Why Bother? :)

[EMG456]

14 minutes ago, Bilbo said:

Seriously, though, that is another part of the problem. We can all bust are asses getting more and more chops but hwo many if us can find a Joe Zawinul or a Michel Camilo, a Michael Brecker or a John Scofiled to bounce off?

I think you’re just a bit fed up at the moment, Bilbo. 
 

You're right- moving in the circles most of us do on here, it’s hard to find a sustained situation where you have hugely inspirational players to bounce off but over the period, I’ve found that sometimes the folks I’ve played with have been inspired and influenced by my playing and I enjoy that role immensely. 
Maybe you could be (or unbeknown are) a great positive influence on those around you. I reckon that would be worth bothering about.  

[Guest]

Wish I'd have seen that band Bilbo 🙂. I love all the tunes on Blue Matter.  It taught me alot back then. My brother, a massive Dennis Chambers fan got me into it funnily enough. same with the Brandon Fields album, that was played to death in my car 🙂

[Guest]

I can play basic slap stuff and appreciate the groove on old school 70s Funk etc (When I was a pro years ago you kind of had to cover it), but I never got that good at it because I never really liked the more complex sides of it. At the risk of being controversial I’ve always thought that Mark King was far more interesting when he played fingerstyle (a lot of earlier tunes have some really nice lines), despite his fame for the slap thing. Ditto Stanley Clarke (who to me only impressed on upright). When it gets to some of the double thumbing, multi-finger stuff like Alain Caron, Victor Wooten and Matt Garrison, it just leaves me completely cold. I can barely appreciate it for its technical virtuosity and I can’t ever recall a piece of music that includes these sorts of styles that I’ve ever wanted to listen to twice. Therefore, rather than waste time with it, I concentrated on expanding my musical knowledge, and technically mainly via fingerstyle but also with a pick - which has a similarly funky and percussive nature but has more flexibility and allows one to play with nearly the same freedom as fingerstyle. 

There is absolutely no issue with playing the styles, technique and music (and gear) you want. There is no credibility to be gained nor lost by choosing one technique over another - as a bass player the only real pre-requisite is to try to play the right notes in the right order, with good time (appropriate to the style). My only criteria for technique is that it is a means to a musical end - if it doesn’t do anything for me musically I’ll discard it. IMHO some musicians concentrate far more on the technique itself than the musical result.

[fleabag]

22 hours ago, lowregisterhead said:

Brand X are still on the planet, admittedly in a different form, but Percy's still with them. The band are based in the States now, but they're playing a gig at Trading Boundaries in Uckfield, E. Sussex on the 2nd of May. You going?

Changed my mind when i noticed they're playing Milton Keynes.  Tickets already bought 

 

[4000]

On 25/01/2020 at 15:30, FDC484950 said:

I can play basic slap stuff and appreciate the groove on old school 70s Funk etc (When I was a pro years ago you kind of had to cover it), but I never got that good at it because I never really liked the more complex sides of it. At the risk of being controversial I’ve always thought that Mark King was far more interesting when he played fingerstyle (a lot of earlier tunes have some really nice lines), despite his fame for the slap thing. Ditto Stanley Clarke (who to me only impressed on upright). When it gets to some of the double thumbing, multi-finger stuff like Alain Caron, Victor Wooten and Matt Garrison, it just leaves me completely cold. I can barely appreciate it for its technical virtuosity and I can’t ever recall a piece of music that includes these sorts of styles that I’ve ever wanted to listen to twice. Therefore, rather than waste time with it, I concentrated on expanding my musical knowledge, and technically mainly via fingerstyle but also with a pick - which has a similarly funky and percussive nature but has more flexibility and allows one to play with nearly the same freedom as fingerstyle. 

There is absolutely no issue with playing the styles, technique and music (and gear) you want. There is no credibility to be gained nor lost by choosing one technique over another - as a bass player the only real pre-requisite is to try to play the right notes in the right order, with good time (appropriate to the style). My only criteria for technique is that it is a means to a musical end - if it doesn’t do anything for me musically I’ll discard it. IMHO some musicians concentrate far more on the technique itself than the musical result.

It always makes me smile when I see people doing stuff like double-thumbing. It always seemed like far more work to me than simply using a plectrum. 😉

I remember many years ago playing in A1 Music in Manchester and one of the assistants coming over asking me how I was doing what I was doing. I just showed him my plectrum. 

[FinnDave]

37 minutes ago, 4000 said:

I remember many years ago playing in A1 Music in Manchester and one of the assistants coming over asking me how I was doing what I was doing. I just showed him my plectrum. 

The hours I spent in A1 back in the day!!

[Ricky 4000]

Still, personally I'd pay quite a bit for Larry Graham's thumb! 👍

[Powertripper]

I don't like funk, have never been able to slap and think Jaco is boring.