Barking Spiders

Quite liked Radio Free Europe then it was downhill all the way for me. Shiny Happy People and Losing My Religion are among my all time bottom 50. They weren't an awful band but I just don't get the praise critics lavished on them

The Stingray is THE bass for slapping although the SUB Ray 4 does a very acceptable imitation. Non stop high speed slapping totally misses the point. It should only be used in fills, in the same way a fast paradiddle should be on a snare. Like metal shredding it can be impressive but it isn't music.

For my money the best example of how to slap with groove is Mister Magic by Troublefunk with Big Tony Fisher on bass. I don't know how to put up YT stuff in a post here. For the funkless, Troublefunk were the big band of Washington DC's 80s Go Go scene. Big Tony was /is a monster player and deserves more acclaim.

I've heard plenty of slapping n 'popping outside funk & jazz funk and in most cases I'd have said it was inadvisable, especially in rock genres like metal.

I love funk and I love slap but there are those slappers who have groove and those that don't. The faster you try to play and the groove is lost. Personally I don't care for Flea, though I may be a bit prejudiced as I loathe the RHCP. Vic Wootten's slap impresses but it doesn't move me. Now Larry Graham and Louis Johnson have/had groove by the bucketload. My 'bible' of slap was LJ's vid for 'Star Licks'. You can see it on You Tube and I wholeheartedly suggest you check it out.

Another mug's game whereby canny marketeers sucker ultra consumerists. Go figure why the sales are particularly profitable for retailers

I read she began learning at six so with regular daily practice I'm not so surprised she can play like this. After all there are hundreds of young musical prodigies on different instruments from all over the world. I wonder if she can play jazz or flamenco

I recognise her from another YT clip nailing Van Halen's Eruption. Ha, at that age I could barely distinguish a guitar from a uke

Not previously familiar with this guy's work at all but having had a gander at his site. Don't normally care for P basses but I'd make exceptions for the Elwood C and X on finishes alone.

Following on from theBrig, my wife put up a shout on her Facebook page saying I was selling some of my electric guitars and drums. Of her 500 'Friends' just one said her boy 'might' be interested. This did'nt work so we had a garage sale with about 300 attending, half who were teens and tweens. The screens and computer games went in a flash. Barely anyone even glanced at the guitars.

Like various schemes to get kids to engage more with nature, the government's plans are laudable but I don't see these enticing many kids away from the Internet and gaming. Also where are the role models to fuel their interest? In the 60s we had the Beatles and Hendrix, 70s had the stadium rockers and the 90s had Grunge and Britpop. I picked up guitar cos of the Stray Cats. I don't see anyone around now who can do likewise.

So, the government plans to plough £300 million of taxpayers money over the next four years on music schemes designed to give more kids and teen the opportunity to learn an instrument. When they're cutting back on so much else is this really a good use our dosh?. At my eldest daughter's secondary school they already offer music lessons across a broad range of instruments but take up rates aren't high, including for guitar and drum kit. I think what the government have failed to consider that music generally doesn't cut it with kids the way it used to. Gaming's where it's at. Give most kids £250 and chances are they'd rather buy an X Box or an iPhone than a budget guitar or bass. In their world these have more kudos than a plank of wood with strings etc What say you?

I rock and pop I don't think bass solos are generally any worse than those performed on electric guitar or sax. The rock genre is awash with copious,tedious guitar solos that seemingly last forever and go nowhere. It's been often said unless solo contributes to fits within a song it's pointless.

There are a load of 'full time' ..errm.... less demanding courses even at proper universities where the workloads hardly seem taxing. some with only 3 - 4 hours a day of lectures and seminars. My engineering course was 9 to 4.30, five days week plus a good 15-20 hours worth of assignments . But that was quite relaxed compared to my 1 year MBA course which was 9-6 five days week plus 4 hours of assignments each night and a good day's worth of additional tasks at weekends. I'd say to any aspiring students they should question the quality of courses with seemingly light workloads.

There's a big difference between bass as a lead instrument and bass as a soloing instrument. Plenty of examples of bands where the bass is the dominant instrument but still manages to lock in with the other instruments and not overpower them. That's great. From reactions I've seen at gigs where bass solos go on for what seems like eternity, probably not much appreciated. Then again ditto for drums.

Have had a Sterling SUB Ray 4 for a few months now and recently had a play on a 'proper' Stingray. As far as I'm concerned the latter isn't 10 x a better instrument even though the price is. But I've still yet to find anything I like as much as my 10 year old Cirrus BXP 4 that cost less than £400 when new.

I am 100% with the OP on this one though unfortunately the big labels have done their homework and know that tried and tested formulas and 'safe' music sells.

Nowt until the Time Warp electronic music festival in Mannheim, Germany. Saw the very great Afro Celt Sound System on Monday though

The fact Gilmour can select the right tone, choice of notes and appropriate phrasing surely does make him one of the best. Personally I don't rate overrated plankspankers like Eddie Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen etc. Their solos all sound very similar as do the tones they use on all their tracks and the notes they play is the aural equivalent of throwing mud against the wall and hoping some will stick. Gilmour isn't that easy to mimic while there's some 14 year old French girl on You Tube nailing Eruption.

Sorta jazz funk with a disco edge Joey Negro's Sunburst Band is a damn fine combo, featuring Julian Crampton on bass. Some luvverly basslines across their 4 albums

I quite like some of her songs where she's singing relatively normally e.g. Sensual World, Big Sky and Cloudbusting but she doesn't half screech as well. Ye gods. As with later Steely Dan and Peter Gabriel albums I find her stuff too heavily produced. Sometimes you just want albums to be done in one take, to capture edge and spontaneity.

Been big into jazz funk for yonks, major faves being the Brecker Brothers, Grover Washington jnr, Donald Byrd (Places and Spaces era), Azymuth, Blackbyrds, Morrissey Mullen, John Scofield, Mizell brothers, Herbie Hancock/Headhunters, Crusaders, Incognito, Marcus Miller and Down To The Bone. Loadsa fine bassmen from the genre e.g. Neil Jason (Breckers), Julian Crampton (Incognito), Paul Jackson (Headhunters) and Wilton Felder (Crusaders)

To my ears bass solo albums are dull, but then again so are guitar only or piano only recordings. Solo instrument albums just don't seem to have wide appeal

Not really a fan at all but they did come out with a handful of tracks I like a lot..Sheep, One Of These Days, Another Brick, Us & Them and Shine On. Gilmour is also THE shining example of how to play meaningful solos, as opposed to the many tedious plankspankers that fill top guitarist polls

As I've said in other posts, it's better to play with mates rather than with people you've met through wanted ads. For one they're more likely to encourage/praise rather than criticise and are more likely to be democratic. When you join someone else's band you're little more than a hired hand. Many bands have broken up over this. There've been many notorious feuds been between band members who were never friends to begin with. I'd rather not be in a band at all than join one through an ad.