesson 7 - Phrygian Mode

The Phrygian Scale or Mode is the third scale in the Harmonization of the Major scale. It like the Dorian Mode
is a minor type of scale. When you build the chord from the 1-3-5 you get a minor chord. This Mode is mostly
played over the Sus b9 Chord though. For an example of this listen to Herbie Hancocks Song, Maiden Voyage.
It is also used for the "Santana" Guitar sound.

Try playing B Phrygian over a G Major Chord and see what kind of sounds you get. This type of practice will
help you learn what sounds work over a given scale or mode.

The Sus b9 formula is 1-4-b7-b9, though you may add the 3rd above the 4th and avoid dissonance

Learn the Phrygian Mode in all 12 key centers.

Say the Names of the Notes as you play them to learn the names and the sound associated with them.

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 Lesson 8 - The Lydian Mode
The Lydian Mode is the 4th scale in the Harmonization of the Major Scale.
It is basically the same as a major scale except that it has a raised 4th degree. So the type of chord built is called
a Major 7 #11.

The Advantage in playing the Lydian Mode over a Maj 7 chord is that you avoid the tension of the 4th.
In the Major scale many players find the dissonance of the 3rd and fourth, (a minor 2nd interval) to be uncool.
To avoid having this “clash” they will play the Lydian Mode with its raised 4th and avoid that. I personally have
a fondness for the downward resolution of the 4th to 3rd in the Ionian Mode. But I will also play the raised 4th
over the I chord in a jazz ii-V-I progression.
Experiment and see for yourself.

Lydian is used primarily the same way as the Major Scale.

It's Chord symbol and Roman Numeral designation can be found in the Harmonization of the Major Scale
diagram in Lesson 5.

The Lydian Chord formula is 1-3-5-7-#11

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 Lesson 9 - The Mixolydian Mode

The Mixolydian Mode is the 5th Mode of the Major Scale and is one of my favorite because of the kind of
chord it builds and all of the possibilities for exploitation of this sound.

The type of chord the Mixolydian mode builds is called a Dominant Chord.
Most people are familiar with this chord if you've ever listened to a blues song.
In a typical I-IV-V blues progression all chords are Dominant Chords.
It is a favorite of bluesers, rockers, and jazzers alike.

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 Lesson 10 - Aeolean Mode

Aeolean Mode is the 6th mode of the Major Scale. Aeolean Mode is sometimes referred to as the Natural Minor
Scale. This Mode builds a minor 7 chord and also has a b6 in it's construction giving the scale a very distinct
"minor" sound.

The Aeolean chord is the same as a Dorian chord with a flattened 6th.

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 Lesson 11 - Locrian Mode

The Locrian Mode is the7th and Last mode in the Harmonization of the Major Scale.
When I learned the Major Scale is really learned the Locrian Mode, starting from the 2nd note. There are a lot
of teachers that will teach this position of the Major Scale, though it isn't as helpful as the "open Position" Major
Scale I have outlined here in my lessons, it is still valuable. This Scale outlines a Half diminished chord, or a
minor 7 flat 5 chord, depending on your vernacular.

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 Lesson 12 - Pentatonic Scales

The word Pentatonic simply means 5 note Scale. There are different kinds of 5 note scales in the world of
music, but when the word Pentatonic is used it is usually referring to the scale based off of the Major Scale the
we use in Western Music.

The Major Pentatonic Scale has inversions, or forms where you start the same scale from a different note, in
the same way that the modes are derived from the Major Scale. The two most widely used forms are the Major
Pentatonic, and the minor pentatonic. These are the two I will show, but the others can be easily figured out
afterwards on your own with a small amount of effort.

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 Lesson 13 -The Blues Scale

The Blues Scale is a scale many people may already know, and also not know at the same time. This little Scale
is often overlooked when players are trying to become better because of it's simplicity, but I am here to tell you-
this is a gem full of soul and the entire range of human emotion in the right hands. Chances are that you own the
very music I speak of and if you don't - go get it!!! players like BB King, Steve Ray Vaughn and Robben Ford
are masters of this, albeit in different ways, still they are masters. Listen with intensity to the recordings they
offer and put this scale to work for you.
All the Theory in the World will not give you the Soul you need to play 6 notes and make them say what you
want to convey to your listeners.

Practice this Scale all over the neck and in as many positions as possible. There are Modes of the Blues
scale similar to the Modes of the Pentatonic Scales, you just start them from the next successive note, like
the inversions. Begin from the next note in the scale and also change your position on your bass for the best
application.

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 Lesson 14 - Finger Exercises

These exercises are meant to be used as a body builder uses the gym, to build strength, endurance, and speed.
These will be exercises independent of a Scale or Tonal center, and exercises that involve modifications to
scales and modes. It would be useful to already know the Harmonization of the Major Scale.

The Permutations are exercises in Finger independence. They will strengthen each finger through muscle
memory, giving you accuracy, when you practice them accurately, strength, when you practice them diligently,
and speed, when you practice them slowly and consistently.

To play them: use one finger per fret as we have done with the Harmonization of the Major Scale and the Modes
and other scales and chords we have looked at.

The numbers as before represent fingers of the fretting hand. These are to be played on the first four frets of
your instrument, and across all strings, one string at a time. They should then be played back “up” the strings so
that you end where you began, returning in reverse of how you went “up”.

The diagram is for the 1-2-3-4- pattern, and each pattern should simply be substituted for that pattern as you go
through these.

Use a Metronome to work these exersices.

Start at about 80bpm and work your tone and your dexterity before going any faster.

There are a lot of gems inside the permutations exercise. After you get them under your fingers try to apply
them musically to scales and chords. You may be surprised how musical they can become if you vary the
rhythm and dynamics of them within a chord or scale.
Dont be afraid to experiment.

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1-2-3-4 2-1-3-4 3-1-2-4 4-1-2-3

1-2-4-3 2-1-4-3 3-1-4-2 4-1-3-2

1-3-2-4 2-3-1-4 3-2-1-4 4-2-1-3

1-3-4-2 2-3-4-1 3-2-4-1 4-2-3-1

1-4-2-3 2-4-1-3 3-4-1-2 4-3-1-2

1-4-3-2 2-4-3-1 3-4-2-1 4-3-2-1

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Here is a quick summary of the modes and their usage as well as chord type
and intervallic formula.

Ionian - Maj 7 Chord - - 1-2-3-4-5-6-7

Typically used as a I chord
9th is neutral tone
11th is a neutral tone - sometimes clashes with 3rd
7th against the root is dissonant

Dorian - min7 Chord - 1-2-b3-4-5-6-b7

Used as a minor ii chord
9th is neutral but can clash with the b3rd
11th is neutral
13th is color tone - unique that it is a major 6th interval

Phrygian - susb9 Chord - 1-b2-b3-4-5-b6-b7

Used as substitute for I or V chord
b9 is the most colorful tone. Gives the mode its flavor
b13 can be dissonant

Lydian - Maj 7 #11 - 1-2-3-#4-5-6-7

Used as a sub for a I chord
4th can be dissonant against the 3rd

Mixolydian - 7 Chord (dominant) 1-2-3-4-5-6-b7

All notes in this mode are good note choices
can be mixed with the blues scale and Major and Minor pentatonic

Aeolean - minb6 Chord - 1-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7

9th is neutral
11th is neutral
b6 is great note choice

Locrian - min 7 b5 Chord- 1-b2-b3-b4-b5-b6-b7

Used over minor jazz ii-V-i
b9 can be dissonant

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 Thank you for reading my attempt at explaining bass playing. I feel that if you go through this manual along
with other forms of instruction you will gain the most from it. Ask questions of those around you. Some will
not share the information freely but some will. Just keep asking, and picking a piece from here and a piece from
there. Feel free to e-mail me with your questions and if you are local, to schedule a lesson to get a little more
insight on this method. I look forward to hearing from you.
Also look for further volumes expanding on exercises for your hands as well as rhythm and possibly reading.
You may have noticed that there are no notated examples in this book. I did that purposely because most of
the bassists this book if for, are already players to an extent and they just need a little push along in the right
direction. I learned to read music much later in life after I had been playing already and was pretty good at it.
Like Jaco said, learning to read that late, well, it was a drag. I want to show you what tools are available to
you and then let you decide how to best use them. Yes music notation is a tool but I think it is best covered in
another volume.

Thank You,
Shaun Ritchie

facebook.com/shaunritchiemusic
sritchiebass@gmail.com

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