Hi, it's Geoff here from discoverdoublebass.com.
That's the home of online lessons.
And if you wanna learn more about the double bass, go and check that out.
And whilst you're there, I also have a course called Double Bass Arpeggios: The Play-Along
Collection.
Okay.
Today, we're gonna be looking at double bass arpeggios, and I'm gonna be giving you my
top tips for effective practice.
Well, my first tip is that you practice slowly – you've heard that before – but slowly
enough so you can say out loud or think about the note names that you're playing.
And this is only something you do when you're practicing, not when you're on the bandstand
because you wouldn't be able to think this quickly.
But if you want this information to get into your subconscious so you know that A minor
contains A, C, E, and G just instantly so you can find it all over the bass.
Then you should do this.
So, A, C, E, G, A. And, for extra points, try singing it.
A, G, E, C, A. E, G, A, C, E…
E, C, A. And actually as I was playing the arpeggio and thinking about playing it in
a different way there, I sped up.
And because I was thinking about it, I stopped singing it.
The whole point of what we're supposed to be doing is playing slowly and singing it.
So, really stay focused.
You could see how there how easy it is to be distracted.
Nice and slow.
Sing the note names as you're playing them.
Okay, my next tip is a follow-on.
And that's if you are singing these note names, you have to spell them correctly, and I can
feel everybody, like, you know, turning the video off at home but it's so important.
Let me just give you a quick demonstration why.
If we're playing A minor like we just did, A, C, E, G, A. Well, if we play A Major 7,
A, C#, E, G#, A.
You see the letter names at the beginning are the same, but A Major 7 has a sharp on
the C and a sharp on the G.
But the point is there are memory...you know, the way that we recall this information, the
key thing is the letters.
So, if we're playing minor, if we're playing dominant 7, A, C#, E, G, A. If we're playing
Major 7, A, G#, E, C#, A. It's always a combination of A, C, E, and G with a few accidentals thrown
in that to make a new particular arpeggio that you're playing.
And if you suddenly start going, A, Db, E, Ab, A, then you're not recalling the information
in the best way, and you're massively multiplying the information that you need to know because
you'll be learning it different for every single chord type, and maybe you'll do it
differently each time as well.
And, you know, you won't get this information into your subconscious, so make it easier
on yourself, and spell these chords correctly as you're playing them.
My next tip is that you visualize these notes.
You can do a lot away from the double bass just thinking about, where are these notes?
Where are the notes for C Major for instance?
And then when you get back to the instrument, make sure that you're playing them and it
all adds up.
But I have a very strong visual sense of what I'm doing with the arpeggios, and, you know,
I don't recommend looking as you play at the fingerboard but I visualize shapes and the
way that the notes lie on the fingerboard.
I think that'll really help you.
Another great tip is to make sure that you can better hear your intonation by using the
bow.
Don't practice all your arpeggio's pizzicato all the time.
Even if you don't have great bow technique, it doesn't matter.
Just make sure that you are using the bow.
It's a lot clearer than playing pits.
And I find that all the hours that I do with the bow really help me when I come back to
playing pizzicato on my jazz gigs in terms of improving my intonation.
So, yeah, give yourself the best shot of hearing what you're playing by using the bow when
you're practicing scales or arpeggios.
My next tip is not to use vibrato when you're practicing arpeggios.
It's something that I'm so guilty of.
I'll start playing and…
And, you can't hear your pitches clearly if you play.
And then if there's a mistake, say for instance you make a mistake from the A to C#, you can
really practice that shift and make sure that you're getting it right.
Don't disguise your tuning with vibrato.
That's something that you add later when you're working on the phrasing of what you're playing.
You don't do it in the practice room and ruin the effectiveness of your practice.
Now my next tip is to use different fingerings.
If you're practicing C Major, don't always practice that G as an open G. Also, practice
the G here.
It's really important to learn different fingerings.
And, yes, you want to, you know, take the time to learn the optimum fingerings, the
easiest ones.
But when you're playing real music, you know, you may wish to slide from the E to the G
there.
So play unusual fingerings like, there, I was playing it on one string.
It will really help you learn your way to move around the bass more, and also, you know,
essentially find areas that you need to work on in terms of the fingerboard.
Maybe there's a bit that's tripping you up each time.
So, yeah, take the time to learn alternative fingerings.
So my last tip is that you play notes below the root note, and you play higher than one
octave.
So if we're playing F Major 7 for instance…
I'll play without the bow so you can hear me talk at the same time.
We've got the root notes here.
But actually the 7th is just below us, and E so we can go lower than the F.
We go up to the next root note.
And we've also got an A. So, that's a really good thing to do, and you haven't had to go
higher at the neck at this point.
If you are playing Bb Major, we can go lower.
Bb, A, F, back up to the A, Bb.
And it means that we learn our arpeggios...we start not to think about them as boxes of
one octave shapes, but we learn them all over the bass, and then start to go higher.
So, if we're learning Bb Major… and then on to the next one.
I was moving just about to move around the cycle of 5ths there.
But the point is just try to play them all over the bass.
Go as high as you can while you're still comfortable and go as low as you can, but don't think
about them as a little one octave shape but as a continuation all over the fingerboard,
and you'll be getting the most from your practice time.
So just before I sign off.
I just wanted to make a really important quick point.
When we're improvising solos and we're improvising walking basslines, we need to give the listener
what they want but in a way that they don't expect it.
They've got to be able to hear the chord changes, and it's gotta make sense and match with the
rest of the group but we present it in a really cool, unusual way.
And the most effective way to do that is to learn your arpeggios all over the neck.
Now hopefully the tips that I've given you today will mean that your practice is the
most effective it can be, and you'll make the most progress that you can.
So, if you enjoyed the lesson, you know what to do.
Hit that like button on YouTube, keep practicing hard, and I'll see you next time.