FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

ORGANIZED by LIFTER'S MUSIC ACADEMY

HELD on 11TH OF JULY 2017

THINGS TO CHECK FOR WHEN BUYING BASS GUITAR

When buying a bass guitar You might want to favour a particular brand
name, company Judging from popularity or reputation, you might want to
pick specific basses

Say for example; Yamaha, Ibanez, J&D, Fender, Samick, Sparkle etc

COMPANY NAME

o STRINGS CONFIGURATIONS

Bass guitar string comes in different numbers And are grouped under these
2 subgroups

Standard Range bass (SRB)

This type of bass guitars are 4 strings; some bassists use/ prefer/like the 4
stringed bass a lot Example of Victor Wooten and his yinyang bass

Extended Range bass (ERB)

This kind of basses are more than 4 strings They include, 5 strings bass

12 strings bass and more Although 8 stringed bass and above are usually
custom basses Meaning their users usually make request for them which
specific configurations

You should check it out And ask yourself, what did I need? A standard
range bass or extended range bass

o HARDWARE CONFIGURATION

Hardware configuration refers to the parts of the bass How the bass is
made and what it is made of Is important and what you should check out
too

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

Easy Access of Strings

Bolt On or NeckThrough

Heavy body

Neck Action

String Buzzing

Sound Pickup

Length/Width of bass

Hardware configuration refers to the parts of the bass How the bass is
made and what it is made of is important and what you should check out
too

Easy Access of Strings

Some bass guitars 20- 24 fret are not easily accessible because the
cut out part is not enough to enable the hand better access Make sure the
bass has enough cut out

Bolt On or NeckThrough

o Bolt On basses are recognized by the 4 bolt that connects the

bass fretboard and the body at the back of the bass Example of
Fender bass guitars

o NeckThrough basses are connected together making it seem like

one whole wood work Ibanez basses usually make their basses in
NeckThrough

Heavy body

Basses that are made from mahogany, ebony wood, some other heavy
wood will likely be heavy Carry the bass you are buying It might be too
heavy for you Check it out, since you will be carrying it in gigs for hours
You don't want to be stressed in the neck for carrying bass for long hours

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

Nevertheless it has advantage too It helps the truss rod to keep the neck
straight Light wood basses are known to suffer bent neck and high actions

Neck Action

This is when the string is too high from the fretboard Making it hard
for a player to fully get the desired tone with less strength Some basses
develop this high tension from store, unfortunately people buy them that
way, and suffer the stress of adjusting the truss rod This usually works But
sometimes it have effects on the strings tension

String Buzzing

From store, some basses develop string buzzing causes by low string
action making it buzz against the fret This usually deadens the value of a
note And can sound really awful during gig

Sound Pickup

Check out your sound pickup, if there is a pickup selector check it out,
try all the pickups out Don't be in haste If there is no selector, use all your
control knobs to switch from one pickup to another Making sure they are
all in perfect conditions

Length/Width of bass

Among others you should check out the length of a bass you are
buying Some basses are not long yet have all the 24 frets Others are
longer yet do not have 24 frets Ask yourself What do I need Can I reach
the frets even if they are long?? The width is also important while checking
it out Some 5 strings bass have the same width as 4 strings Will you be
able to reach the 4 strings with much string spacings??

N B there are lots to discuss here, but up there is but a few

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

HAVING A GOOD TONE

Having a good tone on bass is not a determinant of bass quality,

bass gears, and equalizer settings alone It also relies on your fretting and
picking hands People who have great basses, good gears, can still not have
a good tone The tone of a bassist is in the hands The bass guitar does not
make music itself

have you wondered why your bass guitar sounds different when
handled by someone else??
That's Tone Except trying to do something creative To achieve a clean
tone Press down with the tip of your fingers Bearing in mind that action is
equal to reaction let your thumb press in equal amount of pressure Just
enough not to ache your wrist and muscles unnecessarily

Achieve ranges of dynamics by also moving your picking fingers from close
to the bridge to close to the fretboard It softens, make full and makes your
tone rounder Making it better for worship sessions

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

BASS EQUALIZER ON COMBO

What is an Equalizer commonly abbreviated as EQ an equalizer is a system
that enables you to get your desired sound Irrespective of what the
company wants their product to sound like

For example

If Behringer (Bass combo) made their product to sound metallic with a

spark of lightness And when you are on stage, you wanted a really Heavy
and cool sound The Equalizer comes to play here That's why it is needed
To adjust the bass or combo to what you want to sound like The Equalizer
comes in different ranges and sizes But a combo equalizer is not really as
filled up as a mixer equalizer

What to work on?

HIGH:- This is otherwise the Treble, giving you the tiny and light sound, you
will need to make a solo Especially to sound like a solo instrument

MID:- The mid point to the center between the high and the mid This gives
you the heaviness you want in your bass combo Have you played bass and
you feel the strings too heavy to press down just because you tweaked the
mid?? The mid help your ghost notes It makes you feel the bass strings in
your finger better Making you more confident

LOW:- The low gives the bass line the depth, and thickness It makes the
ground near you vibrate It helps to create a late deadening of note For
example if you hold a note The low will help to keep the note ringing till u
keep your hands off At least so long till the next line of song comes in
This exactly is what we have on the equalizer cursor They work alike The
difference is that Some are made in knobs to be rotated Others as cursor
for sliding

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

SETTINGS

Most bass guitars will sound just right by flat preset That is all the
knobs/cursors will be at half So I recommend before you start Set
everything to half Then start playing If you feel there is a need for treble
Increase the high/treble knobs or Extreme right cursors in bits Not large
turns or slide If you feel a need for depth Go for the low/ bass knobs or
extreme left cursors For Heaviness, add Mid

NB Using the Equalizer is like the work of an artist There are lots of rough
sketches Lots of sound check time is needed to get the sweet spots

The Reason Why Last gig EQ settings won't work for today's gig; is because
you are using a different bass guitar or different gears Every bass has a
special setting

APPLICATION OF SIMPLE CHORDS ON BASS TO PRAISES

Bass chords are sweet goodies that needed to be experienced in music

occasionally But it must not be done at the expense of the groove Victor
Wooten says, Never lose a groove; to find a note I'll say, Never lose a
groove; to play a chord

3 SIMPLE BASS CHORDS that could be used in praises

I'll make it general, so that they can be applied irrespective of the key

o Major Chord

o Minor Chord

o Tritone Pairs

To make a major chord what is needed?

Root Major 3rd Perfect 5ths

So, here in the above a major chord can be outlined simply with the

Root Major 3rd

So we are working with those 2 notes

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

Now if you play the 2 notes on a bass, they don't sound good
enough What you will do to make it sound better is Make the Major 3rd
an octave higher

Theoretically, you will now call it Major 10th instead of Major 3rd

----|----------|--- ---|------- E
----|----------|---------|----- A

----|----------|---------|------- D

----|----------|---------|------- G

This is initial *Root Major 3rd shape

----|----------|--- ---|------- E
----|----------|---------|----- A

----|----------|---------|------- D

----|--------|---------|------- G

Shifting the Major 3rd an octave higher, makes it Major 10th

Application

----|----------|--- ---|------- E
----|----------|---------|------- A

----|----------|---------|------- D

----|-------|-------|-- G

Slide into Major 10th with your 3rd finger and pick R oot ith your 1st finger

This is the shape of what you will hold above

Using the same method as above The Minor Chord is built using

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

Root Minor 3rd Perfect 5th

Only the Root Minor 3rd will successfully outline it as a minor chord So
we will have the illustrations beneath

Here;

----|--- ----|---------|------- E
----|----------|---------|----- A

----|----------|---------|------- D

----|----------|---------|------- G

This is initial Root Minor 3rd shape

----|--- ----|---------|------- E
----|----------|---------|----- A

----|----------|---------|------- D

----|-------|---------|------- G

shifting the Minor 3rd an octave higher, makes it Minor 10th

Application

----|--- ----|---------|------- E
----|----------|---------|------- A

----|----------|---------|------- D

----|--------|------|-- G

Slide into Minor 10th with your 3rd finger and pick Root with your 1st finger

Using the same method as above The Tritone is built using

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

Root Diminished 5th/Augmented 4th

Here;

----|----------|---------|------- E

----|----------|---------|------- A

----|----------|--- ---|------- D
----|--------|---------|------- G

This interval is very useful;

The 1st finger plays

The 2nd finger plays

You can play the tritone pair, an Wholetone above or below the chord your
pianist implies

Assume he plays a chord that sounds like Re

Play the tritone pair Let the root be either Do or Mi

So in this cases, you will have

Do fe

Mi toh Respectively

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

WEAK 4TH FINGERS

1 One of the weakest finger on a beginner bassist finger is the last and
smallest finger Called the Pinkie

This finger is weak due to 2 reasons

o The bones and tendons are not as strong as the other fingers It
is actually small in size
o The little finger seem to be connected to the ring finger So
anything you want to do with the little finger It is saddled with the
responsibility of bringing the ring finger along
2 others believe they have long fingers So they can reach other notes with
their ring fingers

What to do?

Train your fingers to be coordinated and independent with exercises

SIMPLE EXERCISES

--4--|--------|-------|--1-- E

--4--|--------|-------|--1-- A

--4--|--------|-------|--1-- D

--4--|--------|-------|--1-- G

--4--|--------|--2--|------ E

--4--|--------|--2--|------ A

--4--|--------|--2--|------ D

--4--|--------|--2--|------ G

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

--4--|--3--|--2--|------ E

--4--|--3--|--2--|------ A

--4--|--3--|--2--|------ D

--4--|--3--|--2--|------ G

--4--|--3--|------|------ E

--4--|--3--|------|------ A

--4--|--3--|------|------ D

--4--|--3--|------|------ G

Where;

1 means finger 1

2 means finger 2

3 means finger 3

4 means finger 4

Music can be approached in diverse ways, it all depends on a musicians

perception and level of experience Like Isaiah Okoh "The Bass prophet"
said Music is to be approached gently, so that it can be enjoyed together

He used an illustration that Ill like to tweak abit

If you are going to fetch in the stream You don't rush inside the water Or
else you unsettle the water

Same is for music

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

MUSIC APPROACH

There should be a place for sound, sound, sound and SILENCE

Silence itself makes;

music complete

music breath

human feel the pulse of music

Before a bassist rushes into a music Wait for the pianist to introduce a few
bars

o You are aerating the music

o You form a synergy with the drummer when you both kick in

o It gives you opportunity to understand what the pianist is doing

o You are fully prepared of what to do

o You have time to have a visual map out of your fretboard

There are lots of advantages, In silence

For example;

Zero to every man is Nothing

Nothing also means There is no

So, No sounds means nothing

But did you know that?

The same 0 that is nothing When you put it after 1, it makes it 10

When you put it after 4, it becomes 40

So it has a multiplying effect too

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

If there is a time to be silent Then there should be a time to be absolutely

busy

When is such time??

A bassist should and is expected to get busy When the song is

reaching climax i e point of great musical intensity Where even the
choristers are singing with all strength/passion/reiteration of melodies etc
This happens especially during choruses near the end of the song you are
to get busy/ Technical/ add flavour and spice up your lines It is your time
to use those ornaments Nevertheless, watchout for a safe landing when
releasing Emphasize your ideas by reiterating your notes Bheka Mthetwa
Former Joyous celebration bassist is good at this Check out Joyous
Celebration choir music for these e g Forever I'll Worship (Nqubeko Mbatha)

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

RIGHT WAYS TO PRACTICE PLAYING THE BASS GUITARS

There are perhaps no right way of practicing the bass guitar But
there are Better ways of practising the bass guitar

Below, I'll give 2 points

PRACTISE WITHOUT YOUR BASS

You might want to ask, why practise without the instrument

Yes , practising without your bass helps a lot

Some practise examples are below

o Writing what should be played down a paper and visualising how you
could change your fingering position

o Close your eyes and mentally picture your practise time

o Listen to songs and radio and pick out new musical ideas

o Sing your notes carefully making sure you spell out the notes

Your imagination sharpens, the listening ears become better at recognising

tunes, chord, timbres, colour notes, embellishment and other ornaments

This way you are learning a great deal without touching your bass at all

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

NARROW YOUR FOCUS

Fixing One Detail at a Time

Intense focus is the key to make big progress in the practice room
With focus bass players makes great leaps forward in their abilities Without
focus, many bassists flounder

Try these important focusing techniques:

o Zero in on the exact issue that is making a specific set of notes

difficult to learn For example, the move from note to another might
be the problem Or, perhaps it is the rhythmic placement of just a
couple of note that is causing the problem Dont just play the entire
session over and over again, thinking you will get the problem fix itself
So in other to create a successful muscle memory, intense focus on a
problem will help fix it

o Think about one aspect of your music at a time You can work a
rhythm without paying attention to the pitch, or you can learn the
pitch without the rhythm Tone production and dynamics can be
isolated and worked on individually This same idea can be used with
your techniques You can either focus on the right or the left hand as
you play Concentrate exclusively on a single technical issue: Posture,
Picking pattern, Fingering, Shifting, Balance, Muscle tension

o Sometimes you will need to think about the music globally, paying
attention to all aspect of a song, but rehearsing locally by intensely
concentrating on a single aspect of your playing This makes you feel
good, when you have successfully gotten over what was your initial
weakness

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 FIXIT Bass Clinic ~ Bayo-David Oluwatobiloba

QUESTION TIME

What must a bassist know to be called a bassist?

o Everything a pianist knows

o Everything a drummer knows

Your technique alone does not make you a bassist It only help you to
execute your music It is not the music needed The reason why you needed
to know what a pianist and drummer knows Is this;

1 It is the reason why you are needed If not a drummer can play on his
own, a pianist can play bass lines on keyboard with his left hand But you
sole duty is to join them together You as a bassist serve as a glue to the
band You lock up your groove with the drummer and at the same time
Follow the pianist chords If you don't know what a drummers does You
won't be able to follow him And he won't regard you his bassist If you
don't know what a pianist knows His chords will sound meaningless to you
and remember, you don't always call yourself a bassist It is others that will
call you a bassist So if they don't regard you as one, they you are none So,
be the glue of the band

Bring them together, Unite them And the music flows

While learning to be a bassist Join piano groups and learn like a pianist

Like my friend used to say I learn piano for bass

They fufil the functions of all other instruments

Pianist can act in capacity of a bassist, saxophonist, trumpeter, name it

pitched instrument They are versatile And to add to it They are wider in
knowledge of harmony more than others Come to drummers They have
knowledge of rhythm and beats They are vast, when it comes to anything
that is termed Membranophone So, if you know this 2 peoples work to a
standard level You are fit to be called a bassist and a True musicians

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