Steve Woodcock

When I first started playing I did a huge amount of transcribing, I made a lot of mechanical progress just working things out by ear and playing along with them. Shortly after I began having lessons with a local jazz player before going on to study music theory and music technology at the nearby college. I then moved to London to continue my studies at BassTech, after which I sought out more private lessons with the likes of Sean Malone, Joe Hubbard and Laurence Cottle.

Consider how the muscles in your hand work: to straighten the fingers the muscles on the inside of your fingers relax and the muscles on the outside of your fingers contract to pull your fingers straight; to clench your fist the muscles on the outside of your fingers relax and the muscles on the inside of your fingers contract to pull them in toward your palm. The 'natural' position of your hand is in between these two extremes where the muscles on both sides of the fingers are in a relaxed state. To demonstrate this just let your arm and hand relax and hang loosely by the side of your body - look at the shape of your hand, you will see the fingers are slightly curled. Now bend your elbow, rotate your wrist and bring your hand up towards the neck of your bass - your hand should still be relaxed, the fingers will still be slightly curved and your thumb will be somewhere opposite your first finger or maybe your second finger; take note of how this looks as this is the hand position you want to maintain for efficient, safe, and fatigue-free playing.

I use a two channel recording interface (Apogee Duet) when I teach over Skype; my bass is DI'd in to one channel and I have a tie-clip mic that goes in the other channel so that students can hear me nice and clearly, and using a software mixer I balance the signals together with any source material I may be playing from the computer such as a backing track, metronome etc.

I borrowed a filter pedal from a friend of mine recently and this was actually the first thing I thought of playing: http://youtu.be/mVgtumsyO90

Had a bit of fun playing around with various pedals on this tune, 'Them Changes' by Thundercat: http://youtu.be/mVgtumsyO90

A bit more has surfaced about this collaboration and it turns out Victor was a hired gun for this track: “Octavision is not a band at all. We were all hired by Hovak Alaverdyan (the guitarist and composer) to play on one song. I love the song; I love the writing; and I loved the challenge of playing on it, but I don’t want to be misrepresented only to help promote it.” [url="http://www.notreble.com/buzz/2016/09/15/victor-wooten-shares-on-his-role-in-octavision/"]http://www.notreble....-in-octavision/[/url]

First in a series of free beginner's bass lessons uploaded to my YouTube channel: http://youtu.be/rY4rkG2pX1Q

Just seen this on Facebook, not what you usually hear from Vic! http://youtu.be/rMtu1nyfUXM

I've just uploaded the first in a series of bass lessons aimed at the beginner, this one is on diatonic seventh chords. The lesson is presented in the key of C major but these arpeggio shapes are moveable across the neck and you should practice them in all major keys: [media]http://youtu.be/rY4rkG2pX1Q[/media]

Myself and the rest of the guys in Xerath are [i]big[/i] Peter Gabriel fans so, during a bit of down time, we decided to knock out a quick cover of one of our favourite tunes of his - Red Rain. Hope you enjoy: http://youtu.be/DbmOOPmj7eY

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1471522738' post='3113640'] It seems odd that people who aren't professionsal are taking backup basses and other kit, whilst no pros that I know do, other than guitarists who use different guitars on different songs. [/quote] +1. Our support acts always have [i]way[/i] more gear than us! In addition to playing, I have also toured a number of times as a backline/guitar tech and there was never the luxury of travelling with anything more than a spare guitar shared between two, and an old multi fx floor unit. This wasn't just because of the logistics of everyone flying in from different parts of the world, but also because many working musicians simply [i]can't afford[/i] two of everything.

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1471466525' post='3113315'] What!?! How did I not know about this [/quote] Yep, it was Jobson and Wetton with Alex Machacek and Virgil Donati. They played London (and Leamington Spa?) as part of the 'Final World Tour'.

[quote name='visog' timestamp='1471457557' post='3113216'] Think his best playing is probably on UK. A great lost gem of Prog with a hint of Jazz courtesy of Allan Holdsworth! [/quote] UK were great. Did you get to see them play last year? I wanted to but was out on tour.

[quote name='Bobthedog' timestamp='1468669327' post='3092515'] First simple question revolved around tonic chords. Even the intwerweb has not helped on that: [font=arial, sans-serif][size=4]"In music, the [/size][/font][b]tonic[/b][font=arial, sans-serif][size=4] is the first scale degree of a diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the [/size][/font][b]tonic[/b][font=arial, sans-serif][size=4] note, the [/size][/font][b]tonic chord[/b][font=arial, sans-serif][size=4], is thus the most significant [/size][/font][b]chord[/b][font=arial, sans-serif][size=4]. More generally, the [/size][/font][b]tonic[/b][font=arial, sans-serif][size=4] is the pitch upon which all other pitches of a piece are hierarchically referenced." wtf?[/size][/font] [/quote] Have a listen to this IV-V-I cadence in C major: [url="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/IV-V-I_in_C.mid"]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/IV-V-I_in_C.mid[/url] It consists of an F major triad (chord IV), a G major triad (chord V) and a C major triad (chord I); can you hear how progression points towards the last chord, and how things feel 'at rest' and complete when it reaches it? This is because the I chord is the [b]tonic [/b]chord. If the progression ended on chord V instead, for example, it would feel unfinished. [b]Pitch Hierarchy[/b] Using C major as our example again, the key of C major contains the same notes as a C major scale, i.e. C, D, E F, G, A and B. You need to understand that not all of these pitches are of equal importance. The 'primary' pitches are the tonic, the fifth and the third[b]:[/b][list] [*][b]Tonic[/b]: this is the 'home' pitch, where everything points back to. In C major this would be the note C. [*][b]Dominant[/b]: this pitch is a perfect fifth (i.e. seven semi-tones) above the tonic, it [i]very strongly[/i] points towards the tonic. In C major this would be the note G. [*][b]Mediant[/b]: this is the third degree and determines whether the tonality is major or minor, in C major this note is E (in C [i]minor[/i] it would be Eb). [/list] The 'secondary' pitches are the second, fourth, sixth and seventh degrees. They are defined by their relationship to the three notes above:[list] [*][b]Supertonic[/b]: the second degree, which in C major is D, it points back down towards the tonic. [*][b]Subdominant[/b]: the fourth degree, named the [i]sub[/i]dominant because it is a fifth [i]below[/i] the tonic. In C major this would be F. [*][b]Submediant[/b]: the sixth degree, named the [i]sub[/i]mediant because it is a third [i]below[/i] the tonic (remember the mediant is a third [i]above[/i]). In C major this would be A. [*][b]Leading Tone[/b]: the seventh degree, a half step below the tonic to which it strongly wants to resolve, which in C major this would be B. [/list] Therefore, in C major: C = Tonic D = Supertonic E = Mediant F = Subdominant G = Dominant A = Submediant B = Leading Tone

Feel free to drop me a PM.

[quote name='lowhand_mike' timestamp='1467206079' post='3081911'] excellent, good to here ther some new Xerath stuff coming, loved the first three albums [/quote] Cheers, Mike! Here's some more for you: http://youtu.be/JkmAmymTxxc

I use a Radial Bassbone for switching between bass and Chapman Stick: [url="http://www.tonebone.com/bassbonev2.php"]http://www.tonebone.com/bassbonev2.php[/url]

A new Chapman Stick one from me: [media]http://youtu.be/gYBuHqReYQg[/media]

Dominique Di Piazza used to used one:

Hi jeanmarienoe, I can do this for you, send me a message and we can discuss. Best, Steve

[quote name='highwayman' timestamp='1462993395' post='3047712'] As I said to my tutor yesterday, the fact that I'm even asking these questions now means that I'm trying to get my head around music theory - six weeks ago I just wanted to be shown some cool bass-lines. [/quote] Great stuff!

[quote name='highwayman' timestamp='1462614721' post='3044350'] Stickman, thanks for the exercise link; that one is for a six string bass, do you have one four four strings please? Can someone answer this please, why are there no B# & E# - their omission makes it harder to learn the sequence? [/quote] Just ignore the top and bottom strings, the middle four are the same as a 4-string bass. If you visualise a piano keyboard you will see that there are no black keys between B and C or E and F, therefore B# and E# are the 'enharmonic equivalents' of C and F, just like C♭ and F♭ are the enharmonic equivalents of B and E; enharmonic equivalent just means the same note called by a different name. When you start learning about keys you will learn when it is correct to name the note B# rather than C (this would be in the key of C# major) and E# rather than F (this would be in the keys of F# major and C# major).

Hi Highwayman, If you are currently having lessons then this is really something that your teacher should be covering with you, if all they are doing you is teaching you songs and offering you no insight in to anything but playing the notes then I would (respectfully) suggest you save your money as this alone you can do by yourself with the help of YouTube etc. Have you discussed this with your current teacher? Learning the notes on the neck is the very first thing I cover with my students - here is a link to a very helpful exercise from one of my former teachers, Joe Hubbard: [url="http://www.joehubbardbass.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/The-Random-Note-Finder-Exercise.pdf"]http://www.joehubbardbass.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/The-Random-Note-Finder-Exercise.pdf[/url] I'm not familiar with the book you mention so can't comment on the level it is pitched at, I am aware of a bass orientated book by Sean Malone called 'Music Theory' that covers the basics well. If you have any specific questions perhaps I can help?

[quote name='zbd1960' timestamp='1462448084' post='3043067'] If you want a pile of music to try, have a look at cello music[/quote] Trombone music too!

As you guessed, my answer is to learn both. Certainly don't abandon the bass clef, as a bass player this is your bread and butter. Remember the only difference between the two clefs is the pitch information - rhythm and note duration etc. are the same so it is not like you are learning a new language and any time spent on one clef will aid the other in recognition and performance of this information. Discounting ledger lines, there are just 5 lines on each stave and 4 spaces in between - that's not much to learn