What’s the best way to practice Scales across the entire 5-String fretboard. The most I know how to play is a Scale and then play it an octave down, but I’m looking for a way to memorize the entire scale across the entirety of the fretboard.
Same patterns will work when you factor in the B string.
For more advanced guidance check out Mark Smith’s “Chord Tones” course at talkingbass.net
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Course Content
Module 1 - Principles Of Chord Construction
1-0: Introduction
1-1: Interval basics
1-2: Minor Intervals
1-3: Aug & Dim Intervals
1-4: Alternate Fingerings
1-5: Triads
1-6: Triad Isolated Practice
1-7: Triad Progressions
1-8: Seventh Chords
1-9: Seventh Chord Practice
1-10: The Essentials
1-11: Seventh Chord Progressions
1-12: Extensions
1-13: Altered Extensions
1-14: Added Note Chords
1-15: Suspended Chords
1-16: Inversions
1-17: Slash Chords
1-18: Alternative Notation
Module 2 - Mapping The Fingerboard
2-1: Cycle Of 4ths
2-2: Running The Cycle
2-3: The Three Patterns
2-4: Cycling In One Position
2-5: Second Position
2-6: Tonic Positions
2-7: Extended Patterns
2-8: D String Tonic Position
2-9: Position Shifts
2-10: Arpeggio Sequences
2-11: Two Octave Triads
2-12: Two String 7th Chords
2-13: Two Octave 7th Chords
2-14: Spelling Drills
2-15: Spelling Minor Triads & More
2-16: One String Arpeggios
Module 3 - Chord Tone Application
3-1: Chord Tone Application
3-2: Applying The 5th
3-3: Applying The 3rd
3-4: Applying The 7th
3-5: Non Chord Tones
3-6: Neighbour Notes
3-7: Passing Notes
3-8: Mixing Devices
3-9: Approach Notes
3-10: Enclosures
3-11: Chromatic Notes
3-12: Deconstructing Bass Riffs
3-13: Walking Bass
3-14: Fills
3-15: Soloing #1 Chord Changes
3-16: Soloing #2 Melodic Devices
3-17: Soloing #3 Guide Tones
3-18: Conclusion
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Yep - kind of unstated in all that is the heavy emphasis in the course on intervals and playing them up and down the fretboard
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I created this inspired on one of SBLs FOMO mails.
It’s for 6 string, but you can ignore one.
I start by populating the notes across the fretboard 0 to 12.
And then scale on top of them.
Example for first C, which is in B, first fret.
B1 - B3 - Open E - E1 - E3 - Open A - A2 - C3
Note that at the end of this octave in G5, you have to “jump” to E8 and start over for your last C major. A 6 string here, could had one more scale.
And that C3 is the first for a 4 string bass… step by step until you reach the 12th.
This makes sense for me, if it doesn’t for you… feel free to trash it.
Fretboard Note Learning - circle of 5ths - 6 String.pdf (33.0 KB)
Well, please advise if I am wrong in my understanding, but as a bass is tuned in perfect 4ths, a scale pattern will work on 5 string just as well, you just start on a lower root, but the pattern is the same.
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Here’s a pdf I made for various major scale patterns on 5-string. These are all 2-octave scales, but you can always extend them all the way up the neck. Hopefully this is enough to get you started?
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That circle of 5ths for 6 string pdf is actually ordered in 4ths
Yep 100% correct.