7 Shapes of the C Major Scale

[Ritter667]

I was referring to the 6th fret on the E string on the second example, but yeah, figured it was a typo.

One thing that makes it easier: “up” and “down” are always referenced to pitch, rather than physical orientation. So going “up” the neck always means going up in pitch.

Thanks, and found one more typo, in the corrected post by me, this should be correct:

Personally I would play a C Major scale like this:

----------------------------------------------------(0)---2---4---[5]---(7)---
---------------------------------(0)---2---3---5-----------------------------
------------------0---[3]---5------------------------------------------------
----0---1---3----------------------------------------------------------------

And

-------------------------------------------------------------------7---9---10---12---
--------------------------------------------7---9---[10]---(12)-----------------------
------------------------(5)---7---8---10----------------------------------------------
---5---7----[8]---10------------------------------------------------------------------


Then copy that pattern above 12th fret; that is:

----------------------------------------------------------14---16---[17]---(19)---
-----------------------------------------14---15---17-----------------------------
----------------------12---[15]---17----------------------------------------------
----12---13----15-----------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------19---21---22---24---
----------------------------------------------------19---21---[22]---(24)--------------------------
----------------------------(17)---19---20---22----------------------------------------------------
---17---19----[20]---22----------------------------------------------------------------------------


That is based on your first 4 fret spread pattern (1 finger per fret, with minimal shifts), pattern recognition (the way our brain actually works), and then simply mirroring octaves.

 

[Lobster11]

For context, I use one finger per fret on BG.

Pretty sure I was taught to avoid successive shifts, so I have a hard time imagining a reason to use these two:
View attachment 7029400

I also can't imagine using either of these patterns while playing -- but then I also (almost) never play a major scale from root to octave while playing either. I'm much more likely to be using a pentatonic scale or simple arpeggio, and I frequently draw from these two patterns for that. I'm sure I'm not the only one here who thinks that bassists should spend a lot more time focusing on arpeggios and pentatonics than full major scales.

Also, an important benefit of learning and practicing as many fingerings as one can come up with is for the additional purpose of learning the fretboard. The way I learned the fretboard was by exploring all the possible ways that I could find to play a simple arpeggio (e.g., C-E-G) all over the neck, and then doing the same for pentatonic scales and major/natural minor scales. I deliberately included patterns that were impractical -- e.g., required big leaps and/or changes of direction -- because those were the ones that really pushed me to learn the notes rather than (or, I should say, in addition to) patterns.

 

[HolmeBass]

Thanks, and found one more typo, in the corrected post by me, this should be correct:

Nice! This is good b/c someone might want to learn this, and having it all be internally consistent will help them in their journey.

Thank you.

 

[fretlessman71]

I'm sure I'm not the only one here who thinks that bassists should spend a lot more time focusing on arpeggios and pentatonics than full major scales.

I expect you are correct, but that's certainly not the way I teach. Everything comes from the Major Scale in Western harmony, and I definitely DON'T stick with arpeggios and pentatonics, no matter how important they are.

 

[fretlessman71]

Personally I would play a C Major scale like this:

----------------------------------------------2---4---[5]---7---
---------------------------------2---3---5----------------------
------------------0---[3]---5------------------------------------
----0---1---3---------------------------------------------------

Are you missing a B on the A string? (Did someone already point this out?)

 

[Lobster11]

I expect you are correct, but that's certainly not the way I teach. Everything comes from the Major Scale in Western harmony, and I definitely DON'T stick with arpeggios and pentatonics, no matter how important they are.

I completely agree that, in theory, the major scale is crucial and everybody should learn it and be able to play it in multiple ways. In practice, however, bassists rarely play full scales, and instead (in most genres) build bass lines around chord tones in ways that might or might not be scalar (as in the case of the pentatonic scale). It therefore seems to me much more important for students to learn multiple ways to play chord tones and pentatonic scales all over the neck than to learn any particular 7 -- or 5, or 13, etc. -- ways to play a major scale.

 

[SteveCS]

Thanks, and found one more typo, in the corrected post by me, this should be correct:

Why don't you use a standard notation program like MuseScore to generate your TAB by entering actual notes on a stave instead of mono-spaced text? If the notes are right the TAB comes out right. Editing the TAB is simply a case of dragging from string to string - the numbers take care of themselves.

 

[fretlessman71]

I completely agree that, in theory, the major scale is crucial and everybody should learn it and be able to play it in multiple ways. In practice, however, bassists rarely play full scales, and instead (in most genres) build bass lines around chord tones in ways that might or might not be scalar (as in the case of the pentatonic scale). It therefore seems to me much more important for students to learn multiple ways to play chord tones and pentatonic scales all over the neck than to learn any particular 7 -- or 5, or 13, etc. -- ways to play a major scale.

Really? I play portions of scales all the time when I perform. I am definitely not just sticking to the chord tones or the pentatonic scales, and I think it makes for a more interesting and just as functional bass line.

 

[Ritter667]

Are you missing a B on the A string? (Did someone already point this out?)

Someone did point it out, and I forgot more and there were more typos in the original post, and i revisited it in a later post, post top of this page, to this:

Personally I would play a C Major scale like this:

---------------------------------------------------------(0)---2---4---[5]---(7)---
--------------------------------------(0)---2---3---5-----------------------------
------------------0----2---[3]---5------------------------------------------------
----0---1---3---------------------------------------------------------------------

And

-------------------------------------------------------------------7---9---10---12---
--------------------------------------------7---9---[10]---(12)-----------------------
------------------------(5)---7---8---10----------------------------------------------
---5---7----[8]---10------------------------------------------------------------------


Then copy that pattern above 12th fret; that is:

----------------------------------------------------------------14---16---[17]---(19)---
-----------------------------------------------14---15---17-----------------------------
----------------------12----14---[15]---17----------------------------------------------
----12---13----15-----------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------------19---21---22---24---
----------------------------------------------------19---21---[22]---(24)--------------------------
----------------------------(17)---19---20---22----------------------------------------------------
---17---19----[20]---22----------------------------------------------------------------------------


That is based on your first 4 fret spread pattern (1 finger per fret, with minimal shifts), pattern recognition (the way our brain actually works), and then simply mirroring octaves.

Edit; Ah, there I see it, still missing the B on the A string, corrected now, above...

 

[Prodigus Filius]

Someone did point it out, and I forgot more and there were more typos in the original post, and i revisited it in a later post, post top of this page, to this:


Edit; Ah, there I see it, still missing the B on the A string, corrected now, above...

The first tab would have

E string notes: E1 F1 G1
The A string notes ( which you corrected)are now A1 B1 C2 D2
D Strings notes still have you repeating the D ie D2 E2 F2 G2 and then your next tab repeats the G2 again with G2 A2 B2 C3

Mirroring octaves should be

E string notes: E1 F1 G1
A string notes: A1 B1 C2 D2
D string notes: E2 F2 G2
G string notes: A2 B2 C3 D3

 

[Ritter667]

The first tab would have

E string notes: E1 F1 G1
The A string notes ( which you corrected)are now A1 B1 C2 D2
D Strings notes still have you repeating the D ie D2 E2 F2 G2 and then your next tab repeats the G2 again with G2 A2 B2 C3

Mirroring octaves should be

E string notes: E1 F1 G1
A string notes: A1 B1 C2 D2
D string notes: E2 F2 G2
G string notes: A2 B2 C3 D3

I am aware, but I am thinking pattern wise, how it looks and feels on the fretboard, mirroring octaves as it look on the fretboard (yes, I know did kind of cheat with the open D and G string in the first tab regarding this, but that was done from the perspective of knowing that 5th fret always equals open string under it),

I did try to have repeated notes in (), but I no doubt missed quite a few.

My whole point was to illustrate how to from one single simple pattern in an easy simple way cover the entire fretboard, only by mirroring octaves as that would look and feel on a fretboard as a pattern (that is skipping a string 2 frets forward or backward).

As I did wrote:

That is based on your first 4 fret spread pattern (1 finger per fret, with minimal shifts), pattern recognition (the way our brain actually works), and then simply mirroring octaves.

That is this is from a visual/pattern based point of view.

How it looks and feels to play this, then cobbling the sound of it (the notes and intervals) to that, as that would be how most people's brain's actually works, and how most would actually experience playing a bass, in the most immediate way.

 

[Lobster11]

Really? I play portions of scales all the time when I perform. I am definitely not just sticking to the chord tones or the pentatonic scales, and I think it makes for a more interesting and just as functional bass line.

Oh, of course: I play portions of scales all the time. But it's exceeding rare that I play a major scale from root to octave. As long as I know where the scale tones are, I'm free to add other notes (or not) in between. That's the way I think about it, but of course YMMV.

 

[fretlessman71]

Oh, of course: I play portions of scales all the time. But it's exceeding rare that I play a major scale from root to octave. As long as I know where the scale tones are, I'm free to add other notes (or not) in between. That's the way I think about it, but of course YMMV.

So these are intended to teach you where you can find all of those scale tones, and sometimes in places where you wouldn't think to look for them.