risingson

I'd strongly advise buying 'The Royal Scam' and 'Aja' by Steely Dan and listening to his playing on these albums. Aja is a classic anyway, everyone should own it! Loads of stuff with Roberta Flack, Aretha Franklin, Quincy Jones and Leo Sayer too.

[quote name='MusicLover20015' timestamp='1326313166' post='1495417'] Yes i get your point, but i have never thought about the theory behind his lines. His sophistication if just one of the things that had brought me playing the bass lines. i mean i have noticed the open strings, i was made to love her, what's going on, but sure i'll just have a look at them, analyse them in depth hopefully furthering my knowledge. Thanks for that, you've opened my eyes [/quote] Just use your ears and theory in conjunction with one another. That's what makes great bass players really great. Good luck with it

You say you're into your James Jamerson bass lines, but James Jamerson knew his theory... he could read, and he could develop ideas around chord progressions. If you're new to this then you should be starting out simply instead of diving in at the deep end. There is no point trying stuff out until you've got the nuts and bolts of your theory down. Once you've familiarised yourself with some of the sheets, then experiment. If you're well versed in Jamerson's bass lines then its worth noting his use of open strings as stepping stones to get to places, for example in the key of F major, you have your maj 3rd on your A, your maj 6th on your D, and your 9th on your G (also your maj 7th on your open E). He would regularly use his D and G strings in the key of F major as passing notes in order to drop down from his open G > F and D > C, plus every which other way. This is just an example, and there are many other instances where open strings will not be musically relevant to the key in which you are playing. But the human ear is a very forgiving thing, and James Jamerson exploited this by using open strings in order to move from non-relevant notes to relevant one. Chuck Rainey arguably took this even further in subsequent recordings with the likes of Steely Dan.

[quote name='JellyKnees' timestamp='1326297300' post='1495093'] Finding a good drummer is like trying to find a thin lass with no kids in Birkenhead.... [/quote] Ouch! Hahaha

Cravat-chat?

A bad drummer pulls a band down, no question. Unless there are tuning issues with guitars and such, the drummer's lack of rhythmical sensibilities will be the first thing people notice if they came to see you live. It all depends on what you want from your band. If you're gigging regularly then unfortunately there isn't much point in keeping the guy on as you owe your audience the best show you can afford them, and that includes no straying from tempo. A bit heartless maybe... but just my 2p.

You'd be pissed off if you really wanted to say something but you could never say it, wouldn't you? I suspect this is why people write music a lot of the time.

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1326025034' post='1491120'] I agree janmaat, I always say there is no such thing as a 'stupid question' a person cannot be unduly criticised for information they do not possess, unless they are unduly resistant to taking stuff on board. I think the British mindset can be counter productive in certain aspects in this regard as we seem to have a national tendency to ridicule people that don't know stuff. Held in balance that view does take account of the many positives the British mindset does possess. [/quote] I agree completely, and the thread has been an eye-opener into a world that I've only ever briefly touched upon. I regret now not taking lessons with Steve Berry whilst I had the chance at Uni as he was a constant inspiration and a wonderful player.

[quote name='urb' timestamp='1326116442' post='1492449'] Get over it [/quote] This! This a million times over. Critiquing Victor Wooten is like shooting fish in a barrel. It gets done week in week out. It's not that people shouldn't feel obliged to have an opinion on bass players in general but the argument is done to death. Regardless of what you think of him (I don't ever listen to him and draw almost [u]zero[/u] influence from him), he is a talented musician with a lot of interesting stuff to say, both on music and in musical repertoire. He's up there doing what he loves, which is playing music and clearly he's inspiring a lot of people. If you don't like it then go and listen to something you enjoy!

I have a lot of respect for Noel. Not least of all because he's actually very funny and clever, but because he's achieved a lot in his life and got where he wanted to be, and I really admire that. Also, love his music or hate it, he's written some hits and has a profound affect on British music. Liam on the other hand is just very lucky that he was tolerated for so long by the band, and other people in general.

Nothing anticlimactic about that! What a lovely bass, I've lusted after the V string version for years, one of Fender's best recent efforts. Congrats!

Looks great : http://www.moogmusic.com/products/taurus/minitaur#demos-tab

[quote name='bluejay' timestamp='1325775187' post='1487463'] ... but in the meantime, Fast Fret works miracles on long-scale flatwounds - seriously. [/quote] It's less to do with that and more to do with the amount of give in the D and G strings. Very springy indeed, seem to be plastic wrapped, unlike the E and A that are just like regular DB flatwounds. I don't know much about DB strings but I know I'd like more a bit more tension from them.

Mine changed from a year ago. 1. James Jamerson. What can I say, most important bass player of all time. 2. Pino Palladino. I think he's got the best feel of any bass player on the planet, and he's probably the only one from the list that could share my top spot with Jamerson as my favourite. 3. Anthony Jackson. Unreal musician. Non-conformist, and a musical genius, dare I say it, best bass player alive today? I probably shouldn't (very subjective) but I often think it. 4. Bakithi Kumalo. I love his stuff with Paul Simon, he's incredibly inventive and has a great groove. 5. Carol Kaye I think would be my last one. I think she's insane, but she clearly is an incredible bass player and contributed to some of my very favourite music.

[quote name='fatback' timestamp='1325763235' post='1487158'] Here is the full set of Sturm discussions of Rabbath. I found the last one especially useful. www.youtube.com/watch?v=54pMdTCmo8g www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvELQVB37yo www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTbF6QP-FoY www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BW8UVI0Wo0 www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRAEMzMKQQU [/quote] Cheers Fatback, I did see this the other but it was really informative. Very interesting stuff. I'm enjoying playing upright, but I'm fighting it at the moment trying to get my intonation together and it's just going to take a lot of work. Makes me appreciate people like John Patitucci and Christian McBride all the more for being able to double up on electric as well as acoustic. The other thing not helping is that the strings that came on the bass aren't great. Think I'm going to order up some D'Addario Helicore Hybrids for it when I get the chance.

Depends what the gig is! When it's my own music, it's an opportunity to get the creative side of me (and the rest of my band) out to a wider audience, and also to network. It's brilliant. Money is often an afterthought though. When it's covers, I'd be lying if I said I really loved it, but I do enjoy it and always try to put 100% in. It's just a way of me making money and funding the above ^^

That is what I've been looking at for the best part of today. My old bass tutor at Uni showed me Simandl's book and we briefly went through it, but to no great extent. Cheers Clarky!

I've been reading up a lot on technique today so I can start off learning as best I can. Because like many I've come from an electric bass background, I'm very used to playing in finger-per-fret position, so that scales and runs all fall easily and musically under my fingers. Can the same logic be applied to double bass, or is it frowned upon? I've noticed that the majority of players I've been watching use position playing but I haven't noticed any kind of major pattern emerging from it all yet. If anyone does fancy shining some light on left hand technique I would be very grateful at this stage! Cheers, Liam

Thank you very much everyone. I'm already feeling the burn, so I'm taking it easy for now, 10-15 minutes at a time, I don't want my left arm breaking because I'm a regular gigging electric player! I've found some useful info on good pizz technique and warming up, which I may as well share with you all as I found it helpful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYZZOmiHVpk&feature=related Other than that, I've just been having my mind blown by the likes of Christian Mcbride and Dave Holland. I find it insane that there are players like those guys out there, it's such a physically demanding instrument and so much is required of you so to display such awesome musical credentials on such a tough instrument is nothing short of stupendous!

A Sadowsky, I'll do it this year even if it kills me!

Hello everyone! This is the first time I have ever posted in the Double Bass/EUB part of the site. I've just taken the plunge and got an upright. A while back, I was sat in a friend's garage enjoying a few brewskis when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a double bass in its case. She told me it was her dads and that he never played it, so I suggested whether he'd entertain the idea of selling it to me. He said no. Gutted! Fast forward a few years and I asked again... and this time he said yes. I was happy to oblige, so I've picked it up today and have been having tremendous fun with it. I've always wanted one, as there's a lot of hip-hop, latin and jazz music I love that is all upright. As far as I can gather, the bass was made in Czechoslovakia and after a bit of research I have discovered it to be a 1/2 size. It's got a Selmer London sticker on it. Can't figure out whether it's any good or not yet but it certainly looks the part! I know literally squat about the instrument and how to play it, so I'm starting from scratch again really. Well aware that it's a very different instrument to the electric bass though, so to warn you ahead of time I'll be using this part of the site to ask some very silly questions from time to time! I'm delighted

Eugh. I see a Gibson/Trace Elliott scenario. In any case I love my Eden WT800 and 410XLT setup, I'd actually be totally fine playing it for the rest of time.

I always play electrics at acoustic gigs that we do but with my sound scaled right down. I'd prefer to play Acoustic or EUB, but I don't own either one at the moment. To be perfectly honest, I prefer playing acoustic guitar at acoustic gigs!

I think you're bang on the money gjones. Luckily I'm rarely in a situation where I find myself playing with poor musicians of any kind, and my drummer is a really great player. Solid and totally dependable, with a great feel. It's actually something I've started taking for granted, but we prop each other up by working together. There's no other way, and I totally subscribe to the concept that you're only as good as your drummer is. Bass and drums = the foundation of everything in a band, without them things start to fall to pieces.

I'd really like to read this, thanks for the recommendation Admiral.