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Author Topic: Beginner Bass Help Please  (Read 3711 times)

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buxwall

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Beginner Bass Help Please
« on: November 16, 2008, 01:45:54 PM »


Hi,

I've been learning D/G melodoen for about 8 weeks and seem to be getting through Mally's book fairly well. so, I thought I'd be brave and try and learn a tune that's not in the book. I plumped for Winster Gallop.

I got the ABC for the tune and have worked out what I think the melody fingering should be, with a little help from a video on YouTube.

The third bar of the tune goes ACCBA which I'm playing all on draw using the B from the D row. Does that sound sensible?

The music I'm using shows Am as the bass accompaniment for this bar. I don't have Am on my two row 8 bass instrument so using my limited musical knowledge (and wikipedia) I thought I'd try to use the C basses as C major is Am's relative key. The problem is that it doesn't sound right to me!

Am I using the correct bass? Or are my ears up the spout?  ???


Cheers in advance

Mike

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Waltham

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Re: Beginner Bass Help Please
« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2008, 02:22:02 PM »

You can cheat an Amin by using the A bass with a Cmaj chord.
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Falseknight

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Re: Beginner Bass Help Please
« Reply #2 on: November 16, 2008, 02:34:52 PM »

Play the A bass but not the chord, or consider chords in the right hand.

I'd love to try a left hand layout without chords - just basses.
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buxwall

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Re: Beginner Bass Help Please
« Reply #3 on: November 16, 2008, 03:11:29 PM »


Combining chords and fundamentals sound complicated! I think my fingers would just get lost at this stage. Thanks for the help though.

I'll try just tapping along with the A fundamental and see what happens.


Is there such a thing as an 'accepted' chord/fundamental sequence for a piece of music or is it all down to what sounds right?



Mike
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george garside

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Re: Beginner Bass Help Please
« Reply #4 on: November 16, 2008, 03:42:43 PM »


Hi,

 
The music I'm using shows Am as the bass accompaniment for this bar. I don't have Am on my two row 8 bass instrument so using my limited musical knowledge (and wikipedia) I thought I'd try to use the C basses as C major is Am's relative key. The problem is that it doesn't sound right to me!

Am I using the correct bass? Or are my ears up the spout?  ???


Cheers in advance

Mike



very often no such thing as 'correct' bass as many traaditional dance tunes were written for instruments without bass eg fiddle, or were passed on be ear as a melody.  Any ;bass written on sheet music is somebodys idea of what fits and only that.  You have to work within the limitations of your bass  & therefore the ' if it sounds right it is right' approach  is the easiest & frequently the best approch to take.  It is also very useful to develop the skill of tapping the bass buttons VERY lightly i.e. get your fingers right off the buttons between strikes.  This effectively shortens the bass notes/chords making them less likely to drown out the treble  whilst at the same time & totally free of charge  providing the bouncy rhythm  that is needed for dance music. It also means that in reasonably fast tunes  - jigs , reels etc any bum bass notes go more or less unnoticed  by the punters as they (the notes not the punters) are not around for long enough to register as a dischord


george
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buxwall

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Re: Beginner Bass Help Please
« Reply #5 on: November 16, 2008, 04:02:23 PM »

Thanks, I'm trying to work on being more short and punchy on the bass side.

I've managed to persuade my hands to work mostly independently now. I still find that if I'm concentrating on the melody my left hand sometimes gets stuck, but I'm sure it'll come together with time.


Mike
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ganderbox

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Re: Beginner Bass Help Please
« Reply #6 on: November 16, 2008, 04:21:15 PM »

I must admit that I had never considered putting an Am chord in Winster Galop (I've always just played it on the row using just the 3 chords GDC), so I sat down and tried it, using as many different ways as I could think of to play it. I eventually decided that the one that sounded best to me, given that it is basically a simple lively dance tune, was on the row using 3 chords! That means using a D on the pull instead of the Am.
Playing across the rows seemed to detract from the bounciness of the tune, and putting extra chords in just made it sound too complicated.

Pauline
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george garside

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Re: Beginner Bass Help Please
« Reply #7 on: November 16, 2008, 05:47:58 PM »

I must admit that I had never considered putting an Am chord in Winster Galop (I've always just played it on the row using just the 3 chords GDC), so I sat down and tried it, using as many different ways as I could think of to play it. I eventually decided that the one that sounded best to me, given that it is basically a simple lively dance tune, was on the row using 3 chords! That means using a D on the pull instead of the Am.
Playing across the rows seemed to detract from the bounciness of the tune, and putting extra chords in just made it sound too complicated.

Pauline

I agree   -  cross rowing  to get 'more suitable' bass has to be very carefully considered from the angle of does it really add anything to the  overall appeal of the tune to the punters be they dancers, singers, listeners or whatever. Quite often the simple version appeals more. On the other hand experimenting to see what can be got from the box from a technical point of view is a fascinating exercise as long as the results of the experiments are not used just because you can! 

george - not sure whether or not to duck ;)

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buxwall

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Re: Beginner Bass Help Please
« Reply #8 on: November 16, 2008, 06:07:16 PM »


It's the first time I'd played a tune without Mally's book showing me what to do. So in this case the fingering and the choice of bass accompaniment are unrelated.

I've not had any tuition or visited a pub session yet, other than to have a pint and listen of course, so the only reference I have for how the fingering might work was watching this chap on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUYmXAhxrt4

As I can't see his bass end (so to speak :-[) I can't tell what he's using to harmonise with the melody.


This has been an educational first foray into playing without a book to tell me what to do. You live and learn!


Mike
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george garside

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Re: Beginner Bass Help Please
« Reply #9 on: November 16, 2008, 07:38:05 PM »

[
I've not had any tuition or visited a pub session yet, other than to have a pint and listen of course, so the only reference I have for how the fingering might work was watching this chap on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUYmXAhxrt4

As I can't see his bass end (so to speak :-[) I can't tell what he's using to harmonise with the melody.


This has been an educational first foray into playing without a book to tell me what to do. You live and learn!


Mike

[/quote]
Mike
I have sent you a personal message  via this forum
george
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george garside

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Re: Beginner Bass Help Please
« Reply #10 on: November 16, 2008, 09:08:26 PM »

Quote from:  .com/watch?v=ZUYmXAhxrt4

As I can't see  This

[/quote
Mike
I have sent you a personal message  via this forum

mike - have sent the missing part of the personal message
george
george

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