User manual BEHRINGER BT108 BASSPACK

[. . . ] ULTRABASS BASS GUITAR PACK BASS PACK CONTENTS High-quality electric bass guitar Padded gig bag High-quality lead (approx. 3 m) Adjustable bass guitar strap 3 plectrums Beginners book for the bass guitar 2 ULTRABASS BASS GUITAR PACK CONTENTS THE PARTS OF THE BASS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Left hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [. . . ] guitar, keyboard or vocals) and its your job to bring it all togetherso a good sense of rhythm is essential. This chapter is intended to give you an outline of the wide range of rhythms and to help you to start using them. In this chapter we will be using standard notation to illustrate note values and in the following rhythm exercises. Note values Pieces of music can be broken down into measures containing a certain number of beats. The best-known is undoubtedly the 4/4 measure. In this case each measure has four beats and if you were to play all four beats on your bass you would be playing four quarter notes per measure. There are, of course, many ways to fill a measure with beats of all kinds of length in order to create interesting rhythmic patterns. To do this you have to know the different note values into which a measure can be divided. If a 4/4 measure contains only one note that covers the entire length of the measure (four beats), then that note is known as a whole note. It is four quarter notes long: w=qqqq If you play two equally long notes in a 4/4 measure (one of them beginning on the 1st quarter beat and the other beginning on the 3rd quarter beat), then you are playing two half notes. Each of these notes has the same length as two quarter notes: hh=qqqq If you play one note on each of the four beats, the measure contains four quarter notesas mentioned above: qqqq=qqqq A quarter note can also be divided into shorter note values. For example, the length of one quarter note is equal to that of two eighth notes. If you play two eighth notes of equal length on each of the four beats, there are eight strokes in the measure: If you play four notes on each of the four quarter beats, you are playing what we call sixteenth notes. A 4/4 measure would then contain sixteen strokes: Dotted notes A dot after a note indicates that the value of the respective note is increased by one half of its original value. For example, a dotted quarter note has a length of one quarter note plus one eighth note, a dotted half note is one half note plus one quarter note, etc. h. =h+q l q. =q+e l e. = x + r In the following rhythm exercise there are dotted quarter notes in three places. When you play these notes, remember to extend each of them by one eighth note. 11 ULTRABASS BASS GUITAR PACK Rhythm exercise 1: This exercise combines the various note values in the course of eight 4/4 measures. To begin with, try playing each bar individually at a slow tempo ideally with the aid of a metronome. Sometimes it helps to count the quarter beats out loud or tap them with your foot while you play. Once you have mastered each of the measures individually, you can try joining them together. When you get to the end of the 8th bar, its best to start again from the beginning. Once you feel confident playing this exercise, try gradually increasing the tempo. In the following exercises all the notes are played on the open A string. [. . . ] The sweat from your hands can cause the strings to rust!Regular cleaning can prolong the life of your strings. Polish your bass from time to time with high-quality instrument polish containing a small proportion of silicon-free wax. To care for your fingerboard you can rub lemon oil on the wood with a cloth. [. . . ]