Using a Pick Scott Devine Pick/Plectrum Lesson (L#60) Bass line at the start of the lesson "You're not cheating if you are using a plectrum...don't limit yourself." The Main Riff Ex.1 °? 4 j nœ œ œ ≈ Œ œ ‰ nœ 4 œ œ #œ 10 10 ¢¤ 3 3 4 5 9 3 X 3 3 4 X 3 nœ œ œ °? ≈Œ œ œ #œ œ ≈ ¿ nœ ¢¤ nœ œ œ 5 10 10 3 4 10 10 5 3 4 5 X X X nœ œ œ °? ≈ Œ œ œ #œ œ ≈ ¿ nœ 3 3 4 5 3 7 0 3 4 5 X ¢¤ 0 œ œ #œ œ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ #œ œ #œ ¿ œ ¿ ¿ ¿ 3 10 10 9 3 9 3 X œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ œ ≈ ¿ nœ 2 X 3 X 9 ≈ 10 10 3 3 4 5 Copyright © 2013 Scotts bass lessons X 3 X 9 5 œœ # œœ nœ œ œ œ œ #œ œ ≈ ¿ nœ 4 ‰ 10 8 11 10 2 °? ≈ ¿ #œ œ ≈ ¿ nœ nœ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ ≈≈¿ œ œ 12 X ¢¤ X 4 10 10 5 9 X œ n œ œ œ œ œ œ œ™ 10 5 11 10 12 10 0 9 9 9 7 7 5 3 Practice alternating down stokes and up strokes 02:16 Ex.2 C major scale example °? œ Down œ œ up down up down 7 8 10 ¢¤ 8 œ œ œ œ œ œ up down up etc 7 9 10 9 œ œ œ œ œ œ 10 8 7 10 8 7 10 "By doing this you can get a lot faster". 03:30 Ex.3 Practice alternating on one note with the backing track °? ™ œ ™ ™ ¢¤ ™ 5 œ 5 œ 5 œ 5 œ 5 œ 5 œ 5 œ 5 œ 5 œ 5 œ 5 œ 5 œ 5 œ 5 œ 5 œ ™™ 5 ™ ™ "Use your palm to dampen the string". Copyright © 2013 Scotts bass lessons 3 06:20 Practice alternating on one note with the backing track °? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ#œ œ ¢¤ 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 2 2 3 3 4 4 œ œn œ œ # œ œ °? œ œ œ œ n œ œ # œ œ # œ œ œœ #œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ#œ œ 4 0 0 4 ¢¤ 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 2 3 3 4 4 5 4 5 5 6 6 7 4 5 5 6 6 7 5 5 °? œ œ #œ œnœ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œnœ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œnœ œ#œ œ ˙ Ó 7 7 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 ¢¤ 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 2 2 2 2 07:36 3 3 3 3 4 4 5 4 4 5 5 Practice locking in with the drums by playing quarter notes. then add 16th notes on beat 1. Finally add the 16th notes to all other beats of the bar. °? ™ œ œ œ œ ™ ™™ ™™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™™ ™™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™™ ™ ¢¤ ™ 5 ™ ™ ™ ™5 5 5 5 5 ™ ™ ™ ™5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 ™ ™ 5 5 5 5 5 5 "Concentrate on locking in with the drums". °? ™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™ ™™ ™™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™™ ™ ¢¤ ™ 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 ™ ™ ™ ™ ™5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 ™ Copyright © 2013 Scotts bass lessons 4 12:12 Ex.4 Combining Patterns °? œ #œ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ œ #œ 4 ¢¤ 5 6 œ #œ œ 3 5 œ œ #œ 2 3 7 5 2 3 4 5 2 4 4 °? œ œ#œ œ nœ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ Etc 4 ¢¤ 5 5 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 2 2 2 3 3 Copyright © 2013 Scotts bass lessons 4 4 5 5 2 3 3 4 4 Pick/plectrum Lesson (L#60) Your Action Plan In my experience many bass players look down upon using a plectrum (also known as a pick). They see it as somehow cheating, or a lesser form of bass playing. I expect this point of view has arisen via the unfortunate 'bad guitar players become bass players' misconception. As most guitar players use a plectrum, if they get frustrated with their progress on the guitar and start to try out bass instead, inevitably they keep using the plectrum as that's what they're used to and feel most comfortable with. This leads to bass purists who look down somewhat on guitar players moving to bass to view the use of a plectrum as a negative. They could not be more wrong! First of all, there is no need to look down on guitar players moving over to bass no matter what the circumstances. But most of all there are some fantastically talented bass players that play exclusively with a plectrum. Copyright © 2013 Scott’s Bass Lessons I want you to check some of these players out to hear how great the bass can sound when played with a plectrum. • Bobby Vega • Steve Swallow • Carles Benavent Strangely, selecting the right plectrum can effect the way you use it. Finding the perfect plectrum for you comes down to personal taste and what sound you're trying to achieve. I recommend trying different thicknesses at first. Personally I prefer very hard plectrums that don't have any give in them at all, while Bobby Vega uses thin plectrums and actually doesn't even play with the tip of the plectrum, he plays with the side. Once you have selected a gauge that feels right, try experimenting with different sizes. I prefer small plectrums whereas as other players I know hate the small ones and choose too use much larger ones as it feels more comfortable for them. Whatever you decide to go with at first, chances are it's going to take a lot of experimentation to find what's perfect for you. Take your time and enjoy the journey. Copyright © 2013 Scott’s Bass Lessons 1. Now let's look at the lesson! Work through each of the exercises slowly starting with the simple alternate picking exercises and progressing through to using the chromatic approaches discussed and demonstrated towards the end of the lesson. Your main aim should be to completely 'lock in' with the drum groove and feel comfortable moving around the fretboard while doing so. To achieve this you have to be constantly aware of the drum groove, always listening to it and 'feeling' it. The drums and bass should be locked together so tight they're almost like one instrument. Scott Devine Copyright © 2013 Scott’s Bass Lessons
