Left-Hand Secrets A Private Lesson @ With Steve Bailey A\tthough he's only 28, Steve Bay has performed with jazz greats such as trumpeter Dizzy Gilspie, saxophonist Paquito Divers, and keyboardist Lait, rocked outwith guitarist Alex Masi and singer Steve Wash and played on 1 jingles for Nissan, Sizoe, ATT, and others. He's aso been hired many times to "ghost" on rock albums, replacing pats originally played by other bassist Best known for his Gazaling lines on a retlss6-string eect, Bay is also an accomplished acoustic bassist He teaches atthe Musicians Instute, has recorded an instructional vdeo called Advanced Bassi Backstage Pas] ands writing a series of method books fr al electric basses, Sand 6- Sting; feted and fetes). As an instrument consultant, he has worked closely with designers at Hearted, Larive, and Wilkinson Inthe past year, Stave has been busy in the studio and on stages around che world asa sideman with guitarist Larry Carton, Keyboardist avid Benoit, and the ipingtons, and as aclncian for Fendereatild. Hes also been working on his fist soo album, which features guitarist Scott Henderson and drummer Gregg Bissonette aswell 5 many ofthe atts Bale has backed up, Watch for soon on & major label. This lesson includes excerpts from the Steve Bailey Contemporary Bass Series, 8 scon-torbe-published bass method that facuses on the techniques needed 0 play today’s music. Used by permission ofthe publisher, CPPIBelwin, Inc. 46 Dass Puavex ¥ Fae 1990 _gering techniques I've developed. They're not really Secrets—you can watch me use them in concert or on my video—but they are a bit different from what many players are used to, so they might seem little mys- terious at first ‘The lesson has three parts. It begins with a look at the system I call extended fingering, This method has helped ‘me a lot, and incorporating it will improve your execution fon any electric bass in any style of music. After I've ex: plained extended fingering, I'll continue with two “special- {e8” tutorials: one for fretless and another for 6strng bass. These sections build on the material in the fist part, so be sure you've gota good understanding of extended finger- For purposes of comparison, [have divided left-hand fingering into four methods. Most of us center our tech nique around one of these and use the others in varying de- grees. In order of difficulty (easy to hard) and efficiency ow to high), they are: 1. The two-or-hree-fingers-per fret, thumb-wrap, base ball-grip method (see Fig. 1). This the one we all started ‘with, and many bassists have never evolved beyond this sgarage-band technique. A few have even become extremely ‘wealthy (watch MTV), This inetfcient method, with its fre quent and awkward shifts, can make even simple basslines Jook difficult and sound bad. If you play this way, please keep reading. (I hope everyone doesn’t abandon this tech nique, because my rock & roll overdub work would vanish Just kidding.) 2. The classical string-bass or “your ring finger is worth- less” method (see Fig. 2). This technique has been perpet- uated by upright players who teach electric bass. It man dates the placement of your thumb on the back of the neck—a major improvement over the baseball grip—but largely abandons the 3rd finger. Notes are fretted with the Ist, 2nd, andl 4th fingers: the ring finger isjusta “helper,” holding down the string behind the pinkie. While this tech- nique is often necessary on acoustic bass, where string, Tengths range from 39" to 44", very few people have hands so small that they need to use it on an electric bass with a scale of 34” or les. It works well for many bassists, but it requires alot of shifts and is not very efficient. 3. The guitar-style, one-finger-per-fret method (see Fig 3). This technique is practical and efficient throughout the full range of the fingerboard. Only bassists with very small hhands encounter problems—and even then, only in the lower positions. Most recent bass literature uses tis finger ing method. Good “scalesmanship" and clean arpeggiation start here 4. The extended or wider intervals-and-weirder-chords,PRIVATE LESSON o:i:05 ‘method (see Fig. 4). This technique goes one step beyond guitarstyle fingering, allowing you to play chromatic scales starting on any finger while remaining in the same position. ‘Well be examining ths efficient technique in detail Fig. 4: Extended fingering Extended fingering increases the stretch by only one fret (usually), covered by reach: ing with your index finger. Tis isa bit of an oversimplification, but once you understand the concept, the possibilities are endless. With only a few exceptions, you will be able to start any scale on any finger and play atleast ‘an octave and a filth, ascending and descend- ing, (That's starting on the E string of a 4 string bass; if you play a 5.string, you can cover tiwo actaves in one position; on 6- string, i's two octaves plus a fourth!) 48 bass Plavix 9% Fai. 1990 Let's begin with some familiar scale, starting on your Ist (index) finger: ‘A Major 3 ae = ———— A Doran eat Sa ae ‘AWhole-tone : ‘ Ex Now, start on your 2nd (middle) finger ‘A Major eee z= ‘AMinor (Harmonic) ‘AWhole-tone pes [As you can see, different fingerings open up many new possibilities for constructing bass lines {and improvising solos. But dont stop now—here are some fingerings beginning with the 3rd and sth fingers: ‘A Major a F De vee ‘AWhole-tone (Note: The half-whole diminished scale is very useful with altered dominant chords.)For fingering ease, let’s go up a fourth to D: oer D Minor (Note: The Super Locrian scale is Locrian mode with a lowered fourth; try it with dominant 745 chords.) Now that you've got the idea, here are a couple of extended-fingering rifts (On fretless bass, consistent intonation is a valuable commodity both live and in the studio. Chords are constructed from the root upwards, and an outof-tune bassline can destroy the pitch center of any ensemble. In the studio, poor into- nation wastes time and money. If a producer ‘wants “that fretless sound,” you must be able to provide it—quickly and accurately. The fewer re takes or punch-ins required, the better your chances of getting called for more work. (I you're doing 30-or 60-second jingles, accuracy is every thing, Bass parts don't get fixed) In this bref les son, it'simpossible to explore all ofthe elements involved in solid fretless playing, but [will cover two key aspects: developing a consistent left-hand fingering system and training your ear. “Every in-fune bassist I've heard has a consistent fingering system. Some use the upright- fingered 1, 2,4; I prefer the guitar-style method of 1,2,3,4 with a half-step for each finger. It sounds easy, but the lack of precise. Try Ex. 6, playing slowly and with consistent finger positioning. ‘bass method, with hal-stey Fretless fingering: fifths ets means your fingering must be MICHAEL FORMANEK ‘WIDE OPEN SPACES. assist Michael Formanek exires some fresh moe tenfares on te rtega ‘Coreegt poe. foran sou lof surprises, da odapostions,irerent touches and forcu mprowsatons alr underscored ne othe most power ana accomplished Fash mui ody C784) MARK HELIAS DESERT BLUE Basich Mark Hellas test Eoja clea Desert blue” highlights hi diverse ompostion an the aoventurous Wes ot fis totam group: Marty ehh, Her Robutsg. Ra) Andean, Peer alc ‘rare ais 8 Anthony Dave. a 261 Aa Ao ca HARVIE SWARTZ IWA DIFFERENT LIGHT Jae bassist Hale Swart resents tis tantaste colecion of due and tos Ihiging sme o test averse ineidng” ue Stern Jena Scoel. Ln Str, ene Betanc, Mick Goodik ant raid Farper "ina Dire Ugh sno tases these aeclaed payers ner feting fora fy dal recording that more BLUEMOON enja Fatt 1990 % Bass Paver 49PRIVATE LESSON oo:iisics To play in tune, you must be able to discern whether each note is sharp, flat, or right on. In an effort to improve my left-hand consistency and improve my pitch discrimination, I de- veloped the next two exercises, Ex. is octaves. The octave is probably the easiest interval to hear; an outof-tune octave will waver noticeably. Fingering this exercise will probably be hard at frst, but hang in there, Ex. 8is fifths, Pay it very slowly, adjusting the out-oftune notes ‘without moving your other fingers. x8 Continue in the same manner forall the other intervals. You'll notice that as the intervals .getcloser, intonation gets tougher; half-steps are the hardest to hear. As your pitch discrim- ination improves, your “reaction time”—the milliseconds that go by as you listen tothe pitch, analyze it, and make intonation adjustments—should diminish rapidly. To attain this, you ‘must: (1) practice very slowly, letting each note ring: 2) refer to your open strings to check pitch; (3) listen closely to each interval and memorize the way it should sound. ‘Asa “final exam,” try Ex.9, an etude I wrote for fretless bass. Play it slowly and listen to the pitch of every note. When you're in tune, pick up the tempo—if your intonation suffers, slow down, [Ed. Note: For more on intonation, see Steve Radby’s column, Summer '90, page 72.) in 50. Bass Puavex > aut 1990 Part Three: 6-String Although there are quite a few é-string asses around, there aren't very many 6-sring ‘assists. Too many bass players are holding. 6 butstill thinking 4. (This isnt surprising, since most of us spent years playing a 4+ string.) The first step to becoming a real 6 string player is thinking ofall the strings as ‘equals. In practical terms, this means you should be as comfortable with the D at the 2nd fret of the C string as you are with the D at the 7th fret of the G string—and so on, with all the other notes. AGstring chord: C7 ‘The following tips will help you escape from the trap of playing on the middle four strings and saving (or wasting) the low Band high C for special effects: 1, Take familiar scales and patterns and transpose them around the instrument. Notice the different timbres in different po- sitions 2, Start scales on the B string and play them up and down in one position, With ex- tended fingering, your range is two octaves and a fourth 3.Set your metronome or drum machine at 120, Pick a note at random—let's say D. Start with low D (B string, 3rd fret) and play one bar of eighth-notes. Keeping the eighth notes constant, shift upward until you have played every D on your bass. Ater you've finished with the D’s, pick other notes at rar- dom and repeat the process. Do this for sev tral practice sessions, then reduce the num- ber of eighth-notes to six, then four, then two, while varying the tempo setting 4. Choose a song or a set of chord changes and play it in one position with no shifts, Using extended fingering makes this even easier. Start withthe progression in Ex. 10, playing the line as written and then im- provising ‘Many bassists ask me how I can play a chord solo while maintaining a bass line un- BBE GIVES YOUR MUSIC THE SOUND IT DESERVES. "BBE gives me ‘more clarity and defatin- especially on fast runs, It increases the dimension of my outboard effects and thumpin'-and poppin’ hias more puch with BBE. [Nathan East Huntington Beach, CA Sound Inc. 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