Bass Lessons - Begging Tap For Bass Vol.10 bass tab
In lesson 7 I talked about the right hand 9'th position, and that
it was VERY
important. This time I'm going to elaborate a bit more on the
subject, looking
at 9th chords played with the left hand. Most of the ideas may
not be strictly
tapping, but they oftern are used to underpin tapping ideas.
We used a left hand ninth chord in the "Flow my Tears" example
from last time:
|----------11-------|
|-------9-----------|
|----7--------------|
|-0-----------------|
Ninth chords, contructed by stacking 5ths (E-B, B-F#), are
excellent chords for
use on bass, because they have harmonic complexity (ie they
sound nice) without
containing any clusters of notes which sound muddy at low frequencies.
The very
open sound is ideally suited to bass, and produces in interesting
tonal
background on which you can develop other ideas.
[technically these aren't 9th chords, as they don't contain
3rd's or 7th's -
prehaps E5+9 would be a better description of the above chord,
but I'll stick
with E9]
Prehaps the most famous use of ninth chords is the Police's "Every
Breath You
Take". Simplifying the guitar line, first without the ninths,
we get something
like:
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----9-------9---|-----9-------9---|-----6-------6---|-----6-------6---|
|---9---9---9---9-|---9---9---9---9-|---6---6---6---6-|---6---6---6---6-|
|-7-------7-------|-7-------7-------|-4-------4-------|-4-------4-------|
B Ab
|-----9-------9---|-----11-----11---|-----------------|----------------||
|---9---9---9---9-|---11--11-11--11-|-----9-------9---|----------------||
|-7-------7-------|-9-------9-------|---9---9---9---9-|----------------||
|-----------------|-----------------|-7-------7-------|-7--------------||
E D B
Play this using your standard technique (fretting with the
left, and picking
with your right), until your left hand is comfortable with the
stretches, then
try playing the line entirly using hammer ons.
Now, stretch out your little finger to get those ninths - this
may be a problem
at first (If you find it too much of a stretch, then transpose
the patern up a
few frets - once you're comfortable move it down a few frets to
make it more
difficult):
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----11------11--|-----11------11--|-----8-------8---|-----8-------8---|
|---9---9---9---9-|---9---9---9---9-|---6---6---6---6-|---6---6---6---6-|
|-7-------7-------|-7-------7-------|-4-------4-------|-4-------4-------|
B9 Ab9
|-----11------11--|-----13-----13---|-----------------|----------------||
|---9---9---9---9-|---11--11-11--11-|-----11------11--|----------------||
|-7-------7-------|-9-------9-------|---9---9---9---9-|----------------||
|-----------------|-----------------|-7-------7-------|-7--------------||
E9 D9 B9
Once you've mastered that, you'll find that a lot of stuff starts
to make sense.
The chord crops up over and over again - particularly in Stu Hamm
style stuff.
For example, here's part of "Surely the Best" (also found in
Quahogs - for those
that don't know Stu's wife is called Shirley Best).
||----------------------21----19-17-14-12-14-12---|
||o------12-17-------19----------------12-14-12---|
||o---10-------17-19-------19---------------------|
||--8---------------------------------------------|
^....^9th
|--------------------22----20-17-13-13-15-13------|
|-----20-18-------20----------------13-15-13-----o|
|---6-------18-20-------20-----------------------o|
|-4-----------------------------------------------|
^...^9th
|-------------------16------16-14----------|------9-11-------10-12-14--|
|-----9-14-------14---------------14-------|---10---------10-----------|
|---7------14-15---------15----------14-15-|-9----------8--------------|
|-5--------------------5-------------------|---------------------------|
^...^9th ^.......^9th
|---------------------------------------|----------16---------------------16-||
|-----9-----16------------9----14-------|----12-14----14-12-------12-14-15---||
|---7----16----14-16----7---15----14-15-|-10----------------14-10------------||
|-5-------------------5-----------------|------------------------------------||
^...^9th ^...^9th
This also provides a good exercise in right hand slides.
We also find more 9ths in "Terminal Beach", though some of these
are best played
using both hands:
+---21------21-----------19--+(19)---------------------+
+o--21------19-----------21--+(21)---19-21-19-17-------+
+o--14------16-----------17--+(17)---------------------+
+---12------14-----------15--+(15)---------------------+
^..........^ 9th
+-------------21/23--21--+(21)----------------------+
+-18-------19--------17--+(17)----------19--20------+
+----16------------------+-----17----17-------------+
+-------14---------------+--------15----15--14------+
^.....^ ^.....^
+-------21--21-------19----+(19)--------------------+
+-------21--20\19----17----+(17)----------19-17-----+
+----14-----16-------17----+(17)-------17-----------+
+-12--------14-------15----+(17)----15--------------+
^.....^
+-21-------21---------+(21)------------------+
+-21-------19---------+(21)-----------------o+
+-14-------15---------+(15)-----------------o+
+-12-------13---------+(13)------------------+
[This transcription by AESBL1AJM@cluster.cc.dundee-tech.ac.uk
- check the
archives for the full version of this piece]
The basic tonality of the piece is set by 9ths in the left hand.
Because the 9th chord we're using is so open, you're free to add
extra notes
into the chord with your right hand. Experiment by playing some
simple
progressions using 9th chords, and then expand this with new
notes above the
basic chord.
Once you start looking for them, these chords are very common
in this style of
music. Look out for them, and you'll have a good start on breaking
down pieces
into managable chunks.
