To be a competent bass player, you will need to understand scale theory very well. A good bass player doesn't just 'sit' on the root note of the chord being played by a guitar or piano. The bass player is going somewhere with the line they are playing. They have their own thing going on within the song or piece.

The simplest place to start is with the Major scale. You will need to understand this scale not only for the sake of knowing it but it can be altered slightly to create new scales. You will also need to understand chord construction to know what notes to concentrate on during a bass line and what notes are for 'passing'. With the right knowledge and experience the bass player can define the feel of the chordal melody within a song, creating warmth and emotion.

It is important to understand Major Scale theory. Scale theory can get a little complex and complete knowledge of all scales or complete scale construction is very important to the bass player.

Some Quick Major Scale Theory (start here):
A major scale is a group of 7 different notes and an octave. We can start on any note but for this example we’ll use C. When starting on C, creating a C major Scale there are no Sharps or Flats. So a C Major scale will run through like this

C Major - c,d,e,f,g,a,b,c

The formula for creating a major scale needs to be understood. Each increment of increasing pitch is called a half tone. For example: going from C to C# would be considered to be a Half Tone (also known as a half step). If we use 'W' to represent a Whole Tone or Whole Step (being two half tones or the step from a C to D) and H to represent a Half Tone or Half Step (the Step up from C to C#) we can create a Major Scale formula that looks like this:

Major Scale Formula: W-W-H-W-W-W-H

Here’s a chart to make it as clear as possible (note: we refer to first C in this scale as the ROOT):

Major Scale Table in C


There is a section on Chord or Triad construction and you will be using this scale theory in every exercise. Here are some notes about what to expect while working through chord construction.
You need to know that each note is represented in chord construction theory as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc or ROOT, 2,3,4,5,6,7. You’ll also need to know that when when we play the note as is ,without a flat or sharp, it will be accompanied by M or P, example M3 meaning the major third or P5 which is a perfect 5th). If a note is flat it will be represented as something like m3 - further examples will be included when it is pertinent do so.

I’ve done my best to keep all this information as simple as I can. Read through it a couple times and refer back to this post if required.