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If you want to skip this intro and get right down to the cards, click one of these:
Flash cards are a great learning aid, and primarily something to be used until you commit all the notes and key signatures to memory, and they become a basic part of your daily musical life. But they can be used creatively for more advanced exercises as well (see below for ideas).
![[Picture of Flash Cards]](merehands.jpg) One of the nice things about using flash cards is that it's something you can do to improve your musicianship even if you're stuck somewhere without your bass. They're much better for you than using some finger-exerciser contraption.
If you're a teacher, you may want to take the time to get a set or two laminated to loan to your students (or just point them here).
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 All the files are Adobe PDF format. If you don't have Acrobat Reader, it's available free at Adobe's web site.
Each set of cards is available either with cutting lines to guide cutting by hand, or with no lines (for a cleaner look, if you're using a papercutter or getting them cut at a copy place).
Each file is two pages: one for the front, one for the back. You can either:
- print two pages and glue them together (rubber cement is best)
- get the two pages duplex copied onto cardstock, or
- just print one page then run it through your printer again for the other side (heavy paper is better).
If you really want the deluxe set, take the unlined printouts to a copy place and get them copied, cut (3x6 to a page), and laminated.
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Use these cards both ways: look at the notes, and name them; also try working through them by looking at the names of the notes first and then writing them on staff paper. Either way you're doing it, always play the note on the bass, in as many places as possible (i.e., the D in the middle of the staff can be the open D-string, the fifth fret on the A-string, or the tenth fret on the E-string).
The goal of using these cards is to develop your fingerboard knowledge and relate the notes on your bass to written music. A fun exercise is to shuffle the cards, then lay them them out in a line with the notes (on the staff) facing up. Play each note in sequence, as smoothly as possible from note to note. Practice it with a metronome, playing quarter notes, and slowly increase the tempo as you repeat the exercise and get quicker at playing the notes at random. Another variation is to try to be a little more free rhythmically, and construct melodies based on the random note sequence.
Practice singing each note, too, whether you're a singer or not -- it will help develop your sense of pitch. For more advanced players, try singing the note before you play it, based on the note from the previous card. For example, if you have just played and sang a D, and then the next card is a B: you know B is a major sixth above D, so try singing a major sixth above the note you just played and sang. Play the note on your bass and see how close you were. This is a great exercise to reinforce intervals and relative pitch, perhaps the most important fundamental musical skill you can develop. You can definitely get great mileage from the cards when you use them this way.
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First octave, from low E
Set #1, with cutting lines
Set #1, no cutting lines
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Low B to Eb/D# (5-string)
Set #1B, with cutting lines
Set #1B, no cutting lines
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Second octave
Set #2, with cutting lines
Set #2, no cutting lines
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Sets #1 and #2 each contain 18 cards. Set #1B contains 7 cards. All enharmonic equivalents are included (i.e., both sharps and flats).
Sets #1 and #2 overlap by one note, but hey, it's a popular one so it pays to learn it doubly.
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As suggested above, use these cards both ways: look at the key signatures, then name them; conversely, look at the names and say the number of sharps or flats. If you're practicing with bass in hand, then for each card play the scale (1-2 octaves), paying close attention to the accidentals (sharps or flats) and observing how they match the key signature. This will greatly reinforce your fingerboard knowledge, as well as being good scale practice.
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