Bilbo

[quote name='thepurpleblob' post='649236' date='Nov 8 2009, 10:30 PM']Scuse me if I am being thick.... but where are the transcriptions you are talking about. We are in Theory and Technique??[/quote] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=35493&hl=milt+hinton"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...;hl=milt+hinton[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=35615&hl=ron+carter"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...p;hl=ron+carter[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=60204&hl=the+fez"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...&hl=the+fez[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=59948&hl=raindrops"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mp;hl=raindrops[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=36228&hl=miles+davis+solo"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...iles+davis+solo[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=48470&hl=strayhorn"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...mp;hl=strayhorn[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=61824&hl=gary+brown"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...p;hl=gary+brown[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=51042&hl=bach+double"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...;hl=bach+double[/url] [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=48115&hl=solitude"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...amp;hl=solitude[/url]

Yeah, but its the ONLY thing he can play. Can't make 'House of the Rising Sun', 'Wipeout', 'Chopsticks' or 'The Chain'..... Astonishing.

Unmarked - so I can maintain my intonation with my ears and not my eyes. So I can play in the dark.....

In around 1986, I used to be in a Chepstow based band called Silent Partner with Grant Nicholas from Feeder and a guitarist/keyboard player called Brian Sperber. Brian was American and we used to argue like cat and dog about everything - to be fair, it was his band but I was really arrogant then and liked to pick arguments . Needless to say, the band broke up (musical differences - I was musical, Brian was different) and we all went our seperate ways. Without my knowledge, Grant went on to play in bands called Multi Story, Temper Temper, Raindance and then formed Feeder. Brian went back to America and I never heard what he was up to (although he did ring me from the US one night at 4 a.m. to see what I was doing - 'sleeping' I said!!!). Many years later (2000/01?), I started work as Manager of a Probation Hostel in Kew in S. W. London. One of the hostel wardens was a drummer and, over the years I was there, we would often talk about music. Amongst other things, he turned me onto an LP called 'Straight On Till Morning' by Blues Traveller (recommended). He had lent me the CD and I had taped it and given him the cd back. I was particularly drawn to a track called 'Yours', a heavy ballad-type thing with some great lyrics. I listened to the cassette for a long time and then lent it to my nephew because he was a developing guitarist and I thought he would like it. I never saw it again. I was living in Farnham at the time and started doing jazz gigs around that area. I hooked up with, amongst others, a drummer from Reading called Julian Bown. We did some regular jazz gigs near Bracknell and used to talk between sets. The subject of early bands came up and I mentioned that I used to play with Grant Nicholas. 'You're s***ing me'? says Julian. 'No' says I. Apparently, Julian was Jon Lee's first call dep drummer for Feeder and had played with the band many times if Jon couldn't do it. He was able to pass on a 'hello' to Grant for me (Julian has since worked with Nik Kershaw and was on at least one of Kershaw's cds). Roll forward to 2008. I decided I would like to get a copy of that Blues Traveller CD again (so no nagging about the cassette, please ) so went onto Amazon to buy it. It arrived a few days later and I listened to it straight away and loved it all over again. After a few more listens over a few more months, I got hold of my first mp3 player and decided to put some of the tracks onto my PC to transfer it onto the player. As I was copying the disc, and for the first time ever, I read the production credits. Who was the engineer on 'Yours' and who has also worked with Moby, Whitney Houston and Ric Ocasek of The Cars? Brian bloody Sperber.... What's the chances of all that happening?

I actually find that the biggest issue with reading music is acquiring the concentration and focus required to remember that this what you are doing and not letting your mind wander. Its particularly bad when you are practising. I find that trying to read stuff whilst playing along with the music is the best way of learning the discipline as the thing about keeping going is so true. I agree that a rhythmically strong wrong note is often more use than a weak right note (loud, confident and wrong, as one wise colleague said to me once). Creating the right groove is often more important than hitting the right notes and, if you lose your place in a reading gig, its often best to rely on your ear and knowledge of grooves to get you back on course. But all of this is learned by the consistent application of effort: the doing of the thing. Read, read and read some more. As OTPJ says read it, don't learn it. You don't need to know it because its written down! If you know it, you aren't reading it. It is sometimes interesting to check progress by reading a melody that you know by ear but have never played and playing it 'cold'. You will often realise that you are getting better quicker that you think. Big issue, however, is the old key signature. So much music is written in Bb, F and C that, when you get a key change or a chart in Gb, you realise your skills base is shaky. Another one is gettign used to counting and odd bar that is 'out of kilter' with the general times signature; a bar of 2 in a 4:4 chart etc. Its all good stuff, tho. Practice, practice, practice.

F. Simandl, beginner trombone books, try my transcriptions of Milt Hinton and Ron Carter (under Theory and Technique), other transcriptions I have done here have been pretty easy reads (some less so). Most of all; be patient and be kind (to yourself).

Just wanted to draw people's attention to a Steve Swallow Cd called 'So There' which features the poetry of Robert Creely. Its a lovely recording and the poetry element is very subtle (Creeley's poems are usually very short so, for those of you who struggle with poetry (like me), it is not as pretentious as you may think) and the music is lovely. If you have ever seen it and thought 'oops, not for me', then give it a go, you will enjoy it. I recommend it. [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/So-There-Steve-Swallow/dp/B000J104M4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1257439958&sr=1-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/So-There-Steve-Swa...9958&sr=1-1[/url]

[quote name='wombatboter' post='645452' date='Nov 4 2009, 04:53 PM']I was at the casino of Ostend for a tv-show. I noticed that Toots Thielemans was there too and I just went up to him, shook his hand and thanked him for the great music he had made. He accepted my gesture with kindness although he didn't know who I was. Later on he came up to me, sat beside me and we talked about music and I mentioned his work with Jaco Pastorius. He talked about that time and I said that "Three views of a secret" was one of my favourite pieces of music ever and that I loved his playing on it. He took his harmonica out of his pocket and played the theme for me and improvised. I was speechless and it was one of the most beautiful moments in my life. I thanked him, he stood up and I went to a dressing room where I started crying. It was magic.[/quote] That is so beautiful. That is one of the things I love about jazz musicians. Because they are never that far away from their fans in terms of income/status etc, they know what matters to people on a human level. An improvising musician, particularly one who plays a 'horn' as portable as a chromonica, can pick it up and make music anywhere at anytime in an instant. The gift Toots gave you at that brief meeting will stay with you forever and is utterly priceless. How wonderful. THAT's the power of music.

Bumped for transcription of solo on Incompatibilidade De Genios on the Youtube clip above.

I think Vincent and Flavia are dancing an Argentine Tango to this on Saturday's Strictly Come Dancing. Nice work. It'll sell dozen's

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='601236' date='Sep 17 2009, 11:48 AM']I love the story of when they won the Grammys for Two Against Nature and Cousin Depree, and some w@nkspot from The Sun was incensed that this 'unknown' act had beaten Eminem.[/quote] In 1983, I remember hearing a tv announcer referring to the ZZ Top as a 'new band' in light of the release of their single 'Gimme All You Lovin'' (they formed in 1969). Journalists, huh? Who'd have 'em?

Jazz Waltzes A Child Is Born (Thad Jones) Afro Blue (Mongo Santamaria) Alice In Wonderland (Sammy Fain) All Blues (Miles Davis) Baubles, Bangles, & Beads (Robert Wright) Beatrice (Sam Rivers Quartet) Besame Mucho (Wes Montgomery), 1963 Black Narcissus (Joe Henderson) Blue Daniel (Frank Rosalino) Bluesette (Toots Thielemans) Elsa (Earl Zinders) Emily (Bill Evans) Footprints (Wayne Shorter) (debatable whether an actual waltz) Full House (Wes Montgomery) How My Heart Sings! (Bill Evans) from How My Heart Sings!, 1962 Hello Young Lovers (Wes Montgomery) The Inch Worm (Frank Loesser) It Ain't Necessarily So (George Gershwin) from Porgy and Bess) Jitterbug Waltz (Fats Waller) Last Tango in Paris (Gato Barbieri) My Favorite Things (associated with John Coltrane) Skating In Central Park (John Lewis) Some Day My Prince Will Come (associated with Miles Davis) Summer In Central Park (Horace Silver) Tenderly (Walter Gross) Three Views Of A Secret (Jaco Pastorius) Three Wishes (Donald Byrd) Ugly Beauty (Thelonious Monk) Up Jumped Spring (Freddie Hubbard) from Born To Be Blue, 1981 Waltz for Debby (Bill Evans) Valse Hot (Sonny Rollins) Very Early (Bill Evans) from Moonbeams, 1962 West Coast Blues (Wes Montgomery) from Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery, 1969 Windows (Chick Corea) I have no idea what defines a 'quickstep' and most of the audiences I play to wouldn't know either so I will defer to others!

Supporting Kool and the Gang at the Hammersmith Apollo. Session in 1981 for Tommy Vance's Friday Rock Show again at Maida Vale. National Lottery Live in 1994 Gigs with Stan Sultzman and Iain Ballamy (I was playing with his Dad quite regularly at the time) Outdoor gig in Berkshire supporting an Orchestra and fireworks. 4,000 people - I don't kid myself that they were there for us but at least they stayed !! The day when guitarist John Paricelli told a friend (who he didn't know knew me) 'He plays so good but still has a life (he had heard I wasn't a pro)'. Let me know I was doing ok. First professional CD release: 3 tracks on Andy Fernbach's 'Blues In a Hotel Room' But, most of all, those little gigs where everything goes right, the music is as good as it can be and I played like a musician!

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='642386' date='Nov 1 2009, 10:43 AM']Errr...don't tell Bilbo, but we're making a DVD. It was filmed at the Stables in Milton Keynes and recorded on 24-track audio.[/quote] I already know. I wish you well with it.

Several times. I always fond that tv work is so over rehearsed that it is almost impossible to be nervous because, by the time you are actually being filmed, you are bored out of your head! Played live on the National Lottery programme when Anthea Turner was doing it. 15 million watching, apparently. Must have run it a dozen times before we went live so it was like falling off a log. Some other tv work for Welsh tv, Brecon Jazz Festival, odds and sods. I don't get nervous; I worked out years ago that I would have to catch fire for people to notice what I was doing.

I would love to do Fiddler but, as it is a d/b part, I am unlikely to get that call.. I have done several others: Annie, Little Shop of Horrors, Grease, Noel Coward reviews, Songs from the Shows, Pantomimes etc. I find the charts are normally fairly accessible and those that are hard to read because of odd classical notation are seldom hard enough to throw anyone with a good ear. (although 'Who Will Buy', from Oliver, is a nightmare!). If you have the charts in advance, you should be fine.

[quote name='AM1' post='640038' date='Oct 29 2009, 01:42 PM']Pentatonic scales. Do them religiously every day, not for hours though, little and often. Try it - you'll be astounded. Worked amazingly for me and I'm a chick with small hands/weak pinkies.[/quote] I would urge caution here - you can easily lock yourself into pattern playing like this and start playing with your hands not your ears and your mind. I know I am generalising (I do that a lot) but pentatonics are, to me, scales with all of the interesting bits removed!

[quote name='Craigmartini' post='638279' date='Oct 27 2009, 06:24 PM']No one likes to be around someone who bitches about everything.[/quote] Now THAT's where I went wrong!

Yeah - go see Jake. He'll sort you out. Felixstowe is also only a half hour away from you (by helicopter )

Exercises away from your bass are pretty meaningless, mate. You actually had the required strength in your fingers when you were 3. Its the effiicent use of muscles that matters not strength (I like to think of it as grace not power - liek a ballet dancer vs a weightlifter). The only exercises worth doing to improve finger dexterity are those that involve you doing the thing you need the dexterity for; playing the bass. You need to play things that are not confortable until they become comfortable. Then you are progressing. It takes time and there are no short cuts.

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='639774' date='Oct 29 2009, 09:50 AM']I didn't say there was anything wrong with self indulgence Bilbo. Hell I bet at least 99.9% of us on here are.[/quote] My point exactly!

[quote name='Low End Bee' post='638877' date='Oct 28 2009, 10:42 AM']That's 'cause they were! [/quote] What is more self indulgent? A guitarist playing what were generally fairly melodic solos or a singer telling us whats wrong in their relationships, politics or religion? Poetry! Now THAT's self indulgent!

I used to do an exercise where, starting on the 12th fret of the G string, I placed my fingers, one per fret, on the 12th - 15th fret. I then played the notes under my left hand fingers in the order 1234 I then skipped to the D, then A then E strings, playing the same pattern, 1234 I then move to the 11th fret and repeat, then 10th and so on down to the 1st fret. I then repeat the exercise with the left hand fingers playing 3124, 1423, 2143, 4132 and other variations, all starting on 12th fret and working down to 1st. Then, to make it really hard, play it on the g, then A, then D then E string, incorporating the string skips into the pattern You can do it with a metronome to help timing issues but don't tell Jeff and increase the speed gradually over time . If you get into a rhythm, its actually quite zen like.

Heavier strings are generally believed to provide more overtones and sound subjectively 'better' (fuller, warmer, more sophisticated etc). String height has an impact on this as well but, in general terms there is an equation between heaviness of strings/tone vs playability. The compromise is a personal thing. A general example is that rock guitarists tend to use lighter strings (.09 guage on the high E) for speed/shredding whereas jazz guitarists use 0.12s or 0.13s for tone. Bass strings are so much heavier that the differences between guages are greater but the principles are the same, heavier string better tone, lighter string easier to play. The optimum equation is personal and established through experimentation over time. I hace 0.45 guage (G) Rotosound Solo Bass on my Wal and have long since found that to be my 'best fit'. I tried 0.40s but found the tone to be lacking. My guitars are all 0.12s.

[quote name='Rayman' post='638030' date='Oct 27 2009, 03:28 PM']Selling stuff you don't actually have in stock is out of order in my opinion.[/quote] Most furniture shops sell you stuff that hasn't even been MADE yet so you can't really criticise music retailers for engaging in what is effectively normal practice in the retail sector (for reference, the 'make it to order' business model means that considerably less storage space is required). Or do you actually believe that GAK have all of that stuff in their Brighton shop?