Natalie: Gigajam greetings! This is the essential bass skills course part one, episode two. I'm Natalie Barrass, and this is our tutor Terry Gregory. Terry, how are you today?
Terry: I'm fine today. How are you today?
N: Today I'm also fine
T: Good
N: (Laughs)
T: Pleased to hear it
N: Good. Okay it's Gigajam. It means there's learning objectives and lesson outcomes. What are our learning objectives for today?
T: Our learning objectives today for lesson two, the big one is introducing eighth notes. So eighth notes, in the first lesson we learnt about quarter notes, that's the rhythm value
N: Yeah
T: We're gonna go on and take that even further
N: Okay
T: We're also gonna look at different ways of playing those eighth notes. So that means right hand techniques. Introducing alternating, using different fingering, using different fingers. We're also going to look in todays lesson at use of a plectrum, or a pick. Here's one I prepared earlier.
N: Ahhh. We haven't seen one of these yet here
T: That'll be in the second half of todays lesson. And we'll be talking about down strokes and up strokes
N: Okay
T: Are there any other objectives? Did I miss one?
N: No. I think you've covered it all
T: Good
N: Okay, first of all. There's a lot to get through.
T: Let's get going
N: Eighth notes
T: Eighth notes, yeah. In lesson one we looked at quarter notes and we talked about music being divided into bars, and those bars being subdivided. So we're taking that one stage further in lesson two. Instead of four subdivisions, instead of the bar being divided into four equal pieces, into four quarters, we're going to divide those in half and we're gonna get a total of eight notes in a bar
N: Hence calling them eighth notes
T: You're good at this! So instead of one, two, three, four. We're gonna have, one and, two and, three and, four and
N: Ah okay, so putting a little 'and' in the gaps, as an extra note
T: Yeah, so subdividing each quarter note in half. So if we look at the gigajam material there, you can see the notation here.
N: Mmmhmm
T: Maybe I can point to it on the screen. There it is
N: Okay, I'll point to it on this screen
T: Thank you very much. And you can see the base clef and the time signature of 4/4, the common, the repeat bar, and the common time signature. This is an A note. It is written in the bottom space of the base clef. So there's no new notes to worry about.
N: Right
T: Just new rhythms. And the first bar is four quarter notes, which is what we played before, which goes one, two, three, four
N: Mmmhmm
T: And the second bar, as you can see, looks very different
N: Yeah
T: And that's because it's got these eighth notes now. There are eight of them if you count them up
N: One, two, three….six, seven, eight. Yeah
T: Well done, you can count to eight!
N: (Laughs)
T: And rather than numbering them through eight. We keep the one, two, three, four in their pre-existing locations. We don't move those ones, twos, threes and fours. We just kind of subdivide them so it's sort of like one and a half, two and a half, three and a half, four and a half. Or as musicians would say, one and, two and, three and, four and. And the 'ands' are represented by a little cross
N: Alright
T: So instead of counting, one, two, three, four. I'd count one and, two and, three and, four and. So you've got that kind of alternating, rocking rhythm. Does that make sense to you?
N: Yeah. No that makes sense. And just, we should point out the difference in how they look
T: Absolutely. Yeah, good point. The first bar looks familiar to us because we saw it in lesson one
N: Yeah
T: It's four A quarter notes. And there they are. The second bar looks different because we've still got the little blobs but then we've got two tails and the two notes are joined with this, what we call the beam across the top. So they're in pairs.
N: Yeah
T: And those pairs represent, each pair represents one beat
N: Okay
T: Good
N: Sounds clear so far
T: So that's introducing eighth notes
N: Mmmhmm
T: Any questions about eighth notes? You cool?
N: I think I'm alright
T: Good
N: I know how they look. I want to hear how they sound.
T: Exactly, yeah, the very next thing. So I shall grab my bass. And I shall just demonstrate this first example. It's not really an exercise. We haven't got any midi, media files to support it
N: Mmmhmm
T: So I'll do that now live. So instead of just playing one, two, three, four, I'm gonna play one and, two and, three and, four and. So let's try that again. The first bar goes, one, two, three…and the second bar goes one and, two and, three and, four and. So there quite a lot of hard work
N: Mmmhmm
T: P'raps if you grab your bass
N: I will
T: And you try and do that
N: Which note would you like to play these on?
T: These are on an A. So we use the open A string
N: Yeah
T: Which is the third string. Not the thickest string, the next one up
N: Yeah
T: Okay
N: This one here
T: Yeah
N: Open string, so I'll just support the neck of the base
T: With your left hand
N: I don't really need to touch anything
T: That's right. You can just concentrate on your right hand. All your energy going there. So the first bar should be easy enough
N: Yeah
T: Cos you did that in the first lesson
N: So one
T: Two, three, four.
T & N: One, two, three, four
T: So that's ok. If you've gotta do the second bar which is one and, two and, three and, four and. If you look at how I'm doing it
N: Mmmhmm
T: I'm not just using one finger. Because that finger is gonna be very busy. So what we do, what bass players do, is they've developed this technique of alternate picking, or alternate fingering. Using two fingers. So rather than having one finger doing a hundred percent of the work
N: Yes
T: Where it has to work real hard. We use the first two fingers and they share the work load
N: Okay
T: So instead of going right
(Terry plays four eighth notes with one finger)
T: I've got this kind of technique, where I'm playing
(Terry plays eight eighth notes with two fingers)
T: So I'm still resting my thumb on the pickup
N: Mmmhmm
T: Or on the string. And then alternating my first and second fingers. One and, two and, three and four and. One, two, three, four. One and, two and, three and four and. Have you got questions?
N: I have got a question. Being, this being my first finger, my pointing finger
T: Absolutely, you're index finger. Very good
N: That is the first one that I'm. Do you call this plucking?
T: Yes. Yeah
N: This is the first one that I'm plucking with. And then the 'and' of each of these notes is with the middle finger or the second finger
T: With the middle finger. Very good. Exactly
N: Okay. So I'm gonna try just doing quarter notes
T: I'll play with you. One,
T & N: Two, three, four
T: One, two, three, four. One, two, now we change over to eighth notes. One and, two and, very good Natalie, four and. One and, two and, three and, four and. Yeah
N: It's almost like your fingers are running, aren't they? They're sort of running on the spot. On the…
T: That's a good analogy. Yeah, it's just getting that flow as you talk about, is a good analogy because you know in the walking thing you don't really think about walking you just go. So you need to practice this over and over and over and obviously the Gigajam exercise here will help you to do that so that it becomes almost natural reflex. You know, second nature
N: Alright
T: Good
N: So lets have a look. We've got exercise one, which is literally what we've been doing there
T: Very good
N: So if I open the video icon we can see
T: We can watch someone else doing it properly
N: How it should look
T: Yep
N: Not that we weren't doing it right
T: We were doing it very well. Yeah
N: (Laughs)
T: It's very good. So here comes the video clip
(Video starts with demonstration of eighth notes)
T: So look at the…
N: Speed
T: Yeah and look at the right hand. And unless you look really closely it's difficult to see that there's been any change
N: Yeah
T: It's so smooth and natural and economical
N: Mmmhmm
T: There's no real evidence of a lot of effort. But of course when you do it, as you know, it actually is taking up quite a lot of your megabytes here
N: Exactly. There's a lot of concentration going on there. Well let's play along with the Xtractor
T: So this is exercise one
N: And…
T: And it's only on A. And it's all about right hand technique, alternating these first two fingers of the right hand
N: Mmmhmm
T: And the first bar is quarter notes and the second bar is eighth notes. So exactly what we've been doing. But now we're doing it with the Xtractor
N: Okay. That's the middle icon there, opening up the Xtractor
T: Good thank you. And I'll get ready to play the exercise
N: Mentally and physically prepare yourself.
T: Cosmically. And it's just the open A string. No new notes to worry about. Just the new rhythm. Quarter notes in the first bar, eighth notes in the second bar. And concentrating, especially on the right hand and alternating these two fingers
N: So it's one, two, one, two, one two
T: And two, yep
(Xtractor begins)
N: Here we go
T: I'm ready
(Terry starts to play with the Xtractor)
N: This is our…
T: Very good
N: …eighth notes, and our quarters. And is this the way that I'd be playing eighth notes at all times?
T: Yeah you should probably rest your thumb on the pickup
N: Yeah
T: There you go. And it's what you were saying earlier, that you don't get long in these lessons
N: Mmm
T: So you should take a lot of time at home to practice this
N: Mmmhmm
T: Because it needs to become automatic
N: Right
T: You said earlier about walking
(Terry stops playing with the Xtractor)
N: Yeah
T: So we don't think about walking. We just do it
N: Mmmhmm
T: So we need to condition this over a long period of time. So that it becomes automatic. We don't have to worry about it. Because there'll be other things, like other notes in the left hand to play
(Natalie stops Xtractor)
T: So we need to save our energy for those
N: Alright that's the important thing. This, you don't need to be worrying about this. You wanna get this natural, smooth
T: Yeah automatic pilot
N: Just like breathing
T: Yeah absolutely. Yeah very good. So that was lesson, sorry exercise one. And that's just alternating one, the first finger, and two, the second finger
N: Mmmhmm
T: Playing eighth notes. Quarter notes and eighth notes. The next exercise is exactly the same thing, except instead of going one, two, we're gonna go two, one. So it's the same notes, the same rhythm, the same bars. First bar is quarter notes, second bar is eighth notes. But instead of playing one, two, you're gonna have to play two, one.
N: Okay
T: You fancy that?
N: Why is that?
T: Just to improve our control and technique. So at the moment we're just playing these exercises, but as we progress through the Gigajam lessons there'll be all sorts of other exercises to play. We need to get ready to make sure our technique is there for us. So that we can deliver whatever's expected of us
N: Yeah, there might be a cause at one point where we'll need to lead in with the second finger as opposed to the first
T: So let's try the second exercise. Which is exactly the same. Open A string, quarter notes and eighth notes. But the fingering is now different. Still alternating, but we're just leading with the second finger this time
(Xtractor starts playing)
N: Alright then. Give us an example
T: Here it comes
(Terry starts playing with Xtractor)
N: So starting with the quarter notes which we know. And then, so that's the second bar
T: And leading with the second finger
N: Two, one, two, one, two, one, two, one, two, one, two, one, two, one, two, one, two, one, two, one,
T: And there are other numbers going on which are one, two, three, four.
N: Yeah. You're almost like doing two counts in your head, aren't you?
T: Yeah there's a lot of information going on so you need to concentrate. You need to go through it plenty of times. Record it, analyse it, enjoy it
(Xtractor stops)
N: Alright, well after the break I can see the notes there that we'll be talking about the plectrum….
N: Hello, welcome back to part two of episode two. This is the essential bass skills course part one. My name's Natalie Barrass, this is our tutor Terry Gregory. Terry, let's do a recap, let's do a rewind. What did we learn in part one?
T: The name of this lesson is Introducing Eighth Notes
N: Mmmhmm
T: So that's the big learning objective. The first one, capital letters, introducing eighth notes. We've learned about eighth notes, their value, and how to count them. Instead of just counting one, two, three, four, we counted one and, two and, three and four and. And we put all that into practice on our bass with some exercises. And the exercises focused on using both fingers of our right hand, our picking hand. Which was again new, we hadn't done that in the earlier lesson. And alternating
N: Yes
T: To share the workload
N: So we started with one, two, one, two, one, two
T: And we tried
N: Then we went
T: Two, one, two, one, two. And we tried to do that. Practiced over and over and over so that it became automatic
N: Mmmhmm
T: So, and we need to get that technique under control. Be comfortable with it, a natural sort of automatic pilot
N: Mmmhmm
T: So that we can use it later, to play the later exercises in lesson two. Which are different rock grooves
N: Rock grooves
T: Yeah. So we're ready to rock out with the band
N: I like it. So what're we gonna do first, before we can get to our rock grooves?
T: Yeah, what we need to do is the only outstanding objective, which was.. Do you remember?
N: Well I think I saw a little sneak preview of it
T: There it is. It's playing with a plectrum
N: Yes
T: Or a pick. Some people call it a pick, some people call it a plectrum. I guess they call it a pick because you use it to pick the strings
N: Mmmhmm
T: So here's one for you
N: Many thanks. Thank you for bringing this in. How much do these cost?
T: Oh, very expensive, I can't tell you!
N: (Laughs). I don't think so!
T: So our plectrum, or our pick. You just hold it between your thumb and first finger. Perfect. What a natural. There you go
N: Thumb and first finger?
T: Yep
N: And just sort of with the point, pointing out. Obviously my nails are a bit too long. I could use my nails as a plectrum
T: Yeah they might need a manicure. I'll do that afterwards!
N: (Laughs)
T: So yeah just use that pointed bit, as you say, to strike the string
N: Okay and do you sort of bunch your fist up, or?
T: You need to be comfortable, don't you really? So we don't want too much tension. But if you wanna curl the fingers, maybe is a better word than bunch, then that would be good. Yeah
N: Alright
T: So we're looking at plectrum technique. Let's have a look at the video clip and see it in action
N: Here we go
T: There's a video clip here on the Gigajam media files
N: These guys think of everything don't they?
T: They do, and there it comes
(Video clip starts with verbal explanation of the technique and then demonstration)
N: There's a little chat about how to hold it, and also using a technique of going up and down on the strings. Is that something we're gonna be looking at?
T: Yeah. Using the pick is an alternative to playing with fingers. It's not better it's just different
N: Mmmhmm
T: You'll of seen loads of videos of bands with the bass player using his fingers, and easily an equal number of bands playing bass using a plectrum. So it's just an alternative. No fingers involved with the plectrum, except to hold it. With the fingers we did alternating, so we need a kind of equivalent method or system. And as was explained there on the little video clip we, instead of just using the pick in one direction all the time, we use the kind of down and up strokes.
N: Mmmhmm
T: Down and up, down and up
N: And I suppose when you're playing it, I mean, if you were doing it just hitting it down all the time
T: Yeah
N: You've got to bring it up again to start the note haven't you?
T: So you might as well use that energy rather than wasting it, yeah
N: Exactly
T: And down and up strokes are articulated, explained. There's the down stroke
N: So that sort of looks, that almost looks like the top of an eighth note
T: It does, yeah
N: You know where it links it together
T: Yeah
N: The little bridge
T: And then a V, as it were, for up
N: Okay
T: So that first exercise there is exactly the exercise we were playing earlier
N: Yes
T: Using eighth notes in the second bar, playing the open A string
N: Mmmhmm
T: And alternating with the right hand fingers. But what we'll do now is exactly the same exercise. The only difference is we're now using the pick, and instead of one and two, it's down and up
N: Okay. And this one, we're keeping it down all the time for the first lot, for the quarters?
T: Yes
N: Alright
T: Down strokes for the quarter notes, and then where it gets busier, and we're doing the alternating, or we would have been alternating with the fingers, we'll do the equivalent of alternating with the pick down and up
N: Alright, well let's see how it's done in the Gigajam side of things. Lets..
T: Let's do it
N: …open up the video
T: Thank you
N: And there it is
(Video starts playing)
N: Going down and then the up and down
T: Okay
(Video stops)
N: So a bar of quarters, a bar of eighths. On the quarters down on each note
T: Yeah
N: On the eighths down and up
T: So I'm watching what's happening. Can I have a go?
N: Alright. I'll load up the Xtractor
T: Okay
N: Whilst you're getting ready
T: I'm just preparing, getting ready
N: Is it important to be comfortable?
T: Always, yeah, yeah. You know, just check your posture. Make sure you're sitting comfortably. You're going to be spending a long time practising so make sure you're cool and comfortable
N: You'd better be spending a long time practising!
T: That's the idea isn't it! You know, practise makes perfect
N: And that's what we're all gonna be
T: Yeah and we'll talk about that in later lessons. I'm ready when you are
N: Alright. So this is exercise three
T: I'm getting ready to play. With my plectrum, hitting down strokes and up strokes
(Xtractor starts)
N: Alright, hitting play
T: Go. Down strokes
N: One, two, three, four. One and, two and, three and, four and
T: Down, down, down, down. Would you like to join me?
N: I knew you were gonna say that!
T: Ahah
N: I'm playing this on the E string, yeah?
T: Why should I have all the fun?
N:
(Laughs). One, two, three, four. Oooh, I got that wrong
T: With your left hand on the fifth fret, the first finger
N: Okay. Do you know what I'm having a tendency to do?
T: Yeah?
N: When we're going to the quarter notes, I almost want to start on an upstroke. I've got to really say to myself, no, you're starting on a downward stroke
T: Right. Just program that. Down…
N: It's in my head
T: …down, down
T & N: Down, down
T: Up, down up
T & N: Down up, down up
N: Down, down, down, down. Down up, down up, down up, down up. Oooh, I've just dropped my plectrum.
(Laughs). I can't play on!
T: I'm still going. You need a bit…
N: I'm gonna stop you there
(Xtractor stops)
T: Okay. You need a bit more practise.
N: Yes
T: Or some superglue
N: Can you get that for plectrums? That would be a nice idea, wouldn't it?
T & N: (Laugh)
T: So that was exercise three, using the plectrum to play down and up strokes. It's still kind of an alternating, it's kind of an alternative to finger alternating. Just using the plectrum to maximise our energy
N: Mmmhmm and that was…
T: And keep that flow
N: ….for me that was tricky, and obviously that's something I'm gonna have to practise
T: You are
N: And even though we're gonna move on to the next exercise
T: You can stay behind after this and practise it
N: (Laughs) That's what I need to be doing. And that's what you need to be doing as well
T: The next exercise kind of puts it all together
N: Mmmhmm
T: So what we've been doing is learning about eighth notes. And we've been using A to play those eighth notes. And in the first half we used our fingers, one and two, alternating. And in this half we started using the plectrum. So we're gonna put all that together now. We're gonna use fingers, we're gonna use the plectrum, and we're gonna use the A note and also the G note. So not only playing the fifth fret, we're playing the third fret
N: Okay. So this is all on the E string, but it's the fifth, being the A, and the third, being the G
T: Absolutely, yeah. And this is a big part of the Gigajam thing. Tying it all together. All the skills that you pick up as you go along. Just grouping them, you know, accumulating them, and putting them all together in a different exercise to play a rock groove
N: Mmmhmm
T: So this is exercise four
N: Yeah
T: And you can see the marking there, the counting
N: Yeah, one, two, three and four. So we've got a mixture of quarters and eighth notes there
T: Very good. And I'll play it first with the pick
N: Yes
T: And then I'll demonstrate exactly the same exercise with fingers
N: Okay. I'm gonna give you a backing track to go along with here
T: You're very kind. Thank you
N: I know. So here we go
T: I'm ready
N: I mean it starts easy-ish because we've got the quarter notes
T: Yeah
N: Which is what we're familiar with. Then it's those eighth notes as well. So combining it together, as is the Gigajam way
T: Thanks for reminding me!
N: (Laughs)
(Xtractor starts playing)
(Terry starts playing)
T: That wasn't very good
N: I was gonna say, you missed your third note there
T: I was thinking about the plectrum, cos there's a lot going on
N: Yeah
T: There's a kind of a coordination problem
N: There is a lot to think about
T: This is why I'm not talking much
N: No that's right. I'll let you concentrate, I'll sort of…
T: So down, down, down up
T & N: Down
N: Down, up, down. So lets. I'm gonna concentrate on your left hand first
T: Okay. Down
T & N: Down
N: Down up, down. Down, down, down up, down. That's our quarters, and then there's our eighth
T: And what I forgot to do the first time, because I too was concentrating too much on my left hand. Was change from A, G G, A. A
T & N: A,G,G,A
T: A A
N: So we're just doing. We're just changing to the G on the eighth notes
T: There you go. And what I'm gonna try and do, is do what you did just now
N: What did I do?
T: Drop my pickup, drop my plectrum and seamlessly, sort of…
N: Yeah, I mean…
T: …alternating
N: …there must be so many variations we can do with this. We've learnt these notes now. We could sort of even make up our own exercises maybe
T: Yes. Yeah I think that's a good thing. I think I'd give that a lot with practise in the early days. When you play somebody's exercises, like the Gigajam exercises, and there are many more in this lesson still…
N: Absolutely
T: …to help you practise and get ready for, you know playing these rock grooves. Practising to get ready to play in the band. What I used to do was play them and then do my own versions of them, and have some fun, and exercise that kind of creative imagination. Yeah different combinations. That's really what's happening in these other exercises in this lesson. Different variations of the same exercises
N: Absolutely, I mean, what it's probably important to say, as we've kept saying, is that we only have half an hour together jamming away, going through the exercises
T: Mmm
N: You need to be spending a bit more time. You need to be practising until you feel comfortable
T: Absolutely
N: Thank you. Now, unfortunately that's the end of episode two. Join us again for lesson three. And keep listening to find out how you can get hold of Gigajam's course notes