spiltmilk_2000

To answer my own question... Good Times by Chic... How could I forget that! :-)

Hi all, am looking for some good examples of tunes which use the dorian mode to help a student really get to grips with it's sound... apart from the usual Scarborough Fair, Eleanor Rigby and So What, can anyone suggest any tunes which really showcase it's distinct character? Perhaps something from the funk arena? It would be great to show how versatile Dorian can be so any other genres happily recieved too! Many thanks if you have any ideas...

check out the book 'simplified sight reading for bass'. I found it really helpful in getting started... deals with getting you reading rhythms fluently first then adds pitches which makes it more digestible for the beginner in my opinion... Good luck!

I always find these discussions interesting and guess everyone is different... but here's my 2 pence... I agree that the 4 points on the list in the 1st response are the main things you want to be thinking about but I dont see that you need to work through them in any particular order of priority. Surely, as Bilbo kind of suggests, the best way is to develop a practice regime which hits all those points simultaneously wherever possible? For instance, you could learn some theory about triads, chords, inversions etc by perhaps working on playing walking bass lines. If you can find some notated exercises you will improve your reading skills and knowledge of the notes on the fretboard as you work them out. As you play through them you'll improve your ear as you'll start to recognise the sound of arpeggios of different kinds (major / minor / diminished / augmented) in all inversions... The notation might be written as straight quarter notes but with the instruction to swing so in order to make them sound musical or bluesy or jazzy or whatever you'll be developing your feel, technique and possibly hitting genres that might be new to you. To finish your practice session perhaps put the notation away use the new knowledge and skill you've developed to come up with your own lines that work on similar principles but in your own style therefore developing your composition and improvisation skills too... So in perhaps an hour you can give all those key skills a bit of a workout. You probably already do but may not consciously realise it! I really think whatever you practice if you stop to really consider what you are practicing, how you are doing it and of course why, you will start to see many ways to get the most value out of everything you do. I also think when you realise you have had a really productive session and made progress in lots of areas it cant fail to be fun! Keep up the hard work!

[quote name='27 frets' post='894396' date='Jul 14 2010, 08:36 AM']Which part of Essex? It's quite a big place![/quote] Oh yeah, guess I should have specified... Im in Romford so I notice you are in Chelmsford which would be very handy! Perhaps you could drop me a PM with what you charge and your available times etc? And Ben, many thanks for your message but Finsbury Park is a bit of a trek for me! Cheers guys! Russ

Hi There, someone has recently agreed to loan me an upright... something Ive fancied trying for some time. I play bass guitar (fretted only!) but I've never even held an upright before so Im looking for someone in the essex area who might be able to give me a couple of starter lesson etc. Im sure I could get some good info from books but I dont want to start by making any massive faux pas on the technique front that might hold me back later on or limit progress... Thanks if anyone has any suggestions!

Hi Major, many thanks for all of your hard work and time in pulling these lessons together. These chord substitutions are something Im really interested in as I'd love to get involved in playing jazz or at least being able to jazz up my blues playing... Anyway, apologies if this is a silly question but here goes... Assuming Im playing with non-jazz-educated guitarists who are playing a straight blues progression. Can i as a bassist use some of the note choices you suggest here or does the whole band need to be playing the same substitutions? Im guessing if i start introducing b5s etc while the band are playing dom7 chords it wont sound too good? Or, if I play those substitutions will it kind of suggest the harmony of the substitutions? Not sure Ive explained my question very well Thanks if you can help!

There has already been some great advice from people far more qualified to comment than me but here's my two pence worth... Start by getting a good understanding of the major scale. Once you really understand this everything else seems to make a little more sense. I liken it to maths... once you know the numbers 1 to 10 you can begin to count and then start to understand more complex procedures such as adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. In music once you know the major scale, the pattern of tones and semitones etc you can start to understand how it is used to create chords - and how each note relates to the scale and it's function. Once you understand chords it starts to become clearer why certain notes fit together in a way that is easy on the ear or perhaps why they dont. Also once you understand chords, scales and modes make sense too as really they are one and the same thing... I really think that the easiest instrument to get a grasp on all this is piano as the notes are laid in a linear way which really helps if you are a visual learner especially (and if you know how to play via remembering little fretboard patterns rather than the note names it's likely you fall into this camp!) . I would say invest in a cheap s/h keyboard to get a grasp on the major scale and then transfer what you learn to bass which will enhance your understanding further still. A few years ago I thought to myself "im going to get a grip on all this 'really complex' stuff" and when i actually looked into it found that its not that complex after all. admittedly the language we use to describe all this can be a bit confusing at first but stick with it and you really wont regret it. Even a basic understanding will give you a way of expanding your repertoire and trying new things in your playing that you may not have stumbled across by simple trial and error. Good luck!

Thanks for the suggestions guys! Wikipedia (that font of all knowledge & truth!) says Smoke on the water is Dorian??? maybe my theory isn't what it should be but assuming we play the riff in D it contains a Gsharp so how can that be??? Thanks if anyone can explain in idiot proof terms! :-)

Hi there, trying to teach the dorian mode to some year 9 kids (13) of varying musical ability and am looking for an easy pop melody they can play on keyboard in D dorian... I can only think of miles Davis' So What and Beatles Eleanor Rigby and both seem a little sophisticated when notated. To those teachers out there... any melodies you would suggest? Thanks so much if you can help Russ

Have a go at Bernard Edward's line on Chic's Freak Out... never fails to make me smile... its become like the screensaver to my playing. if i dont concentrate i end up playing it! [quote name='fumps' post='540018' date='Jul 14 2009, 08:49 AM']Hi Peeps I've recentley been playing/learning "Money" By The Mighty Pink Floyd & found that it's just a fun & rewarding bass line to play. for some reason it make me smile. So now i'm looking for something else thats just fun & rewarding to learn. can anyone recommend me some new stuff ? i like most types of music but after doing "Get up & Jump" from the Chillies i just feel a little burned out....lol[/quote]

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='522427' date='Jun 24 2009, 11:04 AM']Am I right in thinking that the 'common tones' Spiltmilk was referring to are nothing more complicated than relative minors (the sixth mode of any major scale or a minor chord three semitones below that major)? C6 is Am7, D6 is Bm7, G6 is Em7 etc.[/quote] Oh... I feel a little silly now! :blush: thanks again all!

Yeah huge thanks to you's for starting this... its a pretty huge undertaking but something that i think will on some level benefit every single Basschatterer! (Basschatist? Basschatee? whadever...) Looking forward to seeing what the syllabus has in store for weeks to come :-)

Thanks so much, this makes it so much clearer! Why cant the text books be so succinct? On the inversions, once you make the connection of how the function of each chord tone changes its easy to figure out... no need for memorising even... and nobody even shot you down! :-)

Hi people, so below are a couple of queries Im hoping someone can explain for me... [b]The neopolitan sixth[/b] - What is it? Ive heard the term a few times and looked it up in a particularly wordy text only to end up even more confused Can anyone explain in idiot proof terms please? [b]Common chord tones[/b] - Is there an easy way of working out / remembering which chords share the same notes? For instance a C6 chord and a Am7 chord have all the same notes (C, E, G, A and A, C, E, G respectively) and i guess it depends on context how you label the resulting chord. Surely there must be a quicker way of remembering / calculating these instances than the mental gymnastics I attempt to figure it out? Thanks for any tips / tricks or pearls that might help!

[quote name='BarnacleBob' post='516194' date='Jun 17 2009, 10:20 AM']Rizlas AND half price Galaxy - sounds ideal! [/quote] I'm all over that!!

[quote name='silddx' post='516315' date='Jun 17 2009, 12:15 PM']I reckon I'm up for the 100 Club, anyone else?[/quote] Yeah, why not!

[quote name='spiltmilk_2000' post='516312' date='Jun 17 2009, 12:12 PM']Looking forward to hearing when your first gig with them will be so we can all come down and heckle/piut you off :-)[/quote] Ah! looks like you beat me to it...

I've been thinking about this all morning since reading the thread yesterday! Well, it sounds like you're 90% there and there's no reason you wont be able to convince them you'da'man so many congrats! Looking forward to hearing when your first gig with them will be so we can all come down and heckle/piut you off :-) well done!

[quote name='butlerk02' post='508913' date='Jun 9 2009, 11:42 AM']I recently bought some studio speakers and went with some KRK's. I was very nearly tempted to get a pair of M-Audio Studiophile BX5A though. You can get a pair for £150 from here - [url="http://www.dv247.com/invt/48624/"]http://www.dv247.com/invt/48624/[/url] I also agree with Mike's comment about saying up and getting a really decent pair if your are planning on doing some studio work.[/quote] A friend of mine works for Digital Village and on his recommendation I went for the M-Audio BX5A deluxe monitors.... about £145 i think. Anyway, Im really pleased with them for the money and think you'll struggle to get better value in this entry level range without buying used which is also a really good option. If you want to listen to really heavy bass (dance / hip hop etc) the size of the drivers will hold you back a little as they simply cant shift that much air being so small. However, for most purposes i think these are an excellent choice for the £££s definitely look out for used though! Russ