Description
Ultimate Music Theory For Bass Vol 1: Theory Fundamentals
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Music Theory For Bass Course?
Music Theory For Bass is a two volume course devoted to music theory from the absolute basics all the way through to advanced degree level jazz harmony.
Volume 1: Theory Fundamentals is a primer on all foundational areas of theory necessary for moving into the more advanced Volume 2: Applied Harmony.
In Volume 1 we look at the basics of sound and pitch, music notation, rhythm, keys, scales, arpeggios, chords and much more. Upon completion, the student will be prepared for entering any academic music theory grading system.
Volume 1: Theory Fundamentals contains 8 hours of video content spread over 44 lessons and 144 pages of lesson material.
Each lesson culminates with an online test that will quiz you on all of the information covered in that video.
What level of player is the course aimed at?
The course is aimed at players of any bass skill level from beginner to advanced. But from a theory perspective, Volume 1 is aimed at beginner to intermediate level. Volume 2 is intermediate to advanced.
What Will I Learn?
After completing the course you will have developed a foundation in all areas of music theory. The course is comparable to enrolment in a college harmony class. At a significantly lesser price!
How Long Are The Lessons?
The lesson lengths vary from 5 to 30 minutes each but the complete course contains almost 8 hours of video content.
What are the lessons of the course?
Module 1 – The Musical Foundation
- Introduction
- The Sounds Of Music
- Tuning & Consonance
- Fretboard Theory
- Pitch Notation
- Rhythm and tempo
- Music Reading On Bass
- Rhythms in Application
- Subdivision
- Sixteenth Notes
- Rests and Silence
- The Dotted Note
- Tied Notes
- Triplets and swing
- Other Meters
Module 2 – Scales, Keys and Intervals
- The Major Scale
- Key Signatures
- Scale Degrees
- Interval Basics
- The Circle Of Fifths
- Double Sharps and Flats
- Minor Intervals
- Alternative Fingerings
- Aug and Dim Intervals
- Minor Scales and Keys
- Relative Keys
- Interval Inversion
- Compound Intervals
- The Pentatonic Scale
- The Chromatic Scale
Module 3 – Harmony Essentials
- Tertian Harmony and Triads
- Alternative Fingerings
- Chord Voicing
- Augmented Chords
- Diminished Chords
- Seventh Chords
- The Essential Seventh Chords
- Extensions
- Altered Extensions
- Added Note Chords
- Suspension
- Chordal Inversion
- Slash Chords
- Chord Simplification
How is the course presented? Do I Download Anything?
The course is hosted on the Talkingbass website so there are no video files to download. There is a direct link and a dropbox folder link containing the Course Workbook.
Is There A Time Limit On Taking The Course?
No. You can take as long as want. There are no time limits
Do I Have Lifetime Access To The Course?
Yes, all TalkingBass purchases provide Lifetime Access.
Can I see a sample lesson?
Yes, here you go. This is lesson one from Module 2 in which we look at the construction of the Major Scale:
Keith Bolger –
I have found this course very interesting and has inspired me to learn as much as I can.
I enjoy Mark’s method of teaching. I am getting a lot out of this course. And will keep working on the theory lessons till the end. All the courses that I have purchased are very good and I think anyone who wants to learn bass should try them. I think my playing has improved a lot since learning from Mark’s lessons.
Patrick BOULASSY –
Totally agree with Sean concerning pricing. I really think that Mark should think it over
Klaus Kaspar –
The course (Volume 1) gives a very good overview of theoretical music fundamentals tailored to playing bass and it’s clearly structured. I’m looking forward to Volume 2.
Geoffrey Stevens –
so happy with this course. so easy to follow and the information is brilliant. I’ve done 15% of the first course and it has changed so much for me. thanks mark. great course and through this I am discovering all the free stuff that supports this course. practice room is ace. this is worth every penny.
Sean Middleton –
I like the way Mark’s videos are very focused and concentrate purely on the lesson subject, without any superfluous chit chat. I’m a member of SBL and I also like Scott’s stuff but SBL’s instructional videos tend to have a lot of superfluous chit chat, so in general I prefer Marks tutorials. Also the TB PDF materials are excellent. TB is more my go-to learning platform than SBL.
One of my weak areas is left hand fingering and I’m often unsure of what fingering to use, so some more focus on that within the tutorials would be good. It’s sometimes very difficult to pick out left hand fingering from the videos. It would be fantastic if fingerings in brackets could be added onto the tab pop-ups in addition to the tab notes. Alternatively, a pop out magnifying glass zoom of the left hand within the video would be great.
In terms of improvements Mark presents very well but is sometimes a little too fast, so I have to rewind a bit. That’s good and bad I guess in that you can move quickly through the lesson quickly, if you a quick enough to follow. For me I’d like it a little slower at times; but I can live with the rewind.
Another area which might be looked at is pricing. If you sign up for each and every course on TB you’d need to take out a second mortgage ! Contrastingly, I took up a lifetime membership on SBL for $497 (I managed to get a 50% discount during the sale). I think the normal price was $1000. That seems like excellent value and TB should consider looking at their pricing structure. However, TB remains my preferred tutorial source.