Movable Fingering Patterns
There are many different fingerings which can be used to play the Blues scale on the bass. The most versatile fingerings are those which do not contain open strings and are therefore movable, which means they can be shifted up or down the neck.
The advantage of movable patterns is that they enable you to play the scale (and bass lines derived from it) in all keys. One of the most common movable fingering patterns for the Blues scale is shown here in the key of C.
Blues Scale Pattern 1
Play this Blues scale pattern commencing on the Bb note on the 6th fret of the 4th string. You are now playing a B flat Blues scale.
Riffs
The following exercise is a riff style bass line created from the G Blues scale. A riff is a pattern of notes which repeats throughout a progression, but may be altered slightly to fit chord changes. Once you have learned the riff in this key, try transposing it (changing the key) to the keys of F and A. This can easily be done by locating the starting note and playing the whole line at the appropriate fret.
Blues Scale Pattern Variation
The Blues scale pattern you have just learned can also be played starting on the third string. The pattern looks the same but it begins on a different string. Like Pattern 1, it can be transposed to any key by simply moving it up or down the neck. Here it is in the key of C.
The Dotted Half Note
A dot written after a note extends its value by half.
A dot after a half note means that you hold it for three beats.
The following example demonstrates a bass line derived from the fingering pattern shown in the previous exercise. It contains a dotted half note in bar 4. Pay particular attention to the fingering in bars 1 and 3. When two consecutive notes occur at the same fret on different strings, it is common to use the fourth finger for the higher note and the third finger for the lower note as shown here.
Once you have memorized the previous bass line, try playing it in Pattern 1 (8th position) as shown here.
