Bilbo

Steely Dan are, for me, one of those rock bands that allows the genre to retain some self-respect; Zappa too. Intelligent, creative music both lyrically and musically. Every genre has some of these true artists. 'Katy Lied' does it for me but that live DVD from the 'Two Against Nature' tour is great. (Tom Barney, if I recall correctly).

[quote name='mcgraham' post='300361' date='Oct 6 2008, 11:21 AM']P.S. For jazz, does anyone else find it a little bit pretentious/infuriating/confusing when someone says they are into 'jazz', and they're simply using it to describe music that they can't think which category it fits in to? It's not heavy, it's not poppy, it sounds odd, therefore it must be jazz?[/quote] If you try and put a circle around what people think is 'jazz' someone will try to cross it. Its a very broad church.

I have no problem with the ethos of LIKING loads of stuff. I like Jazz; that's a given. But I also like Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, The Dixie Chicks, James Taylor, Nektar, John Mayer, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Holst, Prokofiev, Genesis, Yes, It Bites, Earth, Wind & Fire, Steely Dan, Astor Piazolla, Marisa Monte, Michael Tippet, System Of A Down, Javier Navarette, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Flook...... But, because, like all of us, I am up to my eyeballs in life, I have to prioritise and make choices about what I go to first and last. I don't only like jazz and then hate everything else. I just like more music under the 'jazz' umbrella than I do classical, blues, HM, funk.....etc. etc... I think this hate thing doesn't come from the music's content but from the over-representation of bubblegum in the mainstream media. I was saying to my wife on Saturday, its an appalling situation when the programme on mainstream UK TV with the most admirable ethos regarding a wide range of live music of differing genres is 'Strictly Come Dancing'. Those of us who 'hate' pop music don't 'hate' it, we just view it with contempt, bred by familiarity.

I have been here before on this forum. Music is like anything else; too much of one thing and you get bored. Doesn't matter is you are talking about beans, books or music. I agree that you can find interesting things in most genres but the problem is that you can find many MORE interesting things in some genres and very few in others. If you like bird watching, would you go to Trafalager Square or the Wetlands around Norfolk? Yes, pigeons can be interesting but you wouldn't go out of your way, would you So your choice to listen to jazz is perfectly natural; it has more to excite you, to inspire you, to interest you. The stuff on mainstream radio is mostly candyfloss, bubblegum and fluff and hardly worth the effort.

s'all true. You need to read the charts geography before you start playing (with practice it takes seconds). Find the repeats, codas, sines etc so you don't get caught out (we've all done it). Also, after you have practiced a while, you will find that you don't so much read notes as bars (like you read words not letters) Keep at it - that's the only way.

Kudos to the guy- he's got his own concept and it sounds integrated and complete - not a shredfest but a musicial voice. Not something I want to explore as a player but his work is very clean and professional and he should be applauded.

I'm good. The SWR/GK hybrid is working for jazz trios and the Eden for louder gigs. The Wal is perfect for me and has been for a long time now. My only GAS would be to exchange my Status Energy Artist 6 for a 6-string fretless, just to try one out. I am working on my mind at the moment! That's far harder to change!

Have you been somewhere?

Good bits Always want to get better Always want to learn more Systematic approach to musical development Can read dots and charts Know lots of theory and learning more every day Play quietly (am aspiring to almost disappearing completely) Can slap but don’t Mostly only play fretless Can swing on an electric bass Know how to get the best sounds and textures out of my bass (of 22 years) Can and do play jazz, jazz and more jazz Can play Latin music reasonably authentically Play the music not the bass No problems with odd time signatures Won’t play ‘Canteloupe Island’ or ‘Watermelon Man’ (trust me, that’s a good thing) Will tell you what I think of your playing if you ask Will tell you my opinion on anything whether you ask for it or not Bad bits Will tell you what I think of your playing if you ask Will tell you my opinion on anything whether you ask for it or not Have not recorded much that I am proud of Almost never play original music Play far too many covers gigs Struggle with pains in my hands that can, when they are bad, undermine my otherwise credible technique Intonation can slip if I am bored (am working on that) Soloing can get a bit predicatable Only know three tunes; ‘So What, ‘Impressions’ and ‘Lush Life’ Don’t practice enough Not interested in effects Not really interested in ERBs but would welcome the opportunity to try one

When I played jazz 'live' on The National Lottery Live, I was miming to a recording of myself (as played by Carol Kaye) but the images on screen bore no relationship whatsoever with what the audience was hearing. I guess its an occupational hazard with TV work.

Or try 'Band in a Box' - costs fourpence 'apenny and will do the trick and a whole lot more besides.

Unmitigated balllcocks! Its hard enough trying to get people to like the good stuff without this s*** being allowed out. Kindly leave the stage!

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=21581&hl=status+energy"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=...l=status+energy[/url] ...although it never comes out (last time was in Middelsex in 2001). Apparently it comes in a a six-string fretless version. If anyone has one they want to swap for this.......

Good to have you up here in East Anglia!

Sorry, mate, my PC at work blocks pictures so I don't knwo what it is. I will have to look some time later on..... I'm all aquiver with anticipation!!!

Wherever I Lay My Hat - Paul Young Peaches - The Stranglers N.I.B. - Black Sabbath The Rite of Spring - Stravinsky

The notes on the bass clef are actually an octave higher than the notes on the bass itself (i.e. the note you play is an octave lower than the note written on the stave as it would be heard on a piano). The first ledger line above the stave is an octave below middle C (5th fret on your G string). The open E string is one ledger line below the stave. It had to be complicated., didn't it?

I have an old John Patitucci transcriptions book somewhere that uses tenor clef. Didn't get it at the time so that's why I don't play like John Patitucci.... What?

No - then it would Cmajor sharp 5 flat 9 to C altered dominant with a G in the bass.

I assme 'both' means bass and treble clefs not tenor/alto clefs?

Just a thought that came to me yesterday when I was looking at an Orchestration book..... What is the 'industry standard' way for writing/reading staff notation for ERBs? If you just used a bass clef you would, by my reckoning, have about 8 ledger lines at the top and four at the bottom rendering the whole thing unusable. So, what do you do? Do ERB players use bass and treble clef or bass and tenor/alto clefs or is the area so new that there is no standard. Just curious.

When I play it, its C then G - OK?

C then G, actually.

As has already been implied, I think the answer is that both books are right but neither is perfect. As for which is better? I don't know either book but I suspect the answer is neither. Your role as a student is not to passively consume what is thrown at you but to look at it, consider it, process it, try stuff out and, when it feels right, discard some of it, even if it is only temporarily. I mentioned it elsewhere but you need to develop a critical sense that allows you to establish what is useful to you in serving your musical ambitions and what is a dead end. Quick wins are few and the most useful learning is incremental. Most people I know have several books that often include similar information presented in different ways - your own learning style will determine which ones work for you but, for me, the strategy is to look at as much of this stuff as you can and absorb what you can when you can. There is no yellow brick road to musical knowledge, just a big haystack you need to sort through.

Speed is for athletics not music. Anyone who aspires to this type of achievement is labelling themselves a complete idiot.