bluesparky Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 To cut a long story short, whilst continuing to further my musical education I came across a piece described as being an etude. Some dictionary definitions of an etude are: "a short musical composition for a solo instrument, esp one designed as an exercise or exploiting technical virtuosity" "a short composition for a solo instrument; intended as an exercise or to demonstrate technical virtuosity" "an instrumental musical composition, usually short, of considerable difficulty, and designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill." Is there anything that you guys would consider to be a "bass" etude i.e. a classic piece of bass playing or a bass piece of considerable technical difficulty that you've had to study for ages to master and nail it note-for-note and that you're proud of being able to play - not necessarily in public, but maybe simply for your own pleasure? It needn't be a universally difficult track that everyone struggles with, just something that you personally have spent a considerable amount of time working on in order to master it. For me, When I was younger I had a book of Bach's solo pieces by Josquin Des Pres. After that I spent ages on Jaco's Portrait for Tracy, Led Zep's Lemon Song and then Jaco's Donna Lee. Currently (once I've taken the Trinity college exam I've entered and finally stopped having to practice YYZ!) I'm looking at the Yellowjackets "Man Facing North". I've always been a fan of the track and I know it's going to be a mission but I'm looking forward to working on it. I also have a book called "Excersises and Etudes For The Jazz Instrumentalist" by J J Johnson which has a wealth of pieces to have a bash at in future too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Teen Town. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 I have some Bach inventions from my degree course that are really challenging, but very nice to play. The Bach chorales are cool too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Clayton Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 I've always used etudes or study pieces in my practice and I continue to encourage my students to do the same. For years, things like 'Teen Town', 'Portrait of Tracy' and 'Donna Lee' were a big part of my practice routine (already mentioned), but these days I'm favouring Carol Kaye lines such as 'Hikky Burr' and 'Games People Play'. Also Pat Badger's line on Extreme's 'Cupid's Dead'. Other good study pieces (in my opinion) include Jamerson's lines on both versions of 'Grapevine', 'I Was Made to Love Her', 'Bernadette' - in fact, the Jamerson list could go on a bit. 'Joe Frazier' by Jeff Berlin is also great as a study piece - a complete roast, but a lot of fun too. Coincidentally, I've been writing a book of advanced study pieces for bass guitar this year. I realised that I had a bunch of challenging lines that I use to keep my technique in shape, and I decided to turn them into full pieces. If you're interested, you read about the book here: [url="http://www.basslinepublishing.com/coming-soon/advanced-studies-for-bass-guitar.html"]http://www.basslinepublishing.com/coming-soon/advanced-studies-for-bass-guitar.html[/url] - it's being released next year at the London Bass Show. Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesparky Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 (edited) [quote name='Stuart Clayton' timestamp='1416080571' post='2606739'] I've always used etudes or study pieces in my practice and I continue to encourage my students to do the same. Also Pat Badger's line on Extreme's 'Cupid's Dead'. Stu [/quote] Cupid's Dead - another one for me! I transcribed the middle bit time and time again trying to get the bit where the guitar / bass riff appears to be in a different time signature to the drums.. That annoyed me for pretty much my entire university life! Edited November 15, 2014 by bluesparky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesparky Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 [quote name='Stuart Clayton' timestamp='1416080571' post='2606739'] Coincidentally, I've been writing a book of advanced study pieces for bass guitar this year. I realised that I had a bunch of challenging lines that I use to keep my technique in shape, and I decided to turn them into full pieces. If you're interested, you read about the book here: [url="http://www.basslinepublishing.com/coming-soon/advanced-studies-for-bass-guitar.html"]http://www.basslinep...ass-guitar.html[/url] - it's being released next year at the London Bass Show. Stu [/quote] Yes, I'd seen on social media somewhere you've been working on that. I actually made a note to keep an eye out for the book when it's published. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norris Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Frankenstein by the Edgar Winter band. Good warm up exercise too, especially the chromatic run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Clayton Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 [quote name='bluesparky' timestamp='1416093903' post='2606926'] Cupid's Dead - another one for me! I transcribed the middle bit time and time again trying to get the bit where the guitar / bass riff appears to be in a different time signature to the drums.. That annoyed me for pretty much my entire university life! [/quote] I have a transcription somewhere - message me here if you'd like a copy. Stuart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesparky Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 [quote name='Stuart Clayton' timestamp='1416137780' post='2607175'] I have a transcription somewhere - message me here if you'd like a copy. Stuart [/quote] Thanks Stuart, in fact I think I sold the III sides guitar book to you! I bought the guitar transcription book after being so stumped and annoyed by the particularly awkward bit of the middle section of cupid's dead, the bassline is close enough to work out what I needed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Clayton Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 [quote name='bluesparky' timestamp='1416140442' post='2607221'] Thanks Stuart, in fact I think I sold the III sides guitar book to you! I bought the guitar transcription book after being so stumped and annoyed by the particularly awkward bit of the middle section of cupid's dead, the bassline is close enough to work out what I needed! [/quote] Ah, I got that from you did I?! Lots of pencil markings on that section...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skej21 Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 [quote name='bluesparky' timestamp='1416078822' post='2606703'] To cut a long story short, whilst continuing to further my musical education I came across a piece described as being an etude. Some dictionary definitions of an etude are: "a short musical composition for a solo instrument, esp one designed as an exercise or exploiting technical virtuosity" "a short composition for a solo instrument; intended as an exercise or to demonstrate technical virtuosity" "an instrumental musical composition, usually short, of considerable difficulty, and designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill." Is there anything that you guys would consider to be a "bass" etude i.e. a classic piece of bass playing or a bass piece of considerable technical difficulty that you've had to study for ages to master and nail it note-for-note and that you're proud of being able to play - not necessarily in public, but maybe simply for your own pleasure? It needn't be a universally difficult track that everyone struggles with, just something that you personally have spent a considerable amount of time working on in order to master it. For me, When I was younger I had a book of Bach's solo pieces by Josquin Des Pres. After that I spent ages on Jaco's Portrait for Tracy, Led Zep's Lemon Song and then Jaco's Donna Lee. Currently (once I've taken the Trinity college exam I've entered and finally stopped having to practice YYZ!) I'm looking at the Yellowjackets "Man Facing North". I've always been a fan of the track and I know it's going to be a mission but I'm looking forward to working on it. I also have a book called "Excersises and Etudes For The Jazz Instrumentalist" by J J Johnson which has a wealth of pieces to have a bash at in future too. [/quote] Have a look at '60 Melodic Etudes' by John Patitucci. That's a great resource for stuff like this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 Ology by Living Colour/Muzz Skillings (specifically the melody from 0m34s onwards). I have the tab somewhere and a general feeling of "must get around to learning it one day" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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