It is really important as a bass guitar player to learn how to play bass guitar scales. Understanding them will help you know how the different notes relate to each other. They also help to build strength in your fingers, which makes playing bass much simpler.
Also by knowing how to play them you will have a greater understanding of how the different notes sound on your bass. This will help you in coming up with your own bass guitar licks and bass lines. By repeating bass scales regularly you also helped to train your musical ear. This can be particularly useful when playing with other musicians.
One of the first scales most players learn is the major scale. This is because it is the most common scale in music. A good way to practice your bass guitar scales is to spend a few minutes playing them each day. Repetition will help to embed them in your mind so that you can play them without thinking.
The first note of a bass scale is called the root note. The last note of the scale is called the octave, which is the same note as the root but double the frequency.
Once you know how to play the bass major scale pattern you instantly have the ability to play every major scale. By simply moving the same pattern around the fretboard you can play the various bass guitar scales. You do this by simply changing the starting note.
Once you are comfortable playing the bass major scale all over the neck of your bass, it is a good idea to progress onto the minor bass scale. The easy way to tell the difference between these two scales is the way they sound. The major scale is a more happy and joyful sounding scale. The minor scale has a slightly sadder feel to it.
The only difference between these two scales is one note. To change a major scale into a minor we simply flatten the third. This simply means you take the third note of the major scale and play it one fret lower. Once you know them next step is to begin creating your own bass lines based around the notes of the various bass guitar scales.
