Major Scale Improvisation Exercise #2

In this bass lesson you’re going to learn how to use intervalic shapes and patterns within your bass solos, and how important they can be.

When you listen to a great bass player soloing it can seem effortless, almost like the notes and ideas are just flowing out of them. Well that’s true to a certain extent, but there is ALWAYS method behind the madness ;)… everything they’re playing within there solo is interval related and I guarantee they’ll be either thinking of that while playing, or more likely be ‘hearing’ that while playing. Either way, there is a thought process behind it. Imagine if you spoke without actual thinking about what you were speaking about about… it’d sound pretty strange wouldn’t it! Just random words! Well soloing or simply just playing the bass is just the same – there needs to be some sort of thought process behind it otherwise it would just sound like a random mess of notes.

Using intervallic ideas within your soloing lines can really start to open up the sound and texture of your solos and help you break away from just running up and down scales aimlessly. Getting these types of ideas into your soloing lines is a must, and once you do you’ll start to hear that EVERYONE… sax players, piano players, you name it – they use these same techniques!

This lesson will take your bass soloing to the next level!

Want the tab and notation for this lesson?!… Click here to find out!

  1. JohnJohn12-24-2012

    Great lesson, maestro. I will be adding this one to my daily practice regimen. God bless, Scott… and Merry Christmas.

  2. Dave CDave C12-26-2012

    another great lesson and as I ran through it it came to me.. and maybe this was obvious or I missed it in the video but work these ’3rds’ ascending and descending through the scale. Just as I was getting comfortable working them ascending, I tried walking them back down through the scale and made me re-visualize the patterns.

    • Lee KLee K01-02-2013

      I had this same problem while working on the previous lesson: I knew the ascending patterns well, starting with each of three different fingers, but when I tried switching between patterns I discovered that after going up one way, I couldn’t find my way back down another way. It then occurred to me, to my horror, that this is true for pretty much every scale, mode, and arpeggio that I’ve ever learned! I certainly know now what I need to work on….

      I’ll bet that this is a pretty common problem. Scott, maybe it would be good idea in future lessons to give equal time to descending patterns? These are all the kinds of things that one literally has to know “backwards and forwards,” right?

      • scottscott01-03-2013

        Great idea Lee! Thanks for watching man! Scott ;)

  3. EugeneEugene12-29-2012

    Awesome lesson! I pray that you and your family be blessed and victorious in all your doing Scott!

  4. Cheryl MuradasCheryl Muradas12-29-2012

    Thank you so much Scott for another fantastic lesson. I have been practicing this one daily. Have a blessed New Year!

  5. allanallan12-29-2012

    Body, you are a great brother. Thanks for teaching and sharing.

    Greeting from L.A

  6. MaddalenaMaddalena01-02-2013

    wow!!! :))) thanks

  7. AshAsh01-02-2013

    Hi Scott another great lesson,just what I was looking for,starting to make sense.
    You are a great teacher and player too.
    all the best for the new year
    Ash
    South Africa

  8. Peter E.Peter E.01-02-2013

    Ur lessons have really helped me. Remain blessed

  9. G-romG-rom01-02-2013

    I got mail and whoooot, amazing stuff like always ! Happy new year Scott and thank you so much !

  10. HermanHerman01-02-2013

    Happy new year from Belgium dear Scott and thank you for the great lessons!

  11. JJ01-03-2013

    GREAT Lesson! Thank you.

  12. JamesJames01-03-2013

    Actually saying, “linear”, “thirds”, and “arpeggio” while soloing has definitely opened up some ideas for my own improvisational pieces. Thanks!

  13. William TiffanyWilliam Tiffany01-03-2013

    S,
    I tried to download the ‘free’ PDF associated with your new intervallic video but it fails. Actually it tries to put me over to Amazon downloader but hangs up.
    WST——————-

    • scottscott01-03-2013

      Hey William, can you try doing it through a different browser as that could be the issue. Cheers. Scott ;)

  14. MaxMax01-03-2013

    Thank you very much for taking the time to share and explain. This lesson blew my mind !
    Happy new year from Paris !

  15. MartinMartin01-03-2013

    Great lesson Scott. I just start to practise interval fingerings recently and it helps me to improve speed and precision. I am practising also other intervals like 5ths and 6ths.

    But your lesson takes it to musical level. Keep it, I am watching you :)

  16. SteveSteve01-03-2013

    Another great lesson Scott. Many thanks.

  17. SteveSteve01-03-2013

    Love the third pattern! That’s going to be a favourite of mine with all scales for sure! Thanks Scott.

  18. AndrasAndras01-03-2013

    What kind of effect did you use in this lesson? Your sound is great:)
    Greeting from Budapest.

    • scottscott01-03-2013

      Just a tiny bit of reverb. The rest is just me and the bass. Thanks for watching Andras! scott ;)

  19. SteliosStelios01-03-2013

    amazing how to open my mind this lesson. happy new year and be strong. thanx Stelios

  20. Steve RogersSteve Rogers01-03-2013

    Thank you again Scott for another well thought out and superbly presented lesson.
    I hope your cold is gone by now!

  21. Tom LilienthalTom Lilienthal01-03-2013

    Another great lesson, Scott. Been doing a bit of traveling over the holidays but after watching your video, I’m anxious to ‘get back to it!’

  22. SAULSAUL01-03-2013

    Thanks to its teachings, I learned a lot from them even though our languages ​​are different

  23. seansean01-03-2013

    class.happy christmas.

  24. NebojšaNebojša01-04-2013

    I´m gonna practice this to death. You are the best teacher out there for sure. Thanks a lot and take care of that cold, you sound terrible.

  25. LuisLuis01-07-2013

    Great Lessons Scott appreciate them
    thnx & God bless hope your New Years Rocks!

    Texas

  26. TinoTino01-08-2013

    Gracias Scott

  27. mindthegapmindthegap01-15-2013

    Great video! you sound great.

    I just can’t get it to sound that melodic. I’ve been playing for about 10 months and my playing is still choppy, my fingers spaz out and do their own thing on the fretboard!

    • AidanAidan03-03-2013

      Just keep playing man. It’ll take years before your finger and ears are trained to be melodic.

  28. Laurence DayLaurence Day01-18-2013

    all i can say is ooh shit! ive been improvising for ages and never really came across these types of patterns, they don’t really come up in rgt grades or anything, but wow my improv skill doubled after one video! thanks very much!!!!!

  29. Don WalkerDon Walker01-19-2013

    Hey Scott. Why do you wear BLACK gloves sometines? It makes seeing your left hand fingers very hard and in your lesson you move so fast. I am new to your lessons and I hope to get more into how you teach and maybe then I can keep up. I have only been playing bass since 1969 so you would think I would know how by now. BTW, in 1969 I also wore a black glove while playing in a soul band in Muscle Shoals Alabama USA. Great site and thanks for the lessons.

  30. Les WalmsleyLes Walmsley03-21-2013

    WOW! thank you. So much great stuff here. I got the PDFs from donating. It is so nice to have the tab and follow along. Scott you have helped me so much. THANK YOU.

  31. GhandimasterGhandimaster04-25-2013

    Thank you. This is harder than 1st one. I dont get how you are talking about Lyonian and 3rd?? I thought this is all B major scale.

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