Joe Hubbard Bass

Thanks...but don't be shy?

Instead of scales, you need to be thinking chord tones as a primary way of playing over chord changes. Lots of scales (including the major scale) have what are called "avoid notes." These are notes you can't resolve your lines to. However, if you first think about the chord tones, you can resolve your lines over any chord tone. These are the basics from beginner to advanced.

Just to clarify- notes always come first in the learning process...NOT feel! Most will try to argue that this is incorrect but they are wrong. Feel and Groove is a by-product of you having a command and mastery of your intrument. Think about what "feel" actually means. It means that you are making what you play "feel good." You cannot do this with any broad scope across stylistic boundries without first understanding the notes (and how they apply to the harmony) that are under your fingers and how they work across your bass in context.

The best way is to isolate short 2 to 4 beat phrases; play them through all the cycles and transpose them over different chord types. You could also isolate 2 and 4 bar II V I patterns and do the same thing. With these experiment with mixing II V I vocabulary between Maj & Min tonalities.

Okay...the first thing to always put at the forefront are "playing the right notes" and "playing in context" as to not destroy the composers original intentions of the tune. So, your question is a little broad...maybe you could provide a musical example. If you were playing over a major 7th chord like lets say Continuum by Jaco, the sound of that chord isn't sad, it's more bright in nature. However, when you listen to that tune there's a somber feel to it. One of the ways that Jaco brings that out is playing more lyrically (like a singer) and using chord tensions (the notes notes above the chord) that include 9, #11 and 13 over that chord.

Hey Visog How's it going? With me, he treated it as any other instrument. His concept was that it was the student's job to discover how his improvisation concepts laid on the instrument technically. As far as role was concerned, as I've said many times times- we only do two things: 1). Play accompanying bass lines (regardless of style). 2). Ocassionally play a solo. What many people still don't understand is that all muscal concepts (rhythm, melody and harmony) apply across the board to these two things. The problem arises, when studentss are led to believe that everything is compartmentalised into styles.

Hey Guys! Joe Hubbard here. I wanted to start a new thread where people can ask me anything that's bass related. I've been teaching for 38 years and have come up with many concepts which have been tested in many high-level professional scenarios- including studio work, tours and gigs while working with major artists and producers on both sides of the Atlantic. All my concepts have been created with one goal- to be able to function at high levels musically regardless of style. I'll do my best to answer as many questions that I can...so fire away! All the Bass! Joe

Just keeping it real!

Hey Grangur That is incorrect- most Warwicks are not made with 36 frets. The average with them is 24 frets and if you've ever played a Thumb bass or a Streamer which are their two most popular models, then you would immediately feel the unbalanced pull towards the headstock. That is precisely why Stu Hamm's signature model has a altered body shape from their standard Streamer shape. Wariwck's head designer Marcus Spangler and their owner Han Peter Wilfer have both told me directly that they have never made a neck as wide as mine to accommodate the 19mm specs. Have you spoken to them directly? No- I didn't think so.

It's not a Thumb- it's a Streamer CV, but only 21 frets. There's a cool story about that too that I'll share another time.

Hey Guys! Just stumbled over this thread and thought I'd chime in a bit about what is unique about my JHB signature bass. After the Warwick 35 years celebration in September 2017, Warwick asked me what would it take for me to come onboard as an endorser. My answer was simple, "You have to make me a bass that I'll want to play forever!" I was imediately flown out to Germany to the Custom Shop and spent 4-days with their head designer going through all the details of what had to be in this model. It has to be said that the Warwick JHB is totally different to any other Warwick bass I have seen and/or played, and when I was at the factory, I played everything they had. The Fortress body shape was chosen for two reasons. Firstly, Warwick did not want to design a completely new body shape, they wanted it to be representative of one of their basses- that was the only restriction. I chose the Fortress because at 24 frets, it was the only body shape they do that balanced properly. The shape was cutomised slightly in that it had a deeper angled curved where the forearm goes across and deep scoops on the inside of both the upper and lower horns. One of the most radical changes made, was the use of a different bridge. Historically, Warwick has always used a 2-peice bridge which is highly adjustable, but I never liked the sound of those 2-peice bridges- too clickly and hi-fi sounding. Instead we used an All Parts 'Omega' bridge which is a copy of the Badass II bridge. Badass went out of business sometime ago and All Parts waited until their patent expired and have done an exact copy- IMO the best sounding bridge ever. This single customisation makes this bass sing head over heels compared to any other Warwick bass I've heard. I love the sound of the Aguilar Super Doubles. I had those in my Fodera, but that was something I switched out as the Fodera came with Seymor Ducans. I also wanted the EM Bass Mute, which is a switchable bass muting system which emulates the palm muting technique. The circuit was designed by me and Warwick did a terrific job in manufacturing that exactly to my personal specs. The body wood is swamp ash which is considerably lighter than the American Ash on the Fodera and has a much more agressive and responsive sound. There's an ultra-thin AAA Flame Maple top. This was crucial as a lot of basses are made with top woods that are too thick which messes with the sound. The neck is also completely different from the garden variety Warwick bass. For starters, it has 19mm spacing which was the first bass they've produced with this spacing. In addition the depth of the neck is super thin and instead of a "C" shape, it's more of an assymetrical shape much like a teardrop, where there's a little more weight at the low strings and less weight at the higher strings. While I was at the Custom Shop, I played the Lee Sklar model. Although I diddn't really like that bass, they used small madolin fretwire which was incredible, so we added that as well to the JHB. The neck is made from Flame Maple, with a Bird's Eye Maple fretboard. This was finished off with a graphite nut. The playabitlity is amazing and all in all Warwick has done a fabulous job in reproducing all of my original ideas about this wonderful instrument. So many people were shocked when they heard I had gone to Warwick, but when I posted the original sound samples people were amazed at how good this bass sounded. Many stating that it was a lot punchier than the Fodera. I did like the Fodera bass, but my JHB bass is so much better. This is the bass I use now. You'll see a lot of guys who have endorsements who will never play the basss they endorse unless they're at a trade show. Not me. From the very outset with Warwick, I said that the only way that I will work with you is that you knock this out of the park and build me something that I'll play forever! They in turn came up with the goods! Bavo Warwick!

Hey JuliasGroove- check out my new book Functional Harmonic Concepts, which breaks down a lot of these questions. In a minor key area, the one chord is usually a minor triad. The mistake most people make is thinking that the extension is the b7- which it is not. The one minor 7th chord is used less frequently, but when it is used it will be stated as a min7th chord- not a minor triad. The natural extension of the minor triad is the natural 7th or 6th. So when you are playing over the minor triad as the one chord in a minor key, you always want to be playing the min(maj7) or the min6th chord. In the context of Solar, the first chord can be played as C-, C-6 or C-(maj7). In my book, I cover all of these concepts and analyse over 15 jazz standards. Best Joe

Hi Wishface Check out my video bass lessons website where you can get weekly lessons that are structured and based on the "real-world" music concepts that Jeff Berlin talks about. Also, on the same page notice what Jeff Berlin says about me> http://www.joehubbardbassvideos.com/bassment/ Best Joe

I'm playing at Jazz at Boaters in Kingston upon Thames tonight. FREE admission and the gig kicks off at 8pm. The band features some of the top musicians on the jazz scene- Mornington Lockett (sax), Tony Smith (guitar) and Mike Bradley(drums). Follow link for directions and further info: [url="http://www.boaterslivemusic.com/thismonth/"]http://www.boatersli....com/thismonth/[/url] Hope to see you all there! Joe

Check out this new FREE video bass lesson, along with PDF and backing track download: [url="http://www.joehubbardbass.com/1027/creating-interesting-bass-lines/"]http://www.joehubbardbass.com/1027/creating-interesting-bass-lines/[/url]

Thanks Andrea!

Check out this new video of mine on Developing Speed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1nK78T5UYI

Hi guys! Just to let you know that my new bass video lessons membership website is now live! Please sign up for my mailing list and receive your 3-FREE bass videos now! [url="http://www.joehubbardbassvideos.com"]http://www.joehubbardbassvideos.com[/url] All the Bass! Joe

Just a head's up- I have re-recorded a longer version of The Random Note Finder and removed the old one. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3_Z0YacJEo&feature=share&list=UU9KXLt434AmLtgi7TQPqPdQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3_Z0YacJEo&feature=share&list=UU9KXLt434AmLtgi7TQPqPdQ[/url]

Hi Guys! My new band is performing tomorrow night, Thursday Feb 28th at the Tickled Ivory in Guildford from 2130-2300. Entry is FREE! This is a killin' band featuring Mornington Lockett on Sax, Tony Smith (guitar for Roy Ayers) and Frank Tontoh on drums! [url="http://www.joehubbardbass.com/847/the-joe-hubbard-event/"]http://www.joehubbardbass.com/847/the-joe-hubbard-event/[/url] Hope to see you guys there! All the Bass Joe