Bass Lessons - Begging Tap For Bass Vol.12 bass tab
When we looked at sliding notes, the final example was the arpegios
for
"Always with me, always with you". The final chord being F# major
in root
position:
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------8---11---8-----------------------------------------------|
|-----9----------------9-------------------------------------------|
|-2----------------------------------------------------------------|
At the time, the point of the exersise was to slide between the
two notes on
the D string. However its tricky to do this acuratly, and the
slide doesn't
sound quite right anyway. Ideally we'd like to tap the note,
but if you
attempt to play the 9-8-11-8 pattern in a "ninth" hand position
you'll find
that the stretch is too much, and your third finger sort of collapses,
and
your nail just runs along the string (unless you've got BIG hands).
The trick is to bring your thumb from behind the neck, across
your palm, and
use it to play the fifth of the chord(11). You'll find that you
use the
outside edge of you thumb, just to the side of your nail, rather
than the
tip.
The thumb is usefull whenever you need that extra stretch, but
you should
probably consider it as a last resort, as its more clumsy, and
offers less
control of the note than fingers do. However its oftern just
about the only
way to play basic (non-exended) chords.
A number of variations on the above arpegio show how the thumb
can be
usefull:
Minor Scale Major Major
|-----------|----------|----------|-------11-|--------------8-11--||
|-------8---|-------8--|----8--11-|----8-----|---------8-11-------||
|----9------|-9--11----|-9--------|-9--------|----9-11------------||
|-11--------|----------|----------|----------|-11-----------------||
T 1 2 1 T 2 1 2 T 1 2 T T 1 T 2 T 2 T
These are all quite easy, as the thumb can be moved across the
fretboard far
more comfortably than fingers can. In fact you can play some quite
rediculous intervals:
|-------------|------6-----||
|---------10--|----7---7---||
|-----11------|-13---------||
|-15----------|------------||
The exact circumsances under which you'd WANT to play such intervals
are
hard to describe, but once in a while your thumb can bail you out
if a
really tricky chord. For example, from "Tears in the Rain":
|---------------17---------------------17------------|
|-----------15-----15--------------15------15--------|
|-------19-------------19-------19-------------19----|
|--10----------------------10------------------------|
L T 1 2 1 T L T 1 2 1 T
This weeks final example is an arpegiated accompaniment to
the verse of
Bryan Adams' "One Night Love Afair" (Reckless). This part was
written to
replace the accoustic guitar part found on the album, when I
was playing it
in a 3 piece band.
|--------------7-----------|--------9-----11--9-----9---|
|o-------9--------9-----9--|-----9-----9---------9-----o|
|o----9-----9--------9-----|--7------------------------o|
|--7-----------------------|----------------------------|
L 1 2 1 L 2 1 2 L 1 2 1 3 2 1 2
|--------------7-----------|--------8------------8------|
|--------9--------9-----9--|-----9-----9------9-----9---|
|-----9-----9--------9-----|--------------11------------|
|--7-----------------------|--4-------------------------|
L 1 2 1 L 2 1 2 L 1 2 1 T 1 2 1
|--------11----13-11----11-|--------9-----10--9-----9---|
|-----11----11-------11----|-----9-----9---------9------|
|--------------------------|----------------------------|
|--2-----------------------|--0-------------------------|
L 1 2 1 3 2 1 2 P 1 2 1 3 2 1 2
The first couple of bars are a good illustration of how both hands
can be
used together to create complex arpegiated patterns. However
by bar four the
lefthand bass line requires that only the right hand is available
for the Ab
minor chord. At this point the thumb comes to the rescue, getting
you
through to the final (ninth poisition) bars.
Enjoy
