Music Theory For Bass Guitar - Key Signatures & The Cycle of Fifths

[@jharon11]

You saved my bacon... I had a debut with a band and the leader said the guitarists should put their capo on the 4th fret and start with a"C" chord. I matched the tonic and hung around 1, 4, and 5 from there. It sounded fine and my head didn't explode. Thanks for being there!

[@jasonpratt3850]

I learned so much from this lesson. THANK YOU!! Great stuff. I am loving your videos. They are helping me dust off my bass which I haven't played in over 10 years. Thanks for helping me get back in the saddle.

[@Australalien89]

This is incredible! Thank you so much, I was completely stumped by the circle of fifths and fourths (still kind of am...) but this has given me tools to really learn it instead of just sitting there going 'huh?'

[@Sparta_cus91]

love the gravitational example

[@kristinmartin3540]

You are a phenomenal teacher. You explain everything so in depth so that it makes perfect sense. THANK YOU. This is the best video on music theory I’ve found yet!

[@bleachbleach5599]

Fun fact: B E A D G C is standard tuning for a 6 string bass.

[@thiagodeandradeneves4585]

That's what I use to remember.

[@dayonmage3946]

nice explanations. hard not to like this lesson. comprehensive and straight-forward

[@robwright1112]

I've been advised to find a few lessons on Bass theory whilst I wait for my own bass to arrive, then I can start lessons with a tutor. On viewing your KZbin channel I have decided to spend my money on your courses rather than some Joe on the street - Cheers!

[@y-09]

4 years later are you professional yet XD

[@3pack]

5 years are you a pro bassist

[@woods3100]

How fifth circle use 8:16 How to figure out which note to sharp/flat 9:13

[@tsepoza]

Great video and very well explained. I don’t understand much about music theory but from the little I’ve learnt in the past year I can say it’s such a beautiful thing. And I would argue that music theory is a science rather than an art.

[@milky8607]

music theory isn’t an art but what music theory creates is definitely art

[@jacksoncollins4261]

Thanks for posting this. I always wondered what the relative double G# ionian melodic i dont know whats goin on

[@pankajbhatt100]

All of your video are great....a lots of learning indeed!!!!

[@karansuryawanshipaontasahib]

Sir you are great and thank you

[@sharthakghosh970]

Amazing explanation !!!!

[@leroyosbourne3808]

Excellent, just excellent.. Thankyou

[@mkvision]

12:52 Bb, knee flat (points to the knee) then Bb, Eb, Ab, etc.. Lol. This last bit got me raging.

[@dylanwatts2773]

thank you for the videos

[@earthstrong7855]

awesome vid

[@teabag7979]

Hi, loving your videos! Just confused about one thing, at 11:17 you stated to find the sharps in a key you cut the pattern short, starting at "G' (G-D-A-E-B). Then at 11:51 you said to "find out which sharps are in that key..." the pattern starts from 'F'.... could you please explain?

[@justinandsheba]

Since C has no sharps or flats, you go to the fifth step of the C major scale which is G. G has one sharp, which is F. The fifth step of the G major scale is D. D has 2 sharps, which are F and C. This pattern continues around the circle of fifths.

[@kaylanipimp1]

Hey Mark, great lessons, really helpful! I have one question though. In the exemple of the Fm scale, you said that it had one flat, the B flat, so it really does fall nicely into the Cycle of Fifhts, but if i were to call that note a A sharp (since they are essentially the same note), it would kind of mess the theory up. My question is, what notes should be descrived with flats or sharps, for the purpose of quickly reading them on a music sheet (despite knowing they are equivalent notes). Thank you very much!

[@PlBen1]

I've got the same dilema (this equivalence of B flat and A sharp). Mark, could You help us to understand this issue? Thank You.

[@bassmaiasa1312]

+B. Key It depends on the key you are in. All the keys follow alphabetical order from the tonic, and no letter can be used twice. E.g., the key of B major already uses a B natural, so it can't have a B flat also. So it uses A# instead. The key of F major already has an A natural, so it can't have an A#, it uses B flat instead.

[@drewstephens9510]

Mark, What are some advantages to knowing how many sharps and flats are within a key signature? Thanks, Drew

[@bassmaiasa1312]

+Drew Stephens I'll share what I've learned, if you don't mind. It makes is easy to tell what key a song is in -- if you see 3 #'s, you know it's A major. It's really helpful when you get into what I call the 'weird' key signatures, like 5 flats (D flat major), 6 sharps (F# major), where almost all the notes in the key are flat or sharp. But I usually only see the weird key signatures in classical music. The last sharp you see in the key signature (to the right) is always the 7th note of the key. E.g., F# is the 7th of G major, C# is the 7th of D, etc. The beauty of the Cycle of Fifths is that pattern stays the same thru all the keys with #'s. So if the last sharp is A#, you know the key is B major. With flats, the last flat you see is the 4th note of the key. So B flat (1 flat) is the 4th of the key of F major. E flat (2 flats) is the 4th of B flat major, etc. I find it helps to focus on the last sharp or flat in the key signature to keep me from confusing what key I'm in.

[@BassWild]

This might be a stupid question but why does ‘BEADGC’ have an F at the beginning and not the end for C flat major?

[@DarkandBroody]

For remembering the order of sharps and flats I like using the phrase Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle for sharps, then just turn it around for flats, Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles's Father

[@thedivaofddmandt9495]

That’s very helpful. Thanks for sharing!

[@having765]

OK why did you mention some of the notes as sharps then when you did F major you said Bflat instead of A#?

[@DarkandBroody]

Because A is already in the key of F, you can't have 2 of the same letters in any key, like how A is already in F, you would have to say B flat instead of A sharp. This is called "enharmonic equivalence" when 1 note can have 2 different names, it all depends on what key you're in to know which name to use

[@shinobi3337]

Love ur videos but g red gravity isn't real

[@petr3788]

Why it is the circle of 5ths is clear. But why it is also called the circle of 4ths?

[@laurenzuy4237]

Great vid. But one thing...theres no B#

[@talkingbasslessons]

There is a B#. Just as there is also an E#, F##, G##, C###, D### etc. It's just that B# is enharmonically the same as C. B# is not very common but you do see it occasionally. The most common use is as the seventh in the key of C#. C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#, B#.

[@BunkleMcCrunkle]

non-diatonic? you mean chromatic man