Tapping on Bass Guitar Lesson #12
                    =================================
                                          Ian Stephenson 
                                          ian@ohm.york.ac.uk 


When we looked at sliding notes, the final example was the arpegios for 


"Always with me, always with you". The final chord being F# major in root 


position:



|------------------------------------------------------------------|

|---------8---11---8-----------------------------------------------|

|-----9----------------9-------------------------------------------|

|-2----------------------------------------------------------------|



At the time, the point of the exersise was to slide between the two notes on 


the D string. However its tricky to do this acuratly, and the slide doesn't 


sound quite right anyway. Ideally we'd like to tap the note, but if you 


attempt to play the 9-8-11-8 pattern in a "ninth" hand position you'll find 


that the stretch is too much, and your third finger sort of collapses, and 


your nail just runs along the string (unless you've got BIG hands).



The trick is to bring your thumb from behind the neck, across your palm, and 


use it to play the fifth of the chord(11). You'll find that you use the 


outside edge of you thumb, just to the side of your nail, rather than the 


tip.



The thumb is usefull whenever you need that extra stretch, but you should 


probably consider it as a last resort, as its more clumsy, and offers less 


control of the note than fingers do. However its oftern just about the only 


way to play basic (non-exended) chords.



A number of variations on the above arpegio show how the thumb can be 


usefull:



 Minor        Scale      Major      Major 

|-----------|----------|----------|-------11-|--------------8-11--||

|-------8---|-------8--|----8--11-|----8-----|---------8-11-------||

|----9------|-9--11----|-9--------|-9--------|----9-11------------||

|-11--------|----------|----------|----------|-11-----------------||

  T  1  2     1  T  2    1  2  T    1  2  T    T  1 T  2 T  2  T



These are all quite easy, as the thumb can be moved across the fretboard far 


more comfortably than fingers can. In fact you can play some quite 


rediculous intervals:



|-------------|------6-----||

|---------10--|----7---7---||

|-----11------|-13---------||

|-15----------|------------||



The exact circumsances under which you'd WANT to play such intervals are 


hard to describe, but once in a while your thumb can bail you out if a 


really tricky chord. For example, from "Tears in the Rain":



|---------------17---------------------17------------|

|-----------15-----15--------------15------15--------|

|-------19-------------19-------19-------------19----|

|--10----------------------10------------------------|

   L    T   1   2  1   T   L   T   1   2   1   T



This weeks final example is an arpegiated accompaniment to the verse of 


Bryan Adams' "One Night Love Afair" (Reckless). This part was written to 


replace the accoustic guitar part found on the album, when I was playing it 


in a 3 piece band.



|--------------7-----------|--------9-----11--9-----9---|

|o-------9--------9-----9--|-----9-----9---------9-----o|

|o----9-----9--------9-----|--7------------------------o|

|--7-----------------------|----------------------------|

   L  1  2  1  L  2  1  2     L  1  2  1  3   2  1  2



|--------------7-----------|--------8------------8------|

|--------9--------9-----9--|-----9-----9------9-----9---|

|-----9-----9--------9-----|--------------11------------|

|--7-----------------------|--4-------------------------|

   L  1  2  1  L  2  1  2     L  1  2  1  T   1  2  1



|--------11----13-11----11-|--------9-----10--9-----9---|

|-----11----11-------11----|-----9-----9---------9------|

|--------------------------|----------------------------|

|--2-----------------------|--0-------------------------|

   L  1  2  1  3   2  1  2    P  1  2  1  3   2  1  2



The first couple of bars are a good illustration of how both hands can be 


used together to create complex arpegiated patterns. However by bar four the 


lefthand bass line requires that only the right hand is available for the Ab 


minor chord. At this point the thumb comes to the rescue, getting you 


through to the final (ninth poisition) bars.



Enjoy

Ian



Lesson Points :  Use of the thumb