I need some clearing on theory's of learning bass?

Question

Everywhere I go on forums there's is always people who argue that for bass guitar learning scales are a bunch of nonsense, and others who say some really complex stuff about knowing the theory behind music, first off I need to know what this theory is and how you apply it into playing, and why is there people that say they learned without knowing any of this ????????? what the h**l !!!!

Answer 1

Well because any song in music can be explained using music theory.  

But music is also an ear sensitive thing, so you can usually tell what sounds good and what doesn't sound good, by just listening to it.  Music Theory does the same thing, it tells you what is going to sound good and what doesn't sound good.  So by knowing music theory instead of using the trial and error method (playing a note to see if it sounds good or not), you can be efficient by just jamming around and not playing notes that do no fit.  

The Bass Guitar is unique because it only has 4 strings and a lot of the rhythms are played with single note picking or possibly dual note picking, but not every often do they go into triad or chords.  

So a Bass Guitar player would be very efficient if they know Music Theory and their Scales.  

So if I was playing Bass guitar I would ask what Key is the song in.  They woud answer something like the Key of G Major.  Well right there I know what notes I can play:  G, A, B, C, D, E, and F#.  Then I would obvserve their chord progression.  Say they are playing a vi, IV, I and V.  That would be a E Minor, C Major, G Major, and D Major progression.  I would then know that i could rock Aeolian Mode, to the Lydian Mode, to the Ionain Mode, to the Mixolydian Mode.  Or I could just start in to the Aeolian Mode, then drop back in the Ionian Mode for the rest.

See I already mapped out my areas of where I'm going to play on my bass guitar, before I even picked it up.  That's why music theory is a good thing to learn.  

Is it absolutely necessary?  No it's not.  There is the small percentage of musicians that just have the gift and the ear and have figured it out without learning it.  But it's not very common.  

But knowing music theory helps to communicate with bad members as well.  And it will also help learning other instruments.  Composing Music.  It's definitely something I would learn.