Bass Guitar for Dummies - Patrick Pfeiffer

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Résumé :

Foreword xv

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 3

Icons Used in This Book 4

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 5

Part 1: Getting Started With the Bass Guitar 7

Chapter 1: The Very Basics of Bass 9

Discovering the Differences between the Bass and Its High-Strung Cousins 9

Understanding the Bass Player's Function in a Band 10

Forging the link between harmony and rhythm 11

Moving the song along 11

Keeping time 11

Establishing rhythms 12

Looking cool 12

Dissecting the Anatomy of a Bass Guitar 12

The neck 13

The body 14

The innards 15

On a Need-to-Know Basses: Gearing Up to Play Bass 15

Coordinating your right and left hands 16

Mastering major and minor chord structures 16

Tuning your bass 16

Combining scales and chords 16

Playing Grooves, Solos, and Fills 17

Creating grooves and riffs 17

Treating yourself and your audience to solos and fills 17

Experimenting with Different Musical Genres 18

Stocking Up on Some Bass Gear 19

Buying a bass 19

Getting an amplifier 19

Accessorizing your bass 20

Giving Your Bass Some Good Ol' TLC 20

Chapter 2: Gaining the Tools and Skills to Play 21

Getting a Handle on Your Bass 21

Holding Your Bass 22

Strapping on your bass: Strings to the outside 23

Voil?! Standing with your bass 23

Sitting with your bass 24

Placing Your Hands in the Proper Position 25

Positioning your left hand 25

Positioning your right hand 27

Reading a Fingerboard Diagram 33

The language of music: Scales and chords 33

Viewing a diagram of the major and minor scales 36

Playing open-string scales 37

Finding the notes on the neck 37

Identifying intervals: They're always in the same place 39

Tuning Your Bass Guitar 41

Reference pitch sources to use when playing alone 41

Reference pitch sources to use when playing with others 43

Tuning the bass guitar to itself 45

Playing a Song on Your Bass Guitar 53

Making some noise with the open strings 53

Closing the strings 54

Chapter 3: Warming Up: Getting Your Hands in Shape to Play 57

Understanding the Sound Your Bass Makes 58

Performing Right-Hand Warm-Ups 58

Right-hand same-string strokes 59

Controlling the strength in your striking hand: Right-hand accents 61

Skating across the strings: Right-hand string crossing 62

Coordinating Your Left Hand with Your Right Hand 63

Doing finger permutations 64

Muting the strings to avoid the infamous hum 65

Putting it all together 66

Part 2: The Bass-ics of Playing 69

Chapter 4: Reading, 'Riting, and Rhythm 71

Reading Notation: No Pain, Much Gain 71

Chord notation: The chord chart 72

Music notation: Indicating rhythm and notes 72

Tablature notation: Showing strings, frets, and sequence 73

The vocal chart: Using lyrics and chords for a singer or songwriter 75

Finding Any Note in Any Octave 75

Using the Metronome: You Know, That Tick-Tock Thing 80

Setting the metronome 80

Playing along 80

Dividing Music into Phrases, Measures, and Beats 81

The quarter note 82

The eighth note 82

The sixteenth note 83

The half note 83

The whole note 83

The triplet 83

The dot 84

The tie 84

The rest 85

Discovering How to Read Music 85

Rhythmic chunks 85