Depending on where a person is in the bass learning process…
Doing the cycle of 4ths exercise that Mark Smith teaches is a great way to learn where all the notes are on the fretboard. This is how I managed to master my fretboard.
Also from Mark, the “root / octave” exercise up and down the fretboard using the index and pinky is a great way to build strength in the pinky, and overal dexterity.
I do a very simple arpeggio warmup.
Start on F# on E string, and play maj arpeggios up the strings.
When you get to B on the G string, move your pinky up one fret and do arpeggios backwards back down, then move your index up one fret on G, etc etc. up the neck.
Start very slow, play perfectly, then increase speed with a tempo.
Repeat with minor triads (starting on F vs. F#)
I’m the same, I go to a scale and then think in terms of scale intervals. Even on keyboard as well, for that matter, where the note is immediately and obviously apparent. The actual note name/value is irrelevant; all that really matters are the intervals.
I go up and down the fretboard in broken intervals starting with the 2nd and ending with the octave, playing them harmonically then melodically. It’s an ear training exercise so that I can better internalise the sound of intervals. It’s also a great scale listening exercise because when I occasionally play a bum note it’s obvious that it’s not in the scale. The starting and ending note of each interval is always within the scale, in this case, B major.
This is just a quick diagram I’ve produced going up the fretboard starting on B as the root. I first play the major 3rd(M3) both melodically and harmonically from B to D#. Then play the minor 3rd(m3) from C# to E. And so on, and then go back down. Then I do the 4ths, 5ths, etc.
Yes, that’s how it should be. The scale degrees are more important than the note names and are essential for remembering and processing the scales. For example in the modes.
