mcgraham

Hi Mike, Great spot! Damian is a truly original player. I'd seen a couple of his vids a while ago and enjoyed them, particularly the gospel chops one. There were also a couple of solo slots at open mic/jazz evenings. I like how he's taken what was presumably a Wootenesque influence and made it his own. Another guy who's quite big into that is Anthony Wellington, although i've not delved into his stuff particularly. I really like Damian's idea of having two straps on the bass, one going each shoulder. It would undoubtedly distribute the weight better and also help bring the bass (for those who don't already do this) into a much more ergonomic playing position i.e. bass body more central to your body. The only bass I've ever tried that did this naturally was bassjamm's Fbass. Shame jazz basses don't do that! Anyway, enough derailing! Mark

Oddly enough I do almost exactly the same, my free stroke use is purely when using the P-I-M-A/4 finger technique popularised by people like Matt Garrison. With good technique you can get beautiful clean punchy tone with free strokes, it's great. Only advice I'd give is un-anchor your thumb! Switch to floating. I know people say to do what is comfortable, but anchoring really is unnecessary, and as such is a hindrance rather than a help, regardless of what people may tell you. That may seem quite a blanketed cover all statement, however the very fact that you can use the 4 digit technique without suffering shows we don't [i]need[/i] it to stay anchored and that we can use the thumb for something [i]far[/i] more useful than a mute we don't even need! (i.e. a mute that frees up the left hand or that negates the need for the intricate finger dancing of the ring and pinky fingers between strings to stop them ringing out when not in use that people like Janek or J Patitucci do, respect to them by the way!) than an anchor we don't even need. Again, just my opinion... Mark

You're welcome bud, if you have any more questions feel free to message or post on here for some interesting discussion! Mind if I ask how or why you started out with free strokes? 9/10 bassists seem to instinctively start out with rest strokes, so I'm curious. Mark

[quote]A rhythmic vocabulary is just as important as a notational and technical one - work on your finger picking too as the less you have to think about how you pluck notes etc the more you can concentrate on making music![/quote] +1 If all we had was super technical ability, awesome scale and arpeggio knowledge, but could only play 16th/32nd notes, we'd be guitarists! EDIT: Quick addition, one thing I like to do is manipulate feel of songs. Kind of falls between what Mike was saying about rhythm but also to do with note choices. Many genres and musical styles have 'signature' note choices, phrases and rhythms that characterise them, similarly with general feel I.e. how you place the note (ahead, behind, on the beat). Weaving one style into another, or perhaps giving one style a 'cameo' appearance in another, but without making either sound 'wrong' (which obviously varies depending on the context) is fantastic for getting inside sounds of different styles, learning phrases, observing why things work rather than just reading about them. On top of that, you are using rhythms (and notes) where you wouldn't normally use them... which can only be a good thing! (at least when you practice). And with time, suddenly genres no longer become boxes, but simply arbitrary markings on a spectrum that you are in control of and aware of (again, depending on the context), and yet you can fit into them when necessary. It's quite an ethereal, perhaps even pretentious concept to explain, but i found it works really well. Mark

Hi Phil, Strokes really are a matter of choice. I've used both, and still continue to use both. Neither is wrong, they just sound quite different. In classical guitar (from what I understand) most guitarists tend to learn to use free strokes as they can be used for everything, whether it's single lines, comping chords or whatever, whilst rest strokes cannot be used to pluck chords. By their very definition they will dampen the string below. However they choose to use rest strokes as it has a more defined and solid tone to the note. Gary Willis mentions the 'thud' of hitting the lower string in a rest stroke as being invaluable in putting out a strong(er) tone (relative to a free stroke). I think the next question that you would realistically never have to address when using free strokes, is whether to rake or not. Unfortunately classical guitar technique and classical upright bass technique (again, from my understanding) teach somewhat opposite viewpoints on raking vs strict alternation, I think it's important to try both and see which you feel the instrument (or at least the way you play and approach the instrument) is more suited to. In short, either is good, learn to do both, if I were you I'd stick with free strokes for the reasons above, and if you've got it down already, it'll save you a world of trouble changing your technique for (perhaps?) no good reason. Mark

On a slightly different note, I really admire Lucas Pickford's transcription skills. He has a huge library of stuff he's transcribed and some are more than a little tough to play, let alone figure out by ear, which I presume is his main method of transcription. Thanks for the (correct) link, I don't think I'll learn any of them but it's good to have.

Stunning collection there John, truly amazing! Hows the new Status working out for you? Mark

Standing helps a lot, much more natural posture. After scrutinizing many MANY bassists both internationally renowned and local, I have come to the conclusion that the majority of bassists really do not think carefully or wisely about how their posture affects their playing and their bodies. Classical guitarists have had decades to centuries to hone good posture and technique, similarly with classical bass. Because our instrument belongs somewhere between the two, take what is necessary from both. Bring your guitar in close to you, don't have the neck sticking out at a 45 degree angle from your torso, bring it in so that the body is almost flat against your stomach, your arms won't have to reach as far and you won't be straining to reach things. Raise the bass height and get the angle right so that you can comfortably reach the 1st fret without reaching too low, too high, or too far left (too far right wouldn't seem to be a problem!). And the angle should help you with keeping a straighter, less cocked wrist on your right hand. Oh and lighten up your attack, no need to tickle the strings, but relax, same goes for the left, don't strangle the neck. Keep the thumb behind the neck (at least for practice) and stretch out before playing, wrists and fingers on both hands, back too if you like. Mark

[quote]I don't read music and have always been very lazy with practicing and have never learnt all the different modes/scales etc that I feel and know would really help.. So, does anyone know if there a set of basics that I could/should learn and practice that will over time, help to extend the range of my creativity and expression as a player?[/quote] Listening to pieces of music and identifying ideas and phrases you like is just one great way to build up your vocabulary. Transcribing them by ear takes this further, you develop your ear, find other variations on that phrase as you get better, develop technique around something you weren't/aren't able to play, and ultimately end up with a phrase that you've got in your mind and under your fingers that you really like... [quote]...for as long as I can remember, I play riffs and basslines around the same mode or key, so that all of my improvised playing sounds the same.. I've got away with it for a long time but in the end, you can't fool yourself can you!![/quote] ... then, you need to apply it! Try fitting that phrase into songs and various places, use the variations you may have come across, or even 'heard' in your head when you were trying to nail it. Drawing from the other Tips on Improv thread, perhaps even pick up just one lesser known scale and figure out its sound e.g. Phrygian - sounds quite spanish or flamenco, Dorian - relatively bluesy etc. Then fiddle with it, imagine phrases and attempt to play them. Just a thought and one way that worked for me. Mark

I tend to practice through my headphone amp 99.9% of the time so I can hear every nuance of my playing and really play clean and hone my playing. Thus, my practice space at home tends to be standing up in front of the kitchen/work table with my Pandora and iPod (sometimes my laptop chips in). When I sit I sit ala classical guitar but with the guitar slightly more slung than propped, if you get my meaning. I love this setup because I can practice virtually anywhere, sitting down, standing up, in noise, in quiet, and I don't disturb anyone. I can practice technique, theory, grooves, rhythm, do transcription, the list is endless. It's portable, it's light, it's wonderful! Mark

[quote]The limit to how far you can go with chord subs seems only to be limited by your knowledge of harmony, from what I can see......[/quote] [quote]I think too much emphasis has been put on playing the whole scale or set of scales, as opposed to focusing on the 'functional workings' of that scale (i.e. chords).[/quote] I concur! Mark

[quote]I don't think anyone was ever advocating scales over chord tones as an approach to learning. I understand the chord tones approach but wonder if that is, of itself, a partial response (i.e. chord tones without scales tones would be pretty shallow). I think the two are symbiotic and can't see how you can understand the concept of a Bmaj7sharp11 chord without an understanding of scales that relate to it. If a chord is made up of the first, third, fifth, seventh etc, surely you need to know what it is the first, third, seventh etc of? It's a bit chicken and egg to me...[/quote] 100% spot on there, you can't have one without the other. I can't remember who wrote it or even where I read it, but I remember reading a post or article where someone was explaining that scales are defined by what notes you leave [i]out[/i]. And that a scale is a chord is a scale is chord is a... I think Pete, myself and yourself are all coming at the same goal but from different ends i.e. practicing just chord tones or just scales is next to useless, it's learning how they relate to each other and how the intervals (being the individual relative building blocks that make up both) sound and work in relation to other intervals. Without breaking either 'system' down and learning about its inner workings, they're both pretty useless in the long run. [quote]Would those less in favour of practicing scale forms suggest an alternative means of developing left and right hand dexterity? That's the only reason I'm doing them. I think to an extent, learning an instrument is a little like training for an athletic event - a shot-putter never lifts weights in competition, but the strength gained from lifting weights help to throw further. In a similar way, if you have the dexterity to play scale forms at a high tempo with good tone, it will make you sound better when your note selection is more deliberate. Does that sound reasonable?[/quote] For technical ability, scales are alright, I prefer something a bit more musical and less bog standard as an exercise as it will be a) more productive, and set you apart from 'everyone else' as that's what 'everyone else' does. I think we've disclosed a pretty exhaustive list of technical exercises and Hanon should definitely provide some for you. Remember to apply what you've practiced, make those deliberate note choices and fiddle around with different intervals. Practice is for practice, performance is what you're practicing for. If nothing else have fun when you practice and try new things, don't be afraid to try things that you may think will sound wrong, those are where the BEST note choices are, making things that sound 'wrong' and finding ways to make them sound 'right' is a wonderful thing to do. Mark P.S. Again sorry for the length, I love this stuff!

[quote]Mcgraham - didn't mean to make the point so strongly! I just read back what I wrote and it came across more forcefully than I intended. My apologies. I agree with what you write - especially about ear training! I've just found too many people/music courses which emphasised scales/modes and not chords - and I hate to say I'm including some of the local music graduates here - then people are surprised when what they play sounds poor. It took me a long time to find a music course which emphasised chord tones and not scales/modes as the basis for jazz improv. If anyone knows of a similar school/course in the UK I am all ears........as it is I'm going to have to pay to go back to Florida again to study with Jeff! I should have added a list of other things essential to good improv. I made no emphasis on the importance of listening to the others who you are playing with when improvising, transcribing solos, ear training, adding other chord tensions (2nds, 4ths, 6ths) as your vocabulary develops, the need to play with others regularly, the use of rhythm and s p a c e, not being afraid to play less as opposed to more and that shredding at high speed, while a wonderful self-fulfilling experience, is not always as gratifying for the listener.[/quote] Not a problem bud! I think it's awesome that you've taken on board what your teachers have said and why they've said it, and it's particularly good to get such input posted here. I myself was contemplating doing a jazz diploma or music course before I got the job I'm in now, however for many reasons I decided against it. For one, I felt that a lot of teachers and tutors, for all their supposed technical prowess and rumoured musical ability, seemed to be passing on bad habits (particularly in technique) and in many of the ways they taught. Standard things like reading, basic rhythm studies (across multiple disciplines) they were decent at, but beyond that there appeared to be, at least as I saw it, a general failing. Judging from Janek's (Gwizdala) posts over on TB he also shares a similar viewpoint regarding British music institutions. I do have to work harder to put the time in when working, and also less time for groups means less time to experiment in groups, which impedes progress in some ways, but it can be done if you have the drive, focus, a set of goals, and ultimately a passion to play. Mark

Hey Pete Thanks for your post, it’s always great to hear another viewpoint, particularly when it’s advocated by such established players and teachers as Carol Kaye and Jeff Berlin. [quote]I will interject here. I completely disagree that scales are the way forward for practicing improvisation. I think they are, functionally, a dead end, and moreover listen to someone shredding on them and it just doesn't sound that good.[/quote] You’re right, they are not the way forward, rather I would that exclusively practicing scales and particularly if done somewhat mindlessly will not yield much if any musical improvement. [quote]Both Carol and Jeff advocate the use of chord tones, not scales, when improvising. Chord tones, and substitutes for those chords, are how most jazz solos are played. Now my understanding of harmony is improving, both aurally and on the written page, I agree with them completely.[/quote] Again, you’re right, chord tones, substitutes and all sundry related with them form the basis of most jazz solos. You need to address chord tones to unlock harmony. [quote]I spent years playing + practicing modes. I couldn't find a way to 'apply' them. Perhaps an understanding of their utility will come later.[/quote] Now this is where I think most people fall short with scales. They don’t know a good way to apply them. Learning scales is but a starting point. They see them as set patterns that overlie the neck. Or a one or more scales as their note selection and they switch between the two. I’m not saying this is wrong, but you can certainly derive more from learnt material than that. To elaborate, once I had scales under my fingers I started breaking them down, comparing intervals from different scales over one another e.g. compare major third with minor third, minor 6th with major 6th, maj7 with min 2nd (over a root), and also combining portions of scales and getting inside the sound of intervals, which ultimately gets you inside the sound of scales made from them, and inside chords and available tensions. This ultimately was and is training my ear to recognise these. This was effectively doing what you say Carol and Jeff advocate, experimenting with and practicing chord tones, tensions, reharmonisation etc. [quote]I'd like to demonstrate how chord tones can improve your solos.[/quote] That's a wonderful exercise to teach you walking, help you to know your fingerboard better, and also not get locked into one pattern, but will allow to you recognise what notes are available to you anywhere your may (or may not!) be. In short, I would agree that scales on their own and taken no further are next to useless musically and the technical benefit will only give the world some more mindless widdlers; I would more or less agree that practicing chord tones and such is a great way forward and unlocks much more than scales would on their own; but I would wholeheartedly disagree with anyone that says scales are a waste of time (not saying you or anyone else said that), they are a wonderful tool whose true benefit merely requires appropriate application. Mark DISCLAIMER: I don’t profess to be better than or even equal to Carol or Jeff, and I did not intend to belittle their teaching. My apologies if that was what I put across.

[quote]What I'm trying to do is take a phrase from a solo I like and then playing the same intervals on each degree of the scale it's based on. Hopefully this will be good for the technique but also be reasonably musical.[/quote] I've never done this so can't comment on its effectiveness (not saying it's bad, just saying I can't comment) Something similar to that happened to me when transcribing choir parts, contemporary gospel rather than traditional choir. It caused me to really hear harmonies easily, and create them, particularly as I was doing them away from an instrument other than my voice (over lunch, train rides etc). I found that one of the multitude of benefits that came of it was that you would find new melodies from the one phrase sung/played intervals higher as a harmony, or just shifted by an interval. That exercise you mentioned (I imagine) will be good for technique, forcing you to play familiar rhythms and somewhat similar patterns, but hearing a different sound. It'll also be good for recognising harmonies, for enhancing your understanding of phrasing. Good exercise dude! Just remember to apply it! Mark P.S. Those who've asked for copies of Hanon, please let us/me know how you've found it and whether you've found it be of any benefit.

[quote]Like this... [url="http://www.lakland.com/multimedia/ac_decade.htm"]http://www.lakland.com/multimedia/ac_decade.htm[/url] Sound awesome!!! I'm still thinking about installing a pair of these onto my Jazz. A big risk, because it will involve routing.[/quote] Slightly off topic, does anyone else think that the Lakland Decade is one of the most attractive basses ever? I can't wait for the Skyline versions. I hope that's not just an unfounded rumour. Mark

Oddly enough I'm not too keen on the new offerings. The 610 looks very cool, but it's not got sidefiring speakers, which is pretty signature for Schroeder (IMO). Additionally, I was really wondering /hoping whether Jorg was going to bring out something with 15's in, however the 15 offerings just look bulky and clumsy in comparison to his usual fare. I'm sure they sound phenomenal though! These are quite superficial cosmetic nitpicks, but hey! that's online forums for you! Mark

Gorgeous guitar, please pass on my 'oohs' and 'aahs'. Does anyone else feel like the inlays on the Vai model look a tad random? I realise what they're supposed to look like, but the fact that they change shape to fit between frets correctly and that certain parts of each inlay aren't always that visible ends up making them look like a bizarrely mangled set of inlays all the way up the neck. Just my opinion though, and I still think it's a gorgeous guitar. Mark