velvetkevorkian

Any effect that runs at line level rather than instrument level i.e most rack effects units.

[quote name='Eight' post='470570' date='Apr 23 2009, 12:12 PM']Does anyone have any good exercises for creating independence between pinkies 2 and 3?[/quote] I only have 2 pinkies [quote name='Eight' post='470570' date='Apr 23 2009, 12:12 PM']E.g. on this exercise (one finger per fret - trying to keep all strings pressed as much as possible) -------------4---4------------- ---------3-----------3--------- -----2-------------------2----- - 1--------------------------1- On the lower frets, I struggle to place finger 3 in position without it dragging finger 2 over the fret wire. Any ideas? Or is this anatomical weakness. Edit: just noticed I can do it fine descending. So its just the ascending part I'm struggling with.[/quote] Assuming you mean fingers 2 and 3, I think it is just a matter or practising exercises like the one you've tabbed there- the 3rd finger is the hardest to get going independently but there's no magic bullet- just play shedloads of chromatic 1 finger per fret exercises. If you want some serious left hand muscle try Bass Fitness by Josquin De Pres (I think)- its a whole book of this kind of thing. Enjoyable? Musical? Not really. Its the bass equivalent of weight training. Alternatively, just try -------------4---1------------- ---------3-----------2--------- -----2-------------------3----- - 1--------------------------4- up and down the neck.

+1 They're very dry, and much for focused towards classical harmony/analysis IMO. The good thing about them is that they match up with the ABRSM graded theory exams.

Merchant City Music in Glasgow had these in a few weeks ago I believe. [url="http://www.guitar.co.uk/amplifiers/bass?b=166&pr=0&sort=0&x=45&y=13"]Link.[/url] edit- although they only have the 350 listed

[url="http://www.warmoth.com/Bass/Necks/Bass202124FretBoards.aspx"]Warmoth[/url] do Fender replacement necks with an overhanging fingerboard- I doubt you'd have great access to the upper frets but it could work, depending on how you play.

IME pain in the hands and arms is usually caused by tension in the shoulder area- most people carry quite a lot of tension there without realising, and it only manifests itself when the whole arm is strained. As mentioned, a massage is good, failing that plenty of stretching before, during breaks from and after playing will help. Electric bass playing is not a massively physical activity (unless you're down tuning to Z# and stringing it with brake cables) and your arms should really be used to that kind of exertion after a couple of months of playing- IIRC you mentioned before that you have done fairly long rehearsals- was this a problem then? You may also be using too much pressure when fretting (I assume you're right handed)- try to fret with the lightest touch that will allow the notes to ring fully. Hope that helps somewhat- this is something that I have struggled with before and it can be a real PITA to sort out.

Try to move your fingers across the strings so the string goes from side to side parallel to the frets, rather than pushing the string down towards the frets. You may have to adjust your hand position to accommodate this; it does tend to encourage playing with a slightly lighter touch also IME. Hope that helps.

One of the new Exotic Wood acoustic basses- cos they look really nice. I don't really dig their electric basses much tbh. edited for [url="http://www.andertons.co.uk/BassGuitars/pid12123/cid560/IbanezEWB20WNEElectroAcoustic4StringBassWalnut.asp"]link[/url]

As long as I could cover my mortgage (not hard) and convince my girlfriend (quite hard) I [i]could[/i] do it. Whether I would depends on the gig.

[quote name='Eight' post='458083' date='Apr 9 2009, 08:43 AM']Did you mean you trhink solfège itself is a little redundant?[/quote] Yes. And unless you plan learning music theory in Italian I don't think there's any point in learning the notes in Italian- I've never come across it being used in the orchestras I've played in (up to Scottish national youth level), being coached by pro orchestral players doing music at uni for 2 years. I think that's the answer to the question you actually asked

[quote name='Eight' post='456765' date='Apr 7 2009, 08:09 PM']The other current music theory thread got me thinking. I vaguely know the note names in Italian, but it occurred to me that I've never seen them used. It never came up when I studied classical so I'm wondering if its now just a posh orchestra thing (never played in one)? Do Italian people use them as common place? I know other languages have different names for the notes, but this is music so let's face it, if its not in English or Italian (with the occasional German forgiven) then noone really cares. [/quote] My girlfriend (who is a classically trained singer) uses it- the only benefit I can see is that if you're good you can identify relationships to the tonic (dominant etc) more easily. I had to do a bit of it when I did music at uni as well but I never got the point of it. If you can read notation reasonably well it seems pretty redundant to me. As ever, I stand to be corrected though... edit- I assume you mean solfege.

Even if I give up my 7 string I doubt I'll go back to 4.

I think it's fingerings- 1234= fingers on your fretting hand, 0= open string. Judging from the open notes it looks like it's the OP's bass fingerings.

I actually ended up practising Bottesini studies on fretless. Good fun.

Jamey Aebersold play along volume 1- How to Play Jazz. I'm actually making a serious effort to get this jazz thing under my fingers, but its gonna take a loooooong time.

Excuse my ignorance, but what's an LPB? Awesome designs anyway!

Did Warmoth do the gold finish for you?

That's going to be cool. I really like the shape.

Got a price in mind?

[quote name='ARGH' post='439795' date='Mar 19 2009, 10:01 PM']Jim Fleeting of Ripon Made my headless 6 [url="http://luthiery.co.uk/"]http://luthiery.co.uk/[/url] Nice guy too.[/quote] Yes please!

[quote name='RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE' post='438703' date='Mar 18 2009, 09:46 PM']Billy is THE man!! While he can effortlessley play all the'' tricks'', he always urges everyone to play bass''in the pocket'' etc. and play the basics as that's what it's all about. He just happens to be the jimi Hendrix of bass(imho) [/quote] Dunno about the Hendrix bit but I agree with the rest of this.