Bass Lessons

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.

Get this song at:  amazon.com sheetmusicplus.com

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