05 Bass Lessons Adam Nitti - Intervallic

8/14/2019 05 Bass Lessons Adam Nitti - Intervallic

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T HE I NT ER VAL L I C APPR OACH

Last time around, we dis cus sed dif ferent ways of playing the maj or s cale in an effort to tr ain our ears to recogniz e andincorporate more interesting shapes and phrases in our playing. I s tr es sed how impor tant it is to learn the sound of each patternin addit ion to the pattern, i ts elf. T he goal i n all of this is to promote a higher level of familiar ity with the sound of different shapesso that we may ul timately play what we hear . Remember: I t i s not enough to s imply memor iz e the pattern, i ts elf. We need tolearn the S OUND of each pattern.

T his ar ticle wil l focus on the appli cation of intervals when worki ng with s cale forms . An interval is the dis tance between 2 notes .Most every mus ical component containing more than a s ingle note can be looked at as a series of intervals . F or example, themajor scale can be looked at as a ser ies of whole step and half s tep intervals , as shown in F igs . 1 a and 1b:

Fig. 1a

Fig. 1b

S imi larl y, a major 7 chord can be looked at as being buil t us ing maj or thi rd and minor thi rd intervals , as s hown in F igs. 2a and2b:

Fig. 2a

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Fig. 2b

One of the problems that s ome players face when learning to solo is the challenge of how to make their ideas sound less scalarand more melodic. T his is one of the symptoms that accompanies an exclus ively pattern based approach to improvis ing that Ihave talked about in previous columns . Although it s ti ll requir es a pattern s tyle workout at f ir s t to learn the sound of each shape,practicing these less familiar shapes can get us out of a rut and influence our phrasing in fr esher ways . For example, there are avari ety of intervall ic patterns that can be appli ed to scales to make them sound more interest ing. A practice regimen that includes

a vari ety of intervall ic approaches can make our bas ic ideas sound much les s contr ived and subsequently tr ain our ear s toincorporate these new ideas into our playing.

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For the following examples , we will refer again to our tr us ty maj or s cale pattern. E ach indivi dual exercis e wil l take a choseninterval and apply it to each note of the maj or s cale within a particular pos it ion. I suggest s tarti ng with the 3 note per s tr ingposi tions for the maj or scale, as demonstrated in previous columns . (S ee figs . 3a.- 3c.)

Fig. 3a

Fig. 3b




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F ig. 3c

T o keep the exercis es concis e, I wil l us e the range of a 4 s tr ing bas s , ut il iz ing a G maj or s cale star ting on the 3rd fret E s tr ing.Remember to keep your hand in posi tion as shown, us ing only the finger ings s pecified for the duration of each exercise.

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I nt ervall ic 2nds

Each success ive note in the scale is followed by the note a diatonic 2nd higher. T he exercise wr it ten in s cale degrees would looklike this :

Ascending: 1-2, 2-3, 3- 4, 4-5, 5-6, 6 -7, 7- 8, 8-9, 9-10, 10 -11, 11- 12Descending: 12-11, 11-10, 10-9, 9- 8, 8-7, 7-6, 6 -5, 5- 4, 4-3, 3-2, 2- 1

Ex. 1

I nterval lic 3r ds

Each success ive note in the scale is followed by the note a diatonic 3r d higher . T he exercise wr it ten in s cale degrees would looklike this :

Ascending: 1-3, 2-4, 3- 5, 4-6, 5-7, 6 -8, 7- 9, 8-10, 9-11, 10- 12Descending: 12-10, 11-9, 10-8, 9-7, 8-6, 7-5, 6-4, 5-3, 4-2, 3 -1

Ex. 2



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I nterval lic 4t hs

Ascending: 1-4, 2-5, 3-6, 4 -7, 5 -8, 6 -9, 7- 10, 8- 11, 9- 12Descending: 12-9, 11-8, 10-7, 9-6, 8-5, 7-4, 6 -3, 5 -2, 4 -1

Ex. 3

I nterval lic 5t hs

Ascending: 1 -5, 2- 6, 3-7 , 4-8, 5- 9, 6-10 , 7-11 , 8-12Descending: 1 2-8 , 11- 7, 10- 6, 9- 5, 8-4 , 7-3 , 6-2 , 5-1

Ex. 4

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I nterval l ic 6t hs

Ascending: 1 -6, 2 -7, 3 -8, 4 -9, 5 -10 , 6-1 1, 7-1 2Descending: 1 2-7 , 11- 6, 10- 5, 9- 4, 8-3 , 7-2 , 6-1

Ex. 5

I nterval l ic 7t hs

Ascending: 1- 7, 2- 8, 3- 9, 4- 10, 5- 11, 6- 12Descending: 12- 6, 11- 5, 10- 4, 9- 3, 8- 2, 7- 1

Ex. 6

Practice these exercis es us ing other modes and scale types over the ful l range of your neck. Be very dis ciplined with yourechnique and timing as you practice. S oon, you will hear these ideas work their way into your playing as their sounds become

more familiar to you.

Until next time!

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05 Bass Lessons Adam Nitti - Intervallic