Chords for 3 Questions: Playing The U-Bass

_ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[E] _ _ [G] _ _ [A] _ _ [A] _ _
_ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _ [B] _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ [E] _
_ [Bb] _ _ [E] _ _ _ They're [Eb] tuned to your [Gb] usual upright bass, electric bass, [G] G, _ [D] D, _ A, [E] E.
And these are in
pitch, the correct [Gb] pitch for a bass.
_ _ _ _ _ Well this is a 20 and 3 quarter, 20 and 5 sixteenths, sorry, scale.
A regular electric bass is about 34 inch scale, so it's a lot shorter.
_ And the [Eb] frets are kind of close together, it takes [F] some getting used to when you're
playing it because you want to do the stretch, which makes it so comfortable to play.
But [Bb] it's in pitch and these little [C] rubber strings, really, [E] I'm amazed at how they stay
in tune.
I took it out of the case and they were very close to being in tune.
I haven't
played the thing in probably [G] five days. _
_ [D] And, [E] boy, they just, _ _ they really do it.
_ [A] _ _ _ _ [E] _
_ It's all [Eb] patterns with the bass.
That's what makes it so easy to play and almost any key
[Gb] is these patterns.
And, [C] _ oh, a scale, a G scale, you _ _ [G]
can use that, you can move down to the
next [C] string with the same pattern, a C, [F] _ [A] _ _ [C] _ if you can fret it correctly.
[E] So the bass is really set up for playing [Cm] a lot of keys and playing in [D] familiar patterns.
So let's say in a C, you've got the 1 [C] and 5, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
and the 4s, just the pattern is the same.
_ _ [F] _
_ [C] _ _ _ [E] _ _ [G] _ _
_ [Ab] So, if you can find that, _ [D]
the root and the 5, which is easy to do on this, you can accompany
[C] almost anybody fairly well with those two notes. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [Gb] The bass is B-A-S-E because it's the
[Db] bass of what's going on with the chords and what's [D] going on with the rhythm.
And your
ear, I think, naturally follows the bass, whether you know it or not.
And if there's
no bass in a band that's used to having a bass, [C] the guitar players or the horn players
go, wait a minute, when do I change?
And so it's the walking between, there's a lot of
different ways to do it, but say in a C _ to _ _ [G] _ _ [C] _ the 4, [C] _
_ [F] _ _ [C] _ _ and it's just another simple pattern.
_ _ _ _ _ [F] _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [F] _
[C] _ So, our ears get used to hearing that _ _ from the C to [E] the E [F] to the F, it's the same pattern
for [D] everything.
_ [C] _ _
_ _ [G] _ There's a certain amount of logic to it, which _ [C] I really like.
_ I'm a mechanical
minded person, and I kind of think in bass.
_ [E] So, when I'm hearing a tune on the radio,
I'm not singing the melody, I'm singing the bass line in my throat.
_ [A] _ _ _ _ _ [E] _
[A] My index finger and
middle finger, what I use the most, seldom [Em] use the thumb.
[A] Sometimes I'll play with the
pick, but most of the time it's with these two fingers.
And it's nice because you can
roll the string off the fleshy part of your finger, which is a nice sound, rather than
off the fingernail.
_ And on upright bass, I roll it off of [Ab] the side, kind of the knuckle
[A] on that finger, [E] _ _
[A] which gives it a better, and it all has to do with adjusting your style
[C] to the sound you're looking for.
And if [D] you want a real _ sharp, you can come off the fingernail.
_ As opposed to the fleshy part of the side of the finger.
[A] _ _ [Gm] _
_ [C] _ _ And there's no real pattern
for me [G] playing these strings.
I can play any string with any finger, just whichever is
the most convenient at the time.
[C] _ [A] _ _ [Cm] _ _ [F] _ _ [G] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ [F] _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [F] _ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
[C] _ _ [G] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ [C] _
_ [F] _ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ [A] _ _ [E] _
_ [C] _ _ _ [F] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ _ [F] _ _
[Bb] _ _ [C] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [F] _
_ [C] _ [F] _ _ [Fm] _ _ _ [N] _