In our just concluded lesson on major chord triads on the bass guitar, we learnt to play the major triad of any note. Now let us see how we can play
the minor chord triad of any note on the bass guitar. Are you ready? Let’s go.

The shape for the minor chord triad is:

Remember that the white dots represent the root note of the triad. So if you pick any note on your bass guitar, taking that note as the root and following this shape or pattern above, you have succesfully played the minor triad of that note. Look at the sequence below so that you can know which and which notes to play first.

I hope you understand how to play the minor of any note now. And also the major of any note on the bass guitar.

Now this is the part we have been waiting for. Let’s go to the next lesson of the application of of these major and minor chord triads.

What is a chord?
 
A chord is a combination of three or more notes taken from a related scale. Piano and guitar(rhythm) players may play
all notes of the chord at the same time but as a bass guitar player, you are required to play the notes of a chord one at a time.

What is a triad?

A triad is the basic chord form of any scale.

The root + 3rd + 5th
 Let us take a look at the major and Minor triad for now

  The difference between a major and minor triad is simple. You can know the difference by listening to the sound.

A major triad has a happy sound (1+ 3 + 5)

A minor triad has a sad sound (1 + b3 + 5)

Now this part is very importand because I will be showing you how to play the major chord or triad of any note on the bass guitar.

Look at the  diagram below for the shape of the major triad on the bass guitar:

The white dots stand for the root note. Dont forget that the numbers represent the fingers:

1 – pointer
2 – middle finger
4 – pinky finger

So if you want to play the major chord triad of any note, this is the shape you would follow. Just put the note as the white note in the diagram above and  follow the sequence. see a detailed explanation of the sequence or movement.

Now that you know how to play the major chord triad of any note on the bass guitar. You need to start practicing it. So you wont forget. Let us move over to the next stage  of developing minor chord triads on the bass guitar. It is very simple.

Don’t forget the finger exercises we did in the right hand. We are going to appy it here to supplement the left hand.

On your left hand, your thumb stays behind the fret board for support.

Now the gist is, you have four fingers left. One finger should take care of everything on a particular fret, another finger should take care of another fret. The same thing goes on for the remaining two fingers. Look at  the picture illustration below:

Image credit: James Benum White: The Massive Lion

In case you dont know what a fret is. Look at this image below to understand bettter:

Finger 1(pointer)                             Fret 1
finger 2(Middle finger)                   Fret 2
Finger 3(ring finger)                       Fret 3
Finger 4(pinky)                               Fret 4

So starting at the fourth string, play the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th fret with the 1, 2, 3, 4 finger respectively. Make sure your two fingers on the right hand alternate. I.e I M  check this  ost to refresh your memory)

Then go to the third string and repeat the process. Do the same on the 2nd and 1st string.

Now repeat the process starting from the first string to the fourth string.

What you have done now is called a permutation and it is a good form of finger exercise. There are many other permutations that you can use to exercise your fingers. Check them out below:

1 – pointer finger
2 – middle finger
3 – ring finger
4 – pinky

1 2 3 4                  2 1 3 4                    3 1 2 4                 4 1 2 3
1 2 4 3                  2 1 4 3                    3 1 4 2                 4 1 3 2
1 3 2 4                  2 3 1 4                    3 2 1 4                 4 2 1 3
1 3 4 2                  2 3 4 1                    3 2 4 1                 4 2 3 1
1 4 2 3                  2 4 1 3                    3 4 1 2                 4 3 1 2
1 4 3 2                  2 4 3 1                    3 4 2 1                 4 3 2 1

You can get to know everything about a musical instrument in a day, but the question is, will your body be able to handle it?

Our bodies need to develop certain muscles so they would be able to play a musical instrument convieniently. If you play the piano, your fingers and hands need to develop certain muscles to handle it.

If you play the guitar, your hands and fingers will have to develop muscles too.

If you play the drums, your legs and hands have to develop muscles too.

If you think i’m lieing, give your guitar to a total novice and tell them to strike a chord, a very simple chord. show them how to go about it, I can assure you that in the next one hour they won’t be able to do it as you can do it.

This is because you have gotten used to it through your reharsals and practice.

Ok. Enough of the stories. I want to show you finger exercises you can use for your right hand if you play the bass guitar.

We are using three fingers here:

Your thumb(that fat and short finger)
Your index finger(the one you use to point at an object)
Your middle finger(you know the middle finger well)

I am asuming that you are using a four-stringed bass guitar. So anytime I mention the fourth string, just know that I am referring to the thickest string.

Let your thumb rest on the fourth string. If you need to strike the fourth string, let the thumb play it inside out.

Now what will the pointer and middle finger be playing?

The pointer and middle will be alternating between each other. How?

the pointer(Index) will strike the third string
then the middle will strike the third string too.

So

I M     I M      I M     I M     I M

remember I stands for index and M stands for middle.

The index and middle fingers are striking the third string from outside to the inside.

It might not be easy for total beginners but as time goes on, you would be getting used to it. After some few days it would become easier.

The next stage right now is to extend the exercise to other strings.

I M     I M      I M     I M     I M      (String 3)
I M     I M      I M     I M     I M      (String 2)
I M     I M      I M     I M     I M      (String 1)
I M     I M      I M     I M     I M      (String 2)
I M     I M      I M     I M     I M      (String 3)

Now lets get to finger exercises for the left hand of the bass guitar

This is the diagram of the minor scale on the bass guitar

The solfa notation for the natural minor which is the basis of all other minor scales is:

d r mo f s ze taw d.

For a more detailed movement of the minor scale on the bass guitar, look at the diagram below.

Note that the white dots stand as the root note of the scale. Have you learnt about the major scale, you can learn more about the major scale here

To play the major scale on the bass guitar. Use diagram below as an illustration:

The formula for major scale is

T  T  ST  T  T  T  ST

T    =   Tone
ST  =   Semi tone

So if we take our root from C

We have:

C  D  E  F  G  A  B and back to C
d   r   m  f   s   l    t   and back to d