bass_dinger

"If that buffoon @bass_dinger can do it, then surely i can, too!" If you elect to put yourself through the small Hell that is the face-to-face exam, then the timetable is April and October/November. So, Grade 2 by the end of 2026 is entirely achievable. And the really good news is that you can spend the price of a nice bass amplifier on lessons and exams, yet not exclude yourself from the 2026 Gear Abstinence Challenge! However, if it is focus, purpose and a direction that your want, then the ABRSM grades and lessons will give you that. From reading your musical biography, we both had the same background - playing chords, but nothing much of the fancy stuff (so, just like an acoustic guitarist, then....). You may find that you can teach yourself a lot of the stuff - with fingering annotations for the scales, it's just a case of working through them, and having a lesson every other week to help you play the pieces. Well done for taking the leap! Robert

You are right - a good reminder. I think that I wanted to have the complete story, not just for me, but for others who find this thread in the future. However, in gathering the details together, I had forgotten that my goal was to get a piano which worked for me, both now and in the future.

So....let's see if the Kawai ES60 would work for me: • I want to be able to listen to myself play, along with a YouTube track. • I want to be able to listen to myself play, alongside a midi track, and to record additional midi tracks, into Musescore. • I want to use the keyboard to send midi to my EMU Classic Keys Module (which has Midi In, Midi Out and Midi Thru. I have a Behringer UMC1820 interface with midi in and midi out (and 8 channels of line-in), plus a Kurzweil SP76 with "traditional" midi (two 5-pin DIN). Currently, the Behringer UMC1820 is doing everything that I require, and which I listed above.

It is fitting that those who have remained Abstinent for 50 weeks, should now find themselves battling at Boss Level. For those of us who were defeated in Round 1 by Mario's banana skin, I give you @Bass Direct, the Bowser of Bass Temptation...

So, will you be keeping the ES-60, or would this be a deal-breaker for you? Is it working as a home piano, for you and your family?

I have developed a new habit since I retired 18 months ago. I say yes. Someone invites me for a walk? Come to a concert? Visit a friend? Go shopping in Asda with Mrs Dinger? Go to a meal with 30 people that i don't know? Yes. At most, it is 2 hours out of my life, and it makes people happy. And often, it makes me happy too! As Steve Cropper reminded us, Time is Tight.

So, I played my own bassline to the song, and the band leader was content. On reflection, a tune in 4/4 which has a chord change on every beat of the bar, can't then shoehorn another 4 notes and rests into those beats, and expect it to be both lucid and funky. We ended up with one note per bar, and a few ghost and staccato notes. That's plenty funky enough for me. Thanks, all, for the advice.

So, in less than three months, you have progressed from absolute beginner, to performance. That is impressive, not just for you, but also for the brass band. They clearly have a training and teaching route for new musicians.

Not at all! This is a thread for everyone learning the piano, by whatever method. I simply started the thread. If I (and others) can share their learning journey, then those who follow us can more easily find out what works for them. I wouldn't have known about Fake Books were it not for my 78 year old teacher. I wouldn't have known that ABRSM exams are not always the best way of learning, unless others had shared their experiences. I wouldn't have known about what piano to buy were it not for the thread on stage pianos. Basschat.co.uk - the home of the hijacked thread and off-topic comment. And it is all the better for it!

That was a Dad joke . . . .

A very different lesson this week. My teacher happen to have a copy of The Real Christmas Book on the piano when I arrived. In spite of the name, it was a Fake Book - one of those books beloved of jazz performers. Melody line, chords, bar lines, time signature, and nothing else. He suggested that I have a try (he knows that I know the chords, so, it wasn't totally cruel of him!) I spent a happy hour picking out the melody with my right hand, and working out how to play C^7 , D-b5#9, Ab-11 etc. And it sounded wonderful! I am now looking for the full Book- and other Fake Books too.

You are right - fundamentally, the bassline is not a bassline, but a series of riffs and fills. I did actually try to play Bar 11 and needed to work out a different fingering to accommodate all the notes - by my reckoning, that's a 2 octave range, in a bar made up of 8th and 16th notes, with double-stops. I like your implied advice about basslines needing to have rhythmic or melodic repetition. I can work with that.

1) What's the tempo? - 78 BPM (according to the Tap Tempo on my metronome) 2) Is there some pattern that repeats itself over the parts? Good question - you are making me think. So, no repetitions that I can see or hear. Bars 5, 24, 43 and 62 cover the start of each verse, four bars over the chords D, Bm, Em and A. 2a) I am not able to see anything like that, yet, but most likely I should play it through first. 3) Done by a machine (see the first notes in bar 15)? Oh yes! So, a D and an E - two note a tone apart, that sound pretty muddy in that register - and it is hard to play. 3a) How does it sound straight from the computer? It works as a bassline - it is technically correct. However, it seems unnecessarily busy and noodley. As if a bedroom-player learnt some Jaco licks, and is trying to fit them all in. No real feel for how the line supports the band, but instead, a bass solo. 4) What kind of band is playing? Bass plus Drummer, Keys, guitar, vox, cello, flute. 4a) Is it even possible to go up high if there are keys close by? Soundwise it may be feasible to stay in the half and first position. Instinctively, I don't want to be ranging from the low B to a high E om the G string. So, I will stay low. 5) I think (this is my very biased opinion) that bass should be rhythmic instrument in modern music. Yes. Very biased, but very correct! I can't play the written line - if I could, I wouldn't be in a scratch church band playing carols! So, I think that I need to include a few riffs and pentatonic noodles, a couple of octave jumps, and waggle my head a bit. Instant funky, when you've ordered your bass player from Temu . . .

This bassline was created by software, to go over the chords to "Oh little town of Bethlehem". The Musical Director selected "funky R&B" (or somesuch) as the option for the bass style. Is this difficult to play for a competent reader (which I am not)? Is it unnecessarily complicated? I am struggling with it, and will probably simplify it. Does anyone have any hints or tips, to help me to create a funky yet playable line.

@greghagger You shared that lesson at the exact right time - with my commitment and ability, I will have learnt it by November 2026!