Killer Bass Exercise to Build Your Technique, Fluidity and Harmony Chops // Scott's Bass Lessons

JUST IN CASE IT CAN HELP SOMEONE:
From each of the notes within any major scale there is a chord built from it.
An arpeggio is just a chord played one note at a time.
4:28 C major arpeggio
4:37 D minor arpeggio
4:41 E minor arpeggio
4:46 F major arpeggio
4:50 G dominant 7 arpeggio
4:54 A minor arpeggio
4:58 B minor 7 b5 arpeggio
7:49 ascending arpeggios
8:05 descending arpeggios
Say the arpeggios as you play them:
C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G dominant 7, A minor, B minor 7 b5.
13:07 Then say the notes with them:
C, E, G, B
D, F, A C
E, G, B, D
F, A, C, E
G, B, D, F
A, B, E, G
B, D, F, A
All of these arpeggios work on the C major chord/tonality.

C major scale:
1. C major - Ionian mode
2. D minor -Dorian mode
3. E minor - Phrygian mode
4. F major - Lydian mode
5. G dominant - Mixolydian mode
6. A minor - Aeolian mode
7 B minor - Locrian mode
Just start on the next note, and then the next one, and so on... and go trough all the notes of the arpegio, it will show you the light.

To anyone looking for a tab to this exercise, I created one here: i.imgur.com/RpBhgUJ.png
Includes the notes, chord names and arpeggios. Enjoy!

This is brilliant. I love that you've used the 7th chords for the arpeggios. That really opens up a lot melodically for the musicians who practice this.

man, how do you come up with these lessons? i mean, i know you must have had great teachers, but you are really breaking down music theory on bass here. for free. i also know you have more in depth lessons on your website and in your academy. i guess im not asking a question. i just wanted to say ive been watching your videos on youtube for a while and still ive learned so much from so little. you really know how to jam pack knowledge brother. your such a great teacher. oh i do have a question! when in your career and why did you decide to take teaching so seriously? maybe you were showing a band mate something and just blew his mind all casually and realized you had a knack for it? sincerely thanks. :)

There is a big difference between now I can play jazz harmonically and past I didn't know knowledge of chord harmony well.
2 years ago, I could't understand this video's topic, but now I can absorb many information from this.
Thanks for my great teacher scott devine, now I am on higher level than my past self.

Great lessons. It would be very helpful for newbies if you had small chord charts on screen as you are doing chord sequences, since the exact fingering is often hard to see. It would of course require more work at your end.

Scott, this is such a fabulous lesson -- among so many that you share for free here on Clip-Share -- I return to it regularly. I love how you keep coming back to the Cmaj scale -- and all its modes, chords, and arpeggios -- as a point of focus for learning the entire fretboard, and for grasping the main tenets of music theory. Your generosity and brilliance as a player and teacher are unmatched anywhere online. Thank you.

Here in 2020:
I've been practicing this like crazy. Building speed, fret-board knowledge, and harmonic knowledge!
Starting messing around with soloing on a simple chord progression. This specific exercise has really come in handy making me capable of simple soloing and being able to actually sound musical!
This is an awesome lesson/exercise!

Most of your videos are great Scott, but this one is just AMAZING! Fantastic exercise that will take weeks to master. Thank you.

Just got a acoustic bass for Christmas and joined the SBL, and this class here was a mind blow, that opened my vision for the major scale a lot!! Great!

This is sooooo useful. If you can map one whole major scale across the neck ... this exercise(s) gives you total control of the neck no matter how fast the changes. Thank you scott. I am a member.

Hi Scott, I am a guitar player and I find your courses be valid on guitar too. And even better than other professional youtubers specialized on guitar. thumbs up!!!!!

Fantastic lesson, Scott. A great way to focus on learning the notes for the chords in a scale. This will help me tremendously with my guitar work as well. Thanks!!

Epic lesson Scott! I love it and thank you for all you do for us four stringers (and five....and six 😜)!

I love your lessons Scott they've been such a great help to get me started on the bass! keep it up man!

Great Lesson Scott! I can speak from personal experience that this is absolutely crucial for bassists to know. As a self taught bassist I struggled for years but I just didn't get any better; this was before Clip-Share. When I learned exactly what Scott demonstrated in this lesson it finally clicked for me! All of a sudden I could finally improvise freely and musically on the bass. Learn it!

Probably one of the best lessons of all time.... this explains a lot. Thanks Scott

Amazing!! I wish there were a tab component to follow along with. Thank you Scott!!

Wonderful exercise, Scott! Very useful!!!
I'm practicing it. Thanks for your online Lessons!

Scott - Excellent lesson as always. The part that peaked my interest the most was when you began to implement chromatic notes into your playing. I would love to see a lesson that dives deeper into that with regard to constructing bass lines over traditional jazz progressions.

Thanks Scott. An awesome lesson worth the price of admission to your courses. I'm in....
Really appreciate the time and detail you went into explaining what you were doing. The linking of arpeggios was a revelation. Thanks again.

One helpful visualization tool is the piano keyboard, where the modes related to the C major scale means you play only the white keys.
If you play a C major scale, you start at C and play all of the white keys- that sequence of intervals, separated by the black keys is: (C) D (E) F (G) A (B) and called the "Ionian mode". The 1-3-5 triad and 1-3-5-7 Cmajor/Cmajor7 chord tones are in brackets...
If we stay in the key of C major/ (all white keys), but we play a scale starting on the note of D, we will create a scale of (D) E (F) G (A) B (C) called "Dorian mode", and the 1-3-5 triad and 1-3-5-7 chord tones are a D minor/Dmin7. ...
If we stay in the key of C major/ (all white keys), but we play a scale starting on the note of E, we will create a scale of (E) F (G) A (B) C (D) called "Phrygian mode", and the 1-3-5 triad and 1-3-5-7 chord tones are an E minor/Emin7.....
If we stay in the key of C major/(white keys), but we play a scale starting on the note of F, we will create a scale of (F) G (A) B (C) D (E) called "Lydian mode", and the 1-3-5 triad and 1-3-5-7 chord tones are an F major/Fmaj7.
If we stay in the key of C major/(white keys), but we play a scale starting on the note of G we will create a scale of (G) A (B) C (D) E (F) called "Mixolydian mode", and the 1-3-5 triad and 1-3-5-7 chord tones are an Gmaj/G(dom)7.
If we stay in the key of C major/(white keys), but we play a scale starting on the note of A, we will create a scale of (A) B (C) D (E) F (G) called "Aeolian mode", and the 1-3-5 triad and 1-3-5-7 chord tones are an A minor/Amin7 (*This scale/mode starting on the sixth note of a major scale is called the relative minor*)
If we stay in the key of C major/(white keys), but we play a scale starting on the note of B, we will create a scale of (B) C (D) E (F) G (A) called "Locrian mode", and the 1-3-5 triad and 1-3-5-7 chord tones are a B(minor) diminished/Bmin7b5.
This is one of the few parts of music theory I have studied and grasped, and it is a huge help when the light goes off. I hope this description might help?
I will edit if anyone points out errors/corrections, thanks!

I owe so much to Scott for these lessons. I can't imagine playing bass without his instruction.

this is an awesome excercise! I really appreciate what you do man. Seriously. I've already noticed a vast improvement in my technique from watching your videos.

This arpeggio exercise has helped me more than anything else I've worked on. Been using it for a few years now. My playing has improved so much I can't thank you enough.It's such a great finger pattern memorization study. I've tried many different exercises and books on learning but this one really sticks with me. Thanks!

I appreciate being able to conceptualize the lesson before trying to memorize the arpeggios
4:25

Such a great video! Very helpful! But mostly very inspiring, truly. I’m actually looking at picking up the Nate Mendel P Bass after Christmas. Thanks Scott!

this is probably one of the most important exercises for any bass player ever! I'd suggest doing arpeggio's of all the chord inversions, 7th, half diminished, and fully diminished as well.

simple and really clear in the explications :) love your lessons!

Don't be too hard on yourself about plecking. A pick is also known as a plectrum. So, say pleck all you like! This is hands down the best lesson I've had in over 40 years of playing bass! This is a genuine 'light bulb' over the head, Eureka! moment for me. Thank you Scott! Keep on plecking!

Scott from this lesson I just came up with an ascending and descending arpeggiated take of these chords or a slight modification of some notes and it comes out sounding very classical and its quite astounding considering Im not a bass player but from this one lesson It just opened my head right up and seeing the chord shapes white gloves on dark fingerboard is helpful for me to see exactly what is then just burn it into memory..
Harmonizing the major scale and arpeggiating all the way up and down is what im doing
I had to slow the speed down to see how your doing it all in one position MOST AWESOME LESSON Completely opens my head to thinking like a bassists vs a guitarist playing bass..
I also take what you just showed me back to guitar hope you dont mind me running with that..
Fantastic man !

When you showed the arpeggio progressions and chords you can do from a cmajor and its modes my mind was opened a lot. It was just what I was looking for. A simple yet wildly effective way of expanding my musical vocabulary. Thank you so much Scott!

I'm Brazilian and my english is not perfect, but I learned a lot with you. I hope I learn more with you. Thanks, Scott! God bless youu

Another mind-blower, Scott, thanks! Killer exercise, man ...

Scott I’ve spent a week on this lesson already. I keep taking it in bit by bit but this one was a gem.

My god, this is an incredible lesson. I can't wait to try this out. Your advice about getting your right hand patterns consistent is so good.

Putting the things where they ought to be. Love it.

Scott my favorite bass player is Ryan Martini. His style very unique, even the way he tunes the bass....It would be nice if you took the time to cover Ryan's playing and style...Thanks Scott a big fan...

Looks like a great exercise! It'll be a good way to practice the modes I've learned.

Scott’s built such an amazing educational library here, for free. I’m a member at the website, but you can’t beat all these youtube lessons as great reminders and tips

Scott, you're tips and drills are the best.....and actually useful! Thank you!

Dig in in this lessons for a while, there's a lot of knowledge in a few minutes, practice for years, really fantastic information and a massive thumbs up from Mexico City

This is great! Ive been working lately on playing arpeggios starting on all the different C's and going up the neck but I haven't tried playing them across the neck in the same position.

Scott, I've been down with shoulder surgery and get to start playing and practicing , now it's been 6 weeks. This is great ....YOU are great , thank you! See you in the SHED

This one REALLY helped Scott!!! Thank you so sooooo much Broheim!!! =)

Scott, you've got some brilliant excercises. Though I think it would really be helpful if you include a POV angle of sorts, or maybe a neck-positioned goPro camera? It is very convenient for the observer to be able to replicate what they see on their screen.

I'm a seasoned rock / blues and country bass player and I'm strong enough to record with people on a professional level along with having the opportunity of working with signed bands and being signed on past projects myself. I never learned to read but I definitely understood how important it is even knowing just your basic scales. I've done pretty good through the years and have been fortunate enough to work with great players where I have picked up a lot of it by ear but I still consider myself a student who's learning and I continue pushing myself to try to be better even at my age. I wonder if you know just how much your videos help people like me to improve our chops? Almost forgot. Learning basic shapes was the ticket for me when I first started.

scott you are so good i always love your intro bass playing

You are such a wonderful player, love learning from you and listening to you, cheers.

Real KILLER exercise Scott you've improved my bass life Thanks muchly.

That is PLICK'EN AWESOME DUDE... I gave this to a bass student today and am plying it on standard six string electric and acoustic guitars myself..! so dynamically useful for learning or reinforcing music theory, training the ear and muscle memory!
Thank You Sir & God bless,
Ray

Great exercise on many levels; looking forward to trying it out!

9:30 mark, about doing exactly the same with the fingering, i realised that's what i'm doing wrong. I always trip up doing really fast technical stuff, sometimes nail it, sometimes i don't. I think this will help out a lot. Great stuff

Thanks for this freebie, Scott. What to actually practice is really helpful

I'll remember this to do Regularly... Regarding consistency of the plickin hand you nailed it - when I was in the studio recording with my former band on guitar, I got a very helpful hint of out all-in-one studio-man that my playing changed every time I play. Didn't get it back then. Nowadays I understand I did always change my pick-hand-work which changed my timing each time. Consistency, consistency, consistency ;) Helps a lot!

Great lesson, both theory and technique at the same time. Thanks a lot!

This is a great teacher if you are having some class from a teacher parallely. I'm learning about the 7 modes of a scale, and knowing how they work make sense and find it much easier what Scott is teaching here. Brilliant class, but I recommend to first know a little about those modes to really get that juice out if this excercise

love it, I'll be adding this to my exercises

Wish there was a transcript for this showing the Frets and the fingering since his hand obscures the fretboard and sometimes it's hard to tell what notes he's playing

Very good lesson! I’m learning bass myself and stumbled upon your videos. Very talented and gifted teacher! One question? Wouldn’t the 7th scale degree, b minor b5(flat5), be a b diminished?

Xtremly usefully exercises. Thanks a lot Mr. Tommus.👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

Love Scott's teachings. 👍 🇬🇧

Brilliant lesson again! Thanks, Scott!

Scott, every time i watch one of your videos i feel the visceral need of grabbing my bass. Thank you and greetings from Argentina!

Man what simple lesson that kills. You broke it down so precisely. Now I just have to the work ...love it , Technic and arpegios Thank you .. shout out from New Hampshire US

Wow what an awesome solo there in the intro, and you are able to talk while playing bass. Unbelievable.

Am studying, practising and playing along with this one daily -- amazing lessons, Scott -- Thank you!!!

Very good Scott. This is learning. It's a lot in there and it sounds good too. I've got to try this to see if I can sort it out.

I'll grab my bass and start doing this exercise this right now. No more plicking, just consistent plucking. :-)

Scott great lessons here! Thank you for all free content. I like many other viewers have a slightly hard time seeing what you are actually playing. I in all honesty think the glove has a lot to do with it. I watch other lessons and dont have the same problem. If that's the purpose of the glove, to rely on hearing rather then sight, its brilliant. Again, thanks for the videos!

This was the last thing I was trying to drill in when I stopped practicing religiously. I know the chords by ear, and can see the shapes for major and minor from different fingers makes this a great exercise. And I have learned them starting on the E and on A string. HOWEVER, I cant move past it. I cant play them out of order... chord progressions. They are stuck in scale order and Im not sure how to move past. Ive tried saying them, like youve suggested in the past, but since I am stuck going up the scale, Im just counting. I really want to be able to say... I-5-6-4 and play them out of that order, but I cant seem to make that hurdle. I think its because I have 2 shapes memorized for each - that and I can hear when Ive used the wrong shape, but only if I play them in order. Any advice anyone?
I wonder why this popped back in my feed after almost 4 years...

Bass lessons with Mr. Tumnus. Great lessons. I'm learning so much so fast.

Scott you best!!! thank you for another great lesson.

Thank you Scott. Strong ex. I love the chromatic jazzy at the end.

Took me more than an hour to go up and down once without any errors. I think my left hand is dead but totally worth it!

This was just lovely. Thank you, sir.

This is above my pay-grade but I can't wait until I'm dealing with this issue! It's a keeper! Thanks.

Another nice one, Scott. As usual. Thanks

This lesson has transformed my playing already. I like to learn each arpeggio from a different fingering position. I play them forwards and backwards to a metronome from an index, middle, and pinky starting position. Then I try to interchange them in order and keep time, now that's an exercise. I do have a question for Scott, or anyone else who can answer it. In the video Scott explains that there is a progression of chords within the major scale the always goes Mj-m-m-Mj-dom-m-m7b5; my question is, is there a progression like this for a minor scale that I could also work on? Keep em coming Scott, I love the techniques you teach. Thanks so much

everytime i feel like im making headway to being a great bassist... scott makes another video that makes me wanna quit lol

for me who has a small asian finger at first looks terrible but over time it's really fun if you have a diagram for a lesson where I can download it because I keep repeating videos when there are mistakes when I practice I am very grateful if you want to share. thank you mr scott

It s super clear. Thank a lot, really. You are the best Scott!!!

Great lesson man, thanks!

Thank you for reiterating what you went over in the lesson at the end. That was helpful because I watched it in a couple of different chunks.

Wow man 5 years later and you're about to hit a million subs! Cheers!

Scott; ALSO...You get around the fretboard so smoothly; what radius fretboard do you prefer? I think some of (at least a couple of your Fender CS relics) of your Fender- basses are 7.25 and you have no prob with that! I'm struggling on which P-Bass model to buy for myself b/c of the differences in radius of the fretboards. Any suggestions? Or a lesson on radius?? Thanks for the GREAT lessons!

To take this another step. Do the same thing with all the inversions. You'll find you will learn the entire fretboard. So for example first inversion of the c major arpeggio is E, G, B, C. same 4 notes but played in a different order. Do this in the same manner Scott lays out for all inversions in all keys. See you in a while!

It's all the white notes... lolz... but really love the stuff about joining it all up with chromatic passing notes... this is a great way to get the important info into a young jazzer's head... Great stuff - Thankyou, sir!

Excellent lesson, thank you!

I've got a question about consistency with "plicking" hand fingerings. I've run into problems from only practicing an exercise where I "lead" with the index finger, and as a result, I didn't develop good plucking finger independence. Now I try to practice every exercise leading with the index plucking finger, and then switching to plucking the first note with the middle finger.
Do you recommend that approach for developing plucking finger independence?
Thanks, Scott!

this is also a very nice way to get a feel for the modes.
Choose a scale, go through the arpeggios.

Thanks for sharing your skill and knowledge

Really slick editing trick with the color change. Well done!

I love these intros; the laughing Scott shot is so endearing.

Scott, you’ve got killer tone man! What is your favorite bass you have?!

This exercise is soooooo good! It's really KILLER! The stringcrossing in this is superhelpfull, even if you play with a pick as i mostly do.

HA NO WAY! after watching your videos I started practicing that for myself last night !!! Thanks for the vids they are great.

Humble and talented, gets the point across mater of fact,,,word, and hella funny