Hector

Sounds great to me! Maybe a separate DB subforum for technique/pedagogy as well?

Just friend requested you - my picture is "Hot Lips Page".

A few years ago, I was told by a bass playing friend of mine (double bass) that I was gripping the neck too hard, and that rather than pressing the strings down I should be pulling them down with the weight of my arm. Hey presto, my shifting is better, my hand position is better (leading to better intonation) and there's less pressure in my left hand so I have much more stamina. Pretty revelatory! It's even lead me to look in more depth at how I play in thumb position to make stopping the strings easier. Have you every had a simple piece of advice that lead to great benefits in your playing? Share your tales of joy!

Of course there are thousands of unsung heroes of the bass world, but I do feel maybe Bobby Vega ought to get a mention. That guy GROOVES.

I don't usually like bass duets, but there are a few exceptions and I have played some with friends that I've really enjoyed (and the listener enjoying it is just one aspect of the music, the performers are allowed to enjoy it too!). I appreciate it's not everyone's bag, and I agree that some bass duets sound crap. But. I'm not going to write them all off. Here are a couple that I really like, maybe you will too, but if not that's ok!

[quote name='4 candles' post='988463' date='Oct 14 2010, 09:42 PM']Howdy This last month, ive become aquainted with a very busy and well established, corporate,wedding Northern based function band! The band leader plays the kit, he is nice and solid and got some chops. THe vocalists are great (male and female) but he uses a lot of deps (me now included) The band leader produces full charts for every member of the band(its that organised) But..... The last 3 gigs I have done have contained various guitar/keys players (graduates from leeds uni ) Sorry to say, they are all f***ing awfull!!! some punk keys waller from leeds uni, 4 years into his degree gets lost soloing over "mustang sally" !!!! guitar player "4 years at leeds" has the contempt to not even listen to "celebration by cool and the gang", shows up and cant read the charts, or even remotely play the tune. w***er Leeds coolege of music You are a f***ing discrace, your graduates are a discrace anyone who has a degee from leeds, please burn it!!! Any aspiring musicians out there, Dont go to leeds. Get a well paid job, some occasional lessons from a good guy on basschat, learn loads of tunes, and keep busy Regards Mark[/quote] Get wise or get quiet.

Free album by Chicago-based group "Kaleidoscope Trio". Line-up is Piano, Guitar and Bass, with a guest Tenor player on a couple of tracks. Really enjoying this album, quite a chilled out affair but with some stellar playing on all fronts. Sort of gives a "softer" feel (guitar work is reminiscent of Bill Frisell on Kenny Wheeler's stuff in the late 90s). Production on this is also really nice and clear, with a good bass tone. Enough wittering, [url="http://www.jazzexchange.org/releases/"]enjoy![/url]

Thanks for the input all! I guess I'll give a bridge mute a try, but have pillows etc. on hand to stuff between the body and the tailpiece, on the bridge and perhaps in the f-holes. The room I'm staying in is quite well soundproofed anyway - carpeted floor and solid walls/door, and I deliberately chose a room with very few neighbours, but I think I ought to give muting a go (as much for my peace of mind as for my neighbours'...) Dave, that's an extraordinarily kind offer thank you very much! You have PM. H

Hi Guys, I'm moving back to university halls this weekend, and my room is much bigger than before and has space to comfortable have a double bass in my room with me. However, I do have neighbours both above and below me, and I'm concerned about noise levels. I've searched TalkBass, but nobody can seem to come to agreement on what the best solution is to quiet practice. Can anyone suggest any mutes or things I can do to my bass to make it possible to practice without disturbing the neighbours? H

I would be up for this, depending on when it actually is.

Probably a simple yes or no answer. Have been looking at interesting things to do over II-V progressions, and one idea is to extend the IIm7 over into the V7, and thus reharmonise the II-V as a V7sus4 chord (since V7sus4 = IIm7/V). Firstly, have I got this right? Secondly, what would be the best scale choice to emphasise that 4 (or 11) over the V7 chord? For example, with a D-7 to G7 progression, I've been thinking in D dorian and playing licks based on that, but is there something a bit more savvy that'll sound hamonically more interesting? Perhaps one of the D minor scales? Cheers, Hector

Another great lesson Scott! I must say, I'm finding your website to be an invaluable resource at the moment, so keep up the great work. I guess there's a reason you've been so buys with gigs recently!

Building on what Faithless was saying, I remember hearing about an awesome practice technique, where you play a simple groove (in your case a slap groove I guess) along with a metronome. Start with the metronome on beats 1,2,3 and 4, then on just 1 and 3, then on the 1 of every bar, then every second bar, then every 4th, 8th and 16th bar (this works if you have electronic metronome, but you could do some of this with an old-school one). If you don't have a metronome, I'd recommend getting one! I wouldn't say a drum machine is any better or worse than a metronome, since they both provide a steady source of time. This is a wicked-sick exercise, because, unlike playing along with a metronome, the timing really comes from you and you just have that one click every once in a blue moon to show if you're really locked in. I also remember a lesson I saw in Bass Player a while back, where you play a groove, but shift the metronome back/forward a 16th, through all the beats until it makes it back to being bang on beat one (i.e. [b]1[/b]e&a2e&a3e&a4e&a, 1[b]e[/b]&a2e&a3e&a4e&a, 1e[b]&[/b]a2e&a3e&a4e&a, 1e&[b]a[/b]2e&a3e&a4e&a ). This is a toughie, but it's really worth it. Also, [url="http://www.johnnycopland.com/?p=671"]this[/url] is a good link for exercises on timing (an a bit of entertaining waffle on relativity!). Timing/groove is tough to get solid, but as a bassplayer it's really really important. 9 times out of 10, people will rather you groove solidly and play fewer notes than the flash stuff but with scrappy timing. Sorry to sound a bit intense, but it's a real bugbear of mine, to the point where I got really wierd and anal practicing it. Paid off though, as at a session I played a few years ago (at the height of my time obsession), the producer got very weirded out by how precise my timing was - the best compliment I've ever had! EDIT - Found the video I was talking about, good old Wooten! Has the exercises I was talking about, plus a few other nuggets of wisdom.

Mine is a dark and mysterious slavic beauty, so she's called Magda. Not sure why that name, but it was what popped into my head after meeting her. I love her dearly (dearly enough to, having once seen her fingerboard sheared off at a gig, have recurring nightmares about it!).

Something to aspire to - technically not unbelievably flash, but every note sounds just delicious!

[quote name='Faithless' post='932815' date='Aug 22 2010, 03:22 PM']While I really don't underrate Hadrien and his amazing technique, I have to agree with Doddy - in a long run, I can't listen to him for the same reasons - a great player should have something more to say, than non-stop tirade of notes and symmetrical scales.. And, even more, I've seen him live, but,interestingly, not being a front-man - he was comping for Billy Cobham band - and while he soloed like mad, his 'regular bass' playing, or comping, was far from memorable.. And, if you want to compare him with Janek, well then.. I think their credits/positions in the industry speak for themselves - Janek hits NY, has some major jazz gigs there (Mike Stern, Bob Reynolds, Brecker(?), so on.. ), leads his on band with two very good live records so far (the third, studio one, is coming this year maybe..) does varies studio work, works as an MD for a few pop acts, not forgetting that right now he's doing a major USA tour with VV for the whole year.. And, Hadrien? Ghhhm... I can't tell anything major he does apart his solo stuff, maybe a temporary Chick Korea gig. Billy Cobham gig? I don't know.. Oh, and he was fired from McLaughlin's band, right.[/quote] You're being remarkably unfair - I get that you love Janek, but poor Fero doesn't deserve that sort of insulting dismissal. I doubt Hadrien was "fired" from McLaughlin's band, as you put it. Personnel changes for all sorts of reasons and given McLaughlin's new project has Christian McBride on bass, it might well be stylistic choice. I dig wearing jeans, and they're a great item of clothing, but I wouldn't wear them with as part of a suit. Their positions in the industry don't speak for themselves. At all. Hadrien is pursuing a solo career, and is happy to push on with his neo-jaco fusion style, whilst Janek (although also enjoying a solo career) does the sideman stuff. Janek is also a talented producer, keys player (amongst other instruments) and arranger, which lands him a lot of jobs in that sense. Hadrien just doesn't seem to be that oriented towards doing sessions for pop acts, or many other acts at all, which is his choice. It doesn't imply anything about his standard of playing - why should he have to play sessions to prove anything to you? He's just a different sort of player, not to everyone's individual taste, who goes about his career in a different way to Janek.

[quote name='Faithless' post='932246' date='Aug 21 2010, 08:51 PM']I'd die for seeing him singing along to his lines.. As technical as it is, after hearing cats like Janek, Hadrien's stuff doesn't smell very much music..[/quote] Remember that it's "music" defined as "what music smells like to you". You can tell me to bugger off if you want but I think music is defined by the individual. Sure we all have a similar view of it, but around the fringes it becomes very subjective. At the end of the day music is what it means to you, both as a word and in it's physical form. Of the two players, I've heard much more of Janek and have been a regular reader of his columns/listener of his podcasts. It's no surprise that I prefer Janek when I've got an insight into his take on playing. Despite this, I dig Hadrien, although I've not heard enough of him to tell for sure. His technique is formidable to the point of being slightly off-putting to some, but he still plays like a bass player (albeit a bass player on speed). Most of the videos I've seen of him have been at conferences/clinics/other functions where it benefits him to play his chops out, especially as a young player making a name for himself in a very competitive scene. The videos I've seen of him have been a little chops-heavy, but he does have great harmonic sense, and I bet he can groove like a beast when he needs to. Really we're nitpicking, as both are at the top of the pile.

[quote name='Bilbo' post='928800' date='Aug 18 2010, 05:00 PM']This month's downloads: Mingus Big Band LiveAt Jazz Standard John Patitucci - Imprint Phronesis - Alive - a welcome recommendation from a fellow basschatter.... Barry Altschul Quartet - Irina - an old early 80s set from a great and underated drummer Christian McBride - Kind Of Brown - swing is the thing Chick Corea Trio Music Live in Europe - Miroslav Vitous in fine form[/quote] Ah great choices Bilbo! The Phronesis album is especially good, and I feel attached to it - got to interview the guys for my radio show, and despite me having possibly the worst interview technique in the world, and being very obviously on 5mins preparation straight from work, the were all really nice about it. Saw them at the gig afterwards, and it was jaw-dropping. I'd recommend Kairos 4tet (another group Jasper plays with) for some more interesting stuff. Downloading that Wynton box set now - got Live At The House Of Tribes, and I'm on a bit of a Marsalis kick! Thanks for the recommendation.

No idea where to do it in England, but just to say it's possible. I recently got back from some gigs in the south of france, where the guys employing me had hired a bass for the week.

Yeah, the only thing TAB might be good for is to demonstrate positions of notes on the fingerboard, but even then 90% of the time you should be learning these shapes for yourself from the dots!

Thanks for the help guys. [quote name='chrkelly' post='913657' date='Aug 3 2010, 11:06 AM']It's Petracchi? Possibly the most annoying exercise in the world, but a really good one.[/quote] Emphatic yesses to all of those! Daf, although playing the Eb with the thumb would be one solution (and one I'd probably use), the exercise calls for it to be played with the index finger. I guess I'm mostly just confused about the role of the thumb in thumb position (which, upon reading sounds really daft). I'm using at the moment in a supportive manner, with all the fingers closest to the nut down behind all the others, as would be the case in lower positions. I'm guessing that it's just gonna take a little slow and careful practice. My fingers are flattening out too, so I'm gonna take extra care over this stuff and get a solid foundation. I've neglected the thumb playing recently, which is probably why I'm getting whupped so resoundingly by Signor Petracchi....

Hi chaps. Inspired by my difficulties with this exercise (poor quality, but hope you can see it clearly enough): I've been trying to work on string crossing (fifths and thirds mostly, with a few octaves when I'm feeling limber) in thumb position. Basically, my problem is that I don't know what the hell to do with my thumb most of the time! In the exercise pictured above, for example, it feels quite natural to have my thumb rest on the G string, but I sort of feel it ought to be on the D string behind my index finger. Does anyone have any tips for this sort of thing? What should I do with my thumb when playing intervals across strings? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I'm quite worried to suddenly find such a large gap in my playing ability.... H

I'd chip in by saying that your voice on the bass is formed by a solid mix of what's already in your head, and what you cram into it through your ear-holes. A general tip is to listen to some examples of playing that you particularly like, and then compare it to your playing. What do you like about it? What makes it different to how you play? Internalise some groovy ideas from playing you like and pop it into your playing. I used to do this all the time when I first started playing bass (and tbh, I ought to be still doing it more than I am atm!), and it was fairly fruitful for me when I was in a similar situation riff-wise. The concept of"ideas" here is very loose - could be anything as simple as a geometric pattern on the fingerboard, or anything as complicated as a tasy chord substitution on the fly; and it can be in terms of whatever level of theory that you're comfortable with. It could be a rhythmic or harmonic idea, or it could even be technique-based. This all probably a long-winded truism, but it took me a little while to realise how useful a way of thinking this could be.

Argh, string chat is so frustrating! I just want to sort my gear etc. out so I can stop worrying about how they affect my sound and start concentrating on my own playing and how that affects my sound! I'm probably gonna go for the Evahs, but I'm still on the fence about Regulars vs. Weichs. I'm not gonna fuss about their lifespan, so I guess I'll just read around and try and make as informed a choice as possible. I've heard the regulars give a lot of resistance, but soften up a bit after a few weeks or so of playing and actually break in really nicely. I've read that their G sounds a little weak in the higher positions, so might be a thought to get an Obligato G with the Pirazzi regulars E, A and D. Probably leaning more towards Regulars than Weichs. I am keen on playing more melodic lines up in TP though, which might mean Weichs are a more solid choice for that, but I'm troubled by Major's lack of success with their arco response. I want to do what I've done with my electric bass, which is find the string set that suits me and stick with it. Problem is the DB strings cost about 10x as much! I wanna concentrate on how I use my tools, rather than spend all my time poncing about with which ones I use. EDIT - Once I've cracked on a set of whatever I choose, I shall report back in with my findings in the hopes of aiding those who also walk through the valley of expensive confusion that is string choice. Might not be for a few weeks though, as I've got a few big concerts coming up and I'll stick with my trusty Spirocores till then (better the devil you know!).

[quote name='thisnameistaken' post='860141' date='Jun 7 2010, 05:56 PM']Well mine don't have a lot of sustain on the E it is very thumpy, so maybe they do need replacing?[/quote] This is reportedly what happens after about a year with the pirazzis.