This week we’re looking at how you can inject some awesome juice into your bass fills, runs and solos by using an intervallic approach to shedding scales.

Getting Away From The Norm!

Many beginner to intermediate bass players see scale runs in a very linear, up & down fashion.

You run up the scale and down the scale.

You might also look at working some thirds in there or maybe even some arpeggios within the scale. But we can create some very interesting sounds by moving outside of this movement by second or third. We just have to look at the other intervals within a scale: Fourths, Fifths, Sixths, Sevenths etc.

The Dorian Scale

As an example for this lesson we’ll use the E Dorian scale, shown below in three different fingerings:

E Dorian 1st Finger

E Dorian 2nd Finger

E Dorian 4th Finger

If you’re new to the Dorian scale or any of these different fingerings, you can check out the Scale Essentials Course HERE for a a deep dive into every scale played all over the fretboard.

Running Intervals

We can run various intervals through the scale to develop an understanding of the different interval qualities available on each scale degree.

E Dorian in Fourths

E Dorian in Fifths

E Dorian in Sixths

Let’s Try Them Out!

As a demonstration of how these intervals can be used within a bass fill, let’s look at three fills using each interval in turn. We’ll place each fill into the 4th bar of our riff:

Practice Track:

Fourths Fill:

Fifths Fill:

Sixths Fill:

Remember to LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW, SHARE THE POST (just click on your preferred social platform below) and then …

Sign Up To Talkingbass For FREE!

Join over 100,000 members and R.A.I.S.E your Bass Game Today!

Complete Social Network (Facebook For Bass!) FREE Ebook Downloads, Practice Tracks, Drum Tracks and MUCH MORE!