Bilbo

I am learning to sight read so I won't have to learn anything. 😃 Seriously, though, I am transcribing the whole Lifesigns catalogue (2 cds and a live dvd) but I have a gig tomorrow with one 'unreadable' chart I need to look at tonight.

I saw them at Bingley Hall on the Moving Pictures tour. Anyone know what year that was?

I never took much notice of the ages o Rock stars but have just realised that Peart was only 21 when he joined Rush and 22 when they recorded 'Fly By Night'. Amazing.

Jack Bruce was an early influence on me and his sound on Cozy Powell's 'Over The Top' has been the one I have heard and sought ever since. What is absolutely lovely for me personally is the fact that I occasionally get to play with the drummer in the OP's video, Brendan O'Neill.

Wow. That came out of nowhere. Explains the retirement. A complex man who I would love to have spoken to but would never have tried. RIP, Professor.

Jon Poole again, this time on the track 'Open Skies' from the Lifesigns Live In London CD/DVD. No video available that I can find. Open Skies Lifesigns.pdf

There comes a point where you 'see' rhythms as a lump in the same way you see words not letters or phrases not words. It all comes with practice.

Lifesigns Impossible - Bass.pdf

Six String Bass https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/0769209645/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_o8hfEbZ5SYDTP

John Patitucci does some nice chordal things on 6 string. Other players you can check out include Steve Bailey, Tye Zamora, Jon Stockman, Stefan Fimmers, Oteil Burbridge, Alain Caron, Jimmy Haslip, Ben Shepherd, Adam Niti, Rich Brown, Phil Lesh, Jojo Garza, Tony Grey, Boris Koslov, Miguel Ramirez, Henrik Linder and Damian Coccio. That'll get you started

Jon Poole's bass part for the Live In London version of A Fridge Full Of Stars - there are some small gaps due to my not being able to catch the details because of the mix but it' mostly here. Notes only; no chords. A Fridge Full Of Stars Bass.pdf

I have the advantage of most of my gigs being scratch bands working with charts and not 'bands' in the sense that one is a member of a regular ensemble. I think the most I did last year with entirely the same line-up was two.

Damn right, it does.

I do this every year (except last year when I was busy having a heart attack ). How many gigs did we all have, January to December 2019? My total was a pitiful 38 but I focus on quality these days and that total included gigs with John Etheridge, Nic Meier, Laura Jurd, Paul Higgs, Alice Zawadski, Sue Richardson, Derek Nash's Picante, Nat Steele, Simon Spillett, Ines Loubert, Joanna Eden, Laura Zakian, Chris Allard and several other real quality players; no real duff gigs in the whole of 2019. For the record, I don't get to play with these people because I am any good. It is because I pay them I also got to record a track for a forthcoming Prog cd (see another thread somewhere nearby) and I am hoping to do some more Prog stuff in 2020. To be fair, my heart attack meant that I couldn't gig for the first six weeks of the year so that cut the total down. How was your year?

I have found this a problem for decades. I have used fretted basses intermittently but find them to be a bit like jogging with a stone inside your trainer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiuJizXHII8 The Wal sounds great on this.

Boosh!

I recently found out that the NWOBHM I was in in the 1980s told their previous bass player before me, after the fact, that they thought they would have had a better chance of making it if he hadn't left. Now, bearing in mind my bass playing was very much controlled by the guitarist and singer (the songwriters) in the band and bearing in mind that the band had more national recognition when I was with them that when the other guy was, I have no idea where that rationalisation came from. I am glad I found out now rather than then because it would have destroyed my confidence as a 17 year old whereas, as a 56 year old, I couldn't give a rat's derrière what they thought. 😃 The truth is that they probably didn't make it because they weren't actually very good. A lot of issues around band membership have no musical roots but are linked to human relationships. People get on with some people more than others and being liked and fitting in is probably more important than being a great player. Be selective about the f***s you give. 😉

My recent efforts to read guitar dots and treble clef have resulted in me rediscovering/reactivating dozens if not hundreds of books I have bought over the last three or four decades which have become increasingly viable as source material for me. It's such a massively useful tool aside from whether you read on a gig or not.

I think it is worth asking whether people make this kind of money by being bass players or by being songwriters? The money isn't in the playing and performing, it is in the composing and publishing.

It is the BZ. I don't find it heavy at all but I play a Wal which apparently is although I have never found it to be a problem.

I went 4 to 7 (although I had owned a 5 and 6 years ago). The funny thing was, I have played four string fretless with my fingers for years. When I went to a 7 string (just to see what it was all about), I IMMEDIATELY tuned in BEADGBE (i.e. as a octave down guitar with a low B) and played with a pick. This was literally the second time I have played it out of the box.

I discovered these guys later in life when someone played me the Two Against Nature DVD. Great grooves, great songs, great sounds, great harmonies. Katy Lied was my favourite.

I can't offer anything meaningful in terms of advice but would just add that the qualification you end up with may allow you to teach at colleges or schools later in life which may be some thing vitally important to sustaining yourself financially when 'stardom' fails to materialise. It will also look good on your CV if you teach privately. I play with loads of musicians who have and who have not attended universities etc. Are they better than me? Mostly. Am I, nevertheless, sharing the stage with them? Yes. I find that a conservatory education doesn't guarantee anything in terms of your potential and I have played with plenty of people with music degrees who I would never book on a gig. I do, however, think there is a lot to be said for the total immersion in music that the opportunity would bring. I would love to have had the opportunity when I was younger. In the end, it's your call.

My 'packages' has been as follows Hondo II Precision copy Aria SB600 & Hondo II (which I had ripped the frets out of by now) Aria SB600 and Wal Custom Fretless four string Wal Custom Fretless Wal Custom Fretless and Washburn Status copy Wal Custom Fretless Wal Custom Fretless and Status Energy 6 string Wal Custom Fretless and Status Energy 5 string (swapped on here) Wal Custom Fretless Wal Custom Fretless and Harley Benton 7 string Wal Custom Fretless, Harley Benton 7 string and Harley Benton acoustic bass The truth is, however, that, since buying the Wal in 1986, everything else has been a toy that I have played with to 'try' something rather than contributing anything substantive to my 'arsenal'. The Wal has been 'the' bass for 33 years and I have no intention of changing it. My only 'GAS' is for a decent 5-string fretted bass. A Wal would be perfect but is financially unjustifiable for me. I can do almost anything on the fretless and the only thing I cannot do is get a decent slap or tapping sound and the truth is that, whilst I see the players mastering these techniques and think I should deal with them, once I am past the wow factor, I actually don't like much of the music played using those techniques. There are loads of recordings I have done with the Wal in loads of different genres and people only know it is a fretless if they are told or if I consciously whip out the 'mwah' for a moment.