Considering dabbling in the Dark Side

MarkDyson

Blues Hound Wannabe
Kinda funny how these things go from day to day. Yesterday I focused on just plucking quarter notes with alternating fingers and concentrating on doing the requisite "rest strokes" and all that technique stuff; not even fretting notes, just using various open strings to work on the right hand. Very much a mixed bag, kinda frustrating.

Today, after putting it away yesterday and not touching for many hours, I picked it up and tried the same thing, and did much, much better. Even threw in some I-IV-V changes and adding fifths below the root. Far from perfect, but passable if everyone's had a few. :Beer:

This mess confounds me sometimes. :confused:
 

PapaBear

Guit Fiddlier
My biggest issue is not spending enough time with something once I get it, then I try to go back to it and takes me a bit to pull it up in the old memory banks or I have to back track and review
 

MarkDyson

Blues Hound Wannabe
I think I've mentioned that I've redirected my in-person lessons to working on bass stuff? If not, well, I have.

Last night was my third lesson and the best one yet. I started with, I just played out doing this and this song, here's where I think I was struggling, and I have a blues jam in October. So, now what?

We ended up doing a lot of "gasp" theory—applied theory—and when I got home last night I realized I now know where all five boxes of the minor pentatonic go. Not well enough to rip through them at top speed without thinking, but I now can pluck them out and, if I'm working on a little riff around a target note, it doesn't take me but a couple of seconds to find the appropriate notes around it that fit the pentatonic.

In the lesson that opened up a raft of new vision for me, like blinders falling off. I'm excited to just pick target notes and sidle up to and around them ad hoc for a while, sorta stretch my wings a little. Then I'll start trying to string some stuff together to fit a chord progression or three.

Fun! :Beer:
 
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PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
We ended up doing a lot of "gasp" theory—applied theory—and when I got home last night I realized I know know where all five boxes of the minor pentatonic go.

I think you'll find that the bass will also improve your ability to move around in the major pentatonic scale. At least that's the way it worked for me.
 

MarkDyson

Blues Hound Wannabe
I think you'll find that the bass will also improve your ability to move around in the major pentatonic scale. At least that's the way it worked for me.

Yeah, I think you're spot on with that. He did quiz me a couple of times on what the relative major was of whatever key we were noodling in, and way-back-when he was teaching me a version of the 3-notes-per-string approach to the major scale. Now he wants to tie all that together. Gonna take some time for my poor noggin to hold all that. :confused:
 

Elio

Student Of The Blues
I think I've mentioned that I've redirected my in-person lessons to working on bass stuff? If not, well, I have.

Last night was my third lesson and the best one yet. I started with, I just played out doing this and this song, here's where I think I was struggling, and I have a blues jam in October. So, now what?

We ended up doing a lot of "gasp" theory—applied theory—and when I got home last night I realized I now know where all five boxes of the minor pentatonic go. Not well enough to rip through them at top speed without thinking, but I now can pluck them out and, if I'm working on a little riff around a target note, it doesn't take me but a couple of seconds to find the appropriate notes around it that fit the pentatonic.

In the lesson that opened up a raft of new vision for me, like blinders falling off. I'm excited to just pick target notes and sidle up to and around them ad hoc for a while, sorta stretch my wings a little. Then I'll start trying to string some stuff together to fit a chord progression or three.

Fun! :Beer:

Yeah, it's been kind of amazing that learning the bass has actually given my guitar playing a nice boost. My fretboard knowledge has increased and I'm much more attentive to the drummer. On the down side, now that I'm getting used to those railroad ties laughingly referred to as "strings", i have a tendency to manhandle the guitar neck when I go back to it.
 

david moon

Attempting the Blues
For a lot of blues, the bass lines are based on major scales with some b7 thrown in. Then there are the "Tore Down" kind of riffs that are more in the minor pent area.
 

david moon

Attempting the Blues
We need a "Bass Caucus" at the next jam. Hell- everyone else can do it in Congress .I don't think we need to distiguish Black Bass from White Bass or HIspanic Bass, we're all in this together

/sarc tag needed?
 
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