Bilbo

They all deserve each other.

I am no expert on this but do feel able to refute the suggestion that power and strength are what is needed here. I prefer to use the term 'grace' in that you need to get the muscles in your hands, which are already plenty strong enough to do the job, to work together efficiently to allow you to execute your ideas without tensing up and gripping too hard. One of the issues I have identified is the [i]psychological[/i] impact of playing on your hands. I can play for hours at home on my own without any difficulty but the minute I get to play with a band at higher volumes (without any reall attempt to soundchecks etc), I tense up and play harder, thereby wearing myself out quicker. This is not going to be improved by powerballs and weights but by learning to get the best out of my bass set-up, pick-up configuaration and amp/cab set-up, to learn to control my unconscious impulse to dig in in an effort to compete with the other musicians and to consider other issues such as speaker placement etc. Personally, I feel that the strength that you need to climb rocks is not the same as the muscular dezxterity and finese you need to play our chosen instrument. Good warm ups and a sensible approach to the differing demands of practice, rehearsal and live work work for me. I also advocate for proper rest, fluids, a working knowledge of Alexander techniques and an ergonomic keyboard (to allow you to rest your wrists)!!

[quote name='sam-davies' timestamp='1386678466' post='2302916'] Robert Glasper Experiment - Black Radio 2 Great jazz pianist collaborating with hip-hop/urban/rock/r'n'b artists. Definitely worth a listen. [/quote] I always find these fusions less then the sum of their parts. Each to their own, though

Deep Purple 'Made In Japan'

You could also think about exploring Juan Tizol/DUke Ellington's 'Caravan' and the work of Ahmad Jamal, a huge influence on Miles.

I don't think people are getting this at all. You can't have 86 greatest heavy rock albums each. You can only have one. My thread, my rules Sort yourselves out now!

Made in Japan was my first experience of Deep Purple and Heavy Rock in general and it was a revelation! Strangely, though, I never bought that LP!!

[quote name='Clarky' timestamp='1386864147' post='2305628'] I touched Rob's boot. Please psycho-analyse that [/quote] As long as you didn't lick it......

Maiden are NWOBHM - I know because I was there..... http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/No_Quarter/10007

I'd forgotten it. Most of us around at the time now have earry on-set Alz.... what was I saying? I was fond of Judas Priest's 'Unleashed in the East' ('Green Manalishi'!!)

Machine Head!! Another forgotten gem!! And 'Burn' (the title track is jaw-droppingly good)

Rainbow Rising. Just spotified it and had forgotten how good it is. Marvellous stuff!

There are examples on line of pianists playing trumpets etc, bassists playing three basses (Michael Manring). Plenty of party tricks to go 'round.

What you are describing is a very common experience and, arguably, never goes away. I have done a series of gigs over the last six montns with some top drawer players; John Etheridege, Jim Mullen, Julian Siegel, Tony Kofi etc etc. I recorded most of the gigs on my Zoom H1 and have had the opportunity to listen back to most of them and what is interesting is the fact that, whilst recognising a personal style (something that all jazz musicians aspire to), a lot of that comes from repetition of phrases and lines driven by muscle memory rather than the creative process. On the few occasions when it comes together, it is usually because I am mentally in a space when I can be focussed on the music itself rather than the 'occasion' and can both remember everything I have ever learned and forget it all at the same time. It is a zen-like thing. YOu practice to internalise stuff not to 'learn' it and, eventually, if you are lucky, it comes out in your playing. FOr me, it happens at most once or twice a gig and, ig I am lucky, I have one or two gigs a year where I can do no wrong. I was once thrilled to learn that Dizzy Gillespie felt that his 'hit rate' was about the same!! THe subject is covered comprehensively in Barry Green's 'Inner Game of Music' (£6 for kindle or, on Amazon Marketplace, for the hard copy) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inner-Game-Music-Timothy-Gallwey/dp/0330300172/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1386839049&sr=1-1&keywords=barry+green+the+inner+game+of+music

Nearly the Flutterby Bitterfly line-up. Monster players, great compositions. What more can anyone ask for?

Have done a lot of travelling by train this week and have consequently done a lot of listening. I sooo love this music, it's untrue. I did a piano trio gig recently which was recorded and it had some of my best playing on it ( hidden amongst the train wrecks ). Nice to know you are still improving at 50! Elitist my hairy a***, some Jazz is just beautiful. A sample of that gig (better tunes are available and may appear later when I have the time to upload more) [url="https://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/caravan"]https://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/caravan[/url]

Set the dogs on 'im!!

Fret Line width 0.05 mm, width of finger 14mm. You still need your ears, guys!! The line just gets you in the ball park with probably little more accuracy than habit. Add in imperceptable movements in string set up, pressure induced bending, changing hand position as you dance around like a loon etc and you are left with only one universal truth: if it is out of tune, you need to move your finger.

'kin lightweights 10,000,000 violin, viola, cello and double bass players can't all be wrong. Stabilisers, sorry, fretlines are only necessary if you need to look at the neck. So you can never do a reading gig ever again? Use your ears, guys. It's not so difficult.

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIeZq1lA6Ag&list=PL5846D18972B6778F"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIeZq1lA6Ag&list=PL5846D18972B6778F[/url]

It's a C diminished with an added WRONG NOTE!!

I was a big fan when I was about 12 (I had all of their LPs (on vinyl) and remember listening to them in my school uniform). Then I discovered Yes and that was the end of ELO

My end-pin keeps slipping on gigs. It is as tight as I can get it without pliers but still seems to slip when I am playing, causing embarassment, if nothing else!! Anyone got any idea what the problem/solution may be? I don't THINIK I am leading heavily on the bass.

[quote name='Annoying Twit' timestamp='1386067912' post='2295152'] What do you mean by my list looking like 'fluff'? I don't quite understand what you mean there. [/quote] Basics of slap and tapping. Both are universally applauded but fundamentally peripheral to the business of bass playing. Hence 'fluff'. My point is simply that most people would be better served working on stuff that is useful not whizzy Ref: triplets. The secret is not concentrate on the pulse, not the triplet. If you make sure you play the notes that are on the beat, the rest takes care of itself.

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1385984937' post='2294263'] elephant? I thought it was one of these… [URL=http://s1221.photobucket.com/user/paul_510/media/image_245923197_zps1445d972.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1221.photobucket.com/albums/dd471/paul_510/image_245923197_zps1445d972.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [/quote] Fifth Element?