Bilbo

[quote name='Hector' post='849999' date='May 28 2010, 01:51 AM']Learning to read music totally changed my life. I'm not exaggerating. One day, about 4 or 5 years ago, a friend asked if I wanted to play bass in a production of Les Miserables. I lied and said I could read music in order to get the gig. I sweated over that score to learn to read, but when it was time for the show I nailed it. I jumped in the deep end, and it was scary at first. I never thought I'd be able to do it! 5 years later and I am a totally different musician. Learning to read started me playing upright, which is the love of my life. I joined an orchestra and started getting/taking much more gigs, partly because I doubled on electric and upright but mostly because I could read competently. Since then, I've not looked back. 75% of my gigs I play on a regular basis involve reading, and more often than not sight reading (and those that aren't are jazz charts). There are still things that catch me out occasionally, but for the most part I'm fluent. I play with countless different orchestras, big bands, musicals, ensembles etc. I've met so many great people and made so many friends, and become a more rounded, competent and employable bass player. It sounds like I'm blowing my own trumpet a bit, which I don't mean to do. The point I'm trying to make is that the one little decision I made all those years ago to get off my arse and learn to read properly has opened up a whole world of opportunities for me. Music is such a huge part of my life, and I love it, but I'd never have met so many people and played so many wonderful pieces if I hadn't learnt to read. It's allowed me to appreciate and enjoy what it is I do on a deeper level than I did before reading. It's made me so happy, and I'm grateful every single day that I get to play bass with and for so many people. I'm busy as feck mind, with my degree on top of gigging, but if you really love something it barely even feels like a sacrifice. I hope learning to read makes you as happy as it has me! EDIT: p.s. I feel the same about having a good ear, sight transposition (ever backed a singer who can't do original keys?) and being able to bash out a bit of piano.[/quote] Says it all. I've got something in my eye....

I can't help with any of teh detail, mate, but woudl recommend strongly that you deal with the reading issue. Not all sessions are studio based; many are live and require on site reading skills (shows, deps etc). If you have paino reading skills, this should not be too difficult a piece of work for you. Get your head down and nail those dots and you will open up a world of work for yourself.

Started on some bastard child of a guitar (4 nylon strings and two steel) but the first 'proper instrument' I owned was a bass. I now have one bass (double bass on its way) and four guitars.

Tone every time. When it comes down to it, getting around the neck is overated. Great in practice rooms and at bass clinics but, on the bandstand, I could probably still do 90% of my gigs if I lost two fingers of each hand

All of the above. Its the same as every other musician's role; to make the music as good as it can be. Sometimes this requires playing but sometimes it requires you to be silent. Your tone needs to be appropriate to the piece and to the genre, your ability to execute musical ideas needs to be impeccable. Most of all, you need to be the best musician you can possibly be. Being a musician should actually remain more important to you than being a bass player. If you work on that principle, you won't go far wrong.

I do agree with Jake in principle but I just wanted to flag up the furstration I feel at the amount of time I have to spend working with non-readers who spend so much time flapping about trying to learn/remember/explain pieces to each other. I reitterate a point I made here before. Writing and reading dots helps you get to the good bit (the playing of the thing) more quickly and, in a wholistic sense, helps you get to play more sophistiicated and complex musics more easily. I guess, as I get older and have less time to rehearse, its a great way of saving time. And, as Iain Ballamy once said to me, 'it takes you places you might otherwise not have gone musically'.

I'm Welsh. Is that the same?

I think I have enough saved so I can afford to look at it. Through glass.

It will do you good. When you get back your enthusiasm will have grown and you will return to practice with renewed vigour. A day off every now and then is good for the soul and helps you keep things in perspective.

A Quick Sketch from this Herbie Hancock Quartet CD. Ron Carter on bass. [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quartet-Herbie-Hancock/dp/B0012GMWUC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1274693581&sr=1-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quartet-Herbie-Han...3581&sr=1-1[/url]

If you learn the six scales in all keys: Major Minor Melodic Minor Diminished Augmented Chromatic (NB I do not include pentatonics or the blues scale here because, despite their inherent usefulness, they are only really a part of the other scales and make more sense if you know what they relate to) Everything else (and there is a lot of everything else) comes from that (including Doddy's arpeggios). And, yes, learn to read. TAB is for lightweights

Nice avatar, Jake. Some people thrive on the variety. I can respect that completely. I think for me that its as much the production values that matter as anything. If I am called for a gig/session and its going to be good: good players, good arrangements, good results etc. I can get off on it. I've done some great pantomimes in my time!!

I guess it depends on the session! I can get by with most genres and, if a line is written down, it is generally no probem but I think there is an important point to make here. When I was playing the bass early on, there wasn't THAT much to learn in terms of the different genres. Country bass was not a million miles from rock bass wasn't a million miles from funk bass etc etc. In a nutshell, if you could do jazz/fusion, everything else was easy. I think genre specifics are a lot more complcated now. I can bluff a pop-reggae line but hardcore Dub fans would not think a lot of my efforts. Same with funk. I can get away with it but I ain't Bootsy. I think it sometimes matters more than others but, the straight answer to your question is, I only really enjoy it if I can do it well. If I am out of my comfort zone, I probably won't do that good a job. OK for a one off gig but a recording that will come back to haunt you forever; not so covinced. A lot of it is the sound - I wouldn't know how to get a completely convincing rock 'growl'. I'll leave it to you guys..

[quote name='crez5150' post='843026' date='May 20 2010, 12:33 PM']Well that really depends on a few things Bilbo.... Most local music shops serve a purpose.... maybe most of them will not be able to service specialist interests but most of them do service local tutors for things such as sheet music, Associated Board material, reeds, strings etc.... maybe they won't all be stocking that american/german/Indian Jazz bass you've been searching for... but they have value as a store[/quote] I don't disagree with the principle of what you are saying but as a muso, purchaser of hundreds of books on music theory, musicans, scores etc and as purchaser of recorded music by the bucketload, I never visit my local shops and haven't for years: not because of their pricing structures but because they don't really sell anything that I want/can use. Odds and sods but nothing REALLY important. Can't get the strings I use, the plectrums I use, the leads I use, can't try a double bass locally, can't buy a bow locally, can't buy the music stands I like locally, can't buy a decent bass case locally; the list goes on... I am not saying that there is nothing at all in these shops that I could use, just that it amounts to so little that I can't get excited about their potential demise. When you think about it, having a 'central' supplier like Thomann, GAK, Gollihur etc which can get you stuff at an affordable price means that musicians can also get the benefits of economies of scale normally reserved for food, clothing and furniture. Maintaining little local outlets is an honourable endeavour but I can't see that it reason enough for us to ask ordinary folk on limited incomes to pay over the odds to access the world of making music.

Nice one, Mike. Hope to capitalise on your success in November (PS my Paul Chambers biography is with the editor )

'Local' music shops have served no purpose for me for over 15 years. Like local record shops, they are for people that have a superficial relationship with the industry. For anyone with an even remotely specialist interest, local high street shops just don't deliver anything of value. Its all lowest common denominator stuff.

I'm with Doddy. Learn to read. It will (eventually) take you out of your little boxes and give you a useful tool for future development. When you get good at it, you can fuind some charts that make you play things you wouldn't have thought of. I also recommend listening to other instruments as closely as you have the bass. Trombone solos, trumpet, saxophone, piano/keyboards, harmonica - anything that isn't tunes in fourths like a bass or guitar will take you out of the little boxes you have built for yourself. Also, try some genres you are unfamiliar with: Latin grooves can force you to regroup, some classical stuff etc. Lessons are always good if you can find a teacher that you can work with (I am in Felixstowe which is next to Essex but then again Essex is a big lump of turf so, if you are at the other end, find someone nearer - the last thing you want to add to the cost of a lesson is a long drive!!). Ring a couple and have a chat with them.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='841211' date='May 18 2010, 06:13 PM']I thought the more correct term would be 'stop' on a non-fretted instrument, as in 'double stop'.[/quote] That would make it a stopboard. What are you? Some kind of freak?

Purple Bob? Are they related?

I think the explanation is obvious. A fret (noun) is a piece of metal on the front of the neck of a stringed instrument that determines pitch of each note To fret (verb) a note is to apply pressure to a string at the appropriate point in order to shorten/lengthen the vibrating string and increase/decrease the pitch accordingly. The term fretboard on bass is, therefore, so called because of the fretting (verb) action that takes place and NOT because of the frets (noun) that may or may not be present depending on the model of bass in question. I rest my case so you can now stop fretting (different verb)

I have had an enquiry from a basschatter in France about an amp I am selling. As he is not a regular, I wondered if anyone had had any dealings with him. He is listed here as [b]epoxyjazzbass[/b]. He joined in November 2007 but has not apparently posted since. Please reply by PM, if appropriate. Many thanks. Bilbo

I perfectly understand the argument for a great old bass and that they hold their value etc. That is not my point. My point is simply that anyone with £400 to spend is not going to be able to get enough money together for a bass where any of that makes a difference (unless they have a real result with a junk shop 'find'). If your bass is worth less because it is lower quality, a bit damaged and not as good as new cheaper ones then that is as it should be - none of us can predict the value of our basses at point of resale when we buy them, not really. What difference is there with electric basses? I bought my Wal with absolutely no thought of resale and it is now worth 4x what I paid for it. I was lucky. Other basses have come and gone with not profit and substantial losses. More to the point, early basses I had were a bit crap but they held my interest and got me started. I never resold them, they were crap so they hung around until I gave them away or trashed them. Thats life. I accept that, if I have £5K, I should shop around for a cracker. If, however, I have £400, I may be wasting time waiting for something wonderful to come along; that's all I am saying.

I have four guitars and one bass. Bass is what I do but I use the guitars (a jazz, steel string and nylon string) for writing and recording.

This 'get an old bass' ethos is all well and good but, unless it is my imagination, there are a lot of us looking and fewer and fewer old basses to go around. This is pushing the price up and those who only have £3-500 are frightened off by all the horror stories. Also, I think it is important to remember that a lot of these 'old' basses we are waiting for were the 'cheap and cheerful' basses of their day and many of them are not so great in relative terms. The big question, in my mind (literally) is 'is the difference between a repaired 'old' bass and a mid range £1500 Thomann bass that great. I have been reading hundreds of posts and threads like this for months now and it would appear that most people are perfectly satisfied with their Archers, Stentors, Christophers, Zellers, Westburys, Conservatoires, Elysias, Arcadias, Uptons etc etc. I have read only a tiny number of stories of people who have been really stung (literally one or two). I am wondering (and I have no axe to grind here) whether this 'old basses rule' ethos is a hold over from a time when they [i]were [/i]significantly better than these imports. Like the old 'never buy a Skoda', 'don't buy a Japanese car', 'made in Japan is crap' brigade; the manufacturers have got their act together and are now making credible starter instruments - as one basschatter said to me recently 'it will do until I am good enough to recognise the difference' . I get that every bass purchased has to go immediately to the luthiers for repairs and a new set of strings but I guess the question is; is it better to get a cheap bass within your budget and PLAY THE THING or to sit and look at websites for basses you can't afford and waste another 12 months saving for something that is probably only marginally better. If you haev £350, you aren't going to have £2,500 in a few months time; you may have £500 and your options aren't that much greater. I have no doubt that these Crafter guitars that are around now are better than the Ekos and Antorias that were around in my day. So why would I recommend that you don't buy a Crafter but get an old Antoria or an Eko and get it set up? I get the arguments but can't see that people on limted budgets should be denied the opprtunity to 'have a go'. Or is playing the double bass only an option for the middle class (how many kids on that 'Young Musician' thing are living in a sixth floor flat on a rough estate?)?