Bilbo

Playing with Nic France again on Sunday (my regular guy is still out of commission) and this guy: [url="http://www.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/faculties/alss/deps/mpa/staff/kevin_flanagan.html"]http://www.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/fac...n_flanagan.html[/url] Its getting exciting. I have to say that, whilst I can play 'more' on the Wal, I am really enjoying the double bass. It makes me sweat and my hands/arms are occasionally sore at the end of a gig but I still love it. I can now deliver 2 sets on double bass without any problems. Still taking the electric as back up, though

Am having a strange time at the moment. All I seem to want to do is practice, compose and play my own stuff, rather than keep absorbing anyone else. Maybe I have last reached a point where I am ready to 'eat my father', to quote Steve Swallow. I have a trio gig this Sunday in Bury St Edmunds with these guys.... [url="http://www.nicfrance.co.uk/"]http://www.nicfrance.co.uk/[/url] [url="http://www.kevinflanagan.net/"]http://www.kevinflanagan.net/[/url] [url="http://www.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/faculties/alss/deps/mpa/staff/kevin_flanagan.html"]http://www.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/fac...n_flanagan.html[/url] Quite excited, really......

One step at a time. Slowly. No short cuts. No magic bullets. Just tedious repetitive practice. Scales. Arpeggios. I love it. PS. Don't waste time with double thumbing and two handed tapping.

Bump in case anyone missed this link. Increadibly useful resource if you are looking for a chart.

Smokin;, Pete. I feel a night at the computer coming on!!

All from Albino Cubana gigs.... I didn't even know they were being taken (it was a Press photographer for a local rag)

Martin Kemp (Eastenders) was the bass player with Spandau Ballet. Those of us over 30 will know this already but younger BCr's may not. For the record, he has had 49 film and tv acting jobs whilst SB produced only 7 albums and was acting before he played bass. I guess that makes him an actor!!

31 years of gigging. Lesson no. 1 More trips carrying less is better than less trips carrying more.

[quote name='dave_bass5' post='1362672' date='Sep 5 2011, 10:43 AM']Living and working in the centre of London im always moaning that we have to travel out of the capital to play most of our gigs, an dit would be great to play one where i can walk or just get a tube to it. Saying that, on the odd occasions that we have had inner London gigs they have been a right pain to get to, load in (especially), park etc so i dont blame anyone for not relishing playing in London, but i would never turn a paying gig down just because its more hassle (as much as i would like to sometimes)[/quote] Well there's the solution... Swap gigs with the OP asnd you'll both be happy

The version most people heard first..... the great Miles Davis. I suspect the version that Caron used as a source. Nothing in common with the Caron version other than the melody. Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams and Herbie Hancock. Less immediate, less superficially entertainig (less of a wow factor) but, for my money, deeper. But no criticism of Caron; he's a great player.

I have to say that all I hear in these videos is a journeyman (journeywoman?) player and a competent singer. I am not really a fan. Maybe I am just averse to hype but I can't see what all the fuss is about.

To be fair, when I started playing jazz/jazz-funk/fusiuon, I had an AH250 and two cabs that I can't recall the model number of. They were big and had 2 speaker in each (15s or 18s, I am not sure - this was late 1980s). They had some sort of weird porting system where the speakers were at the back and there were two verticle baffles that coned out from the speakers. They were sold as being specially designed for fretless type tone which was what attracted me to them. Anyway, when I started doing jazz, everyone took the piss because they all had their GK and Polytone biscuit tins and I had this stack that was taller than me. But, I'll say this. It really sounded the b***ocks. I have some old recordings of me live where it sounds great (sorry, not for public consumption), one of the best sounds I ever had. THe problem was, in a nutshell, I couldn't pick the cabs up on my own. Not at all (I actually coudn't get my arms round both handles. Fine when every gig was a 'band van' affair but no good when it was just me and a car. They were also too big to get in the boot of the car I had (bad choice on my part). So they went (to Jon Caulfield in Cardiff, IIRC). Great sounding gear but completely impractical.

I'm with Doddy - practice more. The better my technique, the better my sound. Practice with your amp. Turn it up louder and play softer. Also, get your drummer to try different cymbals - that will have more effect than a compressor!!

Isn't Kent Armstrong the alter ego of Superspiderbatman?

AARGH! I've had a smiley over dose :lol: Welcome, James.

Fortunately, we don't have to choose between 'formal' learning and the more intuitive stuff. You can, and probably should, do both.

My only criticism on your position, Nigel, is that there are many impressionable people out there who look to established folk for advice on what is the besty to get better. My position is to advocate the btroadest possible learning experiences and the widest possible range of tools. That way, a developing player can get good and keep getting good as they find themselves. If i use myself as an example, I started on ELO then Iron Maiden/NWOBHM, Rock, Prog, fusion, Jazz. If I had stuck with the 'stuff I needed' at stage one of that journey, I may have been denied the opportunity to move onto the other stages and shot myself in the foot in terms of the real journey I was on as opposed to the one I thought I was on a 17. Of course people can 'get away with' limited learning (there are millionaires with [i]that[/i] CV) but I always advocate for the widest learning possible to ensure that the individual's potential is given the best possible chance. Its easy to think you are good when you are the best player in Aberystwyth, for example. Its what you are like when you leave that will count. The thing I hear most from older players (espacially the ones that give up) is 'I wish I had......'. All I say is 'do the work and it will pay you back'. Advocating for the shortest distance between two points is irresposnible, IMO. But then again, I may be a total arse.....

Useful (free) resource if you are looking for a chart... Its a searchable index to the top 75 fake books. Type in the tune you are looking for and the search engine tells you what fake books there are charts in (includes Aebersolds). Note it does not provide the music itself, it merely tells you in which book(s) you can find the tune you are looking for. [url="http://www.seventhstring.com/fbi/aboutfbi.html"]http://www.seventhstring.com/fbi/aboutfbi.html[/url]

How would you get this in your ear?

[quote name='charic' post='1357668' date='Aug 31 2011, 04:06 PM']I've never got my head around Jazz though.[/quote] Then its about time you tried. Tracks (these are designed to be accessible): Medeski Martin and Wood w John Scofield: 'Julia' Brand X ' And So To F' and 'April' Bruford: 'Joe Frazier' Jaco Pastorius: 'John and Mary' Martin Taylor 'Frankie and Johnnie' CDs: 'Have a Little Faith' by Bill Frissel. Mike Stern's 'Upside Downside' Dixie Dregs: 'What If' or their 'Night Of The Living Dregs' CD Al DiMeola's CD 'Casino' Pat Metheny: American Garage

[quote name='Fat Rich' post='1357623' date='Aug 31 2011, 03:18 PM']Have you ever considered becoming a motivational speaker? [/quote] You mean a manipulative, opportunisitc, cheesy grinned to**er? No.

I just think that, by not playing your bass, you have 'forgotton' your abilities and are enjoying rediscovering them. If you stick with it, you will start to see your shortcomings again.

[quote name='Lfalex v1.1' post='1357381' date='Aug 31 2011, 12:08 PM']But Steve and Bilbo are "pros" (as in they make a living out of playing), hence their perspectives on such matters.[/quote] Sitting here at my Senior Probation Officer desk, I am thrilled to discover that I am a pro musicain. Does that mean I can go home now?

[quote name='Johnston' post='1357345' date='Aug 31 2011, 11:53 AM']why would you need to read except for your own satisfaction on any instrument?[/quote] Because, if you play in one band with one set, gig after gig, it is easy to remember details. If you play in loads of bands with different line-ups, different set lists with every gig being a different band and a different set of changes in different keys etc, the reading makes it easier to nail stuff and sound sophisticated without requiring the memory/recall of a herd of elephants.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1357341' date='Aug 31 2011, 11:47 AM']Besides this thread is about progress on an instrument by playing another, not about being able to read.[/quote] I have alwasy felt that my progress as a rounded musician is tied in very closely to my reading. I play guitar and read guitar charts (slowly), I write charts for other musicians (inc transposing instruments), I arrange stuff, read theory books etc all of which would be that much harder without the dots. My guitar playing (which is fair) does not improve my bass playing, it improves my understanding of the bigger picture, musically. THAT is what improves my playing. I would also add that reading/playing through Bach Cello Suites has really improved my ear as well as my reading.