Bilbo

Note recognition first, then rhythm. First reading, then sight reading. Reading is not just about gigs and performances, it is also about learning and communicating ideas etc. I am working on my guitar reading at the moment (as well as bass). I recently bought four books of classical studies and read through them all in about 4 weeks. That's in excess of 600 pages of dots. I couldn't read them well enough to perform them, no way, but to be able to find my way through that much material in such a short space of time? I am kicking myself and asking why I didn't do the decades ago. Sight reading is the ultimate goal but it's so much more than that.

Actually, we can all read. It's just a case of how FAST we can read. If you are reading at 10bpm today, head for 20bpm this time next week. Then 30 the week after. Before you know it, you will be reading at 330bpm and holding down the Zappa gig.

There is some decent practice material here... https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/ https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/transcriptions/ 20/30 minutes a day is enough. You'll be reading in no time. Don't read things twice - you will be playing by rote/ear and not reading. Don't just read tunes you like. You are practicing reading dots, not practicing tunes.

He may not be on here, Ped. We have a mutual acquaintance in 'civvy street' (i.e. not a musician) and I was interested to see if he was anyone I knew on here as I don't know many people's real names.

Preferably not... 'Mr. Crowley' - I feel a song coming on!

Bands called Point Taken and Footloose! Plays a Status through a Glockenlang, I believe.

I had several books but they were almost all written for piano and the bass parts rarely bore any relationship to what we heard on the records. Those box guitar chords were also useless and were all first position chords so the voicings were useless.

Someone asked for some Tony Levin so I looked up his discography and came up with this. I didn't know he did this. the whole transcription took 10 minutes. Levin's complete bass part from '50 Ways To Leave Your Lover' from the 1975 Paul Simon album, 'Still Crazy After All These Years'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/50-ways-to-leave-your-lover-paul-simon/

Remember, these tunes are just so you can access a transcription of the single tune you are learning. They are here as source material for developing your reading chops. I remember when I was a kid trying to learn to read music (1970s), there was nothing to practice on other than books that had 'Campdown Races' and 'Oh My Darling Clementine' as practice material. Even the books like Simandl had nothing that us Rockers could get excited about and all the good stuff you just had to find your way as best as you could. If you live in a rural Welsh town like some of us, there was no mentoring - you were pretty much on your own. Now you have BilbosBassBites!

A lovely light Bossa that is a very easy read a, because there aren't many notes but also, b. because the tempo is very slow. This is the complete Ruben Rodriguez bass part for the tune 'Never Let Me Go' from the 2014 Steve Khan album, 'Subtext'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/never-let-me-go-steve-khan/

Another one of those laid back Steve Morse tunes, this is 'Cool Wind, Green Hills' from Morse's 2004 album, 'Major Impacts 2'. Easy one to read and to play. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/cool-wind-green-hills-steve-morse-band/

Another album that slipped me by was John Patitucci's 2019 solo bass album, 'Soul Of The Bass'. This is my thoughts on the title track. It is played very loosely and out of time so you can take real liberties with the phrasing all of the way through. It's not at all difficult to play but, to make it sound musical, that's the art of it. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/soul-of-the-bass-john-patitucci/

I know. I can't help myself. This chart is Anthony Jackson playing a unison head with Steve Khan on the Ornette Coleman tune 'Blues Connotation' from the 2011 Khan album, 'Parting Shot'. It's a little bit of a roast, if I am honest. The chart is the head only. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/blues-connotation-steve-kahn/

A special request from a member on Talkbass, this is the complete Ray Brown performance of 'Have You Met Miss Jones' from the 1964 Oscar Peterson Trio record 'We Get Requests'. So do we, Oscar. So do we. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/have-you-met-miss-jones-oscar-peterson-trio/

So, all the Jacob Collier videos, then.....

I have done 90 transcriptions in 73 days. Bloody lunatic.

Someone mentioned this somewhere here.... 'Sometime World' from the Wishbone Ash album 'Argus'. 1972 - before my time. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/sometime-world-wishbone-ash/

More Jeff Berlin - this one is a complete transcription of his tune tune 'Everybody Knows You When You're Up And In' from the 2000 album, 'In Harmony's Way'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/everybody-knows-you-when-youre-up-and-in-jeff-berlin/

I am never going to catch up, am I, Chris? 😉

Either. I'm not fussy.

Whatever else I am, I have never been accused of being fast before! I did one of the Ancestry DNA tests once. Meet grandad.

A favourite tune from a favourite album, this is the complete Dave Holland part from the tune 'Milestones' from the 1993 Joe Henderson album, 'So Near, So Far'. This is the 'old' John Lewis composition not the track from the later Miles album, 'Milestones'. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/milestones-miles-davis/

Thanks, Dave. Here's one for, Wayne - I can't think of anything less Punk that a bass transcription but here is the complete Jean Jacques Burnel bass part for 'Down In The Sewers' from the 1977 album, 'Rattus Norvegicus' from The Stranglers - It's all about the tone. https://bilbosbassbites.co.uk/down-in-the-sewers-the-stranglers/

Received, Dave. Don't get carried away 😆

That's the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowing what basses Geddy used vs. knowing that, if you went out and got those instruments, and even if you used the EXACT SAME BASSES, you would still sound nothing like Geddy Lee. There is a lovely story out there where Ted Nugent spoke of having Van Halen as a support band. Nugent loved EVH's sound and asked to try his guitar. Nugent didn't touch any of the controls on the guitar or amp and, upon playing the instrument, was disappointed to find that he sounded exactly like Ted Nugent.