Bilbo

First learn where the notes are on the neck then learn the following scales.... Major (12) Minor (12 but they are the same as the above only a minor third away) Melodic Minor (12) Diminished (2) Augmented (2) Chromatic (1) Pentatonic (12) Blues scale (12) It's the modes that start to confuse people each major, minor and melodic minor scale has seven each but the whole thing is a lot simpler than it sounds. The advantage of the bass is that the fingering pattern you use for one major scale is identical to that of another, you just start on a different fret. So you only have to learn one piece of information. In a nutshell, there are only 8 scales to learn. If I said learning 8 scales is the first and main step to knowing everything you need to know, it doesn''t look nearly as intimidating! You realise, of course, that you have an additional responsibility to learn this stuff properly so you can cut the blokes out there that think that girls can't play music, especially the heavy stuff?

[quote name='Sibob' post='266102' date='Aug 20 2008, 10:02 AM']Just chill out 'Feel' it!! Si[/quote] YEAAAAAAH! No need to practice - the Time Fairy will come and sort you out! Drum machine or metronome. Its the same thing. The discipline you are developing is in learning to play your lines whilst LISTENING to another sound source and making the minute adjustments you need to ensure that your playing is locked in with this other sound source. You could just as easily use recordings.

Can't read the article as my work PC blocks the link. As an electrical bass player, I acknowledge the relationship between a piece of kit and your sound but we have to remember that we use our ears to determine the sound we want and adjust our gear accordingly. Unless we get new ears, our sound is always going to be in the ball park of what they tell us is the best sound we can get. ANd our execution of ideas/phrases will be borderline the same whatever gear we have. There is a lovely story dating back to when Van Halen were supporting Ted Nugent in the early days and TN wanted to know the secret of Eddie Van Halen's sound. So he tried his gear out and sounded like ..... Ted Nugent!!! Ref: eqing the bass vd bass drum. That may apply in rock etc but, in jazz, you are better off eqing against the ride cymbal as it can kill your sound if you don't get it right.

I am astonished that any of this matters to anyone.

Natural wood basses tend to date less. And a beautiful wood finish will always win over a colour. Some of the exotic woods being used on the new wave of handbuilts (Sei , Fodera etc) are stunning - how can a tobacco sunburst compete?

I am working on inventing a bass combo the size of a credit card that sounds like an Eden Metro. No luck, so far .

[quote name='waynepunkdude' post='259898' date='Aug 11 2008, 01:05 PM']Right how much blood are we talking? How many ambulances? In my head I have horror movie style spurting and just a flood of blood[/quote] One ambulance but we are talking swimming with blood and a toilet full of distressed female wedding guests all with their feet in the sinks (as reported by our female voclaist).

Debuted my SWR Baby Blue/modified GK MBX112 hybrid rig at a jazz trio gig yesterday. Not 100% as yet (first time out, as I said) but very promising indeed. Need to spend some more time with the amp's eq and fill out the bottom end a little but, volume-wise, the little poppets are delivering.

You don't have to move around like a lunatic in order to engage and audience. It can, in fact, be wholly incongruent. Where jazz is concerned, accuracy is more important because you are trying to form and execute ideas simultaneously, unlike most popular genres where all you are doing on gigs is reproducing well rehearsed set pieces. Yes, I accept you are being paid to entertain; that is why most bands with top names like Kylie or Take That are actually hidden from the audience. But, in jazz at least, it is the music that matters not the musicians! Engaging the audience doesn't require lighter fuel or a seizure....

Just bought two GK MBX112s off synaesthesia. All went well. items were a bargain, as described, well packed on posting, sent quickly etc. All round satisfied customer. Recommended as wholly reliable.

[quote name='doctorbass' post='108761' date='Dec 24 2007, 01:56 AM']Otford July 07 opening for Limehouse Lizzy[/quote] [i]Opening[/i] for a tribute bnad - now you really [i]have[/i] made it

Does anyone actually fall for those 'rock' poses anymore? I was watching someone on T4 earlier and they were staggering around looking drunk like the Stones do and I just thought 'thats a sixty year old pose'. I guess its all new to the kids?

Had them on the first gig (1980) and never again. Its all in the preparation. There's a saying 'Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can't get it wrong'. Personally, and this is an instrument specific perspective, once you realise that noone would notice the bass player, visually or aurally, unless s/he actually caught fire, the edge is taken off it

Teen Town by Pastorius - I am sure I could play it when I was 17 but now, bluggered if I know why I can't nail the sucker (with hindsight, maybe I only THOUGHT I could do it at 17?).

Accuracy every tmie!

Trouble is, he is with McLaughlin who is one if the world's worst/most typewriter orientated players - clearly paid on a notes per second basis. Most players sound better away from him!

I can't look at the videos posted above as I am in work but what I have seen so far of HF is a bit like what I have seen of Matt Garrison. Technique is like acting - if you can see it happening, its not very good! I have a DVD of Garrison with Herbie Hancock and I really like what he is doing but I bought one if his CDs and found it a bit 'so what?'. The best playing, for me, is that which is fully integrated into good music. Jimmy Johnson, Anthony Jackson, Steve Swallow etc all excel as technicians without drawing attention to themselves. The showboating aspect of players can be a distraction. I will be seeking out some more Feraud before I express a definitive Bilbo opinion but, so far, the YouTube videos are not giving me what I look for.

I know - I love the fact that he is exactly the opposite if a stereotypical 'proper' jazz bass player but swings like a donkey's and has a creative, individual voice!!

You have a great eye for a bass, mate. Thse are all exceptionally beautiful instruments to look at. I always thought that the Ken Smith basses were the ugliest, uncoolest basses in the world and, whatever their sonic strengths, should be avoided at all costs. But these babies; I'd have any one of them in a flash... [url="http://www.pagelli.com/e/2instrum/bass_git005.html#"]http://www.pagelli.com/e/2instrum/bass_git005.html#[/url]

[quote name='Dan_Q' post='257596' date='Aug 7 2008, 09:17 PM']I mainly play indie stuff- REM to blur to joy division to the stone roses type things,[/quote] That is likely to change over time. Like when you hear proper jazz for the first time The thumb in the middle of the neck is a tried and tested method that facilitates better access theh neck. The other way is like running with a stone in your shoe; yes, you will get there but why would you do it if you didn't have to!

One Wal and a Status Energy 6 that I don't use. I have also previously owned a Hondo II Precision copy, Aria SB700 and a Washburn Headless (all 4 strings). I play the music and not the basses! I actually have more guitars: a Gibson ES175, an Adamus II six-string electro-acoustic, a Takamine CD132SC and an old Antoria that I have strung to a Nashville tuning.

Nope - anthropomorphication is for girls...

It was like 'Carrie'!!!

Blood On The Dancefloor!! The punters were dancing. The girls took their heels off. A punter dropped a glass and didn't tell anyone. The girls cut their feet to ribbons. The blood flowed. The ambulances came. The bride wore red. I can't believe the venue didn't stop the dancing and clear the dancefloor! I certainly hope they have public liability insurance!

YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!