Bass Line Class: Week 3

I was a little out of it, but I believe this was the dreaded "theory-heavy" class that seemed inevidable in this kind of course. He discussed major scales and their relative minors. Where the whole and half steps fall. Natural, harmonic, and melodic (odd birds indeed) scales. The chords that fit within a major scale. He showed each chord in the scale and how it had a major or minor third in which position. He talked about 7th chords and diminished chords and what those are about. Notation explained all the way along. The circle of fifths (he transcribed the chart he handed out from treble to bass clef). We worked a bit on the Curtis Mayfield tune again (Move On Up), though I can't say that I felt satisfied that he actually TAUGHT us the part. He seems to move to quickly through that bit...it's hard to see what his fingering is and he just blasts through it without explaining much. He explained 12 bar blues (and mentioned 24 and 32 bar blues). Then we listened to 2 or 3 blues songs and he showed some variations on the basic 12 bar blues.

This is the kind of fundamental session on theory that is required, I know. Honestly, he went through it pretty quickly and painlessly. Like I said, I was out of it and not really paying attention. It's a hard thing to conentrate on, especially when you've heard it all before. I suspect, for the true novice, it would have all gone by too fast and have been jibberish. For the experienced player, it would have dragged and been boring. I'm kind of in the middle.

I have the language already. I have heard all of these things before. Been exposed to them. But I don't quite have them MASTERED. Don't quite have them MEMORIZED. I couldn't tell you what the chords in a major scale are if asked right now...or where the whole and half steps are. I could probably work it out given more time than it ought to take to work such things out. I know that, at some point, once you've got these things down, they probably become second nature and you don't think about them very concretely anymore. They inform your playing and your writing, but it's just like the unspoken rules of the game. Subconscious.

I'm not there. I'm not sure the best way to GET there. I think it just comes...as they say...like the way you get to Carnegie Hall. Practice. You just do this stuff so much, so many times, that it becomes second nature. And I know there's no way to short cut experience. You just have to work through it...put in the time.

But I still can't help but feel that there is a way to excellerate the process. Perhaps with concentrated study and memorization. Even of simple things. Like where the whole and half steps fall in a major and minor scale...and what chords are in those scales. I have these things written out and refer to them when needed...but really...how much work would it be to just commit them to memory. Like learning a foreign language. Long before you can speak it fluently, which to some extent comes only through the practice of using the language...long before that point...you memorize vocabulary words. I can do that. It just takes setting aside the time and doing it.

And truly, all I have is time. I fill it pretty good these days in the after hours, which leads to things like being horrified to discover that I haven't "practiced" the drums in days. Played, yes. Practiced, no. But I've got LOTS of down time during the work day. I could be memorizing in those hours.

So that's what I ought to do. And see where it takes me next.