Bilbo

Couldn't resist it and bought the Galper book as a Kindle book. So far so good! Have already learned some stuff that has effected the way I look at melody (I was composing today and was thinking differently from the off). Good call, Hector (very Worthy)

Depends on content and competition. I won't but a book that is just reproducing basic theory. I got one of them in 1981 and a major scale is still a major scale if I am not mistaken. You need to establish some reason why people would want your product and sell it from that perspective. Otherwise, a lot of it is available online for free!

Where to begin? I heard a guy explain it this way once. You listen. What you hear tells you which note to play and when. When you have decided which note to play where, that decision will tell you what note to play next and when and again and again, You keep going until you don't hear another note. That is when you stop. Its a bit zen but strangely true. Soloing is like all art; your concept is entirely your own. All the theory in the world will not give you a single idea. You have to find them yourself. Regurgitating other people's licks will convince most people but it takes more than that if you do it properly. In a nutshell, the place to begin is with listening to other people do it. Not to copy but to be inspired. Let your ears guide you, not your fingers. Sing your solo and play what you are dinging (don't sng what you are playing, that won't work). Relax into it. Don't let your self talk undermine your efforts. Noone ever died from playing a bad solo (although I am occasionally nauseous when playing and have had nose bleeds ). Its the easiest thing you will ever do with a bass and the hardest.

I have downloaded the sample of the Galper book on Kindle and it looks interesting. Will probably upgrade with the actual book as notation is often hard to read on screen and you can't enlarge it on a Kindle like you can text.

Wal's have a low impedance di built in......do I still need a box (I use the ordinary jack currently - never even thought about it )

Not read the whole thread but Puink was a good thing. It broke the status quo that existed and was blanding out a lot of music. It happens in every genre. It starts as folk music and gets more and more complex as the musos develop and, eventually, becomes kind of elitist and less immediate. Then another folk form has to come along and give the music back to the kids. Its always been the same. What made punk different is that it went well beyond music and affected art, theatre, dance, film etc etc. Kids also became politically much more aware than they had been and all of a sudden people became aware of what a fascist was!! They started to question the monarchy, the stitled tones of the BBC, the patronising politicians and the complacency of 'the establishment'. Hated the music, loved the attitude.

Not my cup of tea at all but the sound is astonishing, Mike. Wish I could get my pissy things to work at that level. Makes me feel like the Playaway band.....

I agree that the playalongs route can be a hinderance as much as a help. I learned a few standards that way (Miss Jones, anyone?) and hate that, everytime I play them, I almost always default to those lines at some point (muscle memory?)! Great if the horn player wants the Aebersold behind them but not so great if you want to play Jazz like a grown up

Following on from lowdown's comments in the 'That chord again' thread, I thought I would start a thread that revelaed moments that made us go 'wow'. The important thing to remember is this is not about songs or cds but literally a couple of seconds that, as a listener, grabbed your attention.... Mine include a couple of links that Tommy Vance used to use on his Friday Rock SHow. I loved the show but he used to use these great instrumental pieces to link things. They included the opening theme off Take It Off the Top' by the Dixie Dregs and a section of AL DiMeola's 'Chasin' The Voodoo'. The programme was also followed by Alexis Korner's blues programme which had Weather Report's 'Birdland' as its theme. The opening moments of that grabbed me also and these three snippets got me looking into instrumental music, jazz rock and fusion which, in turn, got me into Jazz. Every jazz musician goes 'aaaah' at the opening moments of Cannonball Adderley's solo on 'Milestones' and at Jimmy Cobb's cymbal crash that opens the solos on Miles Davis' 'So What'. Great moments in music history.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1329338691' post='1540999'] At last, the truth! Can you only get away with saying this if you're a Mod?? [/quote] Or have a complete lack of social skills and no friends....

My point was that, when you break down all the details and have all the knowledge required, you still can't comprehend the magic. If the whole of English Literature is down to 26 letters placed in various orders, William Shakespeare is no better than Jeffrey Archer. But its the ideas behind the letters that count and, in this case, knowing the notes and the chord is only half the story. The arrangement is another part of it and then there is the question why did they chose to open the song like that'? Add those factors together and you have something that is pretty much unprecedented and unrepeateable. Its brilliant.

OK - now you got it, what are you going to do with it? Its like dogs chasing cars. Great fun until you catch it. I had a mate once who used to agonise over why he used to keep finding elastic bands all over the streets of the town where we lived. He pondered the issue for over a year until, one day, I told him that the bands were dropped by postmen and after a 10 second 'wow', he was devastated at the mundane reality and the fact that he had actually enjoyed the mystery of it all more than the knowing. So, now we know. Its G, C F A and D. In theoretical terms its a voicing of a F6/9 chord (F, G, A, C and D = i, III, V, VI & II (IX)). Paul played the D, which is the relative minor. What makes it unusual/exceptional is the [i]arrangement[/i] rather than the notes.

Is there a bass on Power Windows? Sorry, J, that LP was the one when they lost me. I loved Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures, loved the back catalogue and then 'coped' with Grace Under Pressure and Signals (I DO like it, I DO like it) and then, when Power Windows hit, I was lost. Haven't bought any Rush since (listened my brother's ). I want to like them again but don't.

I have this theory that, with a little care, you can pretty much get all of the information you need to give give yourself the best possible chance to get good at this music thing in a very small number of books instead of the 100s we all end up buying. I don't even think its a case of us getting 'that' book. Most basic theory books have the same information in them anyway. So. if you had to rationalise your entire library of music theory books, bass tuition books or play alongs, which 5 would you keep? I have dozens of things I can access for information but the ones I keep going back to and would have to replace if they got damaged are: Mark Levine's Jazz Theory book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jazz-Theory-Book-Mark-Levine/dp/1883217040/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329306951&sr=1-1 Bill Russo's Jazz Composition and Orchestration http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jazz-Composition-Orchestration-William-Russo/dp/0226732088/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329307157&sr=1-1 Bill Russo's Composing For Jazz Orchestra http://www.amazon.co.uk/Composing-Jazz-Orchestra-William-Russo/dp/B0026C8H5K/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329307260&sr=1-4 Samual Adler's The Study of Orchestration (with the accompanying cds) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Study-Orchestration-Book-only/dp/039397572X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329307361&sr=1-1 Chuck Sher and Marc Johnson's Concepts for Bass Soloing http://www.amazon.co.uk/Concepts-Bass-Soloing-Chuck-Sher/dp/1883217008/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329307445&sr=1-1-fkmr1 There are others but these are the ones I would grab in a flood.... What about you guys?

I disagree with the idea that Manring's compositions are showcases for his techniques. My head is rarely turned by those kinds of things as I look for something musical rather than athletic; I listen with my ears not watch with my eyes. Manring makes great music using these tools unlike, say, Stu Hamm, Billy Sheehan or Dave LaRue, who are just stuntmen.

Trouble with teenagers in bedrooms is they 'get' the issues around velocity and playing fast but there are so many of the great guitar players of yesteryear who have a depth to their playing that these new kids lack. Beck, Leslie West, Clem Clempson, Peter Green, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, even Eddie Van Halen all had great sounds which they achieved using the right guitar, pick-ups, strings, amps and gain and the like. The new guys get it through 0.7 mm strings and dialling in a digital effect. They often lack the personality of the greats. Its no different in Jazz. There is a lot of faux Coltrane playing but it doesn't come anywhere near competing with the depth of Lester Young or COleman Hawkins etc. I guess the difference is that which exists between Art and craft. YOu can copy an original but it will always be a copy.

Guys like Manring have to exist and should absolutely be celebrated but, for me, their achievements are so 'off the scale' that I find myself admiring them as I would a racehorse or a fantastic piece of scenery. There is huge pleasure in the spectacle but very little I can draw upon in terms of developing my own playing. The music is what matters and I find Manring to me one of the most musical of the 'trickster' bass players. If any player can be called a genius, its him.

Jeff Beck is one of those guys who plays great, great guitar and who can play some of the most moving rock guitar music ever heard but he can also play some absolute tasteless cack! If I had Tal's gig, I know me and JB would have a falling out every day about his choice of material. I'd have to sack him.....

ONe of the commone probelms is that many capable jazzers are also involved in other pieces of work, be that theatre work, function bands or even tribute bands (one of the better players I used to work with is now playing keys with PRofessor Green!!). Every one of these alternatives pays better than most jazz gigs so, if someone is a pro and have a mortgage/family etc, they are going to have to take the 'other' gig rather than the jazz gig. Multiply this by several players in a reheased ensemble and you have a major disincentive to invest time and effort into properly prepared material. This creates the head-solos-head cultlre and the negative image of which you speak i.e. its self defeating. I have my own trio now that I am writing for (nearly 30 original jazz tunes to look at) but it has taken me over a year to get to the first rehearsal!! It will be interesting to see how it moves forward.

I so wish I had time to focus on all this. I retire in 19 years so will have a bit more time then . I will put some thought into the compression issue next time I get to record something. I could, of course, revisit older stuff (with the hum.....)

What kind of things are you thinking about, my friend? Classical theory or Jazz/Rock/Pop? I assume the latter but wanted to be sure? I think this is a great cause and wonder if we could contact publishers for overstocks etc. I assume there is a limited budget?

But Sibelius is SOOOOO much easier to use than Musescore (which I have but don't like at all)!!

Start with something you know and like that is reasonably short and learn the nuts and bolts of the process that way. You can move onto Suppers Ready later....

I occasionally try some compression/limiting but not routinely (my recordings are never properly mastered either, just mixed down to mp3), Even though I know what it does, I can't really hear it. I mix through headphones mostly; maybe that's an issue too!

That is a serious problem, Derren. The head solos head criticism is a legitimate one and it has been heard by many of the new wave of artists who are approaching their material more creatively. But it remans de rigeur on the UK because there is no funding for luxuries like rehearsals etc and it can be an easy route to a credible product. But, yes, it is lazy. I think also that there are many who a middle aged and older who have less time to be able to dedicate to the one-off projects. If someone offers you 12 dates, you will arrange stuff and rehearse but, for a one off, no chance. Writing out complex charts is an option but it will increase the risk of a train wreck and there are some players that will always default to the standard reportoire (there are plenty of jazzers who have weak reading skills). I did a gig last year with a great local sax player and we really burned but he won't do anything other than the standards and, as a result, I am working with a player who is less skilled but more incined to try new stuff. Its a real issue.