ambient

Just videoing stuff on my phone, messing with it in iMovie, and improvising a soundtrack to it. This is short, instagram friendly and badly played on piano.

I did some gigs with a worship band a few years ago. I stopped after a while because I felt like a fraud doing it. I was only there because they were paying me £50 every Sunday morning. The MD was playing keyboards, he would announce the key; A minor, D major, or whatever. Then he’d hold up his hand as we were playing with different numbers of fingers showing to represent the next chord. I believe it’s based on the Nashville thing?

I was at uni with a guy who did have perfect pitch, he also had an amazing ability of recall. He could hear you play something once, then just know it. I don’t think he ever bothered learning anything for an exam, he just listened to everyone else play it, then reproduced it. It was scary. He could play amazing jazz piano too, despite never having had a piano lesson in his life.

I’d disagree. Whilst I agree that is a useful skill to have, it’s not really going to help someone to know what they can play or maybe can’t play in a song. I think the most important skill a bass player can have is knowing the notes on their instrument, and knowing how they work within the context of what the band is playing. If someone says this is a II, V, I in D, then you need to know what you can play over that. It’s pretty basic stuff, even if you only play the root note and basic chord tones. That root note and chord connection. That’s often the eureka or lightbulb moment for students. When they see how what they’re playing is connected to the chords being played. With regard to dep players, that has more to do with it being their job. I’ve done it myself, most function bands have pretty much the same songs in their repertoire. The only thing that can change is the key, it’s pretty easy if you do know what I said was in my opinion the most important skill, to just play a part in a different key at the drop of a hat. Just my opinion of course, no doubt others will have a different idea. 😊

Apparently I’m wrong and it’s not in D 😊, but yes, it’s just playing the major 3rd and 5th. So yes, you’re right, though I’m sure someone else will come along and argue otherwise.

👍

A minor is the relative minor, it can be called the aeolian mode, built on the 6th degree of the scale. So in C major it’s A minor. Same notes, just starting on the A. Is this some sort of test? I thought I’d had enough of H&T tests during my MMus. Are you going to admit that the key is D major? I mean consider the A7sus4 chord, with an A and F# played on the bass, that implies, to me at least D major: D, E, F#, G, A. There’s no C# because that would spoil the suspended and open quality that they’re going for using the sus chord.

Jonas is one of my favourites too, he’s just amazing.

I don’t need to use Google. A mixolydian is derived from D major, it’s the 5th mode, the notes are the same, which is what I was implying, the two are related. Post a picture of the sheet music that you offered to post earlier; I can read music by the way, since you asked the other guy, let’s see what key yours is in.

A mixolydian is D major.

I mean where’s the F# if it’s A minor? You can get complicated, I’m not exactly a novice with harmony or musical theory. I’m guessing you’re hearing the A tonality because they’re playing A7sus4. It’s an A7 chord though, the dominant of D, again suggesting the key is D.

So where’s the F# come from? The reason there’s no C# actually played is because they’re playing a Sus4 chord, so the 3rd; C# is replaced in the chord by the 4th. Like I say, I don’t know the song, I’ve never heard it, never played it. I did a search and found that. The key sig is D major. The relative minor is B minor, though the chords suggests to me at least D.

It being an A7 would suggest D. It’s a sus4, so the third C# is replaced by the 4th.

I don’t know the song, this is all I can find, the key sig is D. That might of course be wrong.

Not at all, I don’t play normal bass, so my hand isn’t in that position for long periods of time thumping out notes. I move my right hand about covering the full playing area. I’m also sat cross legged in the photo, if I were playing real bass then I’d be standing or sitting with the bass strapped at a comfortable height so as not to cause tension. When I was an undergrad I’d practice 12 or 14 hours a day, I did that for three years with no problems.

How high (or low) do you have your bass? Stand in front of a mirror, or video yourself playing, and check that you’re not putting undue stress on your hands.

You can download a 30 trial version. That’s 30 days of usage too, only days where you actually use it count. https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/download

Thanks, it’s only £19 or so on the App Store too, so I’ll probably go for it. I’m a big fan of pen and paper too 😊, at the moment that’s what I’m using to plan out what I’m going to do.

I remember you recently saying how happy you were with them, so it’s very sad how it has turned out. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start again. You know what it is you want to do, so stick to that. Contact the drummer if he’s someone you get on with, see if he’s interested in continuing playing with you and a new project. I’d have thought playing covers was more likely to be successful than playing original songs.

Each to their own, as long as people are happy doing what they do, that’s all that really matters. I teach music, it’s a moment I always love when I show someone something; that Eureka moment when they realise that they’ve just learned one simple thing that will have massive benefits to their playing, cutting out the hit and miss of note selection, the reduction in the hours spent sitting down trying to work a part out by ear. The harmony and theory module of my BMus was one of my favourite. I opted to do a module on my MMus called ‘material form and structure’, which studied scores, and analysed compositions. The theory and ‘nuts and bolts’ behind music is something that’s always fascinated me, it’s really beautiful when you look at it. I’m a little weird though 😊.

I like coming on here, threads like this make me feel young.

So where did you keep your phone?

Thanks, someone mentioned that on Facebook. It gets a lot of good reviews, and works on iPad too.

It was sunny in Wales on Monday, I was there and saw it. Wood and Tronics are Italian. They're wonderful instruments.

Based on the work that I’m doing for my PhD. Probably just an ebook to start with. I’m looking for suggestions on how to do it, is there an app that someone can recommend I use? The book will feature lots of photos, plus writing, maps and audio; either composed soundscapes or just raw field recordings, possibly also finished compositions. The idea is that it’ll give the reader a chance to experience the place. It’ll hopefully be interesting and aesthetically pleasing, without being academic, an expanded version of my website.