Private lessons · Bass
Bass lessons in Miami
The low end that locks a band together. Here is the instrument, and how a bass player grows from first riffs to walking lines, slap and modes.
- Standard tuningE-A-D-G, an octave below the guitar's lowest four
- Standard scale length34 inches
- First mass-producedFender Precision Bass, 1951
The basics
- The bass guitar is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family: an electric plucked string instrument.
- Standard tuning is E, A, D, G, each an octave below the four lowest guitar strings. Five-string basses typically add a low B; six-string basses add a high C.
- Scale length: 30 inches or less is short, 32 is medium, 34 is standard, 35 is long.
- It looks like a guitar but has a longer neck and scale length.
- Paul Tutmarc of Seattle developed the modern form in the 1930s; his 1935 Audiovox catalog listed the Model 736 Bass Fiddle.
- The Fender Precision Bass, designed by Leo Fender and George Fullerton, went into production in October 1951.
- From the mid-1950s it replaced the double bass in popular music because it was lighter, smaller, easier to transport, fretted, and could be amplified with pickups.
How technique develops
A map of the stages, taken from published exam-board requirements (named below). It is a map of what each stage can look like, not Green Hat's own method; your teacher adapts the path to you.
First riffs
Rockschool's Debut level works on note values, string crossing and rests, major and minor pentatonic scales, major and minor arpeggios, and playing a riff along to a backing track.
Groove, then walking lines
Grade 2 adds shuffle, Latin rhythm and syncopation. Grade 3 adds soloing and walking bass lines.
Slap, pop and seventh chords
Grade 5 introduces slap and pop, harmonic minor and blues scales, and dominant 7th, major 7th and minor 7th arpeggios.
Positions and modes
Grades 6 to 8 move to one-octave exercises across positions, with modes such as Dorian and Mixolydian, and a stylistic study of the player's choice.
These steps come from Rockschool's 2018 bass syllabus; a 2024 edition exists.
Sources
Facts come from the sources below; check them if you need exact details.