YAMAHA Bass Guitar, Dark Blue Metallic finish

Product Information

Here’s a nice little pattern you can use. Since there are no open strings being used here you can actually move the pattern around if you want to play in different keys. The blues scale is in fact no more than a slightly modified pentatonic minor scale. By comparing the two scales you’ll notice that the only difference between them is that the blues scale contains an additional note. You can also use these shapes while improvising or composing. This is why additional notes outside of the octaves are provided. Using them you can extend the single-octave scales so that your lines don’t have to end on a tonic note.

When it comes to which wood your new bass is made of, there are so many different options available to you. Bass manufacturers have been some of the early adopters of alternative tonewoods to the ash/alder/mahogany paradigm. Obviously, these standard wood types are popular for a reason, but the more exotic choices such as ovangkol, bubinga, and panga panga each offer their own frequency response and tonal characters. So it’s worth trying a few out to see what is right for you. As to which is better, there is no real right or wrong answer, although people will argue that point. Whatever sounds best to you is best, and that’s the end of it – and we'll have no arguing, thanks. Four-string vs five-string vs six-string You'll first need to decide whether you want a long or short scale bass guitar. The scale – or scale length – of an instrument is the distance between the bridge and the nut, and we use it to measure the total playable length of the instrument. It ain’t cheap but the smart new finishes, the player-friendly amendments (improvements?) to an all-time classic and the tones are worth it. The tonic note of a scale is the note that the scale is named after, i.e. the ‘A’ notes in an A major scale, or the ‘C’ notes in a C major scale.

The following movable bass scale patterns can be used to play any blues scale on bass guitar. The green notes represent the tonic notes* of the scale. For a lot of people – especially new bassists – four strings is enough. For honing your chops, and getting used to the larger size of the bass guitar, the standard four-stringed approach is what we'd suggest you go for. Since its introduction in 1976, the Music Man StingRay has come to define the company’s bass-making. It is the most-recognisable model – well, the Bongo might be more of a head-turner, but this is the one that made it famous. Here at MusicRadar, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing, creating and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything music gear related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides.

You can go beyond simple quarter notes here but remember the blues uses a shuffle feel (see ‘Groove: 6 Examples Of Different Feels’) so make sure you know how to play that. First and foremost, we are guitarists, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set, ease of use and durability to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best bass guitars on the market right now.Technically, you can use a bass through a guitar amp, however it isn’t recommended. Guitar amps aren’t designed to handle the lower frequencies put out by a bass guitar - you could actually end up causing some real damage to it, so we’d definitely suggest looking at one of the best bass amps in our guide. How we test the best bass guitars Fender, realizing this a couple of decades ago, responded with the Japanese-made Aerodyne Jazz Bass, which has just been further refreshed – future-proofed, if you like – with the even more futuristic 2022 Aerodyne Special. Extended range basses are great for metal, or other genres of music that require lower notes. If you’re playing in a band with detuned guitars, then having a 5 or 6-string bass will mean you don’t need to tune lower - you’ve got the low notes there, and you don’t have to sacrifice the notes up top either! Many jazz players like 5-strings too as they allow for more movement in basslines. Weight and comfort Here are some of those patterns, scales and phrases you can use. These are moveable shapes and can be applied to whichever root note you are on (5th fret A, 5th fret D or 7th fret E). The BB435 nails that vintage-modern vibe, and like all great instruments it has a timeless quality, capable of holding its own in any company. Now, Yamaha does a very neat line in pro basses – the BBP35 is an exceptional top-line version of the BB435 that we’d recommend in a heartbeat – but this is an exceptionally priced instrument.

Position the green notes over the correct notes on the bass fretboard to play the scale with that tonic note. Here at Guitar World, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything guitar related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides. First and foremost, we are musicians, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set, ease of use and durability to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best bass guitars on the market right now.

More Bass Reference Pages on Guitar Command:

If the switching and EQ controls seem a little esoteric at first – and you’ll have a fun time finding the sweet spot – the performance of this modestly priced four-string puts it firmly in the workhorse category. Traditionally a bass guitar has four strings, tuned E, A, D, G. However, you can get 5 and even 6 string basses (and more!) that extend your frequency range. Basses with additional strings have a lower bottom string, so a 5-string will usually be tuned B, E, A, D, G, though of course you can pretty much tune it how you want. Funny how time works isn’t it? Even now, after all these years, figuring out Einstein’s theory of relativity still makes our temples hurt, but we are sure of one thing – things ain’t what they used to be.