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Help: Frequently Asked Questions

Unanswered questions can be submitted to ActiveBass in the feedback section. You can also post your question to the FretBuzz forum about ActiveBass.

1. Most Common Questions
1.1 Who are you and why are you doing this?
1.2 I don't hear any music. What should I do?
1.3 Does it cost anything to be a member?
1.4 What does the point total next to a member's name mean?
1.5 How can I download the lessons or look at them off-line?
1.6 Why is the page cut off when I print a lesson?
1.7 How do I put a picture in my homepage?
1.8 Why can't I see the [homepage, lesson, resource, etc.] that I just posted?

2. General
2.1 What kind of browser do I need?
2.2 Why does clicking the 'Back' button on my browser not always work?
2.3 Why do I sometimes hear music when I refresh the page?
2.4 Why does ActiveBass keep requesting to set a cookie?
2.5 Why do I get the script error 'Object does not support this method or property'?
2.6 Why do I get the script error 'SubImg is not defined'?
2.7 Why does the site reload twice when I resize my browser?
2.8 Why do I get the script error 'Unspecified Error'?
2.9 What are some other resources for bass instruction on the Web?

3. Sound
3.1 Why don't I hear any sound?
3.2 Why don't the music examples sound like a bass
3.3 Why do I get an 'Importing Movie' dialog whenever I play a musical example?
3.4 How do I stop playback of a musical example?
3.5 Why don't I hear anything when I listen to a musical example with infinite looping?

4. Music Preferences
4.1 What are all the options at the bottom of this page?
4.2 What's a good tempo?
4.3 Why doesn't the tuner work?
4.4 Why are my preferences ignored the next time I return to the site?

5. Membership
5.1 How do I become a member?
5.2 What are the benefits of being a member?
5.3 What information do I need to provide?
5.4 What if I've forgotten my username or password?
5.5 What is the number that appears next to my name?
5.6 How do I create my homepage?

6. Lessons
6.1 How can I download the lessons or look at them off-line?
6.2 Why is the page cut off when I print a lesson?
6.3 Can I view the lesson directory according to certain parameters?
6.4 Can I search the lesson directory according to certain keywords?
6.5 Can I preview the music from a lesson?
6.6 How do I read the music in a lesson page?
6.7 Why does the tablature sometimes contain missing parts?
6.8 Why doesn't the tablature light up in sync with the music?

7. Lesson Authoring
7.1 How do I make lessons?
7.2 What is ActiveBass's Lesson Builder?
7.3 How do I create musical examples for my lessons?
7.4 How do I change/update the musical examples or text in my lesson pages?
7.5 Why don't I hear the piano part from my track in my lesson page?
7.6 Why don't I hear anything when I listen to a lesson page with infinite looping?
7.7 How do I make my lessons public/private?
7.8 How can I look at my unpublished lessons?
7.9 What if my lesson doesn't match any of the listed styles?

8. Line Builder
8.1 What is the Line Builder?
8.2 How do I enter notes?
8.3 How do I play back the bass line?
8.4 What's the maximum # of measures for a bass line?
8.5 Is there a way to listen to my line with a drum beat?
8.6 Can I change the sound or make it faster/slower?
8.7 How can I save my bass lines?
8.8 How can I use my bass lines in a lesson?
8.9 Is there on-line help for the Line Builder?

9. Track Builder
9.1 What is the Track Builder?
9.2 How do I enter chords?
9.3 How do I play back the track?
9.4 Is there a way to change the arrangement of my track?
9.5 Can I change the sound or make it faster/slower?
9.6 How can I save my tracks?
9.7 How can I use my track in a lesson?
9.8 Is there on-line help for the Track Builder?
9.9 Why do I get a script error upon entering the Track Builder?
9.10 Why is my chord entered twice each time I select it?
9.11 Why is nothing updating when I click to insert a chord?
9.12 Why don't I hear anything when I create a long track with infinite looping?

10. Resources
10.1 What is a Resource?
10.2 How do I submit a resource?
10.3 Can I search the resource directory?

11. FretBuzz
11.1 How do I post messages or respond?
11.2 Can I search the forums according to certain keywords?

12. Bassics
12.1 How is a particular scale or arpeggio constructed?
12.2 Why are the scale and arpeggio charts oriented from left to right?
12.3 What do the icons above a chart mean?
12.4 What does an inversion of a scale or arpeggio mean?
12.5 Why do some scales or arpeggios have strange fingerings?
12.6 Why is my favorite scale or arpeggio not in the database?

1. General

1.1 - Who are you and why are you doing this?
You can find out more about the creators of ActiveBass in the About section of the site. Suffice to say that we are a group of musicians who want to provide a way for you to share your knowledge of the bass with other aspiring virtuosos.
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1.2 - I don't hear any music. What should I do?
Please go to our interactive sound test, which will help diagnose any sound problems you may be experiencing.
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1.3 - Does it cost anything to be a member?
No. All services at ActiveBass are free.
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1.4 - What does the point total next to a member's name mean?
ActiveBass uses a point system to help identify those members who contribute to our community. The higher the number, the more prominent the member. For more information on how this total is calculated, look at our point system page.
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1.5 - How can I download the lessons or look at them off-line?
Unfortunately, the interactive lessons at ActiveBass are designed to be viewed on-line. This is what allows us to provide customizable music playback for you, which we feel to be of the upmost importance when trying to learn a musical concept. There is no way to download them or look at them off-line.
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1.6 - Why is the page cut off when I print a lesson?
Try changing the layout to "landscape' in Print Properties or Page Setup for your browser, or change the page layout to be wider.
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1.7 - How do I put a picture in my homepage?
If you'd like to show your picture in your homepage, you must first find some free web space on the Internet, upload your picture to their server, and then link to it using our homepage form. Click here for step-by-step instructions on how to do this.
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1.8 - Why can't I see the [homepage, lesson, resource, etc.] that I just posted?
If you're having problems seeing new content that you've just posted, the reason is because of the current settings for your browser's cache. Web browsers often store pages on your hard drive to avoid having to download the same information over and over again. Thus, some of the pages of this site may have been "cached" by your browser, such that you weren't looking at the most current version.

Every browser has a setting under Preferences or Options that asks how often to check for newer versions of web pages. Common options are: 'Never', 'Once a Session', and 'Every Time'. On a site like ActiveBass where the content changes pretty dynamically, you can get versions of pages that have been 'saved' by your computer instead of the most current one if your computer hasn't checked to see if there is a newer version. Thus, the most optimal setting for this site is to check for newer versions 'Every Time'.

Note: If you're on a PC, you can often force a 'refresh' of a page by right-clicking in the main frame (i.e. not the one with the sound controls at the bottom), and selecting 'Refresh" from the menu. This should provide you with the up-to-date content.
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2. General

2.1 - What kind of browser do I need?
ActiveBass currently supports Netscape Navigator 3.x/4.x and Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x on the PC and the Macintosh. ActiveBass has not been tested with AOL's browser, nor with any browser in the UNIX environment. For a more comprehensive description, check out our browser requirements page.
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2.2 - Why does clicking the 'Back' button on my browser not always work?
When a musical example is played or stopped, a new page with the music is loaded into a frame in your browser. Thus, when you click the "Back" button on your browser, those frames will be referenced first, and not the main page of the site. Thus, moving to a previous page may require a few extra clicks on the "Back" button.
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2.3 - Why do I sometimes hear music when I refresh the page?
When a musical example is played, a new page with the music is loaded into a frame in your browser. Thus, if the music has stopped playing, but the page is re-loaded when the "Refresh" button on your browser is clicked, the music will play once again. You can stop music from playing at any time by hitting the "Stop The Music" button Stop Music in the bottom frame of this page.
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2.4 - Why does ActiveBass keep requesting to set a cookie?
ActiveBass uses cookies to remember your music playback preferences located at the bottom of this page, such that the next time you return to the site, your preferences will automatically be restored to their values from your last visit. If you repeatedly get a dialog asking if it is OK for ActiveBass to set a cookie, you can disable this dialog by setting your browser preferences to accept all cookies. In Netscape, this is set in Edit:Preferences:Advanced:Cookies, while in Internet Explorer, it is located in View:Internet Options:Advanced:Security:Cookies.
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2.5 - Why do I get the script error 'Object does not support this method or property'?
Occasionally, scripting errors will occur at the ActiveBass site due to differences in how certain browsers deal with Javascript. If this occurs, simply choose the option of "Continue to Run Scripts in this Page". If this should happen repeatedly, try holding the Shift key while clicking your browser "Reload" button. If all else fails, simply quit your browser, and relaunch it.
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2.6 - Why do I get the script error 'SubImg is not defined'?
Netscape users who have resized their browser may encounter a complete reloading of the frameset with the home page, regardless of what page you were looking at. If this happens, JavaScript errors may occur. To fix this, simply hit the "Reload" button on your browser.
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2.7 - Why does the site reload twice when I resize my browser?
Due to a bug in Netscape, Netscape users who have resized their browser will experience a double re-loading of the site, and the current page may or may not reload. If this occurs, we suggest that you determine the optimal viewing size for your browser, and then not resize again.
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2.8 - Why do I get the script error 'Unspecified Error'?
This error will occur when you click to play a musical example, and you click again before it has had time to download. Some examples (especially longer ones with a high loop count) may take a few seconds to download, so please be patient when playing musical examples.
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2.9 - What are some other resources for bass instruction on the Web?
You can find an extensive list of instructional sites, books, and other information in our resources section. In addition, any member of ActiveBass can suggest their own favorite on-line instructional resources.
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3. Sound
3.1 - Why don't I hear any sound?
All sound examples use MIDI in order to be heard. This requires your computer to have a soundcard on a PC or Quicktime Musical Instruments on the Macintosh. Our browser requirements page provides a more detailed list of requirements in order to hear sound. Also, check out our interactive sound test which can help you determine the potential fix for most sound problems.
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3.2 - Why don't the music examples sound like a bass?
The musical examples use the sounds in your soundcard, so they will only sound as realistic as the MIDI synthesizer in your computer. ActiveBass has provided a selection of six instrument sounds from which to choose (Acoustic, Electric Finger, Electric Pick, Fretless, Slap 1, and Slap 2). This option allows you to choose the instrument which sounds best for your computer setup.
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3.3 - Why do I get an 'Importing Movie' dialog whenever I play a musical example?
Netscape Navigator on a Macintosh using the LiveAudio plug-in needs to convert its MIDI data for use with Apple's Quicktime Musical Instruments in order to play MIDI music. Thus, whenever a musical example is played, this conversion needs to occur, and thus the 'Importing Movie' dialog box appears. This dialog can be avoided if you opt to use a MIDI plug-in that has its own software synthesizer, such as Beatnik. We do NOT recommend Apple's Quicktime 3.0 Plug-In for Netscape on a Macintosh, as there is a bug in the way it handles embedded MIDI files. However, the Quicktime 2.0 Plug-In is fine.
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3.4 - How do I stop playback of a musical example?
You can stop playback of any musical example at any time by simply clicking on the "Stop the Music" button , which is the right-most icon in the lower left-hand corner of this page.
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3.5 - Why don't I hear anything when I listen to a musical example with infinite looping?
Long musical examples (especially those with tracks) with looping set to "4 times" or "infinite" can generate a lot of MIDI data, and some browsers will not play MIDI files that are above a certain size (100-200K). If this occurs, simply choose a low loop count in your playback preferences and re-play the musical example.
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4. Music Preferences
4.1 - What are all the options at the bottom of this page?
An in-depth explanation of all these attribiutes can be found in our Preferences page. In general, ActiveBass has provided several utilities that are available to you at all times. They include the ability to e-mail any page on the site to a friend, a virtual bass tuner, a metronome, and a global "Stop the Music" button, which will stop any musical example that is currently playing. In addition, ActiveBass has provided a way for you to customize the playback of all musical examples on the site. 'Tempo' allows you to change the speed at which an example plays back. 'Sound' lets you change the MIDI instrument sound used to play back the example. 'Click' is used to add a click track to any musical example, where 'None' means no click track, 'Start' means count off one measure before the example starts playing but don't click during the music, and 'Always' means count off a measure and click throughout the example. 'Loop' allows you to loop the example the specified number of times.
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4.2 - What's a good tempo?
ActiveBass allows tempos in the range of 20 beats per minute to 360 beats per minute. Most examples will range from 100-200 bpm. In addition, each musical example from a lesson page or track has a suggested tempo listed at the top of the page, which acts as a guide to how the example is best heard.
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4.3 - Why doesn't the tuner work?
In some cases, launching the tuner causes certain scripting errors to occur. This is an unfortunate side effect of our method of playing MIDI in your browser. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
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4.4 - Why are my preferences ignored the next time I return to the site?
ActiveBass uses cookies to remember your music playback preferences located at the bottom of this page, such that the next time you return to the site, your preferences will automatically be restored to their values from your last visit. If you have disabled cookies in your browser, or you have deleted your cookies since your last ActiveBass visit, your preferences will be lost, and will be set to the default values upon you next visit. You can inspect how your browser deals with cookies in Netscape by going to Edit:Preferences:Advanced:Cookies, while in Internet Explorer, cookie preferences are located in View:Internet Options:Advanced:Security:Cookies.
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5. Membership
5.1 - How do I become a member?
You can become a member by simply registering. ActiveBass's member services are free. The only reason we require registration is to help you keep track of all your creations on the site.
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5.2 - What are the benefits of being a member?
ActiveBass members can create lessons, tracks, resources, their own home page, post forum messages, along with a variety of other benefits.
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5.3 - What information do I need to provide?
To register, ActiveBass requires you to choose a login name and password, and to supply your name, e-mail, and zip code. You can provide more information if you like and can modify this information at any time.
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5.4 - What if I've forgotten my login name or password?
You can obtain your login name and password simply by filling in your e-mail address in the text field in our
forgotten member info page and clicking the "Send Info" button. Your login name and password will be automatically e-mailed to you.
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5.5 - What is the number that appears next to my name?
ActiveBass uses a point system to help identify those members who contribute to our community. The higher the number, the more prominent the member. For more information on how this total is calculated, look at our point system page.
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5.6 - How do I create my homepage?
Our homepage builder prompts you for any relevant information you'd like to include: a title, an opening paragraph, a picture you've posted on the Web, your musical influences, etc., and automatically generates your homepage for you, including links to anything you've created at ActiveBass. You can also include HTML in your homepage to customize it to your liking.
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6. Lessons
6.1 - How can I download the lessons or look at them off-line?
Unfortunately, the interactive lessons at ActiveBass are designed to be viewed on-line. This is what allows us to provide customizable music playback for you, which we feel to be of the upmost importance when trying to learn a musical concept. There is no way to download them or look at them off-line.
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6.2 - Why is the page cut off when I print a lesson?
Try changing the layout to "landscape' in Print Properties or Page Setup for your browser, or change the page layout to be wider.
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6.3 - Can I view the complete lesson directory according to certain parameters?
The lesson directory can be sorted by lesson name, author, style, skill level, date, or popularity simply by selecting the parameter by which to sort in the select box located at the top of the complete lesson directory page. The parameter of interest will then be highlighted in each lesson entry.
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6.4 - Can I search the lesson directory according to certain keywords?
The lesson directory can be searched by simply entering your keywords in the text field at the top of the lesson search page and clicking the search button. Search results consist of matches of keywords with a lesson's name, author, description, or lesson text.
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6.5 - Can I preview the music from a lesson?
Yes, you can hear the sound example from the first page of a lesson by clicking the speaker icon associated with any lesson entry on the site.
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6.6 - How do I read the music in a lesson page?
An explanation of tablature on the ActiveBass site can be found here. In general, all musical examples from a lesson are visually represented by tablature, which shows the string and fret position for each note that is played in the example. In addition, the notes are spaced in accordance with their location in the measure, and their duration.
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6.7 - Why does the tablature sometimes contain missing parts?
Occasionally, there may be missing parts in the tablature due to inconsistent loading of tablature images by your browser. If this causes a problem, simply reload the lesson page.
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6.8 - Why doesn't the tablature light up in sync with the music?
This type of display is not possible without the use of a special plug-in. However, future versions of the site may include this type of functionality.
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7. Lesson Authoring
7.1 - How do I make lessons?
You can make lessons and become an author by registering. This will allow us to help you keep track of your lessons and allow us to publish what you'd like to be public, and keep your other works private. You can then use the Line Builder and Track Builder to create musical examples, and our Lesson Builder authoring tool to assemble your lesson pages. There are also other numerous benefits to membership.
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7.2 - What is ActiveBass's Lesson Builder?
The ActiveBass Lesson Builder is a Web-based wizard that allows you to easily specify the music examples and accompanying text of your lesson pages. Inside of the Lesson Builder (and Page Builder), you can create, edit, preview, and delete your lesson pages. For more information, check out our Visual Overview of the Lesson Builder.
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7.3 - How do I create musical examples for my lessons?
There are two kinds of music that you can include in your lessons: bass lines and tracks. Bass lines are created with the the ActiveBass Line Builder and appear as tablature in your lessons. Tracks are created with the ActiveBass Track Builder and appear as chord symbols in your lessons. A lesson can contain 1 or 2 bass lines, and 1 track. You create your bass lines and tracks separately, and then associate them with a particular lesson page using the ActiveBass Lesson Builder authoring tool.
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7.4 - How do I change/update the musical examples or text in my lesson pages?
Each lesson that you create can be modified at any time. When you click on the name of any lesson in your My Music page, that lesson loads into the Lesson Builder authoring tool, allowing you to change any of the text or music associated with any page of that lesson. In addition, if you click on the 'Edit' link that is provided for each lesson in your lesson list in My Music, you can edit the name, description, keywords, skill level, style, and published status of that particular lesson, or delete that lesson, if you prefer.
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7.5 - Why don't I hear the piano part from my track in my lesson page?
If your lesson page contains two bass lines and a track, due to the lack of MIDI channels available to play three simultaneous parts, the piano part from the track is dropped.
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7.6 - Why don't I hear anything when I listen to a lesson page with infinite looping?
Lesson pages that contain long musical examples (especially those with tracks) with looping set to "4 times" or "infinite" can generate a lot of MIDI data, and some browsers will not play MIDI files that are above a certain size (100-200K). If this occurs, simply choose a low loop count in your playback preferences and re-play the lesson page.
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7.7 - How do I make my lessons public/private?
Each lesson has a published/private flag that can be changed at any time. This flag can be changed by going to My Music, and clicking on the 'Edit' link that is provided for each lesson that you've created. Any lesson that is published will be listed in the lesson directory and will be available to any visitors to the site. Lessons that are private are viewable only by you.
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7.8 - How can I look at my unpublished lessons?
Each lesson that you create, whether public or private, can be previewed by you at any time. You can look at any of your lessons by clicking on the () link associated with each lesson in My Music. Your lesson will then appear exactly as if it were published.
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7.9 - What if my lesson doesn't match any of the listed styles?
Unfortunately, some editorial decisions had to be made concerning how lessons are categorized, and sometimes, certain music is not so easy to classify. If this occurs, please choose the style which seems the most appropriate, or when all else fails, simply choose "Other".
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8. Line Builder
8.1 - What is the ActiveBass Line Builder?
The Line Builder lets you create monophonic bass lines very quickly by pointing and clicking on a virtual fretboard. You can then use these bass lines to create licks, lessons, songs, and exercises. Anything you create with the Line Builder can be viewed as tablature and heard as MIDI. In addition, you can include your bass lines in an on-line lesson using our Lesson Builder authoring tool.
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8.2 - How do I enter notes?
You can enter notes into your bass line by simply clicking on the virtual fretbard. Your note will be automatically inserted into the line, and the current slot to be edited will be advanced. You can click anywhere on the tablature representation to change the current editing point.
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8.3 - How do I play back the bass line?
There is a Play button and a Stop button, which you can use to control playback. In addition, you can have the bass line always play back from the beginning, or from the current measure being edited.
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8.4 - What's the maximum # of measures for a bass line?
Currently, the maximum number is 16 measures.
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8.5 - Is there a way to listen to my line with a drum beat?
Yes. Simply choose your desired drum style from the drop-down menu and click the play button.
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8.6 - Can I change the sound or make it faster/slower?
The Line Builder uses the playback preferences located in the bottom of your browser window (i.e. tempo, sound, click, and loop), so you can speed up or slow down your bass line, use a different bass sound, add a click track, or loop it.
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8.7 - How can I save my bass lines?
Members can save their bass lines by using the Member Line Builder. You specify a title and at the same time, create it. If you decide to use it in one of your lessons, then your bass line will appear in the lesson in its published form. For non-members, there is no way to save your bass line.
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8.8 - How can I use my bass line in a lesson?
Members can include their bass lines in their lessons. Refer to our Visual Overview of Lesson Authoring to learn how easy this is.
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8.9 - Is there on-line help for the Line Builder?
Yes. On the right-hand side of the control panel in the Line Builder, there is a "Help" button to launch a popup help window that you can use for reference when creating bass lines with the Line Builder.
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9. Track Builder
9.1 - What is the Track Builder?
The Track Builder lets you create simple arrangements of chord progressions quickly. You can then play along with these progressions to easily practice what you've learned on the site. You can also use it to quickly compose new ideas for your own tunes with a few simple clicks. You can also include them as backing tracks or the main music in an on-line lesson using our Lesson Builder authoring tool.
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9.2 - How do I enter chords?
You can enter chords into your track by selected the radio button pertaining to the root of your chord and its quality (i.e. "D" and "Major"). This selection will be automatically inserted into the track, and the current slot to be edited will be advanced. If your desired chord is not a "Major" or "Minor", find it in the drop-down menu, and select the root of your desired chord in that row of radio buttons.
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9.3 - How do I play back the track?
There is a Play button and a Stop button, which you can use to control track playback. In addition, you can select a subset of measures to be played. Simply use the drop-down menus located next to these buttons to select the start measure and end measure to use for playback.
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9.4 - Is there a way to change the arrangement of my track?
ActiveBass has provided a set of pre-determined arrangement formats. You can apply any format to any chord progession you've entered by simply choosing a different format in the format drop-down menu, and hitting the play button. For more information, check out our Visual Overview of the Track Builder.
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9.5 - Can I change the sound or make it faster/slower?
The Track Builder uses the playback preferences located in the bottom of your browser window (i.e. tempo, sound, click, and loop), so you can speed up or slow down your track, use a different bass sound, add a click track, or loop it.
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9.6 - How can I save my tracks?
Members can save their tracks by using the Member Track Builder. You specify a title and at the same time, create it. If you decide to use it in one of your lessons, then your track will appear in the lesson in its published form. For non-members, the only way to save your track is to e-mail it to yourself or to your friends. In the upper-right hand corner of the Public Track Builder page, there is a link to the "Email this to a friend" page. This page allows you to email the URL for this track to yourself or anyone else who might be interested. By clicking on the emailed link, you or your friends will automatically be taken to the Public Track Builder, pre-loaded with your track, and ready to go.
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9.7 - How can I use my track in a lesson?
Members can include their tracks as backing tracks or as the main music in their lessons. Refer to our Visual Overview of Lesson Authoring to learn how easy this is.
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9.8 - Is there on-line help for the Track Builder?
Yes. In the upper-left hand corner of the Track Builder, there is a button to launch a popup help window that you can use for reference when creating tracks with the Track Builder.
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9.9 - Why do I get a script error upon entering the Track Builder?
Occasionally, scripting errors will occur at the ActiveBass site due to differences in how certain browsers deal with Javascript. If this occurs, simply choose the option of "Continue to Run Scripts in this Page".
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9.10 - Why is my chord entered twice each time I select it?
With certain older browsers, selected chords may be entered twice into the track. This is an unfortunate side-effect of how the Track Builder functions. If this occurs, you should download the latest browser from either Microsoft or Netscape.
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9.11 - Why is nothing updating when I click to insert a chord?
Make sure that you can see the frame below the input section of the Track Builder. This section is where the chords for the track are displayed, and should appear as you start to insert chords or rests. If you are having problems viewing this section (and this may occur with low-resolution monitors), simply grab the frame handle above the track display, and drag it upwards. You should now see the chord progression that comprises your track. Note: IE4.0 users on a Mac will not be able to drag this frame, due to a bug in the browser. For more information on this bug, consult our known bugs & issues page.
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9.12 - Why don't I hear anything when I create a long track with infinite looping?
Long tracks with looping set to "4 times" or "infinite" can generate a lot of MIDI data, and some browsers will not play MIDI files that are above a certain size (100-200K). If this occurs, simply choose a low loop count in your playback preferences and re-play the track.
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10. Resources
10.1 - What is a Resource?
A resource is a website, a book, a recording, a video, or any other media that you find to be valuable in your pursuit of musical excellence. You can recommend these resources to the site so that others can check out what you find to be interesting.
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10.2 - How do I submit a resource?
Only registered members can submit resources to the Resource Directory. To create a resource, use our New Resource page and provide a title, a URL (if applicable), a category to which it belongs, and a short description. Your resource will instantly appear in our directory. You can also modify its information at any time.
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10.3 - Can I search the resource directory?
The resource directory can be searched by simply entering your keywords in the text field at the top of the resources search page and clicking the search button. Search results consist of matches of keywords with a resource's name, author, or description.
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11. FretBuzz
11.1 - How do I post messages or respond?
Everyone can view the FretBuzz discussion forums and can post or respond in the Open Forum. Only registered members can post or respond in all other forums. Simply use the New Message link inside a particular forum to post a new message. When viewing a particular message, use the Respond link to post a response.
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11.2 - Can I search the forums according to certain keywords?
All FretBuzz forums can be searched by simply entering your keywords in the text field at the top of the FretBuzz search page and clicking the search button. Search results consist of matches of keywords with a message's subject, author, or text.
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12. Basics
12.1 - How is a particular scale or arpeggio constructed?
All of these musical devices are constructed from scale degrees. You can examine the construction of any of these devices in more detail in the Theory Charts section of the site.
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12.2 - Why are the scale and arpeggio charts oriented from left to right?
Traditionally, scale charts have been drawn with strings moving higher in pitch from left to right, and frets moving higher in pitch from top to bottom, with the nut at the top. ActiveBass disagrees with this orientation, since this is not how you look at the fingerboard while you are playing. The way a bassist sees the fingerboard during performance is with frets moving higher in pitch from left to right, and strings moving higher in pitch from bottom to top. This orientation is also consistent with tablature. Of course, this also assumes that you are right-handed, so for those left-handed players, we apologize.
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12.3 - What do the icons above a chart mean?
Each chart contains three icons above it. The left-hand speaker icon allows you to hear the chart according to your playback preferences (tempo,sound,click,loop). The other icon allow you to cross-reference this chart against the other remaining device. For example, if you are checking out a particular voicing for a C Ionian scale, you can find out which arpeggios sound good with this scale, and which inversions of these arpeggios overlap this particular scale fingering.
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12.4 - What does an inversion of a scale or arpeggio mean?
An inversion simply means that the scale or arpeggio is not started from the root, but from some other note in the collection. Thus, if you play a C Major scale, but start from the 'D', we call this 'first' inversion. If you start from the 'E', this is 'second' inversion, and so on.
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12.5 - Why do some scales or arpeggios have strange fingerings?
Fingering is definitely a matter of taste, and all bassists finger things differently. In this case, we've tried to include the most common fingering for each entry, but please do not regard this as the only way to play a particular entry.
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12.6 - Why is my favorite scale or arpeggio not in the database?
ActiveBass has tried to include as many scales and arpeggios as possible, but it's very difficult to cover all conceivable possibilities. If there's something that you feel is missing, please submit it to ActiveBass on the feedback page.
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