Great lesson for arpeggios practice, I used to read music sheet while practicing that, with this technique I think I can do them using more my brain to jump from chord to chord performing the arpeggios! Thanks
Dammit, Geoff. I watch you and Lauren play and it makes me want to cry. I’m over here working as a “professional” musician and then I see you guys play with much better pitch and tone. Maybe it’s because I spend all my time watching TH-cam instead of practicing...
I like doing it this way also, at least at the beginning. It forces a student to learn the root note positions cold without "cheating" by just rolling onto the A string to the respective fourth.
Towards the end, as you showed the fingering for D Major 7, I was hoping that you would mention that both A and E (that you had just played) could be accomplished with the exact same fingering as his D.... again as an alternative to those nasty upward shifts to half position to play G# (in A) and D# (in E). Excellent presentation of this valuable material.... I have my students play this as a warmup. I give it to them a little at a time, writing it in standard notation with fingerings and include those alternates. Eventually we play them to the relentless metronome to encourage quick thinking "on the fly" .
Very good lesson....But if you're a beginner in music theory then you need 3 things written down on your table to be able to catch up this lesson....1) circle of fifths chart 2) double bass fretboard notes diagram 3) Root, 3rd, 5th and 7th notes of all circle of fifths note's major scales by order.... if you haven't all these......then even not try to understand anything form this lesson !!
OK nice yeah, I just try to always play every arpeggio in two octaves to get better fretboard knowledge! But nice channel! I really liked that groove-jazz riff in the other video.
Am I the only one who learned arpeggios as 4 notes instead of 5 (without the 7th before the 8ve)? That's how they are on the ABRSM exams and most scales sets that I've encountered.
the arpeggios you mentioned are Triads, they outline Major and Minor Triads + the octave (C E G C, C Eb G C, etc), he played seventh chords arpeggios (in my country we call them Tetrads) that have one more Major/Minor Third added to the chord (C E G B C, C Eb G Bb C)
For me it depends on the chord i am actually arpeggiating. For example a Cmaj will not have the seventh, technically, while a Cmaj7 will. I would say both should be practiced along with all other chords. In some instances including a seventh in a Cmaj chord may be a bad choice, so the seventh should not always be assumed.
The Circle of Fifths...Why did you then proceed in 4th (anti-clockwise C to F) as opposed to 5th (clockwise C o G). Are you not then following a "Circle of Fourths"??
Good point. It's often referred to as the circle (or cycle) of 4ths for this reason, but is more commonly known as the circle of 5ths, and people think of it moving in either direction. Either way its' the same thing, you still move from C, F, Bb etc by ascending in 4ths or descending in 5ths. We choose to move up a 4th rather than down a 5th due to the tuning of the double bass.
Thank you for doing these videos! I just got my first double bass last week and it’s a whole new world from standard electric bass. Do you have a great plan of action for someone new to double bass that has dexterity from playing electric bass for quite some time? It’s weird getting use to how the lower register frets are a lot wider than I’m use to, but indeed a fun transition. I’m thinking I need to start with scales down low first, right? Any good catchy songs you recommend for me??
Congrats on the new bass! I would recommend checking out our 'beginner's section in the lessons library discoverdoublebass.com/lessons-library/ There are lots of lessons to help get started. Focusing on the basics such as major and chromatic scales will be a big help. Best of luck with all your practice and enjoy the journey :-)
Hi Geoff, thanks for this, I'll defo be trying this out! Just a quick Q, for Eb major, why wouldn't you use the D neck heel for the D and then play the Eb with finger 2? This is the way I'm currently finding these two notes. Is it just good practise to shift rather than 'cheating' by using the heel? :-) Thanks, Stephen.
Hey Stephen, I'm glad you're enjoying the lesson and you are spot on. The problem with using the neck heel is that it can lead to a 'grey area' of the finger board where the note locations are a bit vague.. the notes C# and D with your 2nd or 4th fingers especially... so I think it's worth practising shifting and playing with fingers 2-4....but it's also useful to play 1-2,,,,especially if you were continuing to shift higher up the neck after playing those notes. ... so probably practising both is the best option :-)
I'm a guitarist who likes watching those videos because i love the instruments and i find those videos relaxing. do you guys drop tune or use open tuning on this instrument?
Great to hear you're enjoying the upright :-) Double basses are generally E-A-D-G but sometimes we use an extra long string with an extended fingerboard instead of the E string which is tuned to low C. You can also get 5 and 6 strings just like regular bass guitar ....plus classical soloists often tune up a tone (F#, B, E, A) which is called 'Solo Tuning'. Cheers Geoff
In your left hand technique video you talk about not curving the wrist but to my eyes it seems like you are doing that in this video a lot, am I just being too paranoid about this aspect of technique? (Im an absolute beginner)
Hey Conor, a curve is fine, but a bend is not. So no sharp, angles but a gentle curve is normal. Also try to keep flexible in the wrist and not lock your hand in place. It only really becomes a problem if you drop your elbow which can cause the bend. I hope that helps. Cheers Geoff
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Great lesson for arpeggios practice, I used to read music sheet while practicing that, with this technique I think I can do them using more my brain to jump from chord to chord performing the arpeggios! Thanks
Dammit, Geoff. I watch you and Lauren play and it makes me want to cry. I’m over here working as a “professional” musician and then I see you guys play with much better pitch and tone. Maybe it’s because I spend all my time watching TH-cam instead of practicing...
haha I feel this
You supposed to practise 40 hour evry day la!
I like to do the cycle with root always on E string, then root always on A. Great for shifting and for exploring the fingerboard
That sounds like a great idea. I will give it a try :-)
I like doing it this way also, at least at the beginning. It forces a student to learn the root note positions cold without "cheating" by just rolling onto the A string to the respective fourth.
Towards the end, as you showed the fingering for D Major 7, I was hoping that you would mention that both A and E (that you had just played) could be accomplished with the exact same fingering as his D.... again as an alternative to those nasty upward shifts to half position to play G# (in A) and D# (in E). Excellent presentation of this valuable material....
I have my students play this as a warmup. I give it to them a little at a time, writing it in standard notation with fingerings and include those alternates. Eventually we play them to the relentless metronome to encourage quick thinking "on the fly" .
Thank you Geoff. Fantastic.
Glad you enjoyed it
Very helpful, Geoff
The Jaws theme is at 3:49, mates)
Very good lesson....But if you're a beginner in music theory then you need 3 things written down on your table to be able to catch up this lesson....1) circle of fifths chart 2) double bass fretboard notes diagram 3) Root, 3rd, 5th and 7th notes of all circle of fifths note's major scales by order.... if you haven't all these......then even not try to understand anything form this lesson !!
the circle of fifths is already an intermediate concept so its safe to assume one knows arpeggios when they click on a circle of fifths video
Great video 🎵
Very nice . I am Guitarist . I like D.Bass
Thank you Geof that's very helpful
Another brilliant tutorial , thank you ...
Very good,tk. You.
Tuning anchors? Why should I worry about that when I can just have little pieces of tape on the neck of my bass >.
Lol, that's one way to do it :-)
Great! It is fantastic!
Very nice, thanks.
Really want to learn how to do percussion like that whilst playing! #cantwait
nice two octaves helps too!
Absolutely. I have some 2 octave lessons coming up soon :-)
OK nice yeah, I just try to always play every arpeggio in two octaves to get better fretboard knowledge! But nice channel! I really liked that groove-jazz riff in the other video.
Am I the only one who learned arpeggios as 4 notes instead of 5 (without the 7th before the 8ve)?
That's how they are on the ABRSM exams and most scales sets that I've encountered.
there are more than one type of arpeggio
the arpeggios you mentioned are Triads, they outline Major and Minor Triads + the octave (C E G C, C Eb G C, etc), he played seventh chords arpeggios (in my country we call them Tetrads) that have one more Major/Minor Third added to the chord (C E G B C, C Eb G Bb C)
sure there are more types of Triads and Tetrads but just for example
For me it depends on the chord i am actually arpeggiating. For example a Cmaj will not have the seventh, technically, while a Cmaj7 will. I would say both should be practiced along with all other chords. In some instances including a seventh in a Cmaj chord may be a bad choice, so the seventh should not always be assumed.
The Circle of Fifths...Why did you then proceed in 4th (anti-clockwise C to F) as opposed to 5th (clockwise C o G). Are you not then following a "Circle of Fourths"??
Good point. It's often referred to as the circle (or cycle) of 4ths for this reason, but is more commonly known as the circle of 5ths, and people think of it moving in either direction. Either way its' the same thing, you still move from C, F, Bb etc by ascending in 4ths or descending in 5ths. We choose to move up a 4th rather than down a 5th due to the tuning of the double bass.
Thank you for doing these videos! I just got my first double bass last week and it’s a whole new world from standard electric bass. Do you have a great plan of action for someone new to double bass that has dexterity from playing electric bass for quite some time? It’s weird getting use to how the lower register frets are a lot wider than I’m use to, but indeed a fun transition. I’m thinking I need to start with scales down low first, right? Any good catchy songs you recommend for me??
It would be so nice to have someone to practice with. If you know anyone in Phoenix, AZ that plays double bass, let me know ;)
Congrats on the new bass! I would recommend checking out our 'beginner's section in the lessons library discoverdoublebass.com/lessons-library/ There are lots of lessons to help get started. Focusing on the basics such as major and chromatic scales will be a big help. Best of luck with all your practice and enjoy the journey :-)
Hi Geoff, thanks for this, I'll defo be trying this out! Just a quick Q, for Eb major, why wouldn't you use the D neck heel for the D and then play the Eb with finger 2? This is the way I'm currently finding these two notes. Is it just good practise to shift rather than 'cheating' by using the heel? :-) Thanks, Stephen.
Hey Stephen, I'm glad you're enjoying the lesson and you are spot on. The problem with using the neck heel is that it can lead to a 'grey area' of the finger board where the note locations are a bit vague.. the notes C# and D with your 2nd or 4th fingers especially... so I think it's worth practising shifting and playing with fingers 2-4....but it's also useful to play 1-2,,,,especially if you were continuing to shift higher up the neck after playing those notes. ... so probably practising both is the best option :-)
I'm a guitarist who likes watching those videos because i love the instruments and i find those videos relaxing.
do you guys drop tune or use open tuning on this instrument?
Great to hear you're enjoying the upright :-) Double basses are generally E-A-D-G but sometimes we use an extra long string with an extended fingerboard instead of the E string which is tuned to low C. You can also get 5 and 6 strings just like regular bass guitar ....plus classical soloists often tune up a tone (F#, B, E, A) which is called 'Solo Tuning'.
Cheers Geoff
In your left hand technique video you talk about not curving the wrist but to my eyes it seems like you are doing that in this video a lot, am I just being too paranoid about this aspect of technique? (Im an absolute beginner)
Hey Conor, a curve is fine, but a bend is not. So no sharp, angles but a gentle curve is normal. Also try to keep flexible in the wrist and not lock your hand in place. It only really becomes a problem if you drop your elbow which can cause the bend. I hope that helps. Cheers Geoff
Thanks for your tireless efforts in the name of bass!
I like to use my 3rd finger.
Anything's possible and there are some awesome players who do use the 3rd finger, but it's harder to the do the lower you go.
The circle of fifths is not a circle but a spiral ...