peteb

It seems to me that the fashion for playing with a pick or fingers alternates in classic rock – pick in the 80s, then fingers and now pick again. Certainly all the recent bass players in bands like Whitesnake seem to mainly use a pick (Marco Mendoza, Uriah Duffy, etc) even if they are predominately finger players in other bands! I think that it is likely that your keyboard player has picked up on that. TBH, for the life of me I don’t see why it is so important, using fingers or a pick is only part of your sonic imprint and can easily be compensated for by many other factors! If you can play fast enough to nail a blast beat and can get a good solid sound when you play eighths I don’t see why it should make any difference if you play with your fingers or with a pick! I was persuaded by a band leader to change from fingers to pick back in the 80s and it was the worst musical decision I ever made! Unfortunately, I was not as strong a player with a pick and I spent what was probably the most important part of my musical career (such as it was) not playing to my full potential. After a few years I went back to playing with my fingers and was a much better player almost instantly! There is a technique that you can use to get the best of both worlds and get the attack of playing with a pick whilst using your fingers. This is something that I have been doing for years and was most gratified to find that that it was a technique that Bryan Beller developed after missing out on the Steve Vai gig first time round, mainly because he didn’t play with a pick! Basically, it involves striking across the strings at a bit of an angle to get a ‘chime’ that sounds a bit like a pick. It may seem that you are just digging in more but you are not necessarily playing any harder, it is more about the the action and angle that you attack the string! BB describes it much better than I can on various clips on the net, including an interview with Janek Gwizdala that Doddy posted a while ago on here and I think on the Bass Player magazine website as well. Billy Sheehan uses a similar approach when he plays his more basic bass lines and if it’s good enough for someone as anal as Vai (who now uses Beller as his first call bass player) and for King Billy, then it certainly should be good enough for your keyboard player!

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1321478653' post='1439778'] Not being from the guitar relm don't they have things called Kapos or Capos? Couldn't they stick one on the 5th fret and pretend the rest of the guitar don't exist? [/quote] No...!

[quote name='algmusic' timestamp='1321397681' post='1438793'] A fair comment, but I would bet money that 99% of songs written are governed by what key the singer wishes to sing. The other 1% was when the writer was a guitarist or bassist who sung. It's all about the range of the singer. I think people forget the musicians are not at the forefront of the songs. it's the singer and the melody. I also think playing in a different key has a lot to do with how good the player is to execute the song, but it may have something to play in it. [/quote] I do not think that it is necessarily correct, especially in rock songs that are written around a guitar part that is dependant on open strings For example, try playing Whole Lotta Rosie in 'C'

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1321187411' post='1436175'] [size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]It is usually the vocalists. Most of them are so restricted in what they can do with minimal technique that we all have to work to their limitations. I have never yet played with a vocalist who said play it in your key. [/font][/color][/size] [size=4][font=Arial][color=#000000]Guitarists are the next limiting factor in a band… but that’s a different topic![/color][/font][/size] [/quote] To be fair, what a singer can do is limited to an extent by their physical capabilities rather than just technique and a lot of guitar parts are very dependant on the use of open strings! The only time I have ever considered getting a 5 string is because of people calling out songs in strange keys!

I use an iGig double bag, which is great with plenty of protection & loads of storage, etc Cost more than £50 thru! It is also quite heavy when fully loaded but is still a great piece of kit that makes life much easier.....

From the recent Esquires Blues Weekend in Bedford

PS. on another note - someone said that Huw Lloyd-Langton isn't well - does anyone know what is wrong with him? I'm mates with his cousin (another good guitar player btw) and Huw seemed a nice guy when I met him....

My own contribution to music is relatively modest - I've played in a few decent bands who never set the world on fire and I've played with some very good players, a few of whom have also played with guys you may have actually heard of! A lot of my mates at school were into Hawkwind so I heard a fair bit of them, was even dragged to see them live, and I always thought that they were fu@/in awful! However I have no problem if someone else likes them You ought to learn to recognise a jocular remark when you see one!

[quote name='algmusic' timestamp='1319630921' post='1416595'] I think I'll have to disagree.. It's based on the a point of reference, it's seen a benchmark like an SM58.. People say Fender Jazz or P so people get an idea of the type of sound... I think Sadowsky sound very nice, but they are not fenders.. I wouldn't buy a Sadowsky because I want fender that's better, because it isn't. I'd buy Sadowsky because I like it or fender because I like that bass. Really Sadowsky should have made up there own name.. Funny stingrays, sterlings and Rickenbackers don't seem to have this problem [/quote] I agree that a Fender Jazz or P is certainly a reference sound and they are design classics, but I would still say that many other builders do 'Fender' better than the original (having owned a few at various times). A lot of people want something with a Fender look and feel, but want it to be better built and perhaps have the option of a more 'refined' and 'modern' version of the Fender sound, to quote Doddy. There is still a certain appeal to a Fender and I must confess that I have succombed and bought a rather beautifull looking s/h US jazz recently - but it has cost me a fair bit of time and money to get it to play and sound anything like as well as my other basses!

The truth is that Fender don't do Fender that well! Sadowsky et al take the basic idea / look and execute it a he'll of a lot better than the original...!

I was a bit sceptical about a bass costing that much and I can't imagine ordering one anytime soon, but I played a 4 string Fodera at a jam session a while ago and it was certainly the best bass that I have ever played!

[quote name='Pete Academy' timestamp='1319391168' post='1413547'] Saying that, my fondest memory of Hawkwind was the naked dancer with the big norks. [/quote] By far their greatest contribution to the music world!

[quote name='mcgraham' timestamp='1319456249' post='1414216'] Someone also mentioned the guitarist using two guitar amps. Good idea! Another suggestion is to use a delay pedal set to a single uber-short delay - like one repeat at 40-70ms and at about 60-70% level of the original - to duplicate the guitar signal into the same amp (or even the other amp), but slightly offset from the timing of the original. This is a cheap and easy way to give the effect of double tracking but live. You can then also get away with lower gain levels from the amps while still getting a heavy sound, which then gets a slightly fuller guitar sound because the guitar has more natural 'cut' at the lower gain settings. [/quote] This - I used to play with a guitar player in a 3 piece for many years that did just that - always sounded huge!

You do have to 'fill out' the sound - to do that you have to leave spaces (if that makes sense)

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1319284753' post='1412225'] [size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]It sure is competitive. [/font][/color][/size] [size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]Ideas? How many of you sing? You need good vocals and good BV's. You need flexibility in your choice of numbers. Don't buy pedals that make you sound mush, get a keyboard player who sings. [/font][/color][/size] [/quote] Good BVs will help a lot and I personally would not rely on pedals to fill out the sound

You will have to learn how to fill things out - you can get away boosting your low mids a little as you now only have one guitar to compete with, try playing more octaves, be more selective about where you mute - but not to the point of leaving no gaps at all Your remaining guitarist will have to adapt his style more, as he now has to fill in more of the sonic spectrum I have nearly always played with just the one guitar player and would probably have to adapt to be less overpowering if I were to play with two!

You need to know your modes and scales, etc but what you really need to do is to develop and then trust your ears! Don’t be afraid to listen and even steal from other players – everyone who’s any good has done it, especially in the blues! To take my earlier example, if can play the turnaround that Roscoe Beck plays in Talk To Your Daughter properly, you can then slow it down and play it over the turnaround of Red House, amending it where necessary so that it sounds right. Then it is no longer Roscoe Beck’s part anymore – it’s yours!

It seems that you can play the basics that pretty much all blues bass players use but want to understand why what you are playing is the right thing Just a suggestion if you don’t want to go down the teacher route – get on youtube with a bass and a pair of headphones handy and pick some accomplished player that you rate playing a blues song and learn their part note for note, a bar at a time if necessary. For some reason I’m thinking of someone like Roscoe Beck playing with Robben Ford, maybe ‘Talk To Your Daughter’ (not too simple but still recognisable as a 12 bar), but obviously it could be anyone who takes your fancy. Once you have got the line down and can play it pretty well then try taking it apart and analysing it, working out which mode he uses over each chord, when he uses a chromatic run, plays a lick, etc. Once you think that you have worked out what makes the part work, try playing a simple blues that you know (maybe ‘Red House’ or whatever) and see if you can incorporate bits of the part you have just learned into the way you play ‘Red House’ (or whatever familiar track you choose) Then pick another song from another player and do the same thing again!

Good luck mate!

I was generally pretty good at auditions (mainly cos I’m not bad at picking up songs up pretty quickly) and have been in a few bands that have done a lot of auditions. I would say that the main thing is obviously to learn the material properly. Don’t be afraid to ask to run thru the more complicated sections and check riffs, etc. Make sure that you play the song rather than showing off, but if you do get a chance to show your chops a bit, go for it – remember that you have to stand out from everyone else they try out. But don’t ruin their songs by overplaying! Also, try and sell yourself without being a dick about it. If you look the part without it seeming that you’re trying too hard – well that can’t hurt either! They are going to have to work closely with you over a period of time so it obviously helps if you can get on with them so be friendly, reasonable, etc Always remember that you can be the best player that they see but if you’re not what they are looking for they will go for the guy who seems to them to be the best fit, so don’t take it personally……

[quote name='Delberthot' timestamp='1318803795' post='1406445'] I thought I was going to be reading a story about a guy who beat up Michael Jackson but its the other Jaco and a different type of beating [/quote] [size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]No, the Michael Jackson story (allegedly) concerns a very well known producer...!![/font][/color][/size]

Seems a bit too good to be true! Anyone here tried one??

[quote name='Soliloquy' timestamp='1317559137' post='1391737'] I really used to hate getting back from a gig stinking of stale cigarette smoke. Then the following morning unpacking my gear to find that too stank of stale cigarette smoke. It's soooooo nice now it's banned in pubs etc. [/quote] Just a shame that there's no bleedin' audience now!

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1317381687' post='1390090'] It's good to know you're out there for the rest of us. Far too many arse-kissing amateurs (like me) cave in to these wine bar managers and their egregious bleatings of 'Please turn it down'. Before you know it, the rebellious flame of Rock and Roll[sup][size=1]Tm[/size][/sup] flickers and dies. And then we might just as well be jazzers.[/quote] I know that you were trying to be ironic but you do actually have a point there!

[quote name='Dr.Dave' timestamp='1317326268' post='1389615']If I'd wanted to compromise I'd have joined a cub band and made a lot of cash - but I didn't. We explain to all venues new to us what we are and what we do. If that's not what they want we all shake hands and we don't play there. If we get asked to turn down at a venue we do so - we don't want to upset anyone - but we let our feelings be known as we took trouble to explain what sort of band we are before we took the booking , and we never play there again.[/quote] Well said sir! Pretty much what I was trying to say but articulated much more concisely........