20 Minute Regiment:

 

I develop the 20 minute married man or woman regiment for bass players. In this regiment, I try to fuse the time where the kids are doing their homework and you running scales on the bass with headphones plug into the amp. While the children are doing their work you should be practicing so by the time they finish you can check their school work. It’s all about keeping a constructed
family environment while preparing for the weekend gig.

The first maneuver is to connect one scale with another for example “g” major to “g: major on the 10th fret if the “a” string and link it to the 12th fret of the “g” string and back again. Fill in the major 3rd the perfect 5th the major 7th and so on. Walk the bass in “g: with open strings.

The second maneuver is the major second and its’ charismatic flavor to arouse the listener. Let’s look at the open “E” on the 7th fret of the “a: string and use a solo block that I have created for my book. “The Creative Formula for the Bass Guitar”
In a slap method you would slur the note when a hammer on is applied. I play the bass from the neck down and up, across and diagonally. (D-E-G-A-B-D-E) plus (G-A-D-E) illuminate the natural tone of the electric bass.

The Third maneuver is taken from my “stair step exercises” with alitte twist. I take one string and school it! In a chromatic fashion down the neck from the 12th fret. Use your open strings as a point of contact or so what as a goal line. Push your self until you feel the tension build up in your waist and then relax.

 
 

 

 

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From The Desk: Brian V. Ellis Editor and Producer

 

 

“What is The Future of Bass Improvisation?”

The future of Bass Improvisation is when there is no differentiation in a bass player’s style. We tend to become stereotypical by our genre and appearances for example: a musician with a white bow tie and a tuxedo, you would think he’s going to play a classical piano piece by Beethoven. A musician wearing a black leather jacket with tattoos and body piercings you would like to think he’s going to play heavy metal guitar. My goal is to establish a neutral and indecisive ground of musicianship applied with the highest level of performance. So My outlook is no matter if you’re black, white, male, female, straight, gay, religious, or non-religious; if you had your back turn and heard someone playing a funk bass line from Bootsy Collins, it doesn’t have to be an Afro-American, it can possibly be a white female thumpin’ the bass or if you had your back turn and heard somebody playing country music, it can be a Chinese musician. I think you get the idea, by attacking the mind set of what we appear to be the norm; we launch out into the deep realms creative explorations. Just because you’re a certain nationality don’t be pigeon holed into one type of Music. I player to advance to a level in their skills, even if you’re a punk rocker you can still perform at an Bar Mitzvah , even if you’re Latino and play Cuban jazz or maybe you don’t speak English very well, you still will be able to read the music chart for a Pop rock studio session. These methods I have acquired over the years from my adventures and explorations on the Bass have proven to be astonishing.

Yours Truly,

Brian Ellis: The Creative Formula for the Bass Guitar  

 

 

 

Bass Solo Table 3


This new bass table is the driving force of the Creative Formula for the Bass Guitar. I created this system several years ago for my students to gasp the beauty of different styles of music.
The response has been overwhelming with great developments in ear training skills. The student should play these scales across, up and down , diagonally , backwards , from the bottom up and even from the center out to transform each line into a colorful array of melodic tones for soloing.

Many students haven’t seen these scale patterns explained in such a profound manner. It helps them get excited about Music theory. I became fortunate enough to lock into my own bass technique and approach to share with the world.



By Brian Ellis

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