MASTER BASS EDUCATOR PATRICK PFEIFFER HELPS BUILD EVERY ELEMENT OF YOUR PLAYING WITH HIS BEGINNER BASS BASE COLUMN

By Patrick Pfeiffer

ORIGINALLY POSTED IN BASS MAGAZINE, MARCH 2019

You are a bass player. Perhaps you’ve just recently discovered this magnificent  instrument, perhaps you’ve been playing a long time and are glancing at this column to  check if you need to fill in any gaps. Be that as it may, Beginner Bass Base is designed  to make you a better bassist. It is focused on beginners, the players who are full of  passion for the rhythmic low frequencies and are seeking the tools to express themselves  as musicians. About all I expect you to know is that when you strap on your bass, you  make sure that your strings are on the outside. My fervent hope is to reach you with these  exercises and etudes so as to instill good habits before you have the chance to develop  any bad ones. Within the first few columns of Beginner Bass Base, you can collect  enough material to design a focused, productive and time-efficient warm-up routine that  takes you through all the physical aspects of bass playing, and that strengthens your  technique so you’re able to convey through your bass what you hear in your head. 

…and so it begins… 

Imagine…a perfect day. The morning sun is rising into a clear blue sky, its rays reflecting  in the dewdrops on the lush green grass. You’re well rested and in a most joyful mood,  and the only item on your agenda for this day is…practicing bass. You practically bounce  into your bass corner, strap on your favorite bass guitar, tune, and now what…? So you  just start noodling, waiting for inspiration to strike, but on a perfect day like today,  inspiration seems to have decided to take the day off and hit the beach. 

Fear not, bass brethren! This column shows you how to set up a perfect bass practice  session that covers technique (finger exercises, shifting, string crossing, timing) and  theory (scales, modes, arpeggios, rhythms, grooves, solos), and still leaves you with  

plenty of opportunity to spaghetti…er…noodle. It’s about practicing with a purpose. It’s  about making you a better bassist…and musician. The etudes I introduce in this column  all serve a single purpose: to improve your bass playing, and I promise you I won’t waste  your precious practice time. These etudes pack a punch and all you have to do is…do  them, no matter whether you’re an un-bloodied beginner or a grizzled veteran. 

This month’s etude is a collection of finger exercises that strengthen your fretting hand  and help gain finger independence so you can play any groove, lick, riff or phrase with  ease and authority. It is one of my personal all-time favorites and something I put myself  through every single day…because it works. Place your fretting hand (usually your left,  unless you’re playing lefty, in which case it would be your right hand) on your bass neck  with your fingertips on one of the strings. Try starting with your index finger on the third  fret of the E-string (the note name is G). Now, spread your fingers to cover four frets, one 

finger per fret. This means that all your fingers are on the E-string and they cover the  third, fourth, fifth and sixth frets: the index finger covers the third fret, the middle finger  the fourth, the ring finger the fifth and the pinky covers the sixth fret. The notes are G,  G#, A and A#. Don’t worry if you feel your hand doesn’t stretch enough. It’s more  important to keep the fretting hand somewhat relaxed and to use “mini-shifts” to reach  each fret with the correct fingers. Ideally, each finger should land just behind the fret to  produce the cleanest note.  

Each finger is assigned a number: 

1 – Index Finger 

2 – Middle Finger 

3 – Ring Finger 

4 – Pinky  

Starting on the third fret of the E-string, play fingers 1, 2, 3 and 4 in succession (you’re  playing the note on the third fret, then on the fourth, fifth and finally on the sixth fret of  the E-string). Cross to the next string, the A-string, and repeat the sequence. Do the same  on the D-string and the G-string (hey, I heard that snicker when you read G-string. Keep  it clean!). When you reach the G-string, reverse course and work your way back down  with the same finger combination to the E-string. Play this exercise in both directions,  from the E-string to the G-string, and then from the G-string back to the E-string. In this  way, your fingers become accustomed to moving across the strings in both directions. 

This finger exercise has a total of 24 permutations…and you need to do them all so you  can easily move in any direction from any point on your bass. This helps you avoid  giving preference to one finger. You can divide the permutations into four columns, each  starting with a different finger.

Column 1:

1234

1243

1324

1342

1423

1432

Column 2:

2134

2143

2314

2341

2413

2431

Column 3:

3124

3142

3214

3241

3412

3421

Column 4:

4123

4132

4213

4231

4312

4321

Just work your way down from the top of the first column to the bottom and then go on to  the top of the next column. Check out the notation and follow along. The results are  practically instantaneous, so keep at it. As you get more comfortable with the etude, add a  metronome and play along to a click. This etude forms the basis for an entire arsenal of  exercises, so you may as well get on friendly terms with it. Enjoy and savor the low  frequencies!

[P.S.: For the music theory geeks…the accidentals in the notation apply throughout the  measure but only in that octave.]