Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #4
================================
Ian Stephenson
ian@ohm.york.ac.uk
Virtually all the notes that we've been playing so far have been
related harmonically as either fifths or octaves. This is largely
because at bass frequencies, smaller intervals do not give a
sufficient gap (in terms of Hertz) to allow your ear to tell them
apart. This can be most clearly seen on a piano where the left hand
(the bass) often plays octaves while the right plays a much closer
harmony (usually thirds or less). If you were to play thirds at bass
frequencies they would sound a muddy mess.
If we look a little more closely at the idea of left hand fifths,
there are two ways they can be played in the context of the tapping
we've done so far. We can either place the root on the E or the A
string. We'll consider each of these in turn.
We'll use the A Major Chord (as it's the one we're most familiar
with), so placing the root on the E string, and tapping the fifth and
octave on the top strings we get:
O
---
-O-
---
__
|--------14-------| |--/--\--------------------
|--------14-------| | \ | .
|-----------------| |---@--|-------------------
|----5------------| | / .
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
| O
|--------------------------
The fifth of the A chord is E. This is easiest played on the seventh
fret of the A string, so we may alternate between this and the root.
O O
--- ---
-O- -O-
--- ---
__
|-------14-----14-| |--/--\--------------------
|-------14-----14-| | \ | .
|-----------7-----| |---@--|-------------------
|----5------------| | / . O
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
| O
|--------------------------
Looping this round should give you a pretty good idea of where we're
heading this week.
The alternative to placing the root on the E string is to play the root
on the A string. We can't play this using open strings, as you can't
hammer on an open string, so we'll play this at the twelfth fret
O
---
-O-
---
__
|-------14--------| |--/--\------O-------------
|-------14--------| | \ | .
|----12-----------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / .
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------
We've played that plenty of times, so we can quickly add the fifth on
the E string. Moving up a fifth is harmonically the same is moving
down a fourth, so this note is again found at the twelfth fret.
O O
--- ---
-O- -O-
--- ---
__
|-------14-----14-| |--/--\------O-------------
|-------14-----14-| | \ | .
|----12-----------| |---@--|-------------------
|----------12-----| | / . O
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------
This is the same E as we previously played on the A string, 7th
fret, but now the A is above it, and we've reached it by moving
down. This is particularly obvious when we move between the two
patterns:
O O O O
--- --- --- ---
-O- -O- -O- -O-
--- --- --- ---
__
|--/--\------O-----------------------------------|
| \ | . |
|---@--|-----------------------------------------|
| / . O O |
|-----/------------------------------------------|
| / |
|---/--------------------------------------------|
| O |
|------------------------------------------------|
| |
| |
| |
|----------------14-----14------14----14---------|
|----------------14-----14------14----14---------|
|------------12--------------------7-------------|
|-------------------12-------5-------------------|
When we move between chords we can choose which INVERSION we use to
minimize hand movement, and to keep the bass line moving in a
melodic fashion. In the following example we move from a C major
chord with the C on the A string, playing a G on the string below
(this is known as 2nd inverson), to an A minor root position (A at
the bottom on the E string, with a fifth on the A string).
O O
--- ---
O O
-0- -0- --- ---
--- --- -O- -O-
--- --- --- ---
__
|--/--\----------------------|---------------------|
| \ | . | |
|---@--|---------------------|---------------------|
| / . .|. O |
|-----/----------------------|---------------------|
| / O .|. |
|---/------------------------|---------------------|
| | O |
|--------------------0-------|---------------------|
| |
| |
| |
|----------------17-----17---|------14-----14------|
|----------------17-----17---|------14-----14------|
|------------3---------------|----------7----------|
|--------------------3-------|---5-----------------|
This vamp forms the basis of the Stu Hamm track "Country Music (A
Night in Hell)". Repeat it round until you've got a really
comfortable rhythm going.
Before considering the whole tab we need one more trick - a major
third for the right hand. I'll cover these in more detail next time,
but for now place your right hand in a position to play a fourth (as
we have done so far), and just stretch your middle finger a little
further so it plays one fret further down:
O
--- #O-
-O- -O-
--- ---
__
|---14-----13-----| |--/--\--------------------
|---14-----14-----| | \ | .
|-----------------| |---@--|-------------------
|-----------------| | / .
|-----/--------------------
| /
|---/----------------------
|
|--------------------------
You should now have few problems with the full rhythm part to "Country
music". It's mostly based on the stuff we've covered this week.
Watch out for the slapped parts (marked with a T). You should be
able to slap these without moving your hand too far away from the
tapping position (see lesson 3).
|---------|---17---17---17---17-----|---17---17---17---17-----|
|---------|---17---17---17---17-----|---17---17---17---17-----|
|-------2-|-3---------3-------------|-3---------3-------------|
|-3--5----|------3---------3--------|------3---------3--------|
T T T
|---14---14---14---14-----|---17---17---17-17---17-----|
|---14---14---14---14-----|---17---17---17-17---17-----|
|------7---------7--------|-3---------3----------------|
|-5---------5-------------|------3------------3--------|
|---14---14---14---14-----|---17---17---17---17-----|
|---14---14---14---14-----|---17---17---17---17-----|
|------7---------7--------|-3---------3----5--------|
|-5---------5-------------|------3------------------|
|---16---16---16---16-----|-------------------------|---||
|---17---17---17---17-----|-------------------------|---||
|------5---------5--------|-----------2--3--------2-|-3-||
|-3---------3-------------|--3--3--5--------3--5----|---||
T T T T T T T T T
Have Fun
Ian
LESSON POINTS: Left Hand Fifths
Introduction to Right hand Major Thirds
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