Brook_fan

Yeh, played classical guitar, then steel string (in weird tunings- my current tunings are CGCGCD and CGCFCD). I’ve also taken in mandolin and bouzouki. Love the bass though- always adds another dimension when I am arranging and composing. Robbie

M&S decaf Earl Grey- thoroughly recommended 🙂

Yeh, very sad new. I used to visit his website quite often as he had one of the best looking acoustic basses I’ve ever seen. Really sad, Robbie

Would recommend an octave mandolin as well, especially for chord playing. Eastman make a very good one for a reasonable price- about £700 for all solid wood and arch top. I sold mine to folk singer Davey Dodds who absolutely loves it. Check him out. Robbie

Any time signature can be reduced to a count of 3 or 2. I play a lot of Balkan tunes, and the key with them is where does the 3 occur and where does the 2 occur. For example, I play a tune which is in 9/8. Now this is grouped not like your normal 9/8 (1-2-3 1-2-3 1-2-3) but as 1-2 1-2 1-2 1-2-3 You can play anything once you have grasped this concept, except.....if the time signature is constantly changing! Robbie

I used an air turn device. How soon do you need one, because I could be persuaded to part with mine. I use Scorch mainly, but that’s because I write all my stuff in Sibelius. I used another app for pdfs, but cannot for the life of me remember what it was. I don’t know of any app that will automatically allow you to follow DCs, repeats etc. Im afraid that you may have to just scroll back and forth for that. That’s li,e you have a few options for apps anyway, Rob

I was quite enjoying it until about 1’42. Reminded me then of a chap I saw on Southampton station yesterday who suddnly turned to everyone in the cafe and randomly laughed at the top of his voice in a possessed sort of way. Also reminded me of my first ever jazz gig I went to- Barry Guy’s London Jazz Composers orchestra. It was two hours of big band music in this sort of style. It had Evan Parker on sax who does circular breathing Andy just plays hemi-Demi-semi quavers for 20 minutes at a time. Clever, but not my sort of thing I’m afraid!

20% off from the Mel Bay site until 16th July, so even cheaper if you get the ebook 🙂

Just go to Mel Bay’s website and download the ebook version. You will need to create an account, but it’s very easy. Then you simply download it to your iPad or whatever. In fact, you get 5 chances to download it. I’ve bought numerous Mel bay books this way with no issues. Also there is a 10% off code to use throughout July, so it makes it even cheaper. Hope that helps, Robbie

Print it off from the ebook?

Another solution to the Tab (if it really bothers you that much) is to photocopy the piece, cut out each system, and then just glue the standard staff systems onto a blank sheet. Simple! Just to add, Rob is a national treasure and has written some extremely nice books for all sorts of plucked instruments. Acoustic guitar in DADGAD, ukulele (some lovely piece by Baroque composer Gaspar Sanz), mandolin (recently some baroque Scottish lute pieces arranged for mandolin) and the tenor banjo (including the Bach cello suites). I know some of us here are multi instrumentalists, and his considerable volume of work for Mel Bay is always very well presented, achievable, and very rewarding to play. I love the sound of the Gilbert Isbin pieces in this new book 🙂 Robbie p.s I forgot to say as well that Mel Bay are always having discounts on their website. Usually I get to hear of them from the Mandolin Cafe forum, but sometimes it’s as much as 30% off. I always use the ebook option, so it makes getting these books even cheaper. These days I definitely my prefer to have my music on the iPad . I’ll let you know when the next discount is 🙂

Depends I think on the shop. The shop I sold my guitar through in Bath (Vintage and Rare- well worth a look for some vintage basses btw) had a 30 day colling offer period, even if a guitar is bought in person. However, as I understand it, the law says that anything bought via mail order has to have a 14 day cool off period, regardless of the shocks policy. That’s what I had to explain to bass direct. Rob

Thanks for your reply Paul. I’m new to the area, so still need to investigate what folk clubs are around here. I know there is the Bournemouth folk club, and something in Wimborne. I also have some links to Bath and the surrounding area, which has a very big folk scene. Yes, it’s a difficult field to break into. Not everyone enjoys listening to instrumental stuff, which is why I am hoping a friend of mine can come and sing with me (she plays mandolin as well). I would love to be able to play a few festivals next year, such as Purbeck and Bath, even if it’s just on their ‘emerging artists’ platforms. I also have some friends who run folk clubs up in the midlands. Any ideas you have would be greatly appreciated. I love the sound of the double bass- it’s the sound I have in my head when I create bass parts for my tunes. Although I love the convenience of playing acoustic bass guitar, it is a totally different sound from upright or electric. I find you have to get the strings right as well. Phosphor bronze are just too noisy and too similar sounding to the acoustic guitar, so I tend to use tape wounds. That way I can also make use of my nails without creating too much extrenuous noise.

Yes, I have been a long time member of the acousticsoundboard.co.uk. Try them 🙂

People’s experience with bass direct seem to be very mixed. I’ve only used them a few times via the internet. The worst experience was last year when they were selling a secondhand AER Bass One for what seemed like a very good price. No mention of any damage to the amp. I phoned up and was told that when the amp arrived from the guy selling it via them it received some minor damage to one corner, but they had managed to fix it. Well it turned up, and I have to say the damage was a little more noticeable than they let on. Anyway, well within 14 days I had decided that the amp wasn’t suitable for my needs and that the damage was not acceptable to me. But they refused to take it back, saying that they had already paid the seller. Now as someone who has just sold a guitar on consignment I know that shops just don’t do this. With my guitar there is a 30 Cooling off period before I get paid , just in case the buyer changes their mind. So I knew that Bass Direct hadn’t paid the seller at all, and if they had, well, it wasn’t my fault! It was only when I had to turn all legal and remind them about the distance selling law that they agreed to take it back. It just annoys me all these stories of Bass Direct sometimes treating customers like the royalty they should be, and at other times treating them with absolute contempt. There is no excuse for it, and should be ashamed of themselves when their service just doesn’t come up to scratch. Robbie

I’m based in Christchurch/ Bournemouth and am mainly a fingerstyle acoustic guitarist with a wide ranging repertoire of pieces (original compositions and arrangements of my own) who would love to get together with a bass player to perform live. Many of my arrangements have worked out bass parts, but perfectly happy to work with someone who wants to add their own voice to the arrangements. Acoustic bass or double bass players would be brilliant, but also perfectly happy with electric bass. Can supply YouTube links to show what I do. Cheers, Robbie