Stuart Clayton

Hi all, We've got an exciting new book coming within the next few weeks: Zander Zon - Sonorous Bass Transcriptions. As I'm sure you all know Zander Zon is a solo piccolo bass guitarist who has built up an incredible following on YouTube thanks to some excellent videos of his original compositions and solo bass cover tunes. You can check out his YouTube channel here: [url="http://www.youtube.com/user/Zander4724#p/c/8/zm1AP3haqRQ"]http://www.youtube.com/user/Zander4724#p/c/8/zm1AP3haqRQ[/url] Zander is a gifted bassist and fantastic composer and it's been a real pleasure to work with him on this transcription book. It's been some of the hardest music I've ever had to notate, but it's been a lot of fun too. Zander is currently proof-reading the transcriptions, and we're aiming for a September/October release. You can check out the cover art and sample pages here: [url="http://www.basslinepublishing.com/zander-zon-sonorous-bass-transcriptions.html/"]http://www.basslinepublishing.com/zander-z...criptions.html/[/url] If you're interested in the book, keep your eyes on the site for updates, and sign up to the email newsletter to be informed as soon it's available! Best wishes Stuart Clayton

[quote name='AttitudeCastle' post='1307671' date='Jul 18 2011, 12:09 PM']Hey Stuart! When will the John Entwistle book be back? Also, rather tempted to get the solo arrangements one just so i can get the Space dyed vest one on your site [/quote] Hey, Entwistle book is back now - looks like it had accidentally been listed as out of stock for some reason. Space Dye Vest is not in the Solos book - what I posted on the site is all I ever did of it. I wasn't able to secure copyright to include it so it never got finished. It's on my list of things to finish off though! Stuart

[quote name='RhysP' post='1307414' date='Jul 18 2011, 08:10 AM']Best to order it direct from Stuarts website: [url="http://www.basslinepublishing.com/"]http://www.basslinepublishing.com/[/url][/quote] Thanks for the nice words about the book guys. You won't be able to get this book on Amazon. Amazon will list anything with a barcode and claim they can get it from you, but at the end of the day, they have to order it from me! As they take all of the profit out of any sales made through them, I chose not to supply them. The book is only available via www.basslinepublishing.com. I am currently working on the e-book version, which you will be able to get on iBooks, kindle etc in the near future. There is an e-book version on Kindle at the moment, but it is not quite perfect and I will be replacing it this week. Stuart

[quote name='deepbass5' post='1285441' date='Jun 28 2011, 05:10 PM']Phew ! But Life's too short. I enjoyed playing this at a wedding, but there were four of us. Even working just the bass part out took me long enough, ended up righting it all out so i could argue with confidence with our guitarist, but you don't have that problem. Well done, no Click track i notice. How often do you reckon on running it through so not to forget it, if you intend to perform it in the future, guess it will need some maintaining. [/quote] Glad you liked it! You're quite right, pieces like this need a certain amount of maintenance. I have about 1 hour's worth of solo bass material, and would love to play it all live. Problem is, as it's all mentally difficult, it requires a lot of daily practise and maintenance, which I just don't have time to do! Which is why it doesn't happen! Am practising up my arrangement of Sting's 'Shape of My Heart' at the moment, which I hope to video in the next couple of weeks. Stu

Thanks guys, really glad you have enjoyed this! Remember, in order to play this all you need is lots of time to practice! Feel free to message me here if you want any help with it. I'm more than happy to talk you through any parts. Stuart

[quote name='Kev' post='1281825' date='Jun 25 2011, 08:28 AM']When is it shipping mate? Ordered mine on tuesday but no signs of it from postie yet.[/quote] Hi Kev, My apologies for that. The printer promised the delivery last Monday, which is when we sent out the emailer. Then, only one box turned up and we were told the rest would arrive on Thursday. I waited all day on Thursday and Friday for them but the courier screwed up and so they're coming on Monday now. All orders will be shipped on Monday. Apologies once again for the delay. Stuart

Hi all, Some of you have spotted this (and ordered) already, but I thought I should post and let you all know that the Jamiroquai Bass Book is now available. You can pick up your copy by visiting www.basslinepublishing.com. Some of the other books that were out of stock are back as well. Cheers Stuart

I sure do. Just picked up a great book called 'Jazzology' which has some great phrases/etudes in it for jazz players. Working on those at the moment and they're good fun. Stuart [quote name='philwood' post='1273764' date='Jun 18 2011, 02:08 PM']Just wondering how many people on here dedicate any time at all to learning phrases? I've found it a great tool especially in improvisation, so i dedicate part of my practice time now to learning say 1 phrase a week in all keys, alongside scales, arpeggios etc. Im tending to pick phrases that I like at the mo. Just thought i'd throw it in here as I rarely hear of people practicing phrases and having just started to do this myself I'd definitely recommend it[/quote]

[quote name='wrinkleygit' post='1265852' date='Jun 12 2011, 11:21 AM']is it nearly ready yet, is it,,, is it stuart, is it nearly ready yet,, is it ?????????????????????????????????????????/[/quote] Hi guys, Thanks for all the interest in this book! Yes, it is indeed very nearly ready. It's finished and is currently with the printers. I am expecting a proof copy early next week and once that is approved, I will begin taking pre-orders - keep an eye on the site (or email newsletter if you subscribe) for updates. I estimate that it should begin shipping the week after (20th June-ish). It's been a fun book to transcribe and write, so I really hope you all like it! Stuart

[quote name='AndyBob09' post='1249365' date='May 29 2011, 04:25 PM']Hey Stuart, I'm assuming that this will be TAB + dots? Is there any way of of obtaining just dots if this is the case? Cheers[/quote] Hey, Dot and TAB, yes. I'd rather not include the TAB, but if I didn't I wouldn't sell many... No dots only version I'm afraid. Stuart

[quote name='crez5150' post='1246039' date='May 26 2011, 06:40 PM']Just so I know.... I there an issue if I buy the book and scan the pages to PDF for my iPad ?[/quote] No-one can stop you doing that! An in answer to Didle's question, yes it will have the spine. No-one has ever mentioned this being an issue before, although I see what you mean. I'll give it some thought. Stuart

[quote name='Eight' post='1246008' date='May 26 2011, 06:21 PM']I understand... but if people want to pirate your book then they will. It's pretty trivial to scan books, magazines, comics etc. these days - happens all the time and there's lots of software/stands etc. to help with the job. Even the cameras on mobiles are good enough to take a picture of the pages, and from there you're a few clicks away from a PDF. But your concerns are completely understandable - a lot of people are in the same boat. The question being asked is when do the digital sales offset the risk; distribution through Kindle/iBooks helps a bit if you can do that. Anyway... I'll be buying it regardless and very much looking forward to the announcement saying we can all get our wallets out.[/quote] I know it's easy enough to do - I actually have done this with many of my bass books, so that I can have them as PDF's and use them when teaching etc. It's the way things are headed for sure! Stu

[quote name='algmusic' post='1245866' date='May 26 2011, 04:40 PM']I'm sure they are gonna have to look into that in the future, as I know people who are starting to use their Ipad's on gigs instead of paper.. I'm very tempted myself Good luck on the book.. looks great[/quote] Absolutely. The issue really is that digital books are pretty easy to copy between users, and given that most young kids want everything for free, I'd be very worried that my books would quickly end up on torrent sites. Once that happens, you're screwed as an author really. Obviously as we know, the same applies to music and films. Stuart

[quote name='Eight' post='1245731' date='May 26 2011, 03:09 PM']Sounds good. I'm in. Really hoping for an e-book format here. *fingers crossed*[/quote] No e-book unfortunately, copyright license doesn't allow for that! Stuart

Hi all, I wanted to let you all know that 'The Jamiroquai Bass Book', which I have been working on for the last year will be available towards the end of June. The book covers the band's first two albums, Emergency on Planet Earth and The Return of the Space Cowboy and contains the following songs: When You Gonna Learn Too Young To Die Hooked Up If I like It, I Do It Music of the Mind Emergency on Planet Earth Whatever it is, I Just Can't Stop Blow Your Mind Just Another Story Stillness in Time Light Years Manifest Destiny The Kids Mr. Moon Scam Space Cowboy All transcriptions are done, so I'm just down to final checking and arranging the printing. The book will be on sale through the Bassline Publishing site (you might have noticed our new banner ad that occasionally appears at the top left of the page) and will be priced £19.99. Each song also features detailed performance notes, and the book includes a biog of the band, and original bassist Stuart Zender. You can check out the cover art and some sample pages here: [url="http://www.basslinepublishing.com/jamiroquai-bass-book.html"]http://www.basslinepublishing.com/jamiroquai-bass-book.html[/url] Best wishes, Stuart

Hi guys, I started work on a transcription of this about thirteen years ago when I was working on cruise ships and had loads of time for such things...! I recently typed up what I had in Sibelius, and have attached it here for your reference. Not saying it's right or wrong, but maybe it will be useful to those that are figuring out this great tune. Cheers Stu

[quote name='muppethenry' post='485479' date='May 12 2009, 12:13 AM']I failed my grade 8 theory by 8 marks... then passed by 8 marks! Woop woop! As a quick question - what scales/technical exercises does Rockschool recommend for grade 8? I need some technical fodder (and the correct/best fingerings (although thats pretty subjective i guess!)) and dont wanna shell out for the book! Itd be cool if there was a 'Big book of bass scales and technical exercises' that was around to take you from utter begineer with scales to a pimp-ass scale-monster... and if it came with a free metronome... I can do like major and all the modes (and variants of the above), but need the 'next' thing to make me improve and to get me warmed up at the start of practicing. Cheers![/quote] I hate to do the shameless plug thing, but I wrote a 'big book of bass scales and technical exercises' recently. You can check it out here: [url="http://www.basslinepublishing.com/the-bass-player-s-guide-to-scales-and-modes.html"]http://www.basslinepublishing.com/the-bass...-and-modes.html[/url] It has loads of free audio files with it (as a download on the site) that demonstrates all scales and modes being used in real world lines. It's helped a bunch of my students at BIMM with their theory, and I was discussing the teaching methods used in it with a friend at Rock School recently who was asking my advice on scales. Again, sorry for the plug, but it seemed relevant! Stuart

Hey guys, Thanks so much for all the nice compliments, really pleased you've all enjoyed this video. I'll practice up another one! Cheers Stuart

Hi all, I've finally gotten around to recording a new solo bass video - my solo bass arrangement of the Metallica classic 'Nothing Else Matters'. You can check it out on YouTube here: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sHvUv_w18I"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sHvUv_w18I[/url] As some of you might know, I originally intended this piece to be part of my 'Solo Arrangements for Electric Bass' book, but copyright restrictions prevented this from happening. It's an arrangement that I am still very proud of however, and I'm pleased to have finally recorded a performance of it on video. The good news is that the sheet music and an MP3 are available for FREE on my publishing site, www.basslinepublishing.com, so if you want to have a crack at it yourselves, you can. Hope you enjoy it! Stuart

That's an excellent article, and bizarrely, is similar to something I've been working on recently. My new year's resolution was to improve my jazz soloing, and so I took an inspiring lesson with Joe Hubbard, and began transcribing and analysing one of my favourite solos - Chick Corea's solo on 'Spain'. So far I have transcribed the first chorus of Chick's solo and learnt it. In doing so, I found some melodic ideas that were confusing. Some research was needed in order for me to understand what he was doing, but once I had uncovered the [i]concept[/i] behind the lick (rather than just the notes), I had a new piece of vocabulary to incorporate into my own playing. I studied every idea in that one chorus of the solo and uncovered so many ideas it was unreal. Using these ideas, I began to improvise my own lines on the form, taking it a few chords at a time - I looped a backing track in Transcribe for this. The result is that I have written a few pages of new licks and have begun combining them into some etudes. I'm really enjoying playing these now, and feel that having taken the time to analyse just a few bars of Chick's playing, I have learnt an incredible amount. Once my etudes and accompanying explanations are finished I will upload them for you all to check out. Great article! Stu

Hi Tom, Nice stuff, I enjoyed it. I'll be interested to hear more, some of those ideas are crying out to be developed into longer pieces! Nice one. Stuart

[quote name='Doddy' post='1152526' date='Mar 7 2011, 02:33 PM']No-Wimbish came in after that track. Edit.... It was a guy called Chip Shearin that played the bass on 'Rappers Delight'.[/quote] I heard that, but I also heard that (label/studio owner) Sylvia Robinson herself did it! Unlikely... Stu

Just had a few queries about this - Yes, you do need a broadband connection and a webcam! Stuart

Hi all, I've been doing more private teaching recently and have decided to begin offering Skype lessons for students who live too far away to visit me in North Devon. As some of you will know, I am a fully qualified teacher (recently completed a PG Cert qualification) and am able to teach students of all levels. I am able to cover: ▪ All aspects of music theory ▪ All scales and modes, in a musically relevant way ▪ Sight reading - beginner level to advanced ▪ Slap bass technique - beginner to advanced, including double thumbing ▪ Right and left hand technique ▪ Two handed tapping ▪ All styles of music covered [b]Beginners Welcome![/b] In addition I am able to teach a large range of songs and am happy to cover material from the Rock School grade books. I am also happy to teach students to play any of the solo pieces that I have recorded for my Solo Arrangements book - this has been a popular choice recently! If you are interested in taking a Skype lesson, you will need high speed internet access, and you must have the Skype software installed on your computer. I am also happy to use iChat if you are a mac user and would prefer this. With all new students I am happy to schedule a test conversation prior to the lesson in order to confirm that your internet connection is sufficient. I charge £30 an hour for one-to-one tuition at my home, and am offering Skype lessons for £25. Discounts are available for block bookings. If you are interested, please feel free to either contact me via this forum, or by emailing me at: [email protected]. Cheers Stuart

I always enjoyed Terry Gregory's arrangements. I still play his versions of 'Don't Get Around Much Anymore' and 'Mercy Mercy Mercy' to this day. In fact, I played them this morning! Stu