Hey dude

I'm a bass player too - I hear what you're saying about keyboard players. They always know what the chord is, all the altehttp://www.pgmusic.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/mad.gifrations, what inversion it's being played. It's freaky - most of them are also really good at coming up with basslines too if you ask them! http://www.pgmusic.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/mad.gif

I've been trying to work out why it is, so that I can apply it to the teaching of some of my students - what I think happens is that because of the nature of a keyboard instrument, and the nature of the keyboard repertoire, that learning keyboard players get an automatic course in ear training as they're learning their instrument. In most pieces they play there is harmony present (whether it's chords, or arpeggiated chords) as well as melody. So by the time they've been playing for a while they are used to the different sounds of chords - whereas a lot of traditional bass methods of learning involve playing the bass with just a drum machine or a metronome - it's not till a bass player gets further down the track that he might start playing with backing tracks/chord progressions.

I've got a couple of beginners as students and they're working on their right hand picking on the moment, nothing fancy, just open strings. So I've prepped a track for them that has a bar of E Major then one of E minor, then one of A major and one of A minor (and on for the D and G strings too). That way, when they're working through their right hand exercises, they are ALSO HEARING THE SOUNDS OF MAJOR AND MINOR CHORDS. And I'm trying to adapt more exercises to have a harmonic content...so hopefully when they're more advanced they will naturally have 'good ears.' Be interesting to see how it pans out - bit late for us old timers though!

Cheers




Paul

Paul Wolfe
how to play bass...learning songs, not scales!
http://www.how-to-play-bass.com