Bilbo

Depends how you play it. 'St Thomas' is a Sonny Rollins composition and the original was a calypso that eventually went into a swing groove after Max Roach's drum solo (3.51). You can do whatever you want with it. That's the whole point. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA2XIWZxMKM There are also solo sax versions like this one from Branford Marsalis (I love this one - tried transcribing it for bass but it got too hard) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QC8Bmf_KRA

I don't see it a 'learning to play the fretless' as much as 'playing the fretless'. A fretless is just a fretted bass without frets. It is not a 'new' instrument. A guitarist who plays six string doesn't need to 'learn' how to play 12 string. You need to explore the potential of a new voice but 'learning to play the fretless' is setting up a psychological barrier that isn't there.

When I started playing gigs, I was a plectrum player in a heavy metal band. I went off it entirely for about two decades and never used a plectrum on bass, preferring finger style. As I have been playing Jazz on double bass a lot for the last few years, the pick was reserved entirely for guitar. I studied Al DiMeola's picking technique and got pretty sharp on guitar as a result but I never used it on bass. My wife recently bought me one of those ridiculously good Harley Benton seven string basses, however, and, for some reason, I started playing it with a pick straight off the bat. This video was shot the second time I have played it and the first time I had played it through an amp. I find it a interesting concept, a kind of Steve Swallow meets Jim Hall vibe. I have been practicing Bach Cello Suites on it with a pick and it sounds really clean. I am actually enjoying the accurate intonation, having played fretless and, later, double bass pretty much exclusively for decades!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6AHkcNO0bg

There is something about a Ric.....

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The B in the melody defines the chord type just as much as the C root. It HAS to be a Cminmaj7. Real books are great but are seldom completely reliable.

Voted.

I used to do my work at home to Brand X when I was in art college. 1982-3.

Phew! One vote. My public adores me!

Look, Dad. I thought we had an agreement......

I picked up a heavy music stand last Sunday and the top bit dropped off onto aside of my double bass, putting a very tea crack in it. Being a hollow instrument with it's sound generated by the resonance of the instrument as a whole, this appeared devastating. I picked it up, played it, realised that it didn't effect the sound and immediately lost all anxiety. I will get it repaired in time but, as long as the instrument 'works', I am not remotely bothered by cosmetic scarring. It's not important.

Nothing wrong with the story but the conclusion is nonsense. Too much theory cannot stifle creativity any more than knowing too many words can make you a bad writer. Knowledge of every single musicological fact will not make you able to write great music. Nor will it prevent you from doing so.

[quote name='sprocketflup' timestamp='1453026498' post='2955570'] That's fine Bilbo, as long as you understand that lots of people don't give a rats arse for your opinion, respected forum moderator or not. Haters gonna hate. Fcuk 'em and feed 'em rice. [/quote] Absolutely 😃

[quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1453051145' post='2955966'] Bass always sounds better 10m away from the amp! [/quote] +1 I think bass always sounds different depending where you are in the room

I have played in two. A Kool and the Gang gig which I only did two rehearsals for and a Brit Pop girls gig I even got as far as gigging with. I just can't do it and think it is lame as fcuk. I don't give a rat's arse whether others like it, learn from it or make money from it, my own thoughts are well known. It's not for me, as a player or spectator (never seen one).

Agreed 100% but I have come to realise that being better does not mean playing better music or getting more gigs so agonising over minutiae is something I no longer do.

I am a promoter. Www.jazzeast.vpweb.co.uk When an artist appears, they get an agreed fee. The sidemen get an agreed fee. I get nothing. Not all promotion has a profit motive. Sometimes it is simply about advocacy and avoiding a loss.

It's cringe worthy, isn't it?

[quote name='dand666' timestamp='1452852702' post='2954039'] . Everyone knows where they were. Game changer. [/quote] Ya reckon? I found it turgid. Didn't do anything for me at all

It is about knowing what you can get to. I find that structured lesson programmes like Scott's stuff don't work for me because they require your practice space to have internet access and mine does not so I work in a different way. My practicing involves lots of reading of Bach Cello Suites, transcribed solos etc. I am working on bowing at the moment and can see improvements just from tiny incremetal investment. The secret of self development is, for me, in recognising that the deepest changes come slowly and over time. Epiphanies are great when they happen and there are quick wins to be gained but, for me, there is nothing like concerted practice over time to generate genuine improvements in knowledge and technique. Remember the 10,000 hours!

I have some massive holes in my listening experience. I hadn't heard Dark Side of The Moon until I was 48, only heard the White Album after it appeared on Spotify a few weeks back, never heard a Bob Dylan album, a Stones album or had anything other than superficial contact with any number of 'legends' including Bowie, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, The Eagles, The Band etc etc. There is more music out there that any one of us can consume. Our own journies are what make us 'us'. I have a truckload of obscure artists I have loved and soaked up over the years and have no real sense that I am missing out. My own perspective is that I cannot say that I 'don't like' Bowie, Elton John etc etc, it's more that I cannot listen to everything, so when I do, I go for stuff that I love rather than stuff that I like or think is OK. 'Life On Mars' is a great piece of music but I would never pick it up by chouce because I get to hear it every now and then as I go through life and, when the choice is mine, will go for things that work more for me. The 'choice' is not 'good' vs 'bad' but 'most loved' vs. 'that's nice'.

I love banjos. They make great kindling.

Big fan of the whole genre; Brazilian, Cuban, Argentinian etc. Hate that I cannot play the genre properly as Felixstowe is seriously lacking in percussionists!! Here are a couple of my attemtps!! [url="https://soundcloud.com/dove-studio/mujer-ingrata-albino-cubana"]https://soundcloud.c...a-albino-cubana[/url] [url="https://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/chiclette-con-banana?in=robert-palmer-1/sets/electric-bass-jazz-and-various"]https://soundcloud.c...azz-and-various[/url] https://soundcloud.com/robert-palmer-1/que-vale-la-pena

I see your Chain and raise you a classic.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYSbUOoq4Vg