Bilbo

[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!!

Noone spotted the best bit of the thing........

[quote name='Major-Minor' post='793690' date='Apr 1 2010, 08:22 PM']Bilbo - you got me fair and square ![/quote] I do apologise. My intentions were honourable

It's hard, mate. Although Joe could play it backwards.

[quote name='Marvin' post='793624' date='Apr 1 2010, 07:08 PM']Bilbo you do realise that you are not supposed to play after midday. [/quote] Depends which country you are in. The noon thing is UK only and I don't really give a rats'

Oops - wrong pdf. Will try again

This piece is unquestionably the hardest piece of music I have ever tried (and failed) to perform. It is a solo bass piece written, ironically, by a Welsh pianist (and my first theory teacher) Joe Stuessy (from a small village called Nanty Fychlan, north of Cardiff). Joe was an astonishing player and a real innovator. He derided gimmicks like slapping and tapping etc and advocated his student just focussed on using conventional techniques and complex modern harmonic theories to express themselves. Like many prophets, he was ‘shunned in his own land’ and, that part of Wales being very rural, he was unable to play very much in public. In truth, many of his compositions were so difficult to play, in this rural setting he often couldn’t find any musicians good enough to perform them – as soon as anyone got good enough, they left the area for Cardiff or London, wherever the bright lights took them (former sidemen include Lawrence Cottle, Percy Jones and Pino Palladino). He tried sending his music to various musicians to try and make a name for himself as a composer and arranger but their lack of commercial potential condemned them to the rejects bin. Joe got really depressed and started drinking (he used to drink deeply from a Diet Coke bottle when I had my lessons and I am convinced it was laced with vodka or something else. I couldn't tell). He died in the early 1990s. This is one is his compositions for solo bass which he gave me but, I have to say, I have never mastered it. It is so difficult, I can’t get passed the first few bars. It is designed to be played with a lone percussionist so the empty bars are not actually silence! It is called ‘E Elannod’ which is Welsh for ‘For Eleanor’. If anyone nails it, can they record it and credit Joe as composer? It would be cool to see some of his work out there at last. E Elannod – Joe Steussy – Bilbo's Bass Bites