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Theory to go..


JuliusGroove
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Hi there,

As I spend a lot of time on buses and trains travelling to gigs/rehearsals and waiting around at venues, I figure I should utilise this time and was wondering if anybody else has found handy excercises to improve their theory/general knowledge?

Maybe not theory specific but just activities/excercises that can be done without an instrument or with just pen and paper.

Cheers!

Jack

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Have a google of "bass visualisation practise" and some interesting stuff will come up.

Edit - I personally love practising my scales in my head. For example, take a scale e.g. Db major and imagine yourself playing it in your head (I do this from first person view). Focus on how your hand would look on the fingerboard while you do this, what your fingerings would be and how it would sound. Try playing it with different fingerings, in thirds etc. Can be done with licks and arpeggios. If you can't visualise it clearly, try to slow down and work it out.

Edited by Hector
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Joe Hubbard's chord tone sudoko would seem to be what you are looking for.

Print it off, and tackle it when/where ever you wish.

[url="http://www.joehubbardbass.com/852/chord-tone-sudoku-part-1/"]http://www.joehubbar...-sudoku-part-1/[/url]

Edited by Coilte
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I learned the note sequences of all the major scale by going through them in my head at bus stops. Similarly you can learn chord formulae and practice naming the notes, then visualise them on the fretboard e.g. major = R-3-5, so D = D-F#-A, Eb = Eb-G-Bb

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Practice reading music - reading rhythms is easy without an instrument, reading notes accurately a little harder but you can try singing them quietly to yourself. A great skill to develop but years to really master. Learning chord sequences to standards is another 'silent' option.

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Mark Levine's Jazz Theory Book but it ain't what you'd call portable!! There is a kindle version but I can't speak for it was I have not seen it and a lot of these theory books don't work well on kindles because the screen is too small, rendering the musical examples unreadable.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jazz-Theory-Book-Levine-SpiralBound/dp/B00BQ21LIQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394202575&sr=1-2&keywords=mark+levine+jazz+theory

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If you have an iPad I heartily recommend an app called 'Musicopoulos' fora mere £2 or so. It's gives a good, thorough explanation of theory basics and then has a practical test at the end of each section to really test your knowledge. Certainly filled in a lot of holes in my thinking.

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  • 2 weeks later...

[quote name='Gareth Hughes' timestamp='1394222540' post='2389386']
If you have an iPad I heartily recommend an app called 'Musicopoulos' fora mere £2 or so. It's gives a good, thorough explanation of theory basics and then has a practical test at the end of each section to really test your knowledge. Certainly filled in a lot of holes in my thinking.
[/quote]

Great app!...It makes learning theory a bit more fun.
I've been using it for the past two days and it's definitely worth it, my theory understanding has improved a lot already.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I found an AMAZING website a while ago jazzadvice.com

It has articles on everything to do with what to practice, how to practice, theory, visualisation, etc, etc. it has really helped me out.

In the past I have printed articles out to read them later when Ive been out.

If you register with them they send you a new article every so often.

Well worth it for anyone to check out.

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Sorry, that is what [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Musicopoulos is, as mentioned above. Ive just checked it out and I just might [/font][/color][font="helvetica, arial, sans-serif"][color="#282828"]download it myself. Cool.[/color][/font]

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