Download Jazzhacker Scales and Modes for 5-String Bass

Jazzhacker®
Scales and Modes
for 5-String Bass
(Standard Tuning, BEADG)
Jeffrey Williams
SAMPLE EBOOK
Please feel free to share this 38-page sample ebook with all other musicians and
music students!
Note that the full ebooks include 196 pages, featuring 192 full-page illustrations of 16 scales and modes in all 12 keys; see
Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store. Thanks for respecting the hard work of the author.
Copyright © 2004-2012 Jazzhacker Ebooks, All rights reserved
Cover photo courtesy Warwick GmbH & Co Music Equipment KG
Thanks to Rita Toews (yourebookcover.com) for implementing my cover design.
(The ISBN of the full Jazzhacker Scales and Modes for 5-String Bass ebook is 978-0-9887464-2-8)
Jazzhacker Ebooks
Jazzhacker Scales and Modes for 5-String Bass
Jeff(rey) Williams
Table of Contents
Introduction
About the Author
The Jazzhacker Format
Jazzhacker Scales and Modes
Notes on the Fingerboard
Scales and Modes in C
Scales and Modes in C# (Db)
Scales and Modes in D
Scales and Modes in D# (Eb)
Scales and Modes in E
Scales and Modes in F
Scales and Modes in F# (Gb)
Scales and Modes in G
Scales and Modes in G# (Ab)
Scales and Modes in A
Scales and Modes in A# (Bb)
Scales and Modes in B
Introduction
This music practice, study, and reference guide decodes 16 of the most useful and popular scales and modes, in all 12 keys of
Occidental music, so it is applicable to any and all genres of Western music: Classical, jazz, fusion, blues, rhythm and blues
(R&B), soul, funk, reggae, Latin, rap, hip-hop, trip-hop, pop, rock, rock ‘n roll, punk, metal, rockabilly, gospel, country,
country/western - and beyond! Scales and modes are crucial building blocks of music, and your favorite music can be found
within these scales and modes.
The Jazzhacker format displays an entire fingerboard with position markers (i.e., frets, or the point of correct intonation on
fretless instruments) and note names and intervals, along with scale and mode names and formulas, all at a glance. The big,
bold, easy-to-read illustrations are perfect for use with all fretted and fretless acoustic or electric guitars and basses. Teachers
can build courses around Jazzhacker Ebooks or use them to supplement any other teaching, and players and students can
browse and explore at their own pace. Please visit Jazzhacker.net for auxiliary study material, PDF ebooks, and info about
related paper books and apps.
About the Author
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, I am a technologist and amateur bass player, living (at the time of this
writing ;) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. The Jazzhacker project resulted from my efforts to increase my own
understanding of scales and modes and (strangely enough…) benefited from design skills cultivated during my years of work
as an embedded software engineer. I have also gained a bit of expertise in regards to ebook and app design, production, and
marketing, so if you are an author or musician developing ideas for ebooks or apps and would like to partner with me and my
crew, please contact me via Jazzhacker.net.
Best wishes in all of your musical endeavors!
PEACE
Jeff(rey) Williams
November 2012
The Jazzhacker Format
Leveraging upon the geometric design of the fingerboard of most stringed instruments, the proprietary Jazzhacker format
essentially divides the fingerboard into upper and lower halves, at the octave, and combines the physical locations of all notes
of a scale or mode with the note names and their interval values (i.e., their harmonic distances from the root).
The scale or mode name and formula is at the top of the page; it indicates the intervals (i.e., the harmonic distance from the
root) of the chromatic notes included in the particular scale or mode. The labels (Open), (0 / 12), and 1 / 13 through 12 / 24 are
position markers (i.e., frets, or the point of correct intonation on fretless instruments) and represent open strings or frets 0 or
12, 1 or 13, 12 or 24, etc, up to 24 frets (i.e., two octaves). A 0 fret (if present on an instrument) is equivalent to (Open), and
the same notes (an octave apart) are present at all position markers (because the notes on the fingerboard repeat starting at the
octave).
The roots and their octaves are in circles (interval 1/8) and the other notes of the scale or mode are in squares, with their
intervals (2nd, flatted 3rd, 3rd, 4th, sharped 4th, 5th, etc) next to them, according to the scale or mode formula. The notes also
form patterns on the fingerboard, and these patterns will become familiar - graphically, tactilely and audibly - as you study and
practice them.
During scale or mode practice, a musician will typically play from a root to the next octave, following the sequence indicated
by the scale formula. However, a musician may want to extend this at times by playing all the scale notes under a particular
finger position, beyond the bounds of the current scale (or mode), or perhaps shift and play the scale (or mode) beginning at
another root, up to two octaves away. These practice techniques are easily accommodated with the Jazzhacker format.
Jazzhacker Scales and Modes
This section presents a bit of music theory to set the context for scale and mode study. To explore this subject matter further,
please check out any music theory publication or website; there are lots of great ones available.
Scales and modes are derived from the 12-note chromatic scale that forms the basis of most Occidental (i.e., Western) music.
The chromatic scale consists of 8 natural and 4 accidental notes. Accidentals occur between some of the naturals. Any
accidental may be rendered as flat (½ step lower in pitch than the next higher natural) or as sharp (½ step higher than the next
lower natural). Accidentals are thus enharmonic, e.g., a sharped 4th is identical in pitch to a flatted 5th, a sharped 5th is identical
in pitch to a flatted 6th, etc.
The 16 scales and modes decoded in this study guide are (in order): Major (Ionian Mode), Natural Minor (Aeolian Mode),
Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Locrian, Harmonic Minor, Melodic (Jazz) Minor, Lydian Flat-Seven, Whole-Tone,
Diminished (Whole-Half), Major Pentatonic, Minor Pentatonic, Blues and Blues with Major 3rd. These are among the most
useful and popular scales and modes for all genres of music.
This study guide uses the symbol b to indicate flatted notes or intervals and the symbol # to indicate sharped notes or intervals.
Accidentals are rendered as flats if the scale includes a flatted 3rd and as sharps (#4 and #5 only) if the scale does not include a
flatted 3rd; all other accidentals are rendered as flats. (This is merely the personal preference of the author; as a musician, you
could encounter accidentals rendered as (or described as) sharps or flats in any context and you should be prepared to handle
them.)
- Jeff(rey)
Notes on the Fingerboard
Scales and Modes in C
Scales and Modes in C# (Db)
Scales and Modes in D
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in D# (Eb)
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in E
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in F
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in F# (Gb)
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in G
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in G# (Ab)
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in A
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in A# (Bb)
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.
Scales and Modes in B
Omitted from this 37-page sample ebook! Please see the 196-page full ebook at Jazzhacker.net or your favorite ebook store.