This was going to be an update to the FAQ page but thought that it would make a good post.
In my experience audible acoustic vibration on a Bass Guitar is almost always due to two things. The most common is Machine head vibration, the other will be an over loosened truss rod. The fender style machine head is constructed in a way that if the 'butterfly' part can become loose without falling apart. I have one bass with this issue and really the only real fix is to replace the head. I've tried rubber bands, sticky-tape, bits of paper and nothing has worked well enough. So, let's fix the thing properly right now!
For the purpose of this post I'm going to go to a little more effort.
Here is an image of the offending part. You can see the remnants of sticky-tap on it.


My first repair attempt was to use a vise grip to apply an incredible amount of pressure in attempt to reduce the movement of the part and stop the vibration. This made a difference but didn't fix the problem completely.


Next, I scuffed up the surface with some sand paper and prepared to solder the two parts together. A heavy duty soldering iron can help here. A little low wattage one is not going to get the surfaces hot enough.
The basics of this operation are that you need to get the surface of the 'job' hot enough to melt the solder.
In the first image here you can see that I've pretty much got the repair done but the solder is a little bubbled and I wasn't confident that repair would hold so I've added heat again, and a bit more solder and completed the job with a bit more patience. When you're finished the solder should shine and not be raised like a bubble.


This should have the job complete. If there is still vibration coming from the part and you can tell by touching it while playing a note, replace the machine head completely.

This last week I've added Diminished Arpeggios to the ebook for 4 and 5 string bass guitar. They were all closed patterns and each page shows the fretboard pattern, notation and the TAB. In addition the left hand fingering was included.
These links go directly to the pages:

4 String Bass Patterns
- A Diminished Arpeggio 1
- A Diminished Arpeggio 2

5 String Bass Patterns
- 5-String Pentatonic Pattern
- A Diminished Arpeggio 1
- A Diminished Arpeggio 2

You can also check-out what else is in the ebook my going to the navigation page
- Bass Guitar Player Ebook

A diminished chord or arpeggio is on that has a flat 5 and a flat 3. As a bass player you will at some stage be called to play over a diminished chord and you'll be well prepared if you remember the diminished triad theory and these two arpeggios.
The first diminished arpeggio is a passive variation moving down the neck and the second diminished arpeggio variation is one that moves up the neck but still in one position. The second Diminished arpeggio is easier to play as it in a single position, but might not be the flavor you want to have. Try them out and read more. Below are the graphics of the two arpeggio variations with TAB, notation and graphic frame.

I've recently added two new pages to the Bass Guitar EBook. I had noticed that a few visitors had come from google having searched for things like a 'C Major Pattern on Bass Guitar'. So, I went away and created a couple images of A C Major pattern and a G Major Pattern. They are both movable patterns and can be used to create a major scale in any key. Here are the two images. Read more in the ebook at G Major Scale and C Major Scale





The Ebook is shaping up to be a great resource for intermediate to Advanced Bass Players. Subscribe to it's feed to keep up to date with all the new material BASS PLAYER EBOOK FEED

What I'm trying to do with this bass guitar ebook is to document essential theory and give support lessons from various Bass Teachers around the world. Dave Marks seems to have his head screwed on pretty straight and this lesson is good example for intermediate players to grasp the arpeggio concept. Add this lesson to some strong foundations in Music theory and you'll be able to improve what you are playing on Bass.

As a bass player what you are generally doing is playing grooves based around chord forms. Use this lesson in conjunction with triad theory to improve your understanding of what you need to be doing on stage and in the band room.

I wanted to let everyone know that I have added some interesting things to our online music notation content. The first thing is a chord chart for guitarists. This has been added to electricguitarplayer.info
The next thing is some medium level Arpeggios for bass guitar in C. The accompanying sheet with that piece has music notation, TAB and frames showing an exercise in major, minor, minor 7 and major 7. It's a bit of a hand stretch but great fun for masochist bass players

An Augmented Triad is one that has the Major Third and a sharpened fifth.

As with triads that mess with the natural order of 'harmony' this triad produces a 'danger' or 'scary' type of sound. It has an intense flavor and would be used sparingly in the middle octaves. Another thing to understand is that this chord will not occur naturally in any key. The mysterious thing about this triad is that it will be replicated on guitar every four frets with a different enharmonic spelling with the same formation.

Augmented Triad: ROOT, M3, 5+

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The construction of the diminished chord is that we flatten the 3rd to create a minor triad then in addition we flatten the fifth creating the diminished triad.

Well, all bass players are going to come across a few these in their days and many won't even know what they are doing. A flat fifth is also know as something rather evil. Apparently it was a sin to play at some stage of our Christian history. Black Sabbath, although Christian, played the flattened 5th often. As it was a superstition that it would conjure the devil, sabbath would cloak their instruments, their clothing and their stage with crucifixes to ward off the evil. I'm not kidding about this.

Diminished Triad: ROOT, m3, ˚5

5 String bass allows the player to get down lower and travel a little more freely in one position. I have notated a Dm Pentatonic scale for 5 string bass. It is a movable pattern, if you were to up the starting note a whole tone (two frets) to an E and did the same for every note in the patterns then you would have yourself an Em Pentatonic. The3 construction of the scale is standard to any instrument and you can read the theory on the Pentatonic scale supplied in the Scale Theory Section.

Click To Enlarge

If you're interested in the theory behind the scale visit the Scale Theory - Pentatonic Scales page.

Here is a sheet music page that you can print out and use for practice. On it is some variances of a root position pentatonic scale in the key of Am. The true notation and tab has been supplied on the sheet. You can transpose this scale simply by moving it up and down the neck of the guitar starting on different notes. If you keep the same pattern you will be playing the minor pattern of the first note in each section.

We can see what sorts of things you are searching for in Google when you come to our site and thought it would be a good idea to start a FAQ page to help future visitors.

FAQ (of google and yahoo)

are pentatonic scales the same with a bass guitar?

Well in essence, yes, Pentatonic scales are the same on Bass as they are on regular 6 string guitar. Pentatonic scales are 5 note (penta) scales derived from Major scales. They are played in modal fashion for minors etc.. Pentatonic Scales are just that, a scale. They can played on any instrument you wish. As far as fingering goes a bass guitar's strings are the same as the low 4 strings on a guitar so the position is the same for those 4 strings. Click here for a music notation sheet including tablature (TAB) for an Am Pentatonic

Fender headstock transfer?

I've seen many transfers for sale on eBay. If you have an original instrument, I'd recommend going and contacting either an authorized distributer or the company themselves

Unscrewing and Ibanez Bass's jack.

A lot of Ibanez bass guitars have no scratch plate and you'll need to remove the back plate to tighten or remove the jack. Bass guitars with scratch plates need to have the scratch plate removed to gain access to the back of the jack. When removing a scratch plate you may need to remove the strings.

Minor Pentatonic on a 5 string Bass.

A minor pentatonic or any other scale doesn't change in theory regardless of the instrument you are playing. To help out Bass Guitarist trying to get their head around the instrument I have started writing tab / notation sheets for practice. You can see one of these sheets at 5-string Bass Pentatonic Pattern

Major Scale Construction

Easy, have a look at the Major Scale section

 

This page will be updated regularly.

PukeHead Music Community is Dead.
The people involved in PukeHead had big hopes and ambitions pouring thousands of dollars and hours into promotion and development. PukeHead took 8 months to develop and after some server issues on Servage, never recovered from the early popularity.
Over the years the owners of PukeHead became resentful of online music promotion and the PukeHead site. Regularly the financial costs were discussed as the head programmer could only regret the incredible amount of time invested in the scripting of the site.
With thousands of dollars lost and thousands of hours seemingly wasted the decision was made to pull the plug. "I didn't think it would be so easy, but after so many losses, it was just a part of my Saturday morning scripting routine. Bam, it was gone." Going on to say things like "It didn't hurt, in fact I'm feeling quite indifferent about the matter", Head Programmer and birth father NR really didn't care anymore.

Understanding the natural progression of scales in contemporary Jazz and Classical styles is a key to song writing and can also be used in practice.

This image of the circle of fifths / cycle of fourths is reversed to most you will see. The Cycle of Fourths runs clockwise and the Cycle of Fifths runs anti-clockwise. It still all means the same this and is created in the same way. Notice as we cycle through the fourths that a flat is added on that side of the image. When practicing or writing in a contemporary or Jazz style it can be handy to cycle your chord progression around in the fashion of the cycle of fourths. Alternatively, you can go the other way for a more classical style. How many songs have been written with a chord progression that goes C - G - D and then the occasional A. You're probably doing it and don't even know why.

When you circle through the fifths what you are doing is starting the next Major Triad or scale on the Fifth increment of the previous. If you want a Jazz feel go the other way and play the fourth increment.

An easy way to remember the cycle or the circle is to know that the keys (without incidentals) are C at the top, F then BEAD G BEAD G in the direction of the cycle of fourths. The first BEAD G is all flat and the second is all natural.

tuning heads - Sometimes called "tuners" or "machine heads". These are used to tighten or loosen the strings. Each tuning head controls one string on the bass. Tightening the string makes the pitch of the string higher, while loosening the string makes the pitch lower.

head stock - The head stock is just the top part of the bass. the piece of wood that the tuning heads are attached to. The whole section of the bass above the nut is referred to as the "head stock".

nut - The nut is a thin piece of ivory, graphite or plastic that sits between the headstock and the fretboard. It raises the strings off of the fretboard and has a groove for each string that holds the strings in place. This allows the strings to vibrate freely, not touching the fretboard or each other when plucked.

neck - The neck is the longest part of the bass. It is the part of the bass that you "hold" with your fretting hand (as opposed to your plucking or picking hand). The word "hold" is in quotes because your hand should be relaxed, sliding up and down the neck to and from the frets that you are playing, not squeezing. The neck itself is under tremendous pressure from the tension of the strings, when tightened. It is prone to bending or warping. To counter this, a "truss-rod" (a long metal bolt) is installed the length of the neck, mounted underneath the fingerboard (you can't see it). It can be adjusted when necessary in order to offset the tendency of the neck to warp or bend one way or another, thus keeping the neck straight and and the bass playing properly. The head of the truss rod bolt is usually underneath a little plate screwed into the front of the headstock, right behind the nut. When speaking of the neck, we are usually referring to the back of the neck (not shown) as opposed to the front of the neck, upon which is glued the fretboard.

fretboard - Sometimes referred to as the "fingerboard", especially on fretless instruments such as the violin, cello or double bass. The fretboard is the wood attached to the neck that you can see from the front of the bass. When you press your finger on a string and hold it down onto the fretboard, the note that will sound if you pluck the string is the note that corresponds to the fret directly to the right of your finger (on a right handed bass). The fretboard is essentially a foundation for the frets and a support for your fingers while fretting. At no time will the vibrating part of a string ever touch the fretboard. The fingerboard on a fretless instrument is much more involved in producing the notes. On a fretless instrument, the point on the fingerboard where you press down the string is the exact point which determines the note that will be played. The string directly touches the fingerboard on fretless instruments.

frets - The frets are skinny pieces of metal that are set into the fretboard at specific intervals, sticking up above the fretboard just enough so that the string can be pressed down onto it without the string actually touching the fretboard. The intervals which the frets are spaced correspond to "half notes". When tuned properly, pressing down the string, so that the string rests on a fret, will allow you to play a specific consistent note (or pitch) at each fret. The frets on a bass guitar correspond directly to the frets on a standard guitar. Knowing the notes one one will allow you to play the other fairly easily.

fret markers - These "dots", inlaid flush into the fretboard, are simply "markers" that allow the player to quickly see where he is on the fretboard with just a glance. They allow orientation of the fretboard notes, but are not a necessary part of the bass. sometimes they are also on the edge of the neck and sometimes they are not dots, but other, often intricate, designs.

E, A, D and G strings - The E string is the "lowest", fattest, string on the 4 string bass. It is the string that is closest to you when you are playing the bass. When tuned in the standard way, playing the E string without pressing it down onto any frets (the open position) will produce an "E" note. The A string is the next fattest string, then the D, then the G, which is the thinnest string, sitting the farthest from you when playing. The strings on a 4 string bass correspond exactly to the lowest 4 strings on a standard guitar, except that the bass is tuned an octave lower than the standard guitar. 5 string basses have a low B string, which is even fatter and lower than the E string, and 6 string basses add a high B string, which is thinner and higher in pitch than the G string.

strap button - A shoulder strap can be conveniently hooked onto this strap button and an identical strap button on the tail of the bass (just below the bridge), allowing you to play the bass while standing in a relaxed position.

body - Just like a standard electric guitar, the body of an electric bass is simply a solid piece of wood, or fiberglass, graphite, Lucite, Plexiglas, or any number of modern materials. The body has a cavity cut into it in order to house the electronics, which is covered either by the pickguard, or a plate which is screwed into the back or front of the bass. The shape and material which the body is made of makes much less impact on the sound of an electric bass than the body of an acoustic bass. This accounts for the wild designs and materials sometimes used when making electric basses.

pick guard - The pickguard is the piece of plastic or other material that is affixed to the bass in order to protect the finish of the bass from getting scratched while playing with a pick. When you strum or pluck the strings with a pick (plectrum), the body of the bass directly below the G string can get scratched. Over time, the finish of the bass in this area totally wears away. Most pro players would regard this as a badge of honor, however for the player who treasures the look their instrument it can be an important concern. In cases such as the Fender P-Bass and many other electric instruments, the pick guard is more of an engineering solution than a finish protection device. It simply serves to cover the electronics cavity, allowing easy access to the guts of the bass by unscrewing it from the body. The entire electronics of many basses are attached to the pickguard, rather than the body, of the bass. This allows the electronics to be assembled separately from the rest of the bass. Some styles of basses do not have pickguards and many bassists do not use picks.

pickup - While the body of the bass has less influence on the sound of the electric bass than it's acoustic counterpart, the pickup on a bass has almost everything to do with the instrument's sound characteristic. There can be more than one pickup on a bass and the position of the pickup on the body of the bass, i.e. closer to the neck or the bridge, will affect the tone. The pickup sits directly under the strings in the body section of the bass. It does not touch the strings at all, but it picks up the vibration of the strings when they are plucked. The little "circles" in the pickups are actually cylinder magnets or "poles" which are wrapped with very thin copper wire. Each pole is directly under a string. When a string vibrates above that magnetic pole, electrons are excited in the wires wrapped around it and an analog electric signal flows through the pickup and out the jack and through the cable and into the amp...etc..

volume and tone controls - These do exactly what you would expect. One controls the volume of the bass and one controls the tone of the bass. On instruments with more than one pickup, you might have another tone control (one for each pickup) and either another volume control for the additional pickup, or an additional knob or switch that allows you to select between the different pickups or blend them together. The signal path on a bass is generally pickup > volume > tone > jack.

bridge - The bridge is the part of the bass that holds the strings at the opposite end of the bass from the nut. Like the nut, it has grooves for each string and raises the strings above the fretboard so that they can vibrate freely and independently. Unlike the nut, the bridge can usually be adjusted easily in order to raise or lower the height of the strings over the fretboard and, most importantly, the intonation of each string. Accurately adjusting the intonation of each string is crucial to the playability of any fretted instrument. Most instruments should come from the factory with the intonation adequately set. It is a task which requires intermediate skill, but you can perform it yourself if you learn how. Check the other tutorials here at 2kool4skool.com for instructions on intonation and bridge setup. The same technique will work for guitars and basses and should work as well for the banjo, mandolin, mandola, ukulele, lute, vihuela, guitarron, bajo sexto, quinto, charango, cuatro, oud, saz, dobro, sitar, dulcimer, zither and other western fretted instruments.

Victor Wooten is an awesome technique master. In this You Tube Video Victor shows some great right hand technique. Add this to your set of tools. Mastering this type of playing isn't essential to be an awesome bass player, but this stuff will definitely give you some additional fire power when you're playing your next groove. Of all the vids of seen of Bass Masters this one has been the most useful. Personally I don't get into the entire Victor Wooten Package. I can respect his technique, but I believe he goes a bit far and losses the beauty of the bass instrument.

You'll find this and more in our ebook for bass guitar

We've added bits and pieces of music theory and lessons to our Bass Player Ebook. You can now learn about theory, triads and there are some YouTube lessons on there as well. Here is the entire bass player category tree:

Navigation:
Basics
- Strings and Tuning

Scale Theory
- Major Scales
- Minor Scales
- Modes of the Major Scale
- Pentatonic Scales

Triad Theory
- Major Triad
- Minor Triad

Interesting Posts
- Dave Marks Bass Lesson (arpeggios)
- Victor Wooten Bass GuitarTechnique
- Canora or Ibanez
- Seinfeld Slap Bass Piece from You Tube
- Bass Lessons Sunbury
- Audio Mixing
- Making Money On The Net


So check some of it out. You can only improve you're playing!