rw3cja Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 [color=#000000][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]Hi,[/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]As part of my degree I have chosen to study the work of James Jamerson. However, rather than just learn his lines I realised that I needed to break them down and look at them closely in order to learn as much as possible.[/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]I have started to post my work here - [/font][/color][url="http://jamersonanalysed.blogspot.com/"]http://jamersonanalysed.blogspot.com/[/url] [color=#000000][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]Like I said, I am in the process of working through his lines so the blog will be updated as and when.[/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! [/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]Cheers,[/font][/color] [color=#000000][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]Chris.[/font][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 (edited) Nice playing! Another good book for you to look at is 'The R&B Masters - The Way They Play' by Ed Friedland. Edited January 24, 2012 by dannybuoy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musophilr Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 Chris, you choose a superb bass player to study. May I suggest: 1. Your blow-by-blow account of how the bass line goes may well be accurate but have you thought of a slightly "higher" level of analysis? For example where you describe the G-7 in the "Climb up to Chorus 1" he's descending a G-7 arpeggio until he gets to the A and the F# at the end. 2. Nit-picking here but I'm sure they'll want you to be accurate: the G# near the beginning of chorus 1 is an augmented 4th. You could notate it as Ab to retain your textual description. 3.(related to 1) description of last 2 bars of the bridge: Can you say what scale he's using? Apart from the chromaticism, he's mainly sticking to the G aeolian (natural minor, 6th mode of Bb). The more you can describe it in terms of "this arpeggio" "that scale" the more you'll show that you've understood the music. If you can also show that you understand Eb/F as F11 and its use as a functional dominant (resolving to the Bbmaj7) you may get extra brownie points but the chord progression may well not be of Jamerson's composition, so outside the scope of your analysis. However, the way the chord progression moves is connected to the way the bass lines go (if you need a new root on the first beat of each bar how many chord tones, scale tones or passing notes are you going to use to get there?). The other thing is the rhythms. Are there any standard techniques you recognise and are there any names for them? Hope this helps, good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rw3cja Posted January 24, 2012 Author Share Posted January 24, 2012 [quote name='musophilr' timestamp='1327443249' post='1511449'] Chris, you choose a superb bass player to study. May I suggest: 1. Your blow-by-blow account of how the bass line goes may well be accurate but have you thought of a slightly "higher" level of analysis? For example where you describe the G-7 in the "Climb up to Chorus 1" he's descending a G-7 arpeggio until he gets to the A and the F# at the end. 2. Nit-picking here but I'm sure they'll want you to be accurate: the G# near the beginning of chorus 1 is an augmented 4th. You could notate it as Ab to retain your textual description. 3.(related to 1) description of last 2 bars of the bridge: Can you say what scale he's using? Apart from the chromaticism, he's mainly sticking to the G aeolian (natural minor, 6th mode of Bb). The more you can describe it in terms of "this arpeggio" "that scale" the more you'll show that you've understood the music. If you can also show that you understand Eb/F as F11 and its use as a functional dominant (resolving to the Bbmaj7) you may get extra brownie points but the chord progression may well not be of Jamerson's composition, so outside the scope of your analysis. However, the way the chord progression moves is connected to the way the bass lines go (if you need a new root on the first beat of each bar how many chord tones, scale tones or passing notes are you going to use to get there?). The other thing is the rhythms. Are there any standard techniques you recognise and are there any names for them? Hope this helps, good luck! [/quote] That is very helpful! Thanks, Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mal2404 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Nice work Chris, great player to study. +1 for the book: 'The R&B Masters - The Way They Play' by Ed Friedland. I really liked it and a great addition to the SITSOM book. Really good adcie also in the previous post. Keep up the good work and best of luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Rich Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 You've probably seen it but there's a great analysis of Jamerson's style written by studio legend Anthony Jackson in "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" by Dr Licks. It's the the chapter called "An Appreciation of the Style". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFRC Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 standing in the shadows of motown - great book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musophilr Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Further ideas: 1. Look for traits and patterns in the bass line he plays for a whole lot of songs. Watch for licks he's always pulling out of the bag. 2. Come up with a chord progression, use your knowledge of things he's already done to make a bass line for it that sounds like it was one of his. 3. Analyse his bass lines with respect to the tunes he played them for. Does he use any mimicry - playing snatches of the tune either as fills between tune fragments or in harmony with them? Does he counterpoint any phrases in the tune? Are there any rhythmic devices in the tune or any of the other instrumental parts which he copies on the bass? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepbass5 Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) Can't add much more. [size=4]But my own observation when [b]trying[/b] to play his lines, was how many open strings he used, this enabled him to play his trademark boiling, bubbling bass phrases at speed. So it seemed to me he brought all his upright bass techniques into play. As I have approached the bass avoiding open notes as much as possible I found this really difficult. So my suggestion is to explore how much his upright bass playing defined his Motown contribution[/size] Edited January 25, 2012 by deepbass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musophilr Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 [quote name='deepbass5' timestamp='1327516847' post='1512792'] Can't add much more. [size=4]But my own observation when [b]trying[/b] to play his lines, was how many open strings he used, this enabled him to play his trademark boiling, bubbling bass phrases at speed. So it seemed to me he brought all his upright bass techniques into play. As I have approached the bass avoiding open notes as much as possible I found this really difficult. So my suggestion is to explore how much his upright bass playing defined his Motown contribution[/size] [/quote] Excellent observation, Sir. I always wondered how he did it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted January 25, 2012 Share Posted January 25, 2012 Fascinating stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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