Bilbo

The name is far more important than the player because the public (many musicians included) lack the critical skills to recognise a good or great player from a mediocre one. Any thread here that starts discussing the best players in a genre quickly turns into a list of every bass player in that genre, irrespective of whether they made a contribution or not. I once heard a guy explain that sport and music had taken over from duelling; Musician One - I know something about music Musicina Two - yes, but I know more. Musicians One - but did you knwo that musician X played on that 1968 LP with..... Musican Two - Yes, I knew that, but did you know the drummer on that session was XXX A chastened Musician One withdraws with the express intention of increasing his knowledge of Rock trivia ready for the next encounter..... All the stats here show that people talk about gear and their favourite bands. Very few threads discuss core musical skills. We are all mainly interested in being hipper than the next guy. Objective fact plays no part in that. As our culture is increasingly youth obsessed, old farts are deemed unhip because, to be hip, it has to be new - even if it is obviously utter sh*te.

The flaw in the Moondance line (apart from the poor sound and weak time) does not arise from the fact that there are wrong notes in there (although I suspect there are - not listened to it for a while) but in the fact that there is no logic to them. Its in a minor key so the note options for the minor chords would be similar to So What but the Moondance lines have no direction. They don't lead anywhere, there is no impetus created by the line itself. Its just a randon set off notes from a minor scale. It is clearly played by someone who doesn't understand the art of the walking bass line. I could probably explain better if I had a copy of the tune in front of me but that would require me to listen to it again and I don't want to waste another 4 minutes of my short life on that monstrosity.

Can't get into it the way MM does but my advice is to work at developing lines that are logical and melodic. THe simple fact is that playing a tune like So What will involve the D (and Eb) Dorian minor scale. However, in using that scale you can use pretty much any note as a passing note (open the line with a descending chromatic scale, for instance, D, Db, C, B, A and so on). The problem is that any note in the dorian scale is not wrong, but many are not right in context. If you randomly play notes in the D Dorian, you are not playing wrong notes, just poor choices that won't gel in any musical sense. The note choices need to follow some sort of logic; follow the scale, build the scale in thirds, use the chord tones, use strong notes (D, F and A) on beats one and three and weak notes on the other beats etc. Think not just about the next note and whether it is in the requisite key but think about the next bar, the next two bars, four bars or eight bars. Build you lines around their own internal logic, at first resolving them on the second, fourth or eighth bar but, in time, that will become boring and you will seek to broaden the options be crossing bar lines etc. But the most important thing, and by far the hardest to master, is to make sure that your lines are contributing to the whole piece and are not random acts of bass excess. If the soloist's lines are going up, you may wish to have yours going down. If his lines are syncopated, you may want to stay on the beat, if they are on the beat, you may think about breaking your lines up. If he plays frantically, you may chose to build with him or go in the opposite direction. The drummer may play straight time and you can play melodically, or he may break the time up and you become the time keeper and anchor. Whatever you do, make sure it has a musical purpose and some conscious intent and isn't just a random sequence of notes in D Dorian (for the record; listen to Moondance and you have a lesson in how NOT to construct a walking line). If in doubt, transcribe the greats. Paul Chambers is a great starting point but another I looked at early on was 'Ja-Hed' off Kenny Garrett's African Exchange Student. There are loads on tunes based on these changes (Coltrane's Impressions is another one). Write out some lines. As I have said before: modal playing; a moment to learn and a lifetime to master.

I live by Sibelius.

The secret is to learn the principles (where the notes are, key signatures, accidentals and reading rhtyms) and then just do it as much as you can. I recommend you strart with these two. Play them as slowly as you like. Notes only, no rhythms to read (apart from the odd bar). [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=106812&hl="]Play The Blues And Go[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=35493&hl=housed+from+edward"]Housed From Edward[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=35615&hl=ron+carter+hesitation"]Hesitation[/url] or there is, of course, the Major's Boot Camp series. Start today. One bar at a time and then two and so one until you can read fly sh*t on toilet paper.

Yes, Karl, it is. Sorry Tauzero. I hijacked your thread. I will go now and purge myself so I can recover that other blokes Pokemon cards. I'm not bitter; more mild really

[quote name='tauzero' post='1175822' date='Mar 25 2011, 12:42 PM']Copying stuff from one place = [b]a tribute band[/b]. Copying stuff from many places = [b]a covers band[/b]. [/quote] Fixed

A long thin stick with a piece of gaffer tape (sticky side up) or something equally sticky on the end. A hoover with the really thin attachment tool thingy. A very thin and highly trained racing ferret. A fashion model.

I have found, as I get older, that the reading allows for a more efficient use of time in rehearsals and at gigs. Less time rehearsing each tune means more work done in the available time. If you have other obligations as you say, this is a massive bonus. Learn to read music.

I am just finishing a book called 'Saying Something: Jazz Improvisation and Interaction' by Ingrid Monson and it has got me thinking about improvisation. When we talk about improv. in Jazz, we are talking about a intense and on-going dialogue between all parties involved in the music making (and some beyond). What one musician does creates the impetus for the others to respond and vice versa in a 2,3,4 or 10 way dialogue. My belief is that, in most other genres, a soloist who improvises does so on a pretty fixed backdrop; straight backbeat, set chords etc. I know there are exceptions: King Crimson, some Zappa etc but, mostly, improvisation is two dimensional in popular music. As for Jazz, the more I think about, the more I realise how damned hard it is.

Just got hold of a FIshman Pro Platinum from uke. Can't wait to hear in but won't get to for days as my amp is in for repair (just and internal 'clean up' for the frying bacon).

Read this and follow the links. Just a few extra options you may not have thought of. Shipping to the UK is very cheap (£20 IIRC) and the packaging is top drawer. You have to fit the bridge yourself on receipt but its idiot proof (otherwise I couldn't have done it ). [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=93958&hl=gedo+musik"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...p;hl=gedo+musik[/url]

'Got A Match'? Woudl like to hear that. I played it in a trio years ago. No tapes but I and am 100% sure we crucified it. As for tunes... what is the purpose of the exam? I am thinking one of the more sophisticated Jamerson lines from Shadows of Motown? Anything off 'The Nightfly'? 'Scophile' off John Patitucci's 'Sketchbook' cd?

Silver Machine.

I just got a Fishman Pro Platinum preamp from uke. Goods received quickly, very well packed and good communications. Impressed and grateful of Felixstowe.

Scales, for a musician, are the basis of pretty much all music (the exceptions are not relevant here). Without them, you will always be a lightweight. Every chord is named for its relationship to a major scale. Every melody you will every hear is based on a scale or series of scales. Every solo you ever hear is based on scales. Every harmony you hear is based on the relationships between the notes of a scale or series of scales. Scales are the guts of this stuff we call music. No idiom or genre is free from scales (although some use more than others) and scales cross the divides between genres completely and without changing their relationships to the music in any way. A major scale in Metal is the same as a major scale in Indie, Funk, Jazz, Pop, Folk, R+B, Drum and Bass, Polkas, Classical, Fusion...... All modes are scales starting from different points but they won't make any sense at all until you learn the basics. Without the knowledge of which we speak, you will remain locked into a very small world of pretence and superficiality. Start learning them today. And, whilst you are doing so, learn to read music.

I have not broken a string since 1981. On that occasion, the tension in the remaing strings tipped the nut a fraction and the result was two strings were unusable and I effectively had a one string bass. So I completed the set with that (only one tune). My calculation is I have done well over two thousand gigs since then without a breakdown and, so, I fell that, in strick 'risk management' terms, there is nothing to worry about in taking one bass only. In the event of a breakdown, I either continue with three strings or we have an early break between sets. Its one gig in a lifetime of playing. Statistically, one of the band members is more likely to be taken ill and incapacitated. I am more concerned with amp breakdowns because that is a real deal breaker. But I am not spending money on a back up amp or carrying one to every gig 'just in case' (PS I have never had an amp actually breakdown on a gig ever either, even before 1981).

Try some of these threads... [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showforum=76"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showforum=76[/url]

[quote name='BIG.J' post='1171551' date='Mar 21 2011, 11:36 PM']I play in a Tribute and things are not easy these days for Tribute Acts.[/quote] All them damn originals bands taking all your gigs, eh?

Musician's Union Casual Gig minimum rate is currently set at: For engagements of up to 2 hours = £65.00 Over 2 hours and up to 3 hours = £78.00 These rates are, of course, unenforceable but they are a useful guide as a starting point. Don't forget to take into account how far you have to travel, late night gigs etc, all of which can up the price.

You're getting older and the number of age appropriate musos is decreasing annually. What you need is some blokes in the middle of a mid-life crisis!!

[quote name='Stuart Clayton' post='1167007' date='Mar 18 2011, 12:53 PM']That's an excellent article, and bizarrely, is similar to something I've been working on recently. My new year's resolution was to improve my jazz soloing, and so I took an inspiring lesson with Joe Hubbard, and began transcribing and analysing one of my favourite solos - Chick Corea's solo on 'Spain'. So far I have transcribed the first chorus of Chick's solo and learnt it. In doing so, I found some melodic ideas that were confusing. Some research was needed in order for me to understand what he was doing, but once I had uncovered the [i]concept[/i] behind the lick (rather than just the notes), I had a new piece of vocabulary to incorporate into my own playing. I studied every idea in that one chorus of the solo and uncovered so many ideas it was unreal. Using these ideas, I began to improvise my own lines on the form, taking it a few chords at a time - I looped a backing track in Transcribe for this. The result is that I have written a few pages of new licks and have begun combining them into some etudes. I'm really enjoying playing these now, and feel that having taken the time to analyse just a few bars of Chick's playing, I have learnt an incredible amount. Once my etudes and accompanying explanations are finished I will upload them for you all to check out. Great article! Stu[/quote] Great post, Stuart. It really crystlises the benefits of properly [i]studying[/i] the music we learn rather than just reproducing it.

My condolences, Darth Telebass

[quote name='molan' post='1170894' date='Mar 21 2011, 04:52 PM']Brilliant, thanks Bilbo - I did think of contacting you first but thought this was a bit of a distance off your 'patch'. Should have known you'd be 'connected' all over the country when it came to all things jazz [/quote] Used to live in Farnham and played in Dorian Kelly's band, with Pete Billington, Dave Horniblow and Simon Allen, all of whom played with Pendullum at the time. Also played a lot with trumpeter Paul Tungay (ex Ronnie Scott, Tom Jones and Bill McGriffe) who is also now with them and actually got to do a couple of rehearsal with them a few times (but no gigs. Pat prefers double bass and I only played electric at the time) There also used to be a jazz jam at the South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell. Jamie Cullem used to go there. It may no longer run..