Bilbo

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.

[quote name='OldGit' post='294345' date='Sep 29 2008, 09:48 AM']Ok some research needed .. What might be the best Jeff Berlin tracks to listen to?[/quote] 'Palewell Park' off Bruford's 'Gradually Going Tornado' 'Tokyo Dream' off Allan Holdsworth's 'Road Games'

I reckon its the colour of the strings that you are reacting to. The harmonies during the opening are diatonic and the voicings are in unison. The fact is that the tone/timbre of something can have a massive effect on its emotional content. If it sounds beautiful, it is beautiful.

THere is some conceptual promise here, Shergold. Its raw as f*** but, if its your first go at something like this, you haev sone remarkably well. Have you seen Samuel Adler's 'Orchestration' book, or Walter Piston's, or Schoenberg's? You should start exploring this stuff.

Just got a listen in. Its a great transcription but you still sound uncomfortable with the piece and your phrasing is a little awkward. Some of that will be because you are playing as a written piece something that someone else has improvised. But, nevertheless, you need to work on some of your core techniques and tighten things up a bit. But, otherwise, a great exercise and all credit to you for trying something that ambitious! Well done that man!

I actually have more guitars than basses (4:2 ratio) and also have a piano I am messing about with (as much as a midi controller as an instrument in its own right). The study of music is what matters here not the study of technique. The greatest composer/instrumentalists in jazz are nearly all multi-instrumentalists. Mingus played piano (inc recording LPs) as does drummer Jack DeJohnette, who has recorded on the instrument many times. Pat Metheny writes on piano. Guitarist Birelli Lagrene plays great Jaco influenced bass whilst bassists Dave Holland and Jack Bruce both play cello. Trumpter Wynton Marsalis plays piano whilst drummer Omar Hakim has played guitar on Weather Report cds. The list goes on and on. I would recommend all bass players play either guitar or piano as an undersatnding of chords is central to your ability to play great bass lines. No need to achieve virtuoso level, just enough to be able to hear stuff!

Benavent rocks! First heard him on a Gil Goldstein 'Zebracoast' cd several years ago. Will check out the link later.