"All music is made up of notes taken from a scale. They can be scale pieces, arpeggios, jumps or chromaticism. But it is always about scales. Whether you are aware of it or not, all music works like that. So the more you know how to play scales and arpeggios with fluency and ease, the better you can improvise, compose or remake the basslines of your favourite bass players' (Tiziano Zanotti)
In order to be able to play the bass guitar satisfactorily, among other things, you need excellent technical mastery of the instrument. To achieve this, you can dedicate yourself to 2 types of exercises:
1) Exercises with shapes
2) Exercises with scales and arpeggios
1) Work on SHAPES is very important
In Contemporary Bassist vol. 1 you learn the basic and horizontal shapes of scales, triads and quadriads, while in vol. 2 the reasoning then extends to oblique and vertical shapes, giving you a truly meticulous mastery of the bass fretboard (recognised by all our students).
2) The work on SCALE and ARPEGS is equally fundamental
It includes written technical exercises to be performed with specific fingerings. By doing them carefully, you will achieve great fluency and fluency to play in any context you are interested in. Even if you have less time than you would like and an absolutely average ability.
More technique exercises for electric bass
Then, if you want to further enhance your technical mastery, you can refer to our youtube channel.
We are currently publishing some exercises from the guide BASS ON TOP - Organised Progressive Technique', which was created a few years ago at the request of our more 'nerdy' students to solve specific technical problems (and is now out of print).
Here are two examples:
EXERCISE 3
- Download the pdf with the transcript here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ef9pcwo1k8czh7q/Tecnica%20top_Trascrizione%20esercizio%20fig10c.pdf?dl=0 (instant download without registration)
EXERCISE 5
- Download the pdf with the transcript here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2wn0e8k7hvxkvry/Tecnica%20top_Trascrizione%20esercizio%20fig10e.pdf?dl=0 (instant download, no registration required)
Spend even just 5/10 minutes on it and you will notice the difference. Already after a few repetitions you will definitely have a more open and dynamic hand. But don't overdo it... these are demanding exercises, especially for small or untrained hands!
Obviously, the exercises follow the setting and fingering system of the Contemporary Bassist, having originated as a reinforcement to the actual method.
Therefore, if you want a step-by-step course on all the subjects (theory, rhythmics, bass lines, etc.) necessary to learn the bass guitar in a complete and professional manner, the online course is definitely the ideal way to go.
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P.S. If you just want the books, you can write to me or contact Borsari in Bologna (ships all over Italy), Casa della Musica in Modena, and also Amazon. So many possibilities to meet all needs...