Filling the gaps......

[TRBboy]

Looking for some advice from those with a superior theoretical background really.....

I've been playing for about 16 years or so, and used to have lessons in my teens, although I had little or no interest in the theory side of things then! I've mainly been in original and covers rock bands, but I've also been involved in various other live and studio projects. I blagged it on DB for 2 weeks at sixth form college (before the MD realised I couldn't read the music!), and I played in the pit band for professional pantomimes a couple of years on the trot.

My teacher used to say I'm a very intuitive player, and that a lot of it comes to me naturally. If I'm put on the spot, I can hear what I want to play, and usually make it happen, BUT I have to play around for a bit to find it. I would really like to further myself now and be able to get there pretty much instantly. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I should do? I know lessons would be best, but I can't afford it, and know most of the local teachers and don't really feel that there's anyone who could take me to where I want to be. I guess I probably need to improve my chord/scale/mode knowledge, so can anyone recommend any good learning materials? DVDs or books would be fine, although I don't really read music.

Thanks for your help!

[Doddy]

First job...learn to read,then you can take advantage of all the study material that is available. There is no point recommending
any books if you don't know how to read the exercises in them.Otherwise you need a teacher to explain it all to you-and any
good teacher should be writing down what they teach you so that you can continue to study when the lesson is over.
I think understanding chord tones is very important,as generally you will use them more than scales-although you should
also know scales so you can see where the chords are derived from. You can look at things like scales and chord tones as fingering
patterns(as a lot of people do),but I find this limiting. If you know what notes are in,say, a C major chord,you can then play
those notes anywhere on the neck....assuming that you know where all the notes are.If you don't,you should really rectify
this pretty quickly.
It's all well and good being 'intuitive',but it doesn't matter much if you can't execute the ideas for whatever reason.

[TRBboy]

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1333245987' post='1599237']
First job...learn to read,then you can take advantage of all the study material that is available. There is no point recommending
any books if you don't know how to read the exercises in them.Otherwise you need a teacher to explain it all to you-and any
good teacher should be writing down what they teach you so that you can continue to study when the lesson is over.
I think understanding chord tones is very important,as generally you will use them more than scales-although you should
also know scales so you can see where the chords are derived from. You can look at things like scales and chord tones as fingering
patterns(as a lot of people do),but I find this limiting. If you know what notes are in,say, a C major chord,you can then play
those notes anywhere on the neck....assuming that you know where all the notes are.If you don't,you should really rectify
this pretty quickly.
It's all well and good being 'intuitive',but it doesn't matter much if you can't execute the ideas for whatever reason.
[/quote]

Thanks Doddy, I had a feeling you might suggest learning to read! No seriously, you've pretty much confirmed what I expected. I used to read a little, but always found it very hard work when I was in my teens (mainly because I had little interest in it I suspect). I think I pretty much understand all the note values and rests, etc. but I would need to figure out where all the notes are on the stave again, and obviously get fairly quick at it.

Are there any learning materials that you can recommend Doddy? I understand a little about chords and scales but I don't always find it easy to understand how one thing relates to another.

[JTUK]

A great ear will get you quite a way but sooner or later you will need just that bit more.

Either you play with very good jazzers who can 'teach' you the fly as you are exposed to all sorts or you have to go and seek it out.
I would seek out instruction from someone who can show you how to find your way through a decent chart so I would go and find a
decent jazz pianist who is gig active and get him to teach you to play what is in front of you.

[Doddy]

There are a lot of good books about....my personal favourites that I use a lot are Serious Electric Bass,
Chord Studies for Electric Bass and The Evolving Bassist.
You can really check out any book about scales and chords,it doesn't have to be bass specific.
Books like The Improvisers Bass Method and Building/Expanding Walking Basslines are very good
too.
None of these books have any tablature,so you would need at least a basic grasp on reading-a book
like Simplified Sight Reading for Bass would help here.

You're best bet though,is to look for a good teacher so that you can ask questions and have everything
explained to you...it helps so much.

[brensabre79]

Familiarity is the best way to speed up your reading. Get the sheet music for lines you know and follow them as you're playing to start with, then move to lines you're less familiar with and try to pick them up from the dots alone. It will take a long time of practice before you can sight-read on the spot, but it's worth it if you're doing the sort of gigs where you're required to read.

My dad was a session player in the 70s and he was always busy because he could turn up, sight read (and improv. if required) pretty much nail it in one take every time. He'd always get the gig over someone who needed a couple of times around to figure it out first because studios charge by the hour.

My reading is terrible these days because I haven't had to do it for a while, and that's the thing really, you've gotta be doing it all the time to be really slick - much like playing the bass itself.

[TRBboy]

Thanks for all the help guys!

Doddy, I'll have a look at those books you suggested.