8/13/2019 Fingerboard Geometry-Michael Manring
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Fingerboard Geometry
Interval Shapes
By Michael Manring
Those of use who play string instruments are lucky. There is a
visual aspect to our instruments we
can use to our advantage in learning to understand the musical
options that are available to us.
Musicians who play other instruments -- say winds for instance
-- generally don't have a way to see
the patterns they are playing as clearly as we can. By analyzing
the shapes various patterns make on
the fingerboard we can increase our knowledge of harmony and the
musical possibilities in any
particular situation. We bassists are especially lucky because
our instrument is so symmetrical.
ince all our strings are tuned a perfect fourth apart! geometric
shapes repeat over the fingerboard
without the kind of ad"ustments that guitarists deal with due to
the ma"or third interval between theirsecond and third strings. #f
course it's important to keep from relying too heavily on visual
patterns
in music because they are only a method for better understanding
the instrument! but as long as you
maintain a good perspective! fingerboard geometry can be a
powerful tool for e$panding e$pressive
capability.
% good place to start e$amining fingerboard geometry is by
looking at the shapes of intervals! so in
this column we'll take a look at the ways that intervallic
patterns appear on the fingerboard. &n order
to simplify things for the time being! we'll look at only the
intervals in one-finger-per-fret fretting
hand positions and avoid the use of open strings. &f we
accept these limitations it's possible to
e$amine all the possible interval shapes we can then use this
understanding to make better
fingering and phrasing choices. &n one-finger-per-fret
positions the fretting hand covers the space offour frets! or a
minor third on one string. (oing this divides the fingerboard into
symmetrical four-
fret by four-string bo$es with )* notes in each bo$. These bo$es
can be a powerful tool to use in
visualizing musical patterns on the bass. +ou may find the
four-fret span to be too much of a stretch
to use in the lower positions! so please only use it where you
find it comfortable! but try visualizing
these ,$, bo$es even if you are using a position that spans only
three frets. & realize that restricting
yourself to a bo$ may seem a little confining at first! but
please keep in mind that this is "ust one
way of visualizing the fingerboard in an attempt to understand
what's available to you. ltimately
you will use your sense of creativity to decide when and how to
use this concept.
#n a single string in the four-fret span position there are
three interval shapes that can be played --
minor second! ma"or second and minor third. Within this group
there are three different minorseconds /between the first and
second finger! the second and third finger and the third and
fourth0!
two ma"or seconds /)!1 and 2!,0 and one minor third /)!,0. This
is pretty simple! but when we use
multiple strings things get a little more interesting. Between
ad"acent strings there are 3 basic
interval shapes. The smallest interval shape is played by using
the pinky on a lower string and the
inde$ finger on a higher string /we'll call this ,-)0. Between
ad"acent strings this fingering forms a
ma"or second! and this is the only way to play this double-stop
interval in , fret span position. The
ne$t smallest interval will be the one played by either the
third finger and the inde$ /1-)0 or the
pinky and second finger /,-20. #n ad"acent strings this shape
forms a minor third. 4ontinuing on
with this process we can play three ma"or thirds /2-)! 1-2!
,-10! four perfect fourths /)-)! 2-2! 1-1!
,-,0! three tritones /)-2! 2-1! 1-,0! two fifths /)-1! 2-,0 and
a minor si$th /)-,0. These are the seven
successive interval sets available between ad"acent strings in a
four fret span position5 the ma"or
second! the minor thirds! the ma"or thirds! the perfect fourths!
the tritones! the perfect fifths and the
minor si$th.
8/13/2019 Fingerboard Geometry-Michael Manring
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&f we use these same interval shapes between non-ad"acent
strings we get fourteen additional
interval sets - seven skipping over one string and seven
skipping over two. kipping over one string
we get the intervals ranging from a perfect fifth /,-skip-)0 to
a flat ninth /)-skip-,0 when skipping
two strings the range is from a perfect octave /,-double skip-)0
to a sharp eleventh /)-double skip-
,0. &f you're really paying attention you may notice that
there is some overlap between these interval
sets. There is more than one geometric identity for some
intervals but not others. &f you want to playa note a minor
si$th above that given note for instance! you could play it either
on the ad"acent
string with the )-, shape or you could play it on the string
above the ad"acent string with the ,-skip-
) shape. 6owever! if you want to play a note a ma"or third above
any given closed tone! you can
only play it on the higher ad"acent string. &n a four fret
span position! most intervals will always
look the same! but the following four intervals have two
geometric identities5 7 /)-1 or ,-skip-)0!
879b* /)-, or ,-skip-20! octave /)-skip-1 or ,-double skip-)0
and b: /)-skip-, or ,-double skip-20.
;ote that in a four fret span position on a ,-string bass
without using open strings there is no way to
play a double stop smaller than a ma"or second or larger than a
8)).
o! what can we accomplish with this little bit of knowledge<
Well! one aspect of bass playing that
it might help open up is playing fifths. We typically play
perfect fifths on bass using the )-1 or 2-,shape on ad"acent
strings! but try playing them using the ,-skip-) shape. This
version of fifths isn't
=uite as apparent and it may open up some melodic possibilities
you hadn't thought of. &t also may
help you to avoid shifting positions so often! thus allowing you
to play smoother lines. 4onsidering
how much we bassists have to play fifths! this can be a very
useful idea.
& very much recommend familiarizing yourself with all the
intervals in a four fret span position! but
the task may seem a little daunting at first. 6ere's one way to
simplify it5 >iven any note in a four
fret span position there are )7 possible interval shapes to
choose from without shifting -- three
additional notes on the same string and four on each of the
three other strings. &f you are holding a
note with your third finger on the ? string for e$ample! you
could move to any of three other notes
on the ? string or four each on the %! ( and > strings. ince
there are )* notes in a four fret span
position and )7 intervals available from each note! that means
there are 2,@ possible intervals in a
four fret span position /)7 A )* 2,@0. These can be practiced in
a short time! and this provides an
e$cellent warm up -- one that & like to do everyday! in
fact. & begin by playing all of the )7 intervals
that start from the lowest note in a four fret span position --
the inde$ finger on the ? string -- and
then all fifteen from the middle finger on the ? string! then )7
from the third finger and so on. This
e$ercise takes about three minutes at a slow tempo.
6owever! there are many other ways to practice this material.
imply playing the fifteen interval
shapes from any one note is a valuable e$ercise! as it contains
all the basic material. The difference
is that this way you aren't practicing the shapes on all the
possible string combinations. Corinstance! if you choose to
practice only the fifteen interval shapes starting with the inde$
finger on
the ? string you will only be playing the ,-) shape on the ? and
% strings! not on the % and ( or the
( and > strings. %lternatively! you could practice all the
interval shapes! but only in one direction.
The e$ercise with 2,@ shapes includes ,-) and )-, as two
separate shapes. By eliminating these
doublings the total number of interval shapes is brought down to
)2@ /because you are removing the
reverse of each interval! or half of the original 2,@0. +ou can
do this e$ercise with the same method
as the 2,@-shape e$ercise "ust eliminate either all the upward
moving shapes or all the downward
moving ones. The advantage of using these shortcuts is that you
can spend more time focusing on
each of the shapes the disadvantage is that you are practicing a
less complete set of movements.
Try to determine for yourself what works best for you in any
particular practice session.
6aving a complete understanding of interval shapes will give you
a powerful tool to use in creating
smoother lines. & find that one of the problems that
challenges students the most is an incomplete
