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Intervals and understanding
the fretboard
Of course just understanding the theory behind intervals is not
enough for them to become useful to you. You will need to do some
work learning the different places on the neck to play them, and
what they sound like. This will open up a whole new world of understanding
the neck of the bass.
Before sitting down and just memorizing all of the
interval shapes, you should understand how they are derived. On
the last couple of pages you learned some basic shapes for these
interval, but now it is time to learn the possibilities a little
more in-depth.
The first step in learning these interval shapes
is to understand how the notes on the neck are arranged. (see
names of notes
on the neck and basic
tuning)
Here is an example of how you find the exact same
note (not an octave) on different strings. If you want to find
another place to play the E on the 3rd string, 7th fret, you need
to do the following. Go up 5 frets on the next lower string (4th
string) or go down 5 frets on the next string higher (2nd string).
<-------down--------- ------------up------->
This is the same idea used in tuning
your bass. You play the 5th fret on the 4th string (A), to
tune your 3rd string open (A)
Here is an example using the perfect 5th interval.
Here you are trying to play the interval of a perfect 5th (within
normal reaching distance.... about 4 frets) in 2 different places.
<-------down--------- ------------up------->
From A on the 4th string to E on the
3rd string is a perfect 5th. In order to find a different
shape for the exact same interval, you need to do the following.
If the top note of the interval (E) is to the right of
the root, then you need to find the top note on the next highest
string (to the left). If the top note of the interval is to the
left of the root, then you need to find the top note on the next
lowest string (to the right). I know this sounds a little confusing
but it is the same idea as above, just counting up or down from
the root, instead of counting 5 frets from the highest note in
the interval. The magic number here is 5 either way.
If the top note is to the right of the root 2 frets,
go to the left of the root 3 frets on the next higher string.
(2+3=5)
If the top note is to the left of the root 3 frets,
go to the right of the root 2 frets on the next lower string.
(3+2=5)
Things
to do
Try taking the simple interval shapes that you learned
on the previous pages (you did learn them didn't you?) and find
another way to play that same interval within a 4 fret area. There
should be 2 places to play every interval, except the perfect
4th and the minor 7th. Playing these interval in a different place
would require a bigger stretch that 4 frets.
Page 3, Filling in the cracks...the
rest of the intervals
Page 5, All interval shapes
within a 4 fret area 
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