Notes on the Neck

On this installment of @yamahamusicusa #silentbass and @laklandbasses Friday, I will continue the series on "The Woodshed". A caveat here. What I will cover is based on my experience as a student, performer and educator. Everything is open to discussion. This week, the notes on the neck. This is/has been an issue with almost every student I have taught (including myself). Partially, it is the fault of many books/methods that teach the neck 4 frets at a time. Most learn 1 thru 4, some 4 thru 8, almost no one 8 thru 12 and beyond. U dig? The key here is to learn the WHOLE neck at once. No patterns, no color coded charts, no mathematical formulas. The goal is to know where each and every note is located...COLD. OK...how? This is one of those activities that takes a while. U just have to get up and "make the doughnuts ". Make a list of the notes..including enharmonic spellings. Take a note each day at random and find them all over the neck. If u have to count frets at first, that's fine. The key is to know where each note is located and eventually do it quickly. Once you have gone through them all, start again!! This can be your "warm up" each day. As u get better, it will take less and less time. It will open up to board to u. I have found that students experience musical freedom and, when linked with ear training (a later installment), find their basslines become way more musical and interesting. The less we depend on comfort zones, patterns and charts, the more of "us" comes through...even in preexisting basslines. Next week, we continue on "The Woodshed". As always, I invite your insights. #yamahamusicusa #makewaves #pirastro #glasserny #laklandbasses #sitstrings #tsunamicables #philjonesbass #uptonbassstringinstrumentcompany #basslessons  #remotelessons #www.charleysabatino.com.