Hector

[url="http://youtu.be/hV-65UMPMMA"]http://youtu.be/hV-65UMPMMA[/url] [url="http://youtu.be/1WMO0nJRWAM"]http://youtu.be/1WMO0nJRWAM[/url]

I will probably never recover from the first time I heard his version of Donna Lee.

Don't leave your bass when it needs you the most.

[url="http://www.amazon.com/Live-Art-DLugoffs-Top-Gate/dp/B007PNS4TY"]http://www.amazon.com/Live-Art-DLugoffs-Top-Gate/dp/B007PNS4TY[/url] -Newly released Bill Evans trio record from 1968. -Live gig, but professionally recorded with a beautiful clear mix. -Eddie Gomez. -OMGWOW

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1346166238' post='1785984'] I guess this kind of chord theory/voicing is taking players away from 'bass' playing and into the realms of guitar playing. [/quote] I would both agree and disagree. You might not play triple stopped chords in a band situation very often or at all. However, learning to comp with just some basic shell voicings, or voicings with 3, 7 and a tension allows you to hear the harmony with greater clarity. For example, you can better hear guide tone lines and smooth voice leading between chords, which you can incorporate in your single note lines to great effect. Learning the basics of comping also allows you to hear and recognise what the pianist/guitarist is doing and respond accordingly.

[quote name='clarket2' timestamp='1345672310' post='1780436'] I've just got a copy of Randy Vincent's - "Three Note Voicings and Beyond" which is great and might help you out.... its designed for electric guitar though so it takes a bit of lateral thinking as not all of it is immediately doable on bass. Takes a very different approach in that it is very focused on smooth voice leading so as to get chords to sit together well [/quote] I've been using this book on and off for the last year or two, and would thoroughly recommend it.

Good idea, looks like a great resource!

I heard a brilliant phrase from a clever friend of mine the other day, which I think sums progress-related thinking up perfectly: "Adde parvum parvo magnus acervus erit" - add a little to a little and there will be a great heap! That and this: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog[/url] (your heap might not appear to be changing, but that's just the way it seems to someone who has only seen it change gradually).

Cheers Coilte! There's a good thread in this subforum* with a Jeff Berlin lesson about learning chord tones and using approach notes to them, and the video series is worth watching. It encouraged me to go back to working on this book: [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chord-Studies-Electric-Bass-Technique/dp/0634016466"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chord-Studies-Electric-Bass-Technique/dp/0634016466[/url] (Best way to use it is to take each chapter and play all the exercises in it in all 12 keys (e.g. do C major in all 12, then C minor in all 12. It's disgusting medicine and takes some effort, but the resulting fretboard knowledge is golden!) *[url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/179688-jeff-berlin-bass-lessons-series/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/179688-jeff-berlin-bass-lessons-series/[/url]

UH OH HERE WE GO: [url="http://scottsbasslessons.com/technique/practice-bass-arpeggios.html"]http://scottsbasslessons.com/technique/practice-bass-arpeggios.html[/url] Also I humbly offer up this: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/174853-new-exercise-i-invented-see-what-you-think/page__p__1633118#entry1633118"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/174853-new-exercise-i-invented-see-what-you-think/page__p__1633118#entry1633118[/url]

Top man that, Clarky! Will edit the thread title.

I know there's been a thread about this before, but it was a bit old so hoping for some more up to date information. Does anyone have experience of taking an upright on a train over a long distance? I've been offered a gig at the Edinburgh fringe (I live in Oxford), but am being pressured into taking my upright, and since I don't have a car the only way to go is on the train. I'm incredibly sceptical about this, to the point of considering turning down what could be a fun gig/chance to check out the fringe. I'd be pathetically grateful for any tips/advice kicking about.... Alternatively, does anyone know of someone/where I can rent/borrow an upright for cheap in Edinburgh? I'd be playing for an hour a night 3rd-12th August. H

I thought tensions were always referred to as 9, 11, 13 (at least in jazz theory), rather than 2, 4 and 6?

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1342473659' post='1735899'] Jonas Hellborg published a book on bass chords, IIRC it's called 'Chord Bassics' or something like that. I got loads out of it when I first started playing more than one note at once, can't seem to find it now though. [/quote] [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chord-Bassics-Compact-Reference-Library/dp/0825610583"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Chord-Bassics-Compact-Reference-Library/dp/0825610583[/url] Looks to be a reasonable price.

Hi all, DB repairs can be pricey for a poor man such as myself, so have always had insurance in case of tragedy. My insurance policy is up for renewal and I was wondering if anyone had any good recommendations? I'm with Orchestralguard at the moment, but open to suggestions. Best, H

[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1341913421' post='1725923'] I have a basic grasp of slap. Again self taught, but slap is a difficult thing to advance self taught (ime, obviously not for the likes of flea or les claypool). I end up playing the same boxy patterns as a result. What I'm specifically looking for are the tricks that people use to do the fast stuff (but not doublethumping, that's just not possible on my bass and frankly I am not interested in it). Plenty of players don't use (I think): Flea doesn't (though he's a bit sloppy at time, and i'm not a huge chili pepper fan), I don't think JOnas Hellborg or Claypool do - and they are more where I'm coming from. My style is almost more like flamenco with strumming involved and so I want to explore that with the fast stuff - rather than just be another Marcus Miller clone. Thanks. For instance this: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4ycLnSKOL4[/media] What is he actually doing? Some muted popping, but I can't see the trick to the full triplet. It's not left hand slap (which I just cannot make work at all). [/quote] The pattern that he's playing at the end is: Index finger pop, middle finger pop, thumb, index finger pop, left hand slap, thumb, index finger pop, thumb, thumb. I find that getting both index and middle finger popping at speed takes a little work, but that's the pattern.

Had a meeting in London the other day, and got the chance to pop into Ray's Jazz in Foyles. Came away with the wallet a lot lighter than anticipated. Picked up: Shamefully my first exposure to Sonny Stitt. Some excellent, if very straightahead, bebop playing from him on this record. People write him off as a Bird clone, but I think Sonny was a fantastic player in his own right, who speaks the language as fluently as any other. This session is timed well as being after Bird's death when Sonny was really starting to emerge from his shadow. Recommended. Nice date, with a lot of personality. From what I hear, the two were great friends, but there was a competitive side to their friendship. The result is some burning playing in a cutting session that does not compromise the relaxed atmosphere. Two friends showing their mastery. Very enjoyable. Cool to see the jazz language progression between the two, with Eldridge being more swing, and Gillespie obviously a bebop guy. A disk I'd urge you to get. Recommended to me by a friend. Fairly obscure album from a seasoned LA studio trombonist. Haven't had enough of a listen to pass comment, but I'm enjoying it!

Thanks for the tip-off Laimis, great videos! Also thanks Funkle, for reminding me about the Chord Studies book - I'd forgotten about it. Think I'll start working it into my practise routine on the upright again.

[quote name='Damo200' timestamp='1340186879' post='1700519'] I don't know about videos but you might want to buy the Petracchi Higher Technique book which has very concise exercises focusing on thumb position. I'm sure there may well be some demonstrations on youtube! [/quote] A great book, hell of a roast but it really gets your chops together! Fatty, I'd suggest that you just need to keep plugging away at getting more comfortable in TP. It seems to take a while for most to really get the feel of things up there and start to play with fluidity - just takes a lot of shedding. You could try taking melodies (real book stuff maybe, but anything you play lower down) and playing them up an octave in TP. I think that getting comfortable up there as a solid foundation is the first step towards playing a decent crab (which I perceive to be relatively advanced as a technique). If you're finding tuning hard though, one thing that might help is to sing the line you're playing, or to play over a drone on the tonic. But I have no idea where you're at with TP, so this could just be completely unhelpful! I haven't really seen any decent videos on YT that help with thumb position beyond the basics. There's a michael moore book that I heard was pretty good but don't have so can't comment on. There's also the Rabbath Art Of The Left Hand, which is out but costs a bomb. He'd know for sure.

Occasionally I get a loose screw in one of my tuning heads, could be that.

Same way any instrumentalist learns to control dynamic - good technique through practise.

Yeah, I'm playing upright with OUBB. The video isn't of us though, that's Callum's own big band.

The suite has been written specifically for OUBB and Mornington, by the very talented you arranger Callum Au. It has never been performed live before, bar one track: [url="http://youtu.be/dzB0byLeUJE"]http://youtu.be/dzB0byLeUJE[/url] There'll also be a melange of other classic big band charts for your aural delight, from Mintzer to Metheny as well as another piece that Callum wrote specifically for Mornington.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1338933661' post='1681457'] I actually really like open strings, I don't think they sound bad at all, and play them a lot, seems odd not to, but on fretless or upright I use them even more as an intonation reference. [/quote] Dig. I also really love the idea of Ed Friedland's "open string bounce" - good way to move quickly up the neck! (Edit - not that Ed was the first or only guy to think of this, just he has a good name for it)

Had a gig yesterday that was cancelled last minute, which is a pain as I turned down another gig the same day that paid much more. Unprofessional behaviour from those booking cost me a couple of hundred quid.... Have learnt that I should start having a cancellation fee, because I can't afford to have this sort of thing happen regularly! But hey ho, gotta remain zen and just learn from it, right?! Took an unexpected dep gig for a musical Saturday night, and have another jazz/funk gig this evening, should be a fun one. Got another 4 in the course of the next fortnight too! I should take up playing full time at this rate, my work is getting a bit neglected