The PRO way of playing pentatonic scales on the bass

I'm a new bass player at 61 yo. I've always been fascinated by the instrument and decided to go for it (and stop talking about doing it)! I've got a lot to learn. Thanks for your insight!

Thanks for the info. I'm 67 years old and began learning bass a year ago. I played drums since the age of 8 and I am beginning a new adventure.

Shift going up, ascending, with the 1st instead of the 3rd finger! Shift with the 3rd going down, descending, going down! It will be smoother!

I recently heard the phrase "playing the dots" to describe Geezer Butler's minor pentatonic approach to Black Sabbath's bass. The brilliance of playing the pentatonic in this way is that everything is 2 frets or a string change away. I like to call it the "Pentatonic Cross" because one can imagine a + shape. If you start the pattern on the left side of the + as your root, you are playing the minor pentatonic. If you start at the top of the + as your root, it's the major pentatonic. Using the + as a scale "backbone", it is easy to take the pentatonic and add in the appropriate two notes one fret away to complete a full 7 note major or minor scale. I get way more millage playing in and around the + than I ever have using the typically major scale pattern - just as he mentions in the beginning of the video. In short, it is much easier as a beginner to start to learn the notes on neck, not get lost, and always play in key if everything is 2 frets or a string change away !

This was great advice and well-reasoned. I try to avoid shifting (to a fault), and the "musicality" argument gives me a reason to break out of the box. You are not the first person to suggest it, but you are the first who didn't just offer the shifting as a fingering alternative.

Thank you

Been playing bass 3.5 years. At first I learned my scales the usual way… across 3 strings. But then I realised you need to also be able to play across 2 strings, which I think is the principle he’s talking about here; The added bonus is that you get to practice shifting & moving around the fretboard more which is how you get into & out of a different register. Also, playing up & down a single string is a good way to visualise & learn the intervallic nature of a scale.

It's amazing to me that I am just now starting to see the pentatonic taught this way. I picked this up less than a year into my 40 year career as a shitty bedroom player, but I never EVER saw it taught this way until very very recently. Also, if you know what additional notes to plug in where, and depending on where in that pattern you place the root, you can easily get the notes for any mode (major or minor) or the blues scale. Very, very simple.

This video instantly made my random pentatonic noodling sound more musical 🎉

Awesome thanks - Bell hit look forward to more learning from you mate. Cheers ❤

You my friend just earned a subscriber.

Like you, as a young bassists I learned the major pentatonic in one position. It took many, many years for me to realize that I should play it as you teach it here. It was transcribing guitar solos and paying attention to the slides/hammered double stops that led to my epiphany. Great lesson - hope that it can save some over people some time.

This and chromatic are used in every kind of music, if you know it or not. The major scale is rarely used, but you can combine any shapes that you like !. How awesome is that, whatever shapes or patterns you can do. I do that way of playing the scale and do almost the exact same thing as you. I play by ear though, I never read any music in my life and I basically ignore scales, I don't really need to think about it anymore. I do think about it, but it's more fluid. Kind of like singing now, I just have to find the right key. The rhythm is so important, for any song as a bassist, it's just as important as chords, scales. But really, you just need real comfort with your Bass, your fretboard. Once you can slide up a few octaves, find keys without missing, game changer. That just comes with time, like a lot of techniques. Rhythm takes a lot of time, to really get your timing down. People think they got it down, but then everything changes later on. Because they need to count more timing and rhythm, that's all. Your fret style will actually change, based on the amount of rhythm you practice, because as you improve your choices will change and always evolve. This continues on for like 20 years, more. The stuff I play now, compared to 6 years ago has completely changed. I will never stop learning new stuff, though. I will become more like a drummer, also a guitarist. Bass is half drum, half guitar and it's a bridge between instruments. Nobody really mentions this, too much anymore except drummers. If you keep this in mind, I find Bass practically plays itself. Your choices are actually slim at best, for what you need to be playing for any given song. It's a matter of how well you can play the song in your head. The drummer kind of needs you more than anyone else on the stage. Stages are not the hardest part of playing, it's practicing. Bass is maybe the hardest instrument to master. If anyone thought it was easy, your bassist sucks. Guitar has one job, Bass has two jobs. If I played guitar only, Id slay you guys after a while. I learned that stuff too fast...had to put her down cause it's distracting me. Play that thing with your wang, still sounds good or the same. Now I understand Jimi Hendrix, playing with his mouth.

Thank you Steve! I’ll be trying this new-to-me way of playing pentatonics. Your a natural teacher. 😊

♥👍🏾☝🏾 Thank you.

Puuuurfekt !!! 😻 great way to connect all the penta shapes on the fretboard up and down ! :elbowcough:

I move the same way on the neck. These are basic box patterns. The minor pentatonic scale, root on your fourth finger, moves the same way with the slide between the 4th and 5th scale degrees.

Hello Steve Burke great job.... My name is Cedrick, a request please record a tutorial teaching the melody you played at the start of this video 🙏🏿 and watching your videos in Uganda, Africa please

Great lesson, thank you! I think a lot of bassist worry about using more of the fretboard, this method sure takes care of that issue!

ive just come across your video last night. Im a beginner ,been learning a few weeks and this video is a great help.