DaveFry

Further thoughts ; Note choice . Try this fiendishly simple exercise at 3:43 [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPKG3_YjXXI[/media] Phrasing . Singing is the quickest method to find one's own natural phrasing . We have to punctuate with breaths ! Listen to Louis Armstrong's playing phrasing versus his singing phrasing . Playing a solo ... is Play . Like a child at play . Simplest is best . Light-hearted play .

Consider an Epiphone Zenith if you can find one ( I believe they are discontinued now ). 34" scale , large body and a magnetic pickup right at the end of the fingerboard .

Advice for note choice and phrasing when soloing ? Forget the instrument . Just practice singing it . Sing to yourself walking down the street , in the bath , whatever . Make it up as you go along. Once you have experience in tuning into your own creative flow in the moment , then pick up the instrument and play what you are singing . It is so simple it takes a lifetime . But it is free . And rewarding ; [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f29a1RL2ly0[/media]

Joe Cocker - Could You Be Loved Seal - Fly Like An Eagle AWB - Walk On By

Try the old-fashioned local Yellow Pages search for " Joinery " or " Joiners " . They would have a planer thicknesser .

" Are you going to play that 'cello then ? " ................ " Can you help us settle a dispute here mate ? Does " Golden Brown " have five beats in it like " Take Five " ? " ................ " Do you know " Memories " ? " - " Do you mean " Memories , the Theme from the Musical " Cats " " or " The Way We Were " ? " " Yeah , that's the one ! " - " Do you mean the one that starts " Midnight , not a sound from the pavement " , or the one that starts " Memories light the corners of my mind " , which one ?" " That one , yeah ." - " No , we don't know it , sorry . We only know the other one . " ( lying to get rid of them ) " You don't know it , no ? ".

Forty-Four Blues can be tricky to get the changes at the right time and to get the right groove when it all seems so simple .

Once upon a time he played it live on Sesame Street .... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE[/media]

Get together with guitar and drums . Agree on something dead simple to mess about with e.g. a Bo Diddley rhythm on one chord . All 3 of you try to play it as badly as you can for 5 mins . Stop , try again without trying and goof about with it , maybe trade fours in a humourous way , whatever . Playing music is play . Just play .....

Try this at home ! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INqfM1kdfUc[/media]

[url="http://www.bemuso.com/musicbiz/"]http://www.bemuso.com/musicbiz/[/url] Hth

Waaay back when we had pianos made from recycled elephants , they brought out new cars called Mini Minors and Austin Sevens . They had big speedometers situated in the middle of the dashboard , between the driver and passenger . This was a cunning new design plan . After the basic shell was assembled a huge rod ,entering through the boot and passing through the interior , located into the hole in the dash where the speedo would be and allowed the whole shell to be lifted and spun for the next anti-corrosion treatment part of the manufacturing process . Same sort of idea as the hole in the guitar/bass bodies . Maybe. See 3:58 ; [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3yWib9SF18[/media] Ok , back to basses ,......

Countryman was a 1982 film with a soundtrack by Bob Marley and Lee "Scratch " Perry produced by Chris Blackwell on Island Records . This was in the days before Midi , I remember being blown away in the cinema by the soundtrack bit between 34:45 and 37:10 , they must have synced the synths to tape somehow . A very different , new Marley sound at the time . -Mind you, smoking was allowed in cinemas in those days .... [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX2k4HxluFE[/media] You probably know the track paying over the opening scenes .

Hi-Ho Silver Lining

[quote name='Vixivi' timestamp='1420912593' post='2654990'] I've actually made a basschat account simply cause i was always checking out this thread. I got a Deko 5 string fretless bass a while ago, great instrument needed a bit of a setup. The only real fault is that the side dot markings are wrongly positioned, which is not really a problem once you get used to it. [/quote] Firstly , a belated welcome ! Are the side dots on your 5 where they would be if it was a fretted , like Tauzero's ( post 142 of this thread ) ?

Find some local jazzers , hang out and ask there . If you're sincere with them , they'll help . Maybe listen first and approach someone whose playing ( any instrument ) you like .

Sure it came from the blues . Jazz grew out of the blues in New Orleans . Take a common blues turnaround from bars 11 and 12 of a 12bar in say , C major ; Bar 11 might be :- C , C7 with E in the bass , F , Fsharp diminished , Then Bar 12 :- G7 , Aflat7, G7, G7 In bar 12 the Aflat 7 is a tritone substitute of D7 An ending might go C Dflat7 C . Tritone substitute ______________________ Classical harmony has different rules eg never double the third , double the roots and fifths etc Jazz harmony rules include things like add the seventh ( it defines the sound and e.g. states the maj.7 colour or dom.7 colour ), leave the fifth out unless it is an altered fifth ,( a perfect fifth is already there in the overtones of a root esp. with an upright bass ) don't double the root , double the 3rds and 7ths freely , add 9ths and further extensions for extra colour,..... All the above evolved to give greater improvisational freedom for everyone including the bassperson ( hooray ).

A flat II 7 ( not minor 7 ) is a common substitute for a V 7 because ... the important chord notes , the thirds and sevenths , are the same . Example ; Say we are in A major . The V7 chord is an E7 . The important notes that define it as a dominant 7 chord are the third ( G sharp ) and the the seventh ( D ) . The flat II 7 chord in the key of A major is a Bflat 7 . The important notes that define the sound of a dom. 7 , the third and the flat 7 are D and A flat for a Bflat 7 chord . ( A flat and G sharp are the same notes ) So both chords contain the same notes , the notes that define their dominant seven sound , just that the third of one is the seventh of the other and vice versa . Furthermore , if the chords player ( keys or gtr ) simplifies the dominant 7 chords to just two notes , the third and the seventh , then the lucky bass player is free to choose the root at will and can play a V7 or a flat II 7 to suit his whims or follow the soloist or whatever . Greater freedom for the bassplayer ( hooray ! ) if you are lucky enough to have a pianist with a less-is-more left hand that is comfortable with leaving the roots out and just playing the two important notes of a chord ( third and seventh ) . HTH

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1421080962' post='2656915'] I've ordered the five string fretted. I'll have a quick peek at it when it arrives just to check it's OK, then we put it away until my birthday on the 29th. It was all of £32 including delivery after the voucher was deducted! I went for the fretted version as when I've borrowed my friend's acoustic bass I like to play it with the heftiest pick I can find, a couple of inches from the bridge for a sort of clanky thump. I feel like a fretted bass might be better for that. I've got some D'Addario tapewounds in my used string stash, so those will probably be going on it. [/quote] You must have posted whilst I was busy with the tape measure . I'm sure yours will be fine . I like to palm mute sometimes and play a bass line with my thumb and answer with a melody bit played with my two fingers without moving my RH ,just slightly raising it to unmute for the phrase and let it mwah ( fretless ) . I used to play classical percussion when I was a whippersnapper so I throw some bongo and conga patterns in on the body too . Acoustics are a whole other world of fun . When I put black nylon tapewounds on my first acoustic ( the Ashbury ) I searched for the lightest I could find because I was worried about the extra pull on the top but it has been ok so far . Happy B'day for the 29th !

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1420836040' post='2654167'] Just how big are the acoustics? (Say in terms of how wide the lower bout is). [/quote] My new 4-string fretless HB "Deko" ( 34" scale ) measures ; 42.3 cm across the lower bouts 52.5 cm body length , joining neck at A on E string 12.2 cm depth at tail . Back is very slightly arched , and body tapers towards neck so depth at neck join is 10.3 cm I also have a couple of other acoustics for comparison ; Ashbury ( not Ashbory ) 4-string fretless 34" scale ; 40.8 cm across lower bouts 50.2 cm body length , body/neck join lines up with a Gsharp on E string 12.2 cm depth at tail More pronounced arch of back , body depth at neck join is 10.0 cm Freshman 4-string fretted 32" scale; 43.4 cm across lower bouts 51.3 cm body length , body/neck meet at Gsharp 12.6 cm depth at tail, Back virtually flat , depth at neck join 11.4 cm As for volume , well , the Ashbury has black nylons now so is the quietest , and the fretted Freshman is the loudest but that could be that I tend to feel reluctant to dig in on the fretlesses . Finally , some points about acoustics . 1) They improve with use . Alledgedly. 2) Untreated rosewood bridges like oiling at the same time as the fret/finger board . 3) Heavy strings can lift/warp the top . - A happy Deko owner here . HTH .

Soul Limbo Sylvia Jessica Moanin' Moby Dick

Try this ( the advert , that is ) ; [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gGJFpzPQhU[/media]

Had to dig out some Joe Cocker Stingray , with Stuff as the band Sheffield Steel , with Sly and Robbie - both tasty in different ways

Accent the third beat of every other bar i.e. bar 2 , bar 4 , etc Feel it in half time , so the third beats feel like a 2 and the third beat of the second bar feels like the 4, but accent that new 4 .

Sounds like a perfect candidate for a home defret to me . If you try the superglue method just wick some in the crack . I have done 3 now at a cost of 70 pence each in superglue .