Meet Andrea Fascetti
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Hi my friends...
Last lesson we discussed various chords. I hope you learned all the
voicings. In this column we face one of the biggest problems in bass
playing, bass fingerboard knowledge.
I notice that the best players have incredible fingerboard skills. We
have to remember that the fingerboard does not layout like a piano,
where you can easily identify all the notes! This is a BIG problem.
Ok...we've learned chords... we've studied all day long...all night
long.... and we try to play some new things, but what happens, most of
us still have problems playing freely up and down the neck. I notice
this in my students regularly. Many of them still don't recognize where
the notes are, and this is a major problem that can obviously inhibit a
performance.
Today we'll take a strong look at that problem!!
The purpose of this lesson is to strengthen improvisation, but if you
want to be a good improviser, you have to master your
fingerboard! We'll work on one chord at a time, starting with the
major seventh chord...
Ok, let's start the homework!
Example 1. Take a Cmajor7 two octave arpeggio up and down (C E G
B C E G B G E C B G E C) Force yourself to play it very slowly and
without a metronome. Say the name of notes while practicing. REMEMBER:
No groove... Nothing! Only you and the notes! Now start to practice all
the notes using only a string (where possible), then two strings, then
three strings, and finally four strings! Practice in this way over and
over until the fingerboard becomes your best friend. Then you can
increase the speed and play it faster! This is a great way to
learn the fingerboard and learn many ways to look at arpeggios and
scales. I know this exercise is hard to do... but.... no pain, no gain!
The first time I practiced these exercises, I wanted stop playing forever. It killed me.
This time, only work on C major7, but if you feel motivated, you can try it over other keys as well.
Example2: Review all past lessons.
I hope you enjoy these exercises my friends!
Ciao... Andrea
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