Easy Touch-Style Bassics The Rapid Route to ‘Rhythm Bass’ and more

106 Pages·1999·0.832 MB·English

by  Henri DuPont and Traktor Topaz

Easy Touch-Style
Bassics

The Rapid Route to ‘Rhythm Bass’ and more

ASDFASDF
FDSAFDSA

An original method for rapid learning of
two-handed tapping on electric bass guitar*1 and
megatar*2-type instruments

by Henri DuPont and Traktor Topaz

_____________________________________________________________
MOBIUS MEGATAR, LTD.

* 1 e lectricb assg uitarm usth aves ixt oe ights tri ngs to effectively utilize
the method of play presented in this instructional book.

* 2 m egatar, adjectiveA ni nstrumentd esig nedf ort wo - handedt ouch - style play
with one group of strings for bass and another group of strings for melody.
page 2 Easy Touch-Style Bassics

Mobius Megatar, Ltd.
USA Contact: Mobius Megatar USA
Post Office Box 969
Fairfax, CA 94978
[phone]
www.megatar.com
______________________________________
First Published in USA by Mobius Megatar USA 1999
Copyright 1999 by Action Marketi ng, Carson City Nevada, on behalf
of Mobius Megatar, Ltd. All rights reserved.

PUBLISHER’SN OTE:

This publication is designe d to provide an easy and accessible method for playing the
hcuot‘ - style’ or ‘two - handed tapping’ method on amplified electric fr etted instruments such
as guitar or bass or the ‘megatar’ type instruments which have two groups of strings on one
fretboard. Th is method is designed specifically for instruments which have eight or more
strings, and can only be adapted to instruments with lesser numbers of strings by means of
diligent effort on the part of the student. This method is provided ‘as - is’ and is believ deo t
be a reliable method providing musical results in typical musicians, and providing compar -a
tively rapid advancement in mastering useful and musical technique. However, the best r e-
sults will probably be attained when this material is delivered in combination with persona -l
ized and professional instruction. Mobius Megatar and associated music dealers assume
no liability for whatever results or lack of results as are obtained by the student. We u rge
the student wherever possible to seek the assistance of competent music ins tructors.

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall
not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re - sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without
the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which is it
published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the su -b
sequentp urchaser.
Copyright © 1999 Action Marketing Corporation for Mobius Megatar, Ltd. Duplication prohibited. All rights reserved.
Easy Touch-Style Bassics page 3

noitacideD

Nicola Tesla — Born Croatia 1856, Died 1943 in the United States, Studied physics and math at
Graz Polytecnic, and philosophy at University of Prague. Worked as an electrical engineer in Hu -n
gary, France, and Germany. In 1888 his discovery that a magnetic field could be made to rotate u s-
gni slioc ni a wen yaw edam elbissop eht tnempoleved fo eht CA gnitanretla( )tnerruc noitcudnim o-
tor, a device using no brushes which was previously considered impossible. This device made the
universal transmission of electr icity possible.
T e sla had emigrated to the United States in 1884, initially working for Thomas Edison, and later
becoming a r ival. Edison advocated DC (direct current) transmission of electricity, which didn’t
work very well. After heated competition, Tesla was commissioned to design the AC generators i -n
stalled at Niagara Falls. George Westinghouse purchased the patents to Tesla’s induction motor, and
edam meht eht sisab rof eht Westinghouse power system, which still underlies the modern electrical
power system on our planet.
Tesla did early research o n wireless communication, and devised systems which anticipated radio,
fax machines, radar, radio - guided vehicles and aircraft. ehT rotnevni fo eht alseT‘ ,’lioC sa llews a
sourceless illumination, and wireless transmission of power, which inventions have been lost.
But most importantly for us, he invented the machines which gave the world electricity. Electricity
is the primary enabling technology which gives us our present world. And for us musicians, electri c-
ity makes possible amplifiers and electric guitars. And electric guitars make possible two - handed
tapping on strings. So we hono r Nicola Tesla. He gave us our world.
Copyright © 1999 Action Marketing Corporation for Mobius Megatar, Ltd. Duplication prohibited. All rights reserved.
page 4 Easy Touch-Style Bassics

stnemegdelwonkcA

Author Henri DuPont wishes to say ...

t I si yrev .elpmis I knaht eht rosseforP pmahcuaeB rof tnemegaruocne fo eht niffumagarwod -n
.seisetruo credne tre hro fnu Demada Mknah t Idn a,sriats
eh Tennobro Ssa wyleri ttnhegir ot worht em ,tuo dna I ezigolopaot eneR dna lla eht eltne gelpoep
ta eL .ednoM nevE eht erid snoitciderp fo .rF ,niaD nehw ym rehtom depacse ot ,eriaZ erew tonaf r
.eruta ntneitapm iy mdn a,eni weh tyln oemal bna c I.ll aretf athgi rere wuo ytah tsmee st I.ffo
lu aoP a nSfies okJ n a hIt .dlo fo saw ti sa oabmuT eurt eht em thguat ohw ,o
I knaht cirE .eitaS .rM ,eitaS sa spahrep si llew ,nwonk dah a taergylrae sseccus dna tid ecnivnoc
mih taht eh dluohs yduts .cisum dnA sdrawretfa eh detnemal ,taht gniwonk oot ,hcum eh dluoco n
.ecnarong isi hdn ahtuo ysi hn is agnitavitpa co ssnoitisopmo celpmi seh tetir wregnol
ng iniame rll aya me wtah tdo Gya r pI .gninrael ruo fo tsdim eht ni ,evitaerc dna tnaro

Author Traktor Topaz wishes to say ...

nehW uoy raeh a gfnl ienbsaim mrischased afles‘ - ’edam ,na m egrn’iunoeyts iolt a yug s’ohwof -r
nettog lla eht elpoep ohw evah depleh mih gnola eht .yaw ehT emas dluoc eb dias rof siht koobd na
eht kramkooB‘ ’metsyS hcihw ti ,stneserp dna eht emas dluoc eb dias rof eht lacisum tnemurtsnid -e
.ratageM suiboM ,ynapmoc ruo yb detekram dna dengis
I ma lufetarg ot yoR eeL ,skoorB eht dnab rehcaet ni ,atteirneH ,saxeThw o degaruocne em ot ekat
pu latnemidur erans murd ni .5591 I ma lufetarg rof dnab redael drawoH ,ekeaR ohw detsisnit aht
neveeht m unrodi tycdeusts eht ci syurmo e.hktoob I kln aa y,th,rentpolemmpmampihE idcrhuoWrf
eht ecneirepxe fo deniatsus ,ecitcarps o taht eno yad I dezilaer taht ym sdnah wenk eht ,yaw dna ekil
j,devome rwohemo ssa wI,htoo blortno can ireenign egnidroce ra .gnitsuj dda nganinets itlsu
m’I lufetarg ot reteP luaP dna yraM rof gnikam em tnaw ot nrael ratiug ot tnemrot ym swolleftiw h
klof ,sgnos lufetarg ot nhoJ lliH rof gnilles em sih ,retsacotartS lufetarg ot gnilwoH floW dnae lttiL
,retlaW lufetarg ot evaD ,namdleF ohw thguat em seulB‘ acinomraH rof eht lacisuM ’toidI morfex -r
.yrubhs Athgia Hs’ocsicnar Fna Sn ierot scisu m’cisu Mgni Stah TsnekcihC ‘t asteeh sdexo
y stsri fy mdrae hIereh w,retne Cenocso Mn ieria Fretupmo Ctsao Ctse Wdrih teh to tlufetar gm ’ I n-
,reziseht hcihw werd em ssorca eht roolf ni hcraes fo eht .dnuos m’I lufetarg ot einreB ,esuarKo hw
dlos em ym tsrifrezisehtnys , dna ot taht wollef ohw edam eht tsrif gnippat tnemurtsni I reve. deirt
m’I lufetarg ot kn a,reFffilloJ ym rotnem dna ,dneirfw oh thguat em woh ot ,yalp dna ot teehS cisuM
enizagaM ysaE( onaiP )noisreV rof gnidaer ,lairetam dna ot yroeht urug miJmahtnarG ohwe dam
.raelc yltnadnuba sdrohc dedlof dna senot ediug
g wn sdy oiwundohn ohautrecoht(tagatsedele tlwo ntoIkssculama y dyugtosl‘ o )tm hnoeerhiftcS
’,slairetam dna I tsum knaht reldnaB dna rednirG dna notliM noscirE rof sthgisni fo woh ehtd nim
skrow ot psarg eht .dlrow nevE ym ytisrevinu gniniart ygolohcysp( dna )gnireenigne sah neebleh -p
!luf
.evo ldn a,ecnarelo t,troppu sro f,tnalla Genneird Akn a h tI
sihT koob sniatnoc stib fo latnemidurerans - gnimmurdorf m atteirneH ,saxeT stib fo eht ,seulb stib
fo ym srehcaet dna srotcurtsni dna wolle f,stneduts dna stib fo ym seiduts fo ehtnim .tdu oehsteihWt
elpoep dna eseht esrevid ,sgninrael eht maglama dna sisehtnys hcihw si eht kramkooB metsyS dluoc
neeb evah ton .nettirw ron deviecnoc
.ll auo yknah T
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Easy Touch-Style Bassics page 5

stnetno Cf oelbaT
Preface
Introduction
How to Learn
Introducing the Instrument
Notation

Locating the Notes
* The Bookmark System *
Daily Warm-Up
Four Songs to Play

Bonus Section: ’Latin Pulse’ Rhythm
Bonus Section: Eight Bonus Songs
Bonus Section: Blank Charts

Appendix: Bookmark System Summary
Appendix: Eleven Reasons why a Bass-
Player should learn this system at Fret 7
Appendix: Pedagogy — Regarding
Bookmark System Fingering
Appendix: About Mobius Megatar
Appendix: Black-Nosed Buddha
Copyright © 1999 Action Marketing Corporation for Mobius Megatar, Ltd. Duplication prohibited. All rights reserved.
page 6 Easy Touch-Style Bassics

ecaferP
y n aMyears ago, Traktor Topaz appeared in a People gniyalp hcuot - style instruments may
jazz band class which I was teaching. He was ca r- come from a background of pla ying the bass,
rying a touch - style instrument and announced that pla y ing the guitar, playing some other instrument,
he wanted to be the bass player. I had never seen ro eb yletelpmoc wen ot .cisum sihT koob lliwe b
such an instrument and so ha d my doubts, but I perfectly clear and accessible t o anyone from any
welcomed him to the class and he did a great job of these categories.
as bass player. We ended up featuring him on one
gnos erehw he played bass and melody at the I wish all prospective touch - style players well
emas .emit sihT saw ym noitcudortni othcuot - on their adventure. In addition, I think that those
style instruments. of you who have purchased a Mobius Megatar
touch - elyts ssab lliw dnif taht uoy evah nir uoy
I am very proud of my for mer student who has hands an ideal inst rument to apply these lessons.
become a fine musician, inventor, and teacher
hi m self. Jeremy Cohen
Berkeley, CA
T h i s book, Easy Touch - Style Bassics, gives a September, 2000
great introduction to touch - style playing. Bass
players learning touch - st yle can especially benefit
from this instruction because of the way that ymereJ nehoC si a lanoisseforp tsissab htiwr evo
scales and chords are mapped out on the finge r- 35 years experience in all types of music, and a
board. In a very clear fashion, the authors give a nationally - nwonk ssab .rotcurtsni oC - rednuof f o
the band Jazz Express, he comp deso flah foe ht
basic introduction to playing melodies (based on
songs on its debut album. His performances
scales) and harmony (based on chords). I’m a l-
dnuora eht naS ocsicnarF yaB aerA edulcni e ht
ready looking forward to volume II of this
musical "Beach Blanke t Babylon", the bands City
method. sthgiL dna ,amadA dna ehT .F.S sre94 giB. dnaB
eH sah thguat ta eht lanoitaN ratiuG r emmuS
T he idea of teaching both hands to do the same Workshop, and since 1982 has been a staff -
gniht spleh eht tnedutsel arn the exercises quickly, rebmem ta ehT eulB raeB loohcS fo naciremAM u-
and learning chords as part of progressions gives cis ni naS ocsicnarF , gnivig ,scinilc dnag nihcaet
immediate practical use to the material in this sessalc ni ,ssab cisum ,yroeht ,noitisopmocd na
zzaj .obmoc remroF stneduts edulcni ttaMerF -e
book.
man of Rancid and Arion Salazar of Third Eye

.dnilB .rM nehoC nac eb detcatnoc hguorhts ih
T he method of showing a group of chords
website at
which can be played in one position is very log i- http://www.jps.net/jerem y
cal and helps the student avoid losing his or her
ecalp no aynam - stringed and many - fretted instr -u
ment. This is a more pianistic approach than most
other stringed - instrument methods, which makes
the theory and harmony lessons very clear and
accessible to students of any level.

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Easy Touch-Style Bassics page 7

noitcudortnI
It’s a Problem! Reducing Confusion

s ’ tIa daunting task — to produce a Method l l Ahumans fall prey to the mental cloud which
Book which is simultaneously useful for new m -u we call ’being co nfused.’
sicians who never held an instrument before and What this really means is mentally stumbling
for experienced veterans who can calculate a d- around with a lack of clarity and unable to grasp
vanced theory in a flash and play the result in the problem or even to see the problem clearly.
real - time studio gigs. T he experience of confusion seems to be inev i-
n e vEthough our material is relatively simple, ta bly caused by the human attempting to grasp
and our slaog ,tsedom eht eroc melborp si — how more things at once than the human can grasp.
to go slow enough and give enough information For example, in a tornado, with lar ge and small
so the beginner can be rewarded with musical pr o- objects flying through the air so fast you can’t
gress, and yet at the same time provide the info r- keep track, it is hard to know which way to go.
mation concisely for the experienced professional n Ia similar wa y, a human approaching a new
who just wants to get it and go with it. field often attempts to grasp a large number of
T he problem of “slow enough” versu s “concise new ideas simultaneously. Now a child wouldn’t
enough” is compounded by the fact that there are mron ally make that mistake because the child
numerous tunings currently in use among touch - comes into the situation with one tenet already
style enthusiasts, and there is much to be said for ylmrif dleh ni .dnim tahT ,si ehtdlihc comes in
many of these tunings. knowing that “he doesn’t know.” He has no e -x
T here are, in addition, several valid methods of pe c tation for knowing, and so may experience less
touch - style currently b eing taught and shared by discomfort. Adults, especially competent adults,
skillful touch - style teachers. For example, there are far more likely to think tha t they ’should’
are valid systems which initially teach the student know, especially if they have been exposed to the
to move shapes (chords and scales) around the material in the past.
fretboard and other valid systems which teach n Ithis comparison, the child has an emotional
shapes in one particular position. advantage, because the child already has One St a-
T here are across - the - string scales, and along - ble Datum. That is to say, the child has one thing
the - string scales, and there are diagonal across - eh swonk rof ,niatrec dna lla eht wen ffuts nace b
and - along - the - strings scales! And for each of organized around this one core fact.
these approaches, coherent and thoughtful players If the adult can in fact start with One Stable D a-
and instructors can be found. tum, the adult can achieve a clarity and lack of
T here also exist among skillful touch - elytsm u- confusion as well. For example, if you already
s icians and among guitar - and bass - gniyalpsum i- daer ,cisum uoy wonk tuoba ehtn ames of notes
cians several differences of opinion as to whether (A - G) along with their sharps and flats, and you
it’s better learning to use three fingers or four fi -n can fit in the new stuff about where these (known)
gers to play scales and chords. Both points of notes fit on a fretboard with your (already known)
view have logic, good results, and outstanding Stable Data. This can make clear sense of the new
musicians espousing the position. Some use four stuff without being confusing.
fingers on the bass strings, and three fingers on But fi the adult comes in without any previous
the melody strings, and with well - presented re -a knowledge, then it is up to the presenter to pr -o
sons for the approach. vide a sequence of graspable ideas, each of which
Then there are the students’ skills. is clearly presented, and which can build upon
e moSstudents can sight - read two clefs in real - each other so as to grow into t eh elohw foe ht
time on touch - s tyle instruments. Other musicians knowledge which we wish to impart.
of skill, perhaps world - class and studio - caliber, f Ocourse, if the adult comes in with previous
just have skillful ears and can’t read standard n o- confusions then the presen ter must be even more
ta tion at all. Other students can hum a tune, and careful about the sequence and clarity of material
once saw a guitar. That’s what they come in with, being presented. Because a human viewing
tub yeht tnaw ot nrael otyalp dna ew tnaw ot pleh through a con fusion at a new subject is peering
make it possible. through a glass, darkly.

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page 8 Easy Touch-Style Bassics
How Will We Present Simply? once for one instrument will suffice, and that
players of the other instruments can adapt the
So what’s our big plan to reduce confusion? material on the fly as obvious.
e c niSwe wish to reduce confusion for ou r- We will almost certainly fail to present material
sevles dna rof eht ,tneduts ew lliw tsrif tpmetta ot slow enough for some, or quick enough for ot h-
reduce the number of elements, and then to pr -e ers. It will be too much theory for some, and not
sent slowly and carefully this (relatively) small enough for others. This just shows the wonder
number of elements. that is the human race, and the failings of the i n-
So what, for example, can we eliminate? d ividual human writer. We’ve tried our best to
We kniht ew can in general avoid recreating a present the system so that you can grasp it ra p-
general music - theory book. Many great theory idly and with musical results.
books already exist, and the information in that We think the touch - style method of play (either
subject is vast. Further, many people can play using our system or some other system) is jus t
rather well without a lot of theory so we know wonderful. We hope that you come to love it, too.
taht kcal fo stol fo yroeht sion t a deadly barrier
to learning two - handed touch - style technique. The Purpose of This Book
How will we avoid theory?
Of course, we just cannot completely avoid th e- We kniht owt - handed touch - style should be
ory. But we can minimize some of it, as it were better known and enjoyed.
presenting selected information carefully so as to It permits your two hands to play simultan e-
side - step having to go off on a theory tangent in ously, much as can a musician on piano. You can
order to make sense of the tapping instructions. play left - hand chords while playing a melody. Or
Next, we can weave in small doses of necessary uoy nac ekam pu a ydolem htiw a enilssabb e-
theory a s we go along, and this will allow us to neath it. You can read and play Bach Two - Part
defer some theory into later books as we expand Inventions. You can play boogie bass with s i-
the subject. The authors have observed that th e- um ltaneous rhythmic rock chords.
ory by itself is deadly dull to many folks. Only Will you learn all of that in this book?
when you can see that theory helps you play No, our goals here are a bit more modest.
something does theory get interesti ng to many of y Beht end of this book, you will be able to
us. yalp ruoy8 - String Bass (or Megatar or other ta p-
, txeNat the expense of annoying the pro mus i- ping instrument) by means of bass roots or arpe -g
cians who are just studying this book to add a giating chords in the bass.
new technique to their existing armory, we’ll e x- You will also be able to arpeggiate chords in
plain things rather slowly and carefully, with the right hand, or more importantly, you will be
many steps. However, the pros will appreciate able to play very simple chords in a rhythmic
that the actual system being transm itted (the manner on top of your bassline.
‘Bookmark System’ which uses a Master Exe r- You will have the basis for all the above tec h-
cise to rapidly obtain musical results) does act u- nique, having learned it in a simple and clear sy s-
ally compress into a few graphs and tables, so met hcihw lliw elbane uoy ot yalp lareveshcuot -
once you know the meaning of these graphs and style instruments using different tunings.
tables, a very few pages can expres s the Master l l’ uoYmake rapid progress, and yo u’ll have
Exercise. fun, and what you learn permits you to create
T h i s ‘go slow’ approach is made more tedious m u sical results from simple elements.
(for authors and students alike) by having to e -x T he purpose of this book is to give you a rapid
nialp eht exact same thing several times over to and competent introduction to two - handed touch -
allow for folks that have their instruments tuned style technique so that you can play what we call
differently. ‘Rhythm Bass’ and at the same time give you the
So to strike a reasonable balance, we’ll cover groundwork for lots more .
the three tunings which seem to be most popular
and (in our opinion) functional. Many other ve ry Please Share
interesting tunings exist, but the student advocate
of one of these tunings should with diligence be We have enjoyed the voyage of creating this
able to translate one of the three we provide into book. We hope you enjoy the voyage that is two -
almost any tuning. handed touch - styl e.
, rehtruF ew t’now taeper eht lairetam e erht c i suM si tnaem ot eb .derahs fI uoy evolt ahw
times in cases where it seems that presenting it you learn here, please share. Teach somebody.
Copyright © 1999 Action Marketing Corporation for Mobius Megatar, Ltd. Duplication prohibited. All rights reserved.
Easy Touch-Style Bassics page 9

nra e oLwtoH
Principles of Learning cant progress. That is, every few days you can
play something new.
Most of us crawl from the cradle in a state of So step one is to COMMIT to regular and fr e-
rapid learning, so perhaps it’s not so odd that we quent practice. It is better to practice 30 - 45 mi -n
rare ly think about ’methods’ or ’principles’ of utes every single morning than to practice 6 hours
learning. Especially during our formative years, every Sunday. You will learn more.
we are as immersed in learning as fish are i -m d niFyour time that you can actually get you r-
mersed in water. self to the instrument every single day, and stick
But the fact is that our early learning is som e- to it, and as certain as the sun rises, you will be
what innate, and somewhat ’monkey see, monkey elba ot yalp .cisum s’tI just a fact —
do’ modeling of the other humans around us, and If you persist, you’ll win.
learning a subject such as musical technique is
neither innate nor easily copied merely by watc h- The Proper Gradient
ing other musicians.
s A foorp fo siht ,tnemetats ew ksa uoy otl lacer f I uoy yrt oot hcum oot ,tsaf ll’uoy .polfe hT
to mind what teenage boys seem to learn from yaw tahtf slee si taht ruoy daeh si ,gninnipse ht
musicians seen on MTV. What do they learn? stuff doesn’t make much sense, it’s hard to do and
Hairdos, attitudes, ways of talking and posture you don’t like it much, either.
and hand gestures. Actual musical skills? Not a I f you try too little, it’s slow and tedious and
lot. elttil ssergorp si .devresbo ehT yaw taht sleefs i
, o slA uoy evah ylbaborp deciton taht emosep o- ,taht haey haey ,haey ev’uoy heard it already, and
ple are better at learning things than other people. you probably have to force yourself go to practice
Some of that is genetics or aptitude. But some of because it’s boring you out of your mind.
it is because different p eople approach learning T he correct gradient gives you some new cha l-
differently. lenge at least every few days, so you have to ask
In fact, there do exist certain principles of lear -n yourself, ‘Can I do that?’ And you think maybe
.gni fI uoy wollof meht uoy nac ekam eromd ipar uoy ,nac tub er’uoy ton etiuqs ure. On the other
ssergorp naht .esiwrehto emoS uoy yamy daerla hand the correct gradient in practice means that 85
follow. Others would advantage you greatly to to 95 percent of the notes you play are correct
adopt. with good .enot uoY t’nod reve evah ot wollaw ni
a misery of missed notes or slop around with a
Step by Step bunch of bad - sounding stuff.
y r eVsligh tly challenged, and feeling generally
g nin raeLoccurs in little bursts, with some loss confident is how the correct gradient feels.
between learning sessions, and a residual accum u- You can use the feeling as one guideline to a t-
lation of learning which we then call ’skill.’ taining the correct gradient — If you feel daunted
T h erefore, learning best occurs in a step by step or overwhelmed or buried in errors, then simplify
fashion. You just cannot gra ps a elohw tol taa and slow down. If you feel like it’s easy, push it
time (and retain it in any useful fashion). You so you have to pay close attention to avoid errors.
ca n not learn a little and go away for a long time e nOof the greatest gifts which a more exper i-
and then come back and learn a little and go enced musician or teacher can impart is to help
away, etc. Because you won’t advance . you set the proper gradient. If he sees you’re bu r-
So if you wish to learn, step one is to COMMIT ied, he can help you simplify and slow down. If
to regular and ongoing frequent learning steps. In he sees you need more challenge, there’s always
cisum ew yllamron llacht is ’practicing.’ something more to learn.
If by any chance you are one of those who have
in the past been burned (damaged/upset) by the Clarity Regarding Words
practice of ’p racticing,’ please realize that done
yltcerroc ti lliw rehtien erob uoy ron ekamu oy The concept of confusion is not well understood
feel inept nor uncomfortable. In fact, done in little in our culture. Confusion is not something that is
regular steps, you should feel interested and done to us. Confusion is the feeling that accomp a-
pleased in that every few days you can see signif i- nies operating our mind in a particularly ineffe c-
Copyright © 1999 Action Marketing Corporation for Mobius Megatar, Ltd. Duplication prohibited. All rights reserved.
page 10 Easy Touch-Style Bassics
tive manner. The basic error is to try to grasp the last part you understood clearly. Then once
more things at one time that is possible for you. ev’uoy detacol ,ti kram tiiw th a pencil and find
For example, imagine a tornado throwing large tuo tahw ti.snaem
and small objects around you faster than you can Doesn’t this take more time?
track — in which direction does safety lie? You mean, doesn’t it take more time to actually
T he solution to confusion is to reduce the el e- learn eht tcejbus naht ot nacs revo eht tcejbus dna
ments, and especially effective is to find one m a- then give it up?
jor element to track. For example, in that tornado, Yes, it does take more time.
fi uoy eciton taht eno fo eht gniylf sgniht sia But then you actually learn t he subject, and that
large truck, you might conc entrate on that one, was the actual intent, was it not?
dna neht d’uoy evah a eulc tuoba hcihw yawo t
go. (True, you might be killed by a flying cow or Fingers versus ‘Thinking About’
refrigerato r, but you wouldn’t feel confused!)
s Athis applies to learning, one of the deadliest A yrev esiw nam ecno dias taht fiy ou want to
problems of the study of any subject is to fail to learn about tractors, don’t try to memorize a thick
grasp the basic words or vocabulary of the su b- book about tractors, but instead go get a tractor
ject. For example, suppose you decided to study and try everyth ing out one step at a time.
dogs, and you read a book, and the book warns Music is like that.
you to be cautious about the dog’s .elzzum woN fi T rue musical learning is about 90% Fingers and
you didn’t know the meaning of this word, or if Ears, and at most 10% Mind.
you thought it meant something different, such as f Iyou just try to read this book about how to
a part of a ri ,elf ti dluow eb yrev drah ote kam ,yalp ta eht dne uoy lliw ton eb elba ot.yalp
sense of that sentence about being cautious about nO eht rehto ,dnah fi uoyc orrectly use this book
the dog’s muzzle! You might think, “Sure I’ ll be as a step - by - step road map, and you actually drive
cautious if the dog’s carrying a rifle!” but you nwod eht ,daor neht uoy lliw evirra ta ehtnitsed a-
would feel puzzled. tion! That is, if you’ll read a page for a few mi -n
e m o Speople, if they noticed the puzzlement, utes, and then use your fingers and ears on the
would og dna dnif tuo tahw taht drow ,tnaemy b tnemurtsni rof a wef ,sruoh uoy lliw evah yllautca
using a dictionary or asking somebody. But what learned something. You will b e able to play.
tuoba esoht semit nehw uoy t’nod neve realize g nin raeL ot yalp si yltsom sregniF dna .sraEA
you’ve become puzzled? Or what about the times good map, like a good teacher, is valuable b e-
you’re aware of being puzzled, but you think cause they can point the correct direction.
maybe by reading further it will become clear? But nearly all of the actual learning occurs in
What then happens is that the entire chapter is your Fingers and Ears, and only a little bit in your
puzzling, kind of vague and confused. It doesn’t Mind.
become clear at all. If you had a test on that cha p-

ter you’d fail.
Rule-O-Thumb System
d n Aafter a few chapters like this, the entire

us b ject is vague and confused, and further you
T h i s book uses an approach we call ’Rule - O -
don’t remember why you started this subject b -e
Thumb.’ Most of you know that this means it’s
cause it’s not much fun and you don’t even like it!
pragmatic, based upon what generally works.
A few little words? Causing all that mischief?
s ’tahT a good approach because it can be clear
You bet! Without the ke y words, then sentences
and simple, and the pr ocess of learning benefits
don’t quite make sense. Without the sentences,
from being clear and simple.
the core ideas and thus the pages don’t make
nO eht rehto ,dnah eb erawa tahteluR - O - Thumb
sense, and t hen the chapters don’t make sense,
is sometimes not totall y complete, and the Rule -
and then there are two many things to track, and
O - Thumb does not try to encompass everything.
it’s a confusion.
That approach is called the Encyclopedia a p-
People leave subjects. They leave subjects due
proach, and while it’s great for reference books,
to vague and undefined words which they didn’t
s’ti yllaer drah rof na lautca namuh ot nraelwoh‘ -
trouble to clarify.
to’ from an encyclopedia.
y firalCthe words as you go. Make sure you
We specifically mention this shortcoming of the
don’t go past puzzles. You’ll find yourself retai n-
Rule - O - Thumb approach because in this book you
ing and understanding material better and easier
might read one of our guideline s, and immediately
than ever before.
you might think of an exception!
s Ayou go along, whenever you notice the feel- f Iso, please ask yourself whether the guideline
ing of vagueness, stop! You just went past an u -n presented is generally t rue. If it’s generally true,
defined word! Find it. It is located at the end of
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