So, I have a dumb theory question.

[GSR]

I've always wondered this but never bothered to ask.

Soloing. The song/section of the song is in a specific key and the song has a specific tonality (mode? major/minor/etc is what i mean). So when someone solos, they play in that key with a scale that fits the mode of the song kinda sorta more or less, right? Okay, so that's cool, but then why do/how can they go all over the neck and seem to hit every note under the sun?

Like for example, if I personally were to solo, and the song was major in A, i might use the major pentatonic scale starting at the 12th fret on the A string... but that only gives me those 6 or however many notes, provided I don't change position. Is it just a matter of changing the position of the scale and learning how to link from one position to the next? Like going from the 12th fret on A and using a two-octave major scale or something to play from there down to the 5th fret on E? Is that how they go all over the place?

Pardon my ignorance, I just always wondered and the main bass theory book I read only handles soloing from one position. Any tips/info is appreciated, thanks guys.

[taparoo]

Like for example, if I personally were to solo, and the song was major in A, i might use the major pentatonic scale starting at the 12th fret on the A string... but that only gives me those 6 or however many notes, provided I don't change position. Is it just a matter of changing the position of the scale and learning how to link from one position to the next? Like going from the 12th fret on A and using a two-octave major scale or something to play from there down to the 5th fret on E? Is that how they go all over the place?

Pardon my ignorance, I just always wondered and the main bass theory book I read only handles soloing from one position. Any tips/info is appreciated, thanks guys.

Pretty much. Once you know the 7 notes of a major/minor scale (or whatever scale) you can find the different 'boxes' or positions all over the neck (the scale 'repeats' at the octave for example if you keep going in the major scale you'll just repeat yourself after the 7th note, for example C maj: C D E F G A B C D E etc.), so you just have to worry about those 7 notes (if you're playing a minor/major scale). Once you have those notes mapped out in your head then you can go to town soloing. The tough part is internalizing the position of the notes on the fretboard, for me anyway. Here's a really cool site that shows the positions of notes all up and down the neck and some scales (for guitar, but i reckon it works for bass too since you're likely using the 4 lower strings):
http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/g ... ex_rb.html

Just click on the kind of scale you want towards the bottom right and that's it. Hope that helps.

[pjdk28]

when doing a improv jam, it is generally best to stick to thirds and fifths for emphasized notes, and use anything in between to connect. generally the more complex the interval, the faster you're going to want to resolve (or tease) to the fifth or tonic, to keep the ear interested. its all tension and release.

[nate]

I think of scales as chords. So if I'm trying to solo over song that I am very familiar with the chords involved like something simple like CSN&Y's "Helpless" which is just D A and G over and over again. I'll pick a position in the in the D scale to start and then jump to whatever the A scale is in that position and go to the G scale when the G is being played. And I usually stick with the pentatonics however since the song is in the key of D you can get away with playing the major D scale (and I believe you can also get away with playing the G mjor scale as well). Sometimes I play the relative minor pentatonic scale to over the chords. So for D you can play the Bm pentatonic starting at the 7th fret. Then for the A you can play F#m pentatonic at the 2nd fret, and then for G you can play open Em pentatonic or go all the way down to the 12th fret. Sorry so long hope that helps. I've been working on this with my guitar teacher.

[GSR]

Cool. Thanks for the clarification.

[AustinG]

Good info, thanks

[Appfro]

if i thought about it enough, i could play the scale pattern on any part of the guitar. but there are certain places that i have memorized better and don't have to think about as much when soloing. so i have different positions that i'm comfortable w/ and i link them together like you said to make finding the note i'm looking for easier.