In this lesson we’re going to look at another line from the new Cyborg Bassist Vol 1 book from TalkingBass that takes you on a journey through positions in a way you’ve probably never tried before!!

What’s The Secret?

If you want to play horizontally all over the fretboard instead of vertically across it in the common ‘box’ shape, then you need to learn horizontal lines.

Learn scales, arpeggios, fills and bass lines that run up and down the fretboard, if everything that you learn is in one position then you’ll only every really get good at playing in that one position!

C Major Scale:

Below is the typical way we all learn how to play the Major scale when we are starting out, as you can see it’s still in the box pattern that only moves across the fretboard vertically.

1-2-3-1 Exercise:

The 1231 Exercise is a four note sequence rising up through three notes of the scale before returning to the first note of the group.

Playing the sequence through the one octave C major scale we have the following:

Working Through 2 Octaves:

To play the exercise through two octaves we need to move through multiple positions and focus on the transitions from one to the next.

The positions we’ll be using in our two octave exercise are as follows:

Low Position:

Mid Position:

High Position:

Full Exercise (2 Octaves)