Using Approach Notes To Improve Your Bass Lines

[@RockerProf]

I luv your uncluttered, white background in your videos. It helps my brain focus on you speaking. Thanks for all the great lessons!

[@xiongli3563]

Good lesson for the beginner.

[@A_WaLLinger]

Was really searching for this lesson. Thank you.

[@everywhere5]

Amazing lesson

[@diaz8588]

this helped so much!!!!!!

[@PUREpopcornskage42]

One quick question! How can you find out / check that you can use either approach in a song? Like for making impro or licks?

[@talkingbasslessons]

PUREpopcornskage42 You gradually get a feel for the sound of each approach and choose the one you want. There's no right or wrong. It depends on what feels right and sounds good to you. I get asked this question by students a lot. It's a bit like teaching someone how to speak by teaching them some vocabulary and then the student asking "What do I say?" It's simply down to experience of playing and getting a feel and ear for the sounds you like. That's why, in the lesson, I tell you to just play around and around with the approaches to get them firmly ingrained in your mind. Then you have an aural toolbox to draw from when you're playing.

[@PUREpopcornskage42]

TalkingBass - Online Bass Lessons So there is not really a rule for the chords or playing with approach notes? Like how the song is made, which chords it's built on. But you can hear if the you sound good or bad IN the song taking either way of approaching.

[@talkingbasslessons]

PUREpopcornskage42 Pretty much. There are things that will sound more consonant and things that sound more dissonant. Remember, the method I show in this lesson is only regarding approach notes and only using the parent scale of the key to add them.

[@PUREpopcornskage42]

TalkingBass - Online Bass Lessons Can you 'force' the line/song to sound good, if approaching does NOT work? Like flatten or sharpen a giving chord tone - or so? So it then sounds good?

[@wiltd001]

Question. Does an approach notes work with chord tones other than the root? I'm playing a pattern with a major 7th over a C major 7th chord , playing the flat seven right before the major seven seems to sound bluesy and interesting leading into the major 7th Bass pattern using the c e g chord tones. To me using the six would be easy and safe but the flat 7 right before the major seven gives it I think a bluesy sound. What's your thought on this?

[@khbgkh]

Chromatic tones played on off beats can always lead in to scale tones up or down

[@waynegram8907]

What is the difference between an approach note compared to passing notes? they seem like the same thing

[@khbgkh]

Approach notes don’t necessarily have to come from somewhere, and passing tones are always in between two pitches

[@robertorodriguez1520]

does anyone know a good book on how to play bass? One that can go into depth on lots of things, like scales and apergoes, but isn't confusing? Thanks

[@melodyburgess561]

Hal Leonard Bass Method books 1-3

[@PUREpopcornskage42]

How come you use something looking like jazz / blues scales to do this? Can those be used?

[@talkingbasslessons]

PUREpopcornskage42 With the chromatic approaches the scale is completely irrelevant. You just approach from a fret above or below. The diatonic approaches use the overall key for approach. That's generally going to be a Major or Minor scale of some sort. If you're using a blues scale you need to decide whether the key is major or minor. Blues scales are often used over both tonalities. There are other ways to look at approach notes by using appropriate chord tones chord scales of the target chord but the way I describe in the video is a simple way of getting started.

[@SonDialer]

Hah .. @ 8:30 Lisa Lisa and cult Jam.. Lost In Emotion