Scales used to mean a memorization of notes, at least when I first started on the guitar. C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C would be a climbing of one octave in the key of C major. And at the start, a lot of open strings were involved. I would often treat playing it as a warmup before I start on a bunch of beginner sightreading exercises.
Now on the double bass, it's a challenge of a totally different magnitude. Between trying to
- Keep my index finger in place (it keeps wanting to slide in closer to the middle finger... because that's what best friends do?)
- Keep my hand shape (my pinky is like a wondering child at a mall, it never wants to stay close to the parents)
- Pull down hard enough on the strings to avoid buzzing
- Maintain the conscious effort to pull down with the weight of my arm instead of recruiting the thumb
I am barely surviving Bb, and F remains rough (the E string is hard!) and I am adding a simple C to my practice routine (one small shift after playing A in the first position so I play B on my middle finger and then all fingers down for the final C note).
With pizz, I think I sound passable as I ascend and descend these scales. It is the bow that is unforgiving and makes my wife and son run to their rooms. Every mistake sounds like a banshee wailing at me to stop - I exaggerate not.
Breaking down the scales
Essentially, there is a formula behind every scale, or a formalized concept. For the major scales, we start with the tonic (or root) note, and then we can apply a series of increments (in semi tones). So,
C (+2 semis or 1 whole) = D
D (+2) = E (+1) = F (+2) = G (+2) = A (+2) = B (+1) = C
and if we simply record the increments in a simple notation, we have: R - w - w - h - w - w - w - h to reach R".
If we apply this to another root note or key, such as Bb, the major scale would be,
Bb - C - D - Eb - F - G - A - Bb
or for the key of F,
F - G - A - Bb - C - D - E - F
and for the key of D,
D - E - F# - G - A - B - C# - D
On the guitar
My classical guitar teacher has given me a piece to work on based on the A major scale, so we have
A - B - C# - D - E - F# - G# - A
It's a fun piece, alternating between quarter notes and eighths as you ascend and descend the scale on the IV position, finishing with an arpeggio through the F# chord, a harmonic and picking to end.
While I was doing this, I tried to pay as much attention as possible to making sure my fretting fingers were as close to the fret as position to get a good sound.
On the electric bass
My electric bass teacher has taken through another type of scale this week that I thought I should write here - the diatonic scales along with the concept of modes. According to Wiki, it means the scale has some combination of five whole steps and 2 halfsteps across the 7 pitches. Visually, this is easier to work out on the staves - they're stacked one after the other.
So if we start with the C major scale, we can see that our formula from before - W-W-H-W-W-W-H (or use T for tone and S for semitone instead if you like that better) - fits the requirement. Now the mind blowing part for me was that you could split this scale into 7 different ones by choosing a different root note. I think of it as shifting, if that helps. So if we take the 2nd degree, or D here, then we get
D - E - F - G - A - B - C - D
W - W - H - W - W - H - W
We still get 5 whole steps and 2 half steps, but we now start and end the scale with the 2nd degree instead. This is called the Dorian mode.
And for each shift we get a different Greek name,
- I - Ionian (or major scale)
- II - Dorian
- III - Phrygian
- IV - Lydian
- V - Mixolydian
- VI - Aeolian
- VII - Locrian
And in each mode, it helps to compare the chosen degree with it's corresponding major scale. For example, using the Dorian mode above for the C major scale, the root is D, whose major scale is
D - E - F# - G - A - B - C# - D
vs
D - E - F - G - A - B - C - D
and what we notice here is for the Dorian scale, the 3rd is flattened, and the 7th is flattened. So we obtain a "recipe" of degrees which we can call b3-b7.
This enables you to work out the mode for any other major scale, for example let's pick the Bb scale,
Bb - C - D - Eb - F - G - A - Bb
Applying b3 and b7, we get
Bb - C - Db - Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb
which gives us the Bb Dorian! Isn't that awesome?
The striking thing aurally is that while the same notes are being recycled across the different modes, they give a different feel to them, which I am still figuring out. And of course, my homework is a set of fingerings to make my way through the modes.
Scales galore!