Steve Woodcock

I do this too - I offer fretted/fretless and Chapman Stick.

Position your music stand off to your left (presuming you are right handed) rather than straight in front of you, that way you minimise the distance your eyes have to jump from the page to your fretting hand.

Just purchased a pedal from Simon - great deal, sent super quick and well packaged. Cheers Simon!

Practice both - you want to eventually reach a point where the right hand operates on auto pilot with both fingers feeling equal, not restricted by the constraint of one feeling more dominant than the other.

String skipping is a difficult thing to do on the bass but here's an exercise of mine that will help, it's derived from a drum rudiment called a [i]paradiddle. [/i] Example 1 shows the sticking pattern for a paradiddle which is right-left-right-right, left-right-left-left. If we take this pattern and translate it to an octave shape on the bass across two strings where 'R' equals the root and 'L' is the octave then we get the figure shown in example 2 - play this in strict index finger-middle finger alternation and you get a nice little workout. Example 3 develops this idea in to an etude which will take you across the fretboard through the [i]cycle of fourths[/i] progression; each phrase is played on the A and G strings only. Note the slide in to the beginning of each bar (or in the case of bar 3, a hammer-on from the open A), this ensures that you start each phrase with an alternate finger so that both get equal attention! [attachment=234048:Preview of “Octave Exercises”.jpg]

It's called an 'anacrusis'

Great find, thanks Ambient!

[quote name='Hobbayne' timestamp='1478882363' post='3172432'] I believe Stickman is based in Chiswick. So I guess maybe Chiswick Park or Turnham Green on the district line. [/quote] Pretty close! I'm near both Turnham Green and Stamford Brook stations (both District line).

I'm in west London but I suspect that will be too far south for you?

Just a heads up to anyone local, monster bass player Ric Fierabracci is playing at the 606 Club tonight (with Dan Reinstein).

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1476841841' post='3157744'] Ah, very helpful! Thanks for this, exactly the kind of tip I'm looking for. It's particularly this that's eluded me thus far, so thank you! [/quote] No problem! He explains it in the clip below, if you jump to about the 9 minute mark he demonstrates the line: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lQ614j2keI

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1476784539' post='3157140'] That JBK album is brilliant. Saday, Maday is originally from MK's solo record Bestial Cluster which I can't recommend enough. [/quote] Yep, Bestial Cluster is great - that and Tooth Mother were my introduction to Mick.

I loved Mick's playing, truly a unique voice on the instrument. I was going to post a bunch of links to collaborations not mentioned above, like Dali's Car, Polytown (with David Torn and Terry Bozzio), Bill Nelson, Midge Ure etc. but instead here is a track from the live Jansen Barbieri Karn album called 'Playing In A Room With People' as that is the one I seem to return to a lot: http://youtu.be/Cb2J__bxsks

She's definitely the real deal, an incredible musician. Her back catalogue spans many genres from funk, soul, hip hop, jazz, through to alternative rock on her later records so where you choose to dive in can be quite different to previous albums but her passion is evident throughout it all. Personal faves for me would be the first two albums (Plantation Lullabies and Peace Beyond Passion) and the more experimental Spirit Music Of Jamia: Dance Of The Infidels.

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1476551987' post='3155171'] If anyone has learned this RH tour de force, are there any tips you could impart, aside from starting out really slowly and nailing each part before moving on? There seems to be a very specific approach to keeping the staccato feel, but I haven't figured it out yet. [/quote] Tempo is only around 100bpm on this tune so it is nothing beyond your reach, the tricky part is keeping it even and really getting it in the pocket. As with everything, work on each section in isolation, start slowly and only increase the tempo when you can play it cleanly a number of times. In order to cop Rocco's staccato feel on the verse, play the E on the A string with the first finger of your left hand and gently rest the other fingers flat across the strings to mute them slightly. Rocco plays a [i]lot[/i] of his lines like this, watch him play and you'll see him moving his hand around the neck to fret with the first finger whilst muting with the others as opposed to playing 'in position'. Ambient's transcription looks like it came from here: [url="http://freebasspart.pv24.pagesperso-orange.fr/Tower_Of_Power.htm"]http://freebasspart.pv24.pagesperso-orange.fr/Tower_Of_Power.htm[/url] - plenty more ToP transcriptions there to keep you busy!

The correct name for the [i]interval[/i] you are referring to is a [b]minor seventh [/b]- 'dominant 7th' is the name given to the [u]chord[/u] built on the dominant degree of the scale (the fifth). Therefore, in C major, you have the following seventh chords: Cmaj7: C, E (M3), G (P5), B (M7) Dmin7: D, F (m3), A (P5), C (m7) Emin7: E, G (m3), B (P5), D (m7) Fmaj7: F, A (M3), A (P5), G (M7) G7: G, B (M3), D (P5), F (m7) Amin7: A, C (m3), E (P5), G (m7) Bø7: B, D (m3), F(º5), A (m7) m3 = interval of a minor third M3 = interval of a major third º5 = interval of a diminished fifth P5 = interval of a perfect fifth m7 = interval of a minor seventh M7 = interval of a major seventh Have a look at this video: [media]http://youtu.be/rY4rkG2pX1Q[/media]

A great way to spend some time would be with this ear training app: [url="http://www.miles.be/software/51-ear-training-on-your-iphone-ipad-android-windows-phone"]http://www.miles.be/software/51-ear-training-on-your-iphone-ipad-android-windows-phone[/url] For theory books I would highly recommend Bert Ligon's Jazz Theory Resources.

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1476164048' post='3151817'] It helps but isn't essential. There are tonnes of minor key songs that dont use a Vmajor/dominant (e.g. all along the watchtower which was discussed recently). [/quote] Although 'All Along The Watchtower' has a minor tonality it is not in a minor[i] key[/i], rather it is a [b]modal[/b] (aeolian). To adhere to the European concept of major/minor functional harmony there has to be a leading tone which points to the tonic; Watchtower consists of chords i, bVII and bVI so there is no leading tone present.

[quote name='danonearth' timestamp='1475873971' post='3149497'] [color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]I was just wondering if people prefer to re-position their hand so it is placed on the new root of the chord (as if you were starting a new scale), or keep their hand in the original scale position and always play from there? So, in a sense do you play within a scale, or move as in chords on a guitar?[/font][/color] [/quote] Both approaches are valid, the choice is usually decided by one of two factors: [b]Tone [/b]- note that a C played at the eighth fret on the E string sounds different to a C played on the third fret of the A string, even though they are the same pitch and octave. The C on the E string is warmer whilst the C on the A string has less bass and is more defined - which sound suits your line best? [b]Ease of playing [/b]- the more you jump around the neck the more disjointed your playing could sound as you will inevitably cut notes short in order to make the leap to the next position. However, what about the notes that come next in your line? Are they too low or too high to be played in your current position? I like to keep my hand relaxed at all times so will generally favour a position shift over stretching to reach a note.

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1476103592' post='3151263'] BTW how do you tell whether they key is the major or the minor one that uses the same notes? [/quote] Actually, the major and relative minor keys do not share [i]all[/i] the same notes, though the altered note is not noted in the key signature. In order to establish a key there must exist a [b]dominant 7th[/b] chord (a major triad with a minor 7th interval on top) on the 5th degree of the key, this chord creates a very strong 'pull' back towards the [b]tonic[/b] (the root of the key) as it contains the [b]leading tone[/b] which is a semi-tone below the tonic. For example, in the key of C major the dominant 7th chord would be G7 which contains the notes G, B, D and F; B is the [i]leading tone[/i] of C major. [u]This rule exists for minor keys too.[/u] Therefore, in the key of A minor - which is the [i]relative minor [/i]of C major - we have to raise the note G by a semitone in order to create a [i]leading tone[/i] and thus a dominant 7th chord on the 5th scale degree, if we didn't do this we would have an E minor 7 chord on the 5th degree, rather than an E7, which wouldn't contain that strong 'pull' back to the tonic of A. This is where the [b]harmonic minor[/b] scale derives from as it contains that raised 7th degree (A, B, C, D, E, F, G#).

Let's remember that the study of theory came [i]after[/i] the music, it exists to explain why things sound the way they do, and to establish order so that concepts can be communicated to others. If you feel that tritone substitutions and metric modulations etc. have no interest for you, that's fine, but I think every musician would benefit from at least a rudimentary understanding of basic theory. To use an example, your guitarist walks in to the rehearsal room with a new tune his written and he wants you all to play it: "OK, it's real simple 4/4 thing guys. It's in B major, verse and chorus just alternate between chords I and IV, two bars each. Jim, just play sparse roots and fifths on the verse, but when we hit the chorus can you play continuous eighth notes?" These two sentences contain the following theory terms which helped convey what he wanted to everyone: time signature (4/4), key (B major), form (verse, chorus; bars), harmony (chords I, IV; root, fifth), and rhythm (8th notes). Gaining knowledge of it will not strangle your creativity, it will simply get you where you want to go faster.

Frost* are great, and Milliontown is a fantastic album - still my favourite one of theirs. A few years ago I was in a band with their ex-guitarist/singer, Dec Burke.

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1475266020' post='3144643'] Lessons with a fantastic tutor. He taught me from scratch. Five years in and I still have a lesson every 2 to 3 weeks. I'm currently playing in a Stones tribute band, and I learn all the songs from sheet music (if available) or by listening to the CD. But my teacher shows me things I wouldn't play with the band - jazz and soul for example. I love my lessons. I find them really inspiring. If ever I'm in a rut, or feeling a bit bad about my playing, a lesson with Mark always gives me a little boost and a return to practising with more enthusiasm I don't think I'll ever stop going for lessons. There's always something new to learn. Even if Mark stopped teaching (or got out a restraining order, lol), I think I'd find another teacher. I love the personal interaction. [/quote] That's really good to hear!