Don’t worry. Commit to a regular practice routine, learn this stuff slowly over time, and it’ll start to become clearer. Your technique will improve too. Good luck.
Dan, I'm in my 2nd year on my bass journey and you have helped me so much. Let me say, this is an awesome video. I'm sure I'll be watching this one several times in the next couple years, so much great information. Thank you so much!
Thanks Dan, I've learned more from your two videos about music theory than from hundreds videos watched before. You should get much more subscribers and recognition.
Ok - I will say it "Everyone just Hit like & subscribe" - this was explained so clear & easily digestible. Phenomenal job. People give this man his Credit. oNe LovE from NYC
If this seems overwhelming to you, just keep playing. I took a twenty year break from playing bass, and I didn’t bother to learn theory at that time. I played in a punk band, drummer told me to follow the kick, guitar player told me which fret the root of the riff was on, and we made songs, played gigs and had a blast. Now, I’m 46 and when I started playing again just two years ago, I was determined to learn theory and I’ve done the things recommended to me over the past two years, and now videos like this make sense. Point is, just keep going. Get a scale/mode chart, put it on your wall, play to backing tracks and use the notes that are in the songs key, and you will get this, it just takes time.
Getting back into it after about a 10 year break? I did understand some theory but never really how to apply it or make music with it. Did ok just winging it in a jam band... Trying to get good enough to keep up with and not bore a friend that is an incredibly technical drummer.
I would like to add to the vast amounts of praise here. This is the best but also easy to understand explanation of all of this I've ever heard. Makes so much more sense. Thank you for doing this.
FOR REFERENCE: We stack in 3rds Triads: 1 3 5 Arpeggios: 1 3 5 8 (added root octave) Major 7th Arpeggios: 1 3 5 Maj7 8 Extended Major 7th Arpeggios: 1 3 5 Maj7 8 9 (11 13 and so on. So long as you find the notes. See jazz solos) CHORDS: Major 7th Chords: 1 Maj7 10 (10 is octave of 3) Chord Voicings: You can create your own chord voicing by choosing different notes from the scale to add to you chords. e.g. 1 Maj6 10 1 5 10 1 5 9 With the chord voicings, you can experiment with the sharps and flats of any notes in the scale: CREATING YOUR OWN SCALE. "jazz" Any chord voicings you make fits with the notes that make it up. And yes, you can obviously arpeggiate the chords. PENTATONIC: Major/Minor Scale WITHOUT 4th and 7th MODES: aka Black Magic Diatonic just means going up and down the scale. The W W H WWW H of the major scale. Now if we start at the second note of the scale but still play the same notes within that scale, it changes the entire WWHW intervals. Just moving that one interval changes everything. Those are called modes. Mode Arpeggios: Now I'm REALLY lost in this part. 🤯 8:35 MINOR SCALE: The W H W W H W W of a minor scale. A natural minor scale has a flat 3rd, 6th, AND 7TH. A harmonic minor has only a flat 3rd, and 6th. Chord Voicings in Minor Scale: Still the same as the major but obviously there are the flats. Yes, you can obviously play the voicings separately by arpegiatting them. As well as playing them on different parts of the fretboard. Now you're really making basslines. Minor PENTATONIC: Still without the 4th and the 7th. In this case, the Maj4 and the flat 7th. Special Mention: Blues Scale Has a FLAT 5 and works well with the minor pentatonic. The Minor Scale up the Octave: b will stand for flats. So it's a 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7 8 Octave: 8 9 b10 11 12 b13 b14 15 CHORD PROGRESSIONS: Now you got the things you can play on each chord. Let's take ANY chord progression. So with each of those chords, you can play any scale, triads, arpeggios, and chord voicings of your choosing.
Dan, I am a fan of your videos generally, but this has to be one of your absolute best. A beginner could study this for a year and learn a huge amount of music. Cheers, man-thanks for the great stuff you do.
Another outstanding lesson that is clearly presented, contains very valuable concepts with actual musical application examples, and is easy to understand!!! This is a very structured practice session. Thank you, Dan!
Just found your channel yesterday. The way you can get ideas across is fantastic. Great lesson. Will keep me busy for the next few weeks/months. Looking forward to checking out your other videos 👏
This is so helpful! Thank you so much! Even tho I know the different topics of each bit for music theory (learn and heard about triads, modes, arpreggio), I feel like you tied it well together, and how it relates to each other, it was such a treat being able to piece it together now. 🙂↕️Tyy
im a little confused sgill about what exactly a mode is and arpeggios but I mostly get what you are talking about. I am pretty new to bass but have played two other instruments from being in school band for 8 years, and I'm interested in making my own music so i will keep practicing these things.
Thanks a bunch amigo. I appreciate you. Got gifted a bass guitar 4 months ago and have become a pretty mediocre bass player by following your lessons! Still impressive to the roommates and myself how far I've progressed over the course of the Summer. Going to my first Jam night at the end of the month. Nervous but excited.
Good suggestion. I usually do but it gets a bit boring sometimes! It’s good to mix things up plus the principles are the same and it’s good to learn different keys.
Hi I have been playing bass for 9 months is crossroads by cream a hard song to learn I can play a bunch of songs already 25 or 6 to 4 I have learned that song in a month really good 😀😎
Hi Dan ! 😀 I've noticed behind you this Avid Eleven Rack effect ... Do you use it much ? I've read on few Bass Forum that the Bass Preset sounds really great !! Could you recommand it ? 😍 (second hand available around me !!) Thanks from Paris (France ! ...not Texas !! 😄😄😄) !
You're amazing. I'm just struggling to put everything together. I'm focusing on minor pentatonic scales right now. It would be great if you could do a tab of a good riff like you're playing. I understand the notes for the Pentatonic scale I just don't have down the patterns to create music sounding riffs. I'm really looking for an opportunity to practice my scales and then convert them to riffs and music in part of my practice.
Dan, this is one of your best videos yet! I knew much of this info, but something about how you turned the "cold" theory into music really made something click for me. Much appreciated as always!
I greatly appreciate this lesson, it's mind opening especially learning by ear and names. All in all everything is important about this lesson and o love the way you demonstrate the ideas.
Wow, dominating all this will elevate my playing enormously. Knowing the theory takes some time but executing it (being more difficult) will take a little longer. Time + lots of practice! One day! Great class 👏🏼
GReat stuff. 1 year in to learning bass, I've consumed hundreds of hours of SBL, BassBuzz, TalkingBAss, Luke'S etc all very valuable and helpful in my journey as a beginner, but something in/about your videos over the last month or so since I've subbed to you, has accelerated my understanding exponentially... actually maybe it'S just the last few weeks and perhaps the timing of my ability and understanding were also at the right point, I'm still a beginner so I cannot quite put my finger on what it is, but. thanks.
I use patterns, shapes, play the song a lot, and it generally gets easier with practice and experience. You could try an app called Moises if you like. It isolates the bass (and other instruments if you like). Here’s a lesson that might help: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CXFHmrshjvg.htmlsi=o5iITOfLxrSHSk0m
Your lessons are always very useful & helpful, you are by far the best bass teacher out there. Everything explained so decisively clear & easy . A improv bass riff you demonstrated sounded like “My girl” to my ears . Great job Dan
Pretty sure all he did was walk up the major pentatonic scale. Goes to show how just knowing a little bit of theory and applying it in musical ways can take you pretty far. Dan's lessons are quite invaluable and I thank him for that.
Hi Dan, I hope you’re doing well. I want to thank you so much for this extremely comprehensive lesson. I enjoy and learn from all your videos. This video though is so beneficial because you breakdown scales, triads, arpeggios, modes, pentatonics and, chords. I watch this video repeatedly over and over. It helps me understand theory so much better. Thank you so very much fellow bass player!!!😃
You crystalized a big thing for me: What the pentatonic scale means - both major and minor. I had never thought about it that each is just the existing scale less the notes of the tritone. Makes sense as it's why these subsets of notes can be played over virtually everything and sound good. I will have to play with it but it is also interesting to take the modes less the tritone and what is left of the pentatonic - some are just the same but like the mixolydian or dorian... not sure what will come from but am going to play around with this! It's also super cool how you explain how you are thinking when improvising... that for me is something I wonder about a lot when I see someone shredding is kind of 'whats going on in their heads right now'.... And also that some of this is just hours of practice... but knowing (I'm seeing it) that it does come together.
Bookmarked this. I love theory and the "science" of it. I've played multiple instruments and am now learning bass guitar and guitar, and the HOW, WHEN, and WHERE of things always adds to my enjoyment. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Dan, i started playing after high school with some friends just learning metal and rock songs and never had any formal lessons, music theory or scales so your videos helped me alot. They would tell me just put your finger here lol Now im in my 50s and just bought a new bass and lesrning things i never knew and having fun with it. Thanks
This was so cool on many layers. I was on a SBY shift at work with my trusty LT & watched the whole vid. I found it very useful & that cam angle looking up from your right shows very nice fretboard action which is also very very helpful & the on screen Tabs are always a nice addition. Nice one Dan, thankyou sir 🙏👌😉
Thank you Dan for the richness of your teaching. I really appreciate when you give us exercises, exercises as it makes us progress. Curious about what you called a Phrygien dominant etc.. Could you tell us a bit more about that ? Thank you again
This video helped me understand the connection between these concepts so much more clearly! I just have one question. What pentatonic scale would you play over diminished chords? Thank you again for this gem!
Thanks! There kind of isn’t one for diminished or at least major or minor would clash. Over the vii chord, you could play minor pentatonic but move the fifth interval down a half step. That would fit.
I'm a beginner bassist learning the basics. Trying to figure out where to start is quite daunting but I'm optimistic because I want this fluidity. It seems that I may have adult ADHD lol. As a beginner, what should I focus on the most? I love your channel ❣️ I'm learning so much! Thank you Dan 🤘🏼
Thanks! Hard to say but I’d suggest just building the habit of a daily practice routine (you can change up what you do - learning songs is a big one). Deliberate, consistent practice is the way forward.
thank you dan! this was a great starter for a mental map to help bridge the various concepts together. i've got the puzzle pieces, but i needed this overall picture.
Well presented in an easy to understand/digest format. Dan, you've been a huge help in my bass playing. Appreciate your knowledge and laidback way of sharing your knowledge. Thank you!
Your lessons about major scale modes have opened my eyes and ears. Now, since I'm one level up I see more clearly... what I still don't know😂 However understanding natural minor scale modes seems to be an easy task to do, there are still two more minor scales to grasp.. How to master minor melodic and minor harmonic scale modes and which is more common or useful. Btw this video is a great summary for everything I know till now thanks to Your lessons. Thank You🙏🙏🙏
Hi Dan! For the modes, im still trying to understand. which notes do you play when you play a mode in any key? im very familiar with the C Major modes but in other keys im confused.
It’s just the notes of that key. E.g. D Major modes all contain D E F# G A B C#. You must know all your major scale key signatures to understand the major scale modes (the circle of fifths helps with this - I have a lesson on my channel).
People don't need more music theory, they need ears to listen to music without prejudice. People need to know the difference between Michael Jackson and Classical chord progressions, the difference between Rock and Jazz fusion sometimes. I don't like how some people are allowed to cover people's songs on RU-vid, I can't even upload anything copyrighted, it even detects copyrighted vocals somehow. Some people are allowed to do horrible inappropriate covers here, why ?. It's a weird situation online that is destroying our culture, extremely rapidly.
Can you play all the modes in a single key? For example, if a key is in G, can I play any mode in G in the G scale or over a G chord instead of a G major scale?
You can technically play any of the G major scale modes over G but some of them will sound more ‘interesting’ than others due to the stability of some notes against the notes of the G chord. As ever, go with what sounds good to you.
I started on guitar and was taught to learn the modes along the E string only, going down in the boxes/patterns from low E to high E and back again, before moving onto the next box-shape, until you get past the 12th fret into the octave. Took me longer than I care to say to realise you could play the first 3 modes on the 6th string, then the next 4 on the 5th string. I knew the 4th pattern was lydian (say a C lydian) but no-one explained that the pattern I learned at fret 8 was already inside pattern 1 if you started on the 3rd fret C. I was young and just did I was told, but it took picking up a bass to make that suddenly crystalise in my head, and it made learning them so much easier. Yet I was taught the chord shapes on two strings, E & A, doing major, minor, minor on the E string, then Major, Major, Minor on the A string.🫣
@@OnlineBassCourses Right on !. I can see you with that disco vibe, shirt with a big collar on it, platform shoes. This is if you we're alive much in the 1970's, if at all.
Thanks Dan. There is indeed a lifetime's work in this lesson. Started with six strings at the age of 17 and now 37 and very happy with four and your lessons are extraordinary and feeling so smug to have grasped all the concepts. Will be playing these on my 83 roadster all weekend
Dan: Thank you so much for this priceless lesson. Alot to learn, I will work on this daily. 2nd year student, looking for something to put it all together. Your lesson does that for me.
@@darkenedskies9766 To be honest, I might not be the best person to make that video because I would just reach for a 5 string if I need those low notes. I've never used drop C!
@OnlineBassCourses fair enough. This subject matter is scarce on youtube. Especially for bass. I just read an article in talking bass and it seems the patterns will stay the same as far as scales in drop c except for the E string. That's tuned 2 steps down where the others are 1 step down. I still think you could make a good video on it one day
