Bilbo

I got this bad over two years ago when I started the double bass (my own fault, I did a gig and overdid it) and it took about a year to disappear although I was playing throughout that year. There are some stretching exercises that I used which I got from Doube Bassist magazine (PM me if you (or anyone else) want(s) a copy - I would have to photocopy it and post it the old fashioned way). In short, it was a case of recognising the vulnerability and managing it carefully over the healing period. I read a book called Alexander Technique Approach for Double Bass which I found useful also as it offers a 'whole boday' approach to the instrument http://www.amazon.co.uk/Alexander-Technique-Approach-Double-ebook/dp/B004JKMSSE/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1341395765&sr=1-1

Garcia- Fons but probably not for the right reasons!

The same way Amazon chooses what to recommend. It makes links using technology rather than people so assumes that everyone who buys A and B will like C D and E, even though purchase A was for your Mum and B for your 8 year old daughter. It follows searches other people do and links words rather than tunes so, if you put in jazz, you get Johnny Hates Jazz and so on. Garbage in, garbage out as the old computer nerds used to say.

I have been looking at this solo more closely lately, trying to play it at speed. Getting there but the rhythmci placement of some of the phrases really throws you at speed. Monster.

Its an interesting point. What 'grabs' you when you first decide to play vs what holds your attention and inspires you to explore your instrument. I guess very few people get into bass playing by hearing the acrobats like Manring, Wooten etc and most hear players like Weymouth long before any virtuoso players get a look in. I guess its in some folk's nature to want to lift up the bonnet and look at what is underneath whilst others are happy to drive with their elbow out of the window and the bass thhumpin'. Guess it depends what you are in it for but it is undoubtedly the case that the players who master the more popular genres are higher profile/bigger earners than the explorers. Its the same in Art (Geiger or Munsch), Literature (King or Isherwood), Comedy, Dance...

Lists is me all over, mate. I have lists all over the place. Latent autism. Seriously, though, they are all players I can recognise from about 2 or 3 seconds of playing. Still can't tell a Precison from a Jazz, though.

Good news. Now get a real one You know you want to!!

John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Larry Carlton, Eric Dolphy, Duke Ellington's piano and his Orchestra, Joe Zawinul, Jaco (of course), Stanley Clarke, Miguel Zenon, Paul Motian, Bill Frissel, Bob Mintzer's arrangements, Rush, Steve Howe, Allan Holdsworth, Jimmy Johnson, Pete Erskine, Roy Haynes, Philly Joe Jones, Eberhard Weber, Iron Maiden, Steve Lacy, Bill Stewart, Lee Konitz, Carla Bley arrangements, the Birth of the Cool band, Kenny Wheeler, Steve Coleman, Jeff 'Tain' Watts.......

I have been listening to my ipod on shuffle lately and am amazed at how many players I recognise in an instant; not because I know the tracks but because I know their sound. Sometimes I can figure out a whole band simply on their individual tone, ideas, soloing etc. Sonny Rollins, Joe Lovano, Dave Holland, Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Mike Stern, Richard Bona, Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, Coltrane, Miles, W & B Marsalis, Mrc Johnson, Eddie Gomez, Chick Corea, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Curtis Fuller, Bob Brookmeyer, Charlie Haden...the list goes on and on and on. All by osmosis. What is also interesting is that this is easy when there is a singer involved but less so when it is an instrumentalist.

Cravo E Canela by Flora Purim (its a Milton Nascimento song) on an ipod shuffle. I did a transcription of the bass part and posted it here. Great Brazillian grooves in 3:4.

I always recommned a book called 'Encyclopedia or Reading Rhythms', a Musicians Institute publication. It covers rhythm in isolation of notes so you can practice rhythm as a disctinct discipline.

Download 'Primopdf' (its free). You open a Sibelius document, select Primopdf as your printer and, instead of printing, it creates an pdf which you can then post on here. S'easy.

Stick it up here as a pdf then it has a life of its own. I have done loads of them, including one of Swallow's, and still get PMs from people who are using them years later. My transcription was 'Wrong Together' off his 'Real Book' cd. http://basschat.co.uk/topic/35369-steve-swallow-transcription/page__pid__363383#entry363383

It may actually be because a lot of what is happening to folk all over the UK is making people angry and they a letting of steam on here. Just today I read about vulnerable people put at risk by a failing care system, housing benefit being withdrawn for under 25s, regionally set benefits (does anyone thing this will result in claimants in metropolitan areas getting more?), . That's all on just ONE DAY!! If morale is low, then we may have to look outside Basschat!

Watch some videos, as suggested above. In the meantime, don't stress too much as, for every right way of doing it, there ios some genious out there playing astonishing bass by doing it all 'wrong'. As you say, work with all the different techniques available and figure out what makes you sound the best and what makes it easiest to play. There are several options and none of them are 'right', just different. Check out Gary Willis, Hadrien Feraud, Michale Manring, Matt Garrison, Anthony Jackson, Stanley Clarke - all have different r/h techniques and all sound amazing.

No such thing as a wrong note, just a poor choice.

An interesting variation on that semitone lead note thing woudl be as follows. S is the semitone below, numbers are scale degrees. This works on every scale S132 S243 s354 s 465 s576 s687 s798 s8.10.9 s 9.11.10 etc In A minor (played over an A minor chord, this would be Gsharp A C B, Asharp B D C, B C E D, Csharp D F E and so on It is a lick Coltrane uses intermittently With appropriate tweeks, this works over majors, minors, dominants, melodic minors etc etc (less so over diminished as it is very close to the actual scale). Always sounds hip as long as you don't overuse it.

Makes sense! Nice to see you here, Jasper. Welcome and thanks for the music (I was at the Stoke By Nayland gig you did last year). I will re-write the chart when I get a chance. Are the dots right, otherwise? PS I can't play it! Yet

All their stuff us remarkably consistent. I would go for the first cd (Yellowjackets), Shades and The Spin but all of them are cool. Why does everyone else get gigs like this and I don't?

I feel at least a little responsible for this as I am supposed to be moderating Off Topic but, lately, I have been disctracted by some deadlines and stuff and have not had the time to loiter around in here. I also have a higher tolerance level than most to aggressive debate so may have let things go when I should have intervened. Must try harder. [size=3]Must try harder. [size=2]Must try harder. [size=1]Must try harder.......[/size][/size][/size]

The only things I have ever downloaded for free are 2 or 3 albums that were not available on itunes, Amazon or any other on-line retailer (obscure jazz stuff that was deleted years ago and has never made it onto reissues). So I couldn't have paid for it even if I wanted to!

And nice to have more classical players on here. Welcome.

There is a cd out there called Homage to Duke by Dave Grusin. Bromberg is brilliant on it. Worth seeking out.

The gig I did the following day, the Monday, was a village fete in Kent. It was a quartet gig (gtr, alto, bs, dr) and it was the best DB gig I have ever done. The sound was perfect, the band was musical, the grooves were solid, there was no pain or discomfort at all. We even did a firey version of Coltrane's 'Impressions' which I started thinking 'here we go' but nailed without any problems. Swang like a mofo. Huge buzz. Nothing in the DB diary now until 12th August but have had some time practising with the bow and without and really enjoying being a bass player/musician (I can do both!!). It sounds so good on its own, acoustically, without that 'lectric stuff going on. Would love to record a solo bass cd - all I need is technique and ideas and I'm away