Bassist, author, and educator Ariane Cap shares practical bass insight, practice logic, and the stuff that happens between the notes, on the instrument and off it.
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๐ธ Note to Self (and Bassists): The Pentatonic Pattern Everyone's Selling
Published 29 days agoย โขย 1 min read
Notes to Self (and Bassists)
Dear Reader
Every few months someone asks why the "best" diagonal pentatonic pattern isn't in my Pattern Book. It is in there. We just don't start there.
Storyโ That diagonal shape, the one that strings boxes together and lets you run the whole neck?
A diagonal pattern for the E minor pentatonic
โ This pattern often gets sold a lot as the only pentatonic pattern you need. It's real, and it's in the Pattern System. But we teach it later, not first.
Here's why. Each section of the neck has its own terrain: string spacing, stretch, tone, note names. Learn that terrain separately first and your hand actually knows it, and your mind understands it. Say the noteneames, say the scale degrees. Own that area, layout and feel in the hand.
The 5 Pentatonic Shapes of the pattern system, area by area
โ โSkip that step and that diagonal pattern becomes a shape you memorize instead of a fretboard you know. โโ Do the step, and connecting the boxes is almost trivial. And, you can connect boxes all sorts of ways. You're linking ground you've already mapped. That's when you can move across the whole neck with actual confidence, not just one single memorized route.
Practice Spark
Pick one area and stay there. Play the pentatonic scale ascending and descending, eyes closed, until you stop checking your hand. Say note names, scale degrees. Improvise.
Now play parts of the Area 1 shape and connect it to the Area 2 shape. That "part" can be one string, 2, 3 or four. You can also skip and area and go straight from Area 1 to Area 3.
How many diagonal shapes can you find? Hint: there are many! โ โ
Summer Practiceโ โ No new cohorts this summer. Cohorts are our 12-week structured tracks: 5 units, weekly assignments, 4 live sessions with me, and a deadline that gets people to the finish line instead of letting the course stall on a hard drive. They fill up fast because the structure and the group actually work.
We're saving the next round for fall (starting September). This summer's for exactly this: fretboard sections, grooves, rhythm, technique, one zone at a time. Live Practice is open all season if you want to log the reps with me.
๐ Join our live practice - Open Pattern Practice is today (Thursday) - lurk or hop on camera:
Bassist, author, and educator Ariane Cap shares practical bass insight, practice logic, and the stuff that happens between the notes, on the instrument and off it.
Hey Reader, I hear a lot of rumbling about how hard of a time many have putting theory into usable bass lines. If that's on your mind, you are not alone. I remember being there myself! Here's why improvising feels so hard at first even after you've put in real work. It's because you're actually doing several jobs at once. I like to call it "spinning several plates." There are many, but here are two: One - choosing the notes. Notes aren't neutral. Every note carries emotional weight in the...
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