This bass guitar exercise is truly EPIC!
But it's also more than just another technical workout.
The exercise runs through the arpeggios of four scales:
- Major scale
- Natural Minor scale
- Harmonic Minor scale
- Melodic Minor scale
If you learn the harmony created from these scales, you open the door to some magical musical skills like:
- Being able to hear chord progressions
- Writing your own bass lines
- Improvising
- Becoming more creative
- Unlocking the fretboard
I'm not really one for hyperbole but, if you learn what I teach you in this lesson, it will advance your bass playing beyond recognition.
Yes, that sounds crazy, but it's true!
Here are the individual lessons on harmonising each scale but, if you don't have time to check them out, scroll down for the PDFs containing the arpeggio shapes and the order of the seventh chords.
Major Scale Harmony For Bass Guitar
All shapes in the following diagrams are moveable meaning you can transfer the red blob (the root note) wherever you want.
In the lesson video above, I play everything starting from the 3rd fret A string (C), so move the starting arpeggio for each PDF below there (if it isn't already there...).
Natural Minor Scale Harmony For Bass Guitar
Melodic Minor Scale Harmony For Bass Guitar
Harmonic Minor Scale Harmony For Bass Guitar
Yes, I know there's a lot there...
This will take you a lot of time to understand and to memorise but I promise you it will be worth it!
You'll be able to recognise chord symbols, read charts, compose, and a whole lot more so stick with it. There's also no harm at all in taking just one harmonised scale at a time and making up your own exercises around that.
Once you're comfortable, move the exercises into different keys.
If you love musical sounding exercises and want more, I have a book called Creative Bass Technique Exercises. You'll find seventy exercises that will push your technique whilst teaching you a bunch of other useful things like how to play in time, unlocking the fretboard, and learning new scales, triads, and arpeggios.
