Bilbo

Keep doing the lessons and keep practising and before too long you will be better than the rest of the dross out there and will have no problem getting/keeping a gig. Also, if you can read, you will be able to broaden your horizons and not just play Rock/Metal which, however great you think it is now, you will probably grow out of sooner or later As for the covers thing? Don't do it. Its crap.

Got a six then a five but never really used them. Now selling my Status 5 with no intention of replacing it. The low B thing is a perfectly useful tool but it certainly isn't a 'must have'. As for the not having to make big jumps for the low F, when do any of us ever have to move that quickly that the jump isn't perfectly achievable? IME, every musician has more technique than they know how to use creatively and having an extra string is rarely a defining aspect of their playing. I find the low B's undermine the overall stability of my sound - I work hard on integrating my sound within the music I play (my intention is to have it 'disappear' into the ensemble) and have done so quite successfully over the years. Whenever I have a low B, it sticks out like a sore thumb and interferes with my overall concept. Don't really like them (although I love Anthony Jackson and Flim Johnson, I don't feel the need to emulate them).

There was a clue in there. I guess I was being too clever : PMRC In 1985, Dr. [b]Joe Stuessy[/b] testified to the United States Congress at the Parents Music Resource Center hearings that: The message [of a piece of heavy metal music] may also be covert or subliminal. Sometimes subaudible tracks are mixed in underneath other, louder tracks. These are heard by the subconscious but not the conscious mind. [b]Sometimes the messages are audible but are backward[/b], called backmasking. There is disagreement among experts regarding the effectiveness of subliminals. We need more research on that.[86]

[quote name='lowdown' post='798862' date='Apr 7 2010, 04:09 PM']When in doubt just use insert text and ///... Always a good get out of jail free card .....or //// Garry[/quote] There were four slash chords as bar so that wouldn't work!!

IME, to read these phrases, it helps to count the pulse as 16ths as in: ONE 2 3 4 - TWO 2 3 4 - Three 2 3 4 - Four 2 3 4. Or One er and er Two er and er Three er and er Four er and er ...... whatever works for you.

[quote name='Beneath It All' post='798775' date='Apr 7 2010, 03:03 PM']...............................Not so much the D flat/C sharp,but the next change; B flat sus 4/C#!!!![/quote] I know what has happened. When I was formatting the chart, I was struggling to get the slash chords above the notes they related to in the space provided across one bar. I spent a bit of time toing and froing with odds and sods and had to change some chords as I had, due to a slow shift key, put in question marks in some chords instead of slashes. I guess that somewhere in all this, mistakes got made.

[quote name='Golchen' post='798605' date='Apr 7 2010, 12:42 PM']Yeah, that Beethoven was such a musical retard![/quote] I meant the Hamm performance (ironic, huh?) not the composition per se (although I am not a fan of that either, to be honest). I have a bit of a problem with tapping in general - its just not a sound I like very much, although there are occasional exceptions.

With my eyesight? Better off putting the £5 towards a new pair of specs!

Lots of people want to be a musician. Some of us have to be. I could no more walk away from playing than I could give up food. The older I get (46), the more excited I am about its potential. I want more and more from it not less. Its your call.

Dreadful piece. Circus trick: nothing musical about it. But that's just me

[quote name='lowdown' post='798395' date='Apr 7 2010, 09:48 AM']I think he might mean on the enharmonic front... [ A mistake you made ] Db chord - C# notation...[/quote] I do that all of the time..... Its because I don't read the chords if I am reading the dots and vice versa. Must do better

Each to his own but I have always found Ken Smith basses to be ugly looking things. They can sound ok but not sufficiently 'idiosyncratic' to make them a 'must have'. I wouldn't buy one even if I had the money.

[quote name='Beneath It All' post='798184' date='Apr 6 2010, 11:13 PM']Pretty good- bar 20 needs some work!!![/quote] What's up with it? (can't download pdfs in work)

An iconic moment in jazz fusion bass. Beautiful in its exquisite simplicity.

Bass projects, Chris. You may have heard your tone as an audience member for the first time!! When you stand near the amp, you are not hearing what the audience is hearing. You probably sound better than you think. :):)

I just need some reassurance on thumb position playing. I was watching John Patitucci play on a dvd (w. Horacio Hernandez) and his thumb postion playing looked effortless. I assume the searing pain in the side of my thumb which I experience when I use this technique will pass as the famous callouses develop? Has anyone noticed that Paul Chambers never played above thumb position?

Dafyd Lewis does this kind of work. He's down here as daflewis. He's approachable and a great player.

I am always one to share my learning so here is a tip for everyone who is trying the upright for the first time. Don't slice the top of the index finger of your left hand with a bread knife. Damn those hot cross buns! Now waiting patiently (not) for it to heal before tackling Cherokee at 340 bpm....

I agree that muscle memory is an essential part of your playing but the emphasis, here, is on the 'part'. When you are playing complex lines, you need to be able to think about what you are playing and execute the lines you intend to play. If you are playing massive chunks based on muscle memory, you will fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time. A lot of soloists can fall into the trap of relying on their own mm cliches and just start flapping around to create the illusion that there is something going on (I am a world champion in this - ). I guess the secret is to have muscle memory that is very detailed. Its like you memory for words; you do not need to say 'plasticine' very often to remember it but it doesn't jump out in the middle of sentences unless you plasticine, sorry, intend it to. If your muscle memory is linked to you mental processes, it can serve you very well indeed. If not, it can lead you up a blind alley very quickly. So its is important to have muscle memory that is full to the brim with options. For me, one of the most difficult aspects of being an improvising musician is getting your mind sharp enough to be able to think and execute ideas in real time. It is far easier to get your fingers to do the work for you but this is untimately self defeating as it quickly turns you into a boring player.

[quote name='cameltoe' post='796942' date='Apr 5 2010, 09:03 PM']You got the tab for this? [/quote] Don't use that tone with me!!