The Hal Leonard Bass Method thread

[OllieVT]

In MB1, page 27, exercise 57, 2nd measure: The note-head is G yet the letter ID is B-flat; a typo, or am I missing a concept?

More generally, what is the purpose of the letter ID of the first note of each bar? Reading the definition of "tonic" isn't resolving the question for me (unless it's as simple as "it starts with F and ends with F", which makes me wonder about the reason for the other letter IDs). I see the pattern of letter IDs that's repeated on each four bar sequence of the three lines, and the 13 bar ending in F but I'm pretty sure that there's something going on that I don't grok.

A little help please!

The "letter ID" is not to go with the note, it's the chord that's going on at that time, probably played by the guitarist (or pianist, or ukuleleler, or...). Very frequently, the root note of the chord (ie the named one) is played by the bass on the first beat of the bar, but it's not a universal rule.

Notice that you do get a Bb on the third beat of the measure. You'll need someone who's not a fellow beginner to explain why the bass playing a G (which is at least in the Bb scale as the 6th note, but not part of the Bb chord) makes sense with a Bb chord.

 

[viking power]

The "letter ID" is not to go with the note, it's the chord that's going on at that time, probably played by the guitarist (or pianist, or ukuleleler, or...). Very frequently, the root note of the chord (ie the named one) is played by the bass on the first beat of the bar, but it's not a universal rule.

Notice that you do get a Bb on the third beat of the measure. You'll need someone who's not a fellow beginner to explain why the bass playing a G (which is at least in the Bb scale as the 6th note, but not part of the Bb chord) makes sense with a Bb chord.

Wouldn't playing that 6th change the chord to a 6th chord? Is this maybe what people refer to as the power that the bass player has over the music?

 

[OllieVT]

Wouldn't playing that 6th change the chord to a 6th chord? Is this maybe what people refer to as the power that the bass player has over the music?

Maybe? My uneducated guess is that it's a diatonic lead up to that third beat Bb (via the A) to create some sort of sense of delay then resolution? [Warning: this guess is made even more uneducated by not being able to listen to the track at the moment to see what it sounds like. But I'm not sure that would help me much.]

 

[viking power]

Maybe? My uneducated guess is that it's a diatonic lead up to that third beat Bb (via the A) to create some sort of sense of delay then resolution? [Warning: this guess is made even more uneducated by not being about to listen to the track at the moment to see what it sounds like. But I'm not sure that would help me much.]

I haven't listened to it myself so will do that before chiming in further.

 

[OllieVT]

Well, I've listened, and my official verdict is that I don't have a clue what the corresponding theory is. Happy to help.

 

[viking power]

Hahahaha!

 

[bassfiddlesteve]

In MB1, page 27, exercise 57, 2nd measure: The note-head is G yet the letter ID is B-flat; a typo, or am I missing a concept?

More generally, what is the purpose of the letter ID of the first note of each bar? Reading the definition of "tonic" isn't resolving the question for me (unless it's as simple as "it starts with F and ends with F", which makes me wonder about the reason for the other letter IDs). I see the pattern of letter IDs that's repeated on each four bar sequence of the three lines, and the 13 bar ending in F but I'm pretty sure that there's something going on that I don't grok.

A little help please!

Bb is the chord that the guitar/piano is playing at that measure. In this example the bass part is not starting in the root of the chord.

- Steve

 

[icarus88]

Amazing book!

 

[NotAGardener]

I'm finally at page 37 and what I have realized is that, like noticing things along a path through the woods or a walk down the street, I get better results by just proceeding, observing whatever I happen to observe, and then doing it a few, or many more, times; each time I'll see things that I missed previously and end up knowing more than if I had tried to take it all in, in one trip.

As it relates to learning electric bass and working through the MB series, I find it more productive to perform a given exercise imperfectly, maybe a half dozen times, and then advance to the next. And in this context, imperfectly means that I focus on getting to the point that I can hit all the notes even if at a very slow tempo and/or (though not much at this point) by ignoring note time value. However slow it takes, however lopey, once I can hit all the notes reliaby I advance. When I finish the last page I'll start the book over and repeat as many times as it takes to perform the exercises properly and eventually with the play-alongs; I expect that my speed through the book, and rate of improvement, will increase. Here, now, at pg 37 my performance is much improved; the connection between noteheads and my fingers has been good for some notes, but problematic for a few others, and that is getting better, quicker, via this method.

I thought I'd post this on the chance that it might help others who are struggling, as I was. It's just a different way to approach wiring all of this into my brain/muscles and for me it works better.

Cheers,
John

 

[KindofBlues71]

I finally started Book 1 this week and completed page 21 - Rolly (#35). I haven't read standard notation since I graduating high school decades ago but it's starting to come back to me.

I played each exercise multiple times until I played them without any mistakes 2-3 times through before moving to the next one, saying each note out loud as I played it. I'm ready to move on to page 22 but will probably go through the exercises one more time to make sure I know the notes.

I'm also learning the notes on the fretboard
and learning songs so I don't get bored.

What are you all working on alongside the HLBM?

 

[NotAGardener]

I finished my first pass through book 1 so I'm starting over again at page one.

I'm enjoying it and rarely need to look at my fretting or plucking fingers. I'm able to cross strings and stop the notes fairly reliably. The connection between reading notes is decent but not quite as good; I mostly get it right but in any given exercise I may a stumble on a couple of notes; that's a little annoying but I guess will be worked out with more practice.

I can already tell that the second pass is helping to cement things better and I'm not rushing to get through it. Problem areas will get however much repetition it takes to squeeze them out of existence. At this point I feel I'll be better able to accomplish that goal.

 

[NotAGardener]

Second pass through MB1, I’m at page 27, ex 56, All Four One.

On this second pass through MB1 I figured I’d focus on improving fretting and plucking (F&P) accuracy and consistency, and holding an even tempo but without regard for speed (meaning well less than quick). But what I’m figuring out is that working on speed is necessary to improving the other three.

This occurred to me while working on exercise 56 which I can’t get through entirely cleanly, even at low speed, without stumbling somewhere and usually two or three places, bars 7&8 being faves and most anywhere within 9 thru 12. Watching people who have skill and speed made me wonder how they got there aside from “lots of practice”.

Working drills on problem areas occurred to me. So I started doing that, first one bar, or one and adding the next, gradually increasing speed; and then just keep repeating them 20 times, 50 times, more; I’d expect lots more going forward, pushing all the boundaries in a focused, repetitious manner until everything is trained to do it. That was near the end of my practice today so I haven’t much of a track record, but even so I can see some meaningful improvement in all four areas; F&P accuracy and consistency, even tempo and speed, improved. This approach also worked to reduce the occasional delay or hiccup related to making the instant connection between written note what your fingers need to do, too.

In hindsight it seems an obvious and useful rip-off of technique common to many activities but it only just occurred to me. I feel pretty confident this approach will significantly improve my learning rate.

 

[KindofBlues71]

I've been doing pretty much the same thing while being stuck on Exercise 42 (D-Lite), Book 1 p24. I've been working on it for several days and can't seem to play it cleanly.

I start each exercise by saying each note name out loud, then play it while saying the note names, then add the rhythm, etc. But D-Lite has really confused me.

I've been playing just the first measure until I play it perfectly, then add the second measure, rinse and repeat. I'm getting through it but it's taking some time. I definitely don't remember much about standard notation from high school (a short 30+ years ago...).

 

[NotAGardener]

I've been doing pretty much the same thing while being stuck on Exercise 42 (D-Lite), Book 1 p24. I've been working on it for several days and can't seem to play it cleanly.

I start each exercise by saying each note name out loud, then play it while saying the note names, then add the rhythm, etc. But D-Lite has really confused me.

I've been playing just the first measure until I play it perfectly, then add the second measure, rinse and repeat. I'm getting through it but it's taking some time. I definitely don't remember much about standard notation from high school (a short 30+ years ago...).

Glad I'm not the Lone Ranger. I didn't really think the second pass would be quick, and it won't be, but things are improving slowly. Still on the pg 27 exercises but even though I make plenty of flubs things are slowly working better. It's such an ugly feeling when I pluck a string that's being casually muted rather than hitting the intended string. It will be a sweet day when that sort of mis-alignment becomes a rare event.

 

[KindofBlues71]

...It's such an ugly feeling when I pluck a string that's being casually muted rather than hitting the intended string. It will be a sweet day when that sort of mis-alignment becomes a rare event.

I suffer from brain => left hand desychronization (my own technical term) - my brain understands what I need to play but my left hand can't/won't do it. I need to figure out some exercises to improve my coordination, but I'm hoping that these books will help me improve that eventually. That said, I should probably crack open "Creative Bass Technique Exercises by Dan Hawkins"...

 

[NotAGardener]

I suffer from brain => left hand desychronization (my own technical term) - my brain understands what I need to play but my left hand can't/won't do it. I need to figure out some exercises to improve my coordination, but I'm hoping that these books will help me improve that eventually. That said, I should probably crack open "Creative Bass Technique Exercises by Dan Hawkins"...

Are working drills on problematic portions effective in re-educating your left hand, even if slowly? It's helping me noticeably but it is also no silver bullet. I get the distinct impression that re-educating one's fingers and hands for this precise and demanding kind of work, particularly for older people, is a long, rewiring Journey.

It's worth keeping it mind, at least for me, that we are trying to make physical, biochemical changes to bodies and brains that are in various declining phases of our lives. That's a tougher nut to crack then learning this stuff when your brain and body is going nuts with growth and development!

 

[ShawnG]

Hello HLBMers, I'm joining in.

A little about me and my bass journey so far. I'm 58 and picked up the bass as something to fool around with during Covid. I stuck with it for about a year, focused mostly on sight reading and finding the notes (naturals only) on the neck in what Ed calls the second position, but my previous instruction program (online) called first. I learned one finger per fret (OFPF) with the middle finger on the 3rd fret, so stretch for F on the E string, then OFPF for F#, G, G#, A. Got so I could pretty well play random notes (drills) from this position across all four strings at a pretty good pace. So far, so good. But...
I kinda flailed when it came to "learning bass." My learning style needs a curriculum, something linear and step by step. Even better if its available on the printed page. This is something I struggled to find, online. I moved about in courses for Chord Tones, Scales, some theory, fooled around on SBL (I really did like SBL's Players Path, in which you progressively "leveled up" by learning "songs" with accompanying tracks), but eventually fell off the wagon because I just didn't feel like I had a "path" to get where I hoped to go. Instead I spent too much time reading and posting here on TalkBass and buying gear, that I wasn’t really using, but enjoyed collecting. So here I am four-ish years later, with some really nice basses, a couple of decent amps and no skills and no plan. I picked up the complete HLBM book a couple years back, but never really took it off the shelf, it was just another item in my "collection" that didn't fit in with my "flail about" program.
I finally decided I needed to either get with a program and learn to play the basses I have, or start liquidating. I pulled out the HLBM and decided that I would try to spend 30-ish minutes a day (when I'm home, I travel for a living, with stretches at home and stretches on the road) and work my way all the way through book 1, with no other distractions (other than working in songs from HL's Easy Pop Bass Lines, which looks like it works alongside the HLBM) and re-evaluate things then. A couple of days in, I’m liking what I’m seeing re: @edfriedland ’s curriculum-based approach and wishing I had given it a go before. I'm pleasantly surprised at how the sight reading has come back relatively quickly, as well as remembering where the notes are on the neck (mostly…). I am really pleased by all the exercises in HLBM that have backing tracks to play along to, they are way more fun than just running drills and are great for learning timing. I expect things will get harder quickly as I work through the basics, but am looking forward to, and enjoying, the challenge so far.

My goals are to get to the point where I could play with my church's small, acoustic, P&W group and hopefully find a couple of guys to play with for fun, in retirement. I know from reading through this thread that several have succeeded in like-minded pursuits by working through the HLBM.

Thanks for reading. I expect this will be my longest post in this thread, I hope to check in from time to time with progress updates and questions along the way. Have a good day, everyone!

 

[ShawnG]

Hey, HLBMers!
Tonight will be the end of my “work” week with the bass, I’ll be traveling until next Tuesday evening.
So far, I’m meeting my goal of 30-ish (most days a little more, some a little less) minutes a day, often 10 or 15 mins at a time vs. standing still for 30 mins. Still spending too much time surfing TalkBass. I need to track the minutes spent here and then make sure I’m practicing at least as much!
I’ve worked my way through pg 22, Ex 37 (A Little Heavy). Can play them along to the backing tracks pretty well, but not perfect.
Will pick back up playing the E&A string exercises and songs when I get back until I’ve got them down pat.
I said I wouldn’t use any outside distractions, but I plan to work these exercises/drills into my practice plan and not move forward until I feel like I can play the combined E&A string page well, without looking at the fretboard. I really want to get the notes on the neck under my fingers before moving on and plan to do the same with D and G strings with their appropriate sections and then drill all four strings until it sticks. I did this with the natural notes only in the last go around and it worked pretty well.
Ed introduces the sharps and flats right away, which I think is great, but man, there is a lot of glancing at the fretboard going on, which is going to hamper my sight-reading as things get more challenging. I know woodshedding this stuff now will pay dividends down the road!

 

[ShawnG]

Hey, @EddiePlaysBass , where in Belgium are you? I lived in a little hamlet, Erbaut, just outside of Mons for three years.

 

[KindofBlues71]

...I plan to work these exercises/drills into my practice plan...

Where did you get those pitch exercises?