178 lines
8.8 KiB
Plaintext
178 lines
8.8 KiB
Plaintext
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PPP
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Proudly Present
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Another
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Phucked Phreak Production
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*************************************************************************
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*708/945-3665** **Saturday April 20, 1991** **Vol #14*
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** **
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* Learning Rock Bass - The Excalibur Method (PT.1) *
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** **
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* Written By: Excalibur *
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** **
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* CopyMUCH 1991 (M) Phucked Phreak Productions *
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*************************************************************************
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--> Yah, so I/we skipped #13. It's an unlucky number! :)
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"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
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prohibitting the free excercise thereof; or abbridging the freedom of
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speech or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to
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assemble, and to petition the Goverment for a redress of grievances"
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Under the above Law set forth in the First Amendment To The Constution
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Of The United States Of America, The Author releases this work into the
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pubic domain for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.
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**INTRO**
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Ok, one of our fellow PPP members knew I played bass. I've been playing
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for about six years now. Anyway, he wanted to learn to play bass, also.
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One day, he made a casual post asking me "how to tune the damn thing."
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Well, my reply was about 5k worth. It made his head spin <har> or so he
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says. Anyway, a dude named WiseGuy said, "Why don't you put some gphiles
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out on the subject?" Yah, why not? So, here it is: part one of my bass
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expertise all typed up and put into electronic form. Nifty, eh?
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Party on, dudes.
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**VOL # 14**
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I am going to go out on a limb here and assume that if you are reading this
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file, then you must know what a bass is... and, of course, HAVE one. If
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anyone is interested, I can put out a file detailing different types of
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bass guitars, amps, pedals, and other equipment. But, for now, get out yer
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bass, plug it in, and read along.
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Tuning - not a Japanese love song.
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You do NOT want to tune from another instrument unless you have perfect
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pitch. Best thing for you to do is to get an electronic tuner from the
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music store..make SURE it will work for bass.. ask them. Sometimes they
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are custom made for six string guitars. Secondly, if you are poor like me,
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walk into your local musical instrument store, and ask for a tuning fork
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in the key of A... that is, if you cannot afford an electronic tuner. I
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tune with a tuning fork all the time. I will explain.
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The four strings, from top (lowest sound) to bottom (highest sound), that
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is, the top of the neck, toward your face, and the bottom of the neck,
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toward the floor, are: E, A, D, G. Hit the fifth fret on the first three
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strings, and it will give you the next highest string note, but at a boomier
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sound, i.e. hold the fifth fret on the E string, and it will be an A note,
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same as hitting the open A string, but it will sound bassier because of the
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bigger string. <Helpful in those band situations where the bass REALLY has
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to stand out.> So you will be able to finger the notes on the fret board, I
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will explain this. <Incidentally, when fingering notes on the fret board,
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hold the string down right ABOVE the fret, NOT right ON the fret. If you
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do it ON the fret, you will get a dead/buzzing sound.>
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The notes forming a scale on each string follow a pattern. This is true for
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ANY MAJOR scale (not minor, or any of the other seven scales) and ANY note
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you start with. The pattern is: whole step, whole, half, whole, whole,
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whole, half, where a whole step is movement up the neck of two frets, and a
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half step is movement up the neck of one fret. Here is a simple C Major
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scale. Try it. It should sound nice and normal.
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Each string is numbered. E=1, A=2, D=3, G=4. Fret progression for Cmajor
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scale, string/fret: 2/3, 3/0, 3/2, 3/3, 4/0, 4/2, 4/4, 4/5. Notes played
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respectively: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. You could also play this entire
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scale on the second string only, following the pattern I told you about
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above. Just start on 2/3 and follow the pattern, staying on the same string:
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W, W, H, W, W, W, H. It should sound exactly the same as the above multi-
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string scale <that is... if your bass is in tune.>
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Now that you know where the strings and notes are (yes, this IS leading to
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something), I can tell you how to tune your bass. Put your finger on the
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3rd string (the D string) right DIRECTLY ABOVE the 7th fret. Do NOT press
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down on the string, but instead, just barely touch it by resting your finger
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lightly on the string. Pluck the string with your other hand. You should
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hear a pleasant "ding" sound... like a bell. That is the A harmonic (don't
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ask... it doesn't matter right now). <You can also try harmonics on the 4th,
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5th, 7th, 12th, and 20th frets... on each string. The 4th is a little
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harder to get, but the others are easy.> While that note is ringing, bang
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your tuning fork against something hard, like your knee... or your head,
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to get a good ring out of it. Hold it above that third string near a pickup
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so you can hear it all through your amp. The sound from the fork, and the
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sound from the string should be exactly the same. Listen closely.... and
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tune your bass, SLOWLY, until the sounds match. If the note is close, but
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not perfect, you will here a funny sound when the harmonic and tuning fork
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are ringing together. It sounds like <don't laugh... it really does>
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"wawawawawawawa." The faster the wa's, the farther away you are from the
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true note. Turn your machine head slowly until the wa's get slower... then
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stop all together. The harmonic and the tuning fork will then be in perfect
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synch and the third string will be tuned.
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Now, put the tuning fork down. Hit the harmonic on the 7th fret of the
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fourth string, let it ring, and hit the harmonic on the 5th fret of the third
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string and let it ring. Follow the same procedure with the wa's, but DON'T
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RETUNE THE 3rd STRING! Tune the fourth string to MATCH the third string.
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When that's done, go to the 7th fret of the 3rd string and the 5th fret of
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the 2nd string and follow the same procedure, tuning the 2nd string to match
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the third string. Then use the same procedure for the 1st string by hitting
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the harmonic on the 7th fret of the 2nd string and the 5th fret of the 1st
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string. Now your bass is tuned.
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However, as I have said, NO ONE tunes from other instruments such as
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keyboards unless they have perfect pitch... and not many do.
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At any rate, if you do get an electronic tuner, it is pretty self
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explanitory, but I never trust the things. Also, keep in mind that you
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should NOT, under any circumstances, "tighten" your bass strings to tightly.
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The strings are very strong, and the neck is also, but "tight" strings will
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certain put undue stress on the neck and the nut (that little part at the
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top of the neck where it is attached to the head... the WEAKEST part of the
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entire bass as all the stress is put there... be careful.. one bang in the
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wrong place, and bammo.. detached head).
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Now, go back and try that CMajor scale. It should sound perfect.
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At any rate, so endeth your first bass lesson of the Excalibur method.
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That'll be $7.50 please.
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These are the basics. I suggest you print this stuff out, and keep it...
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hang it up somewhere near your amp, stuff it in your bass case... it's good
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reference.
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=========================================================================
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Addendum
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--------
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[:Board...:] For Sale
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[:Number..:] 127 of 128
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[:Subject.:] stuff
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[:To......:] all/major havok
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[:From....:] Excalibur (#155)
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[:Date....:] April 17, 1991 @ 05:05:11 PM
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[:Bytes...:] 253
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MH says: Excalibur, why do I get the sinking feeling that you wear a black
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leather studded collar, and tote a bullwhip wherever you go?
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Excalibur sez: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips and chains
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excite me. Thanks for the compliment.
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[:Next :][: B2 #127 of 128 :]
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*************************************************************************
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To get the latest PPP releases, or, if you'd like to join our writing
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staff, give this board a call:
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The Cage BBS/AE
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708-945-3665
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9600 Baud/24 hours
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. . . and leave some email to user #155. These are temporary
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headquarters right now. Look for status updates in future Phucked
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Phreak Productions releases.
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-eof
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*************************************************************************
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