Bilbo

It was 30 years ago today...... Far left, me age 17/18?

Simon's ideas work for double bass also. I found I was working far too hard and, using the amp and relaxing my left hand has made for a better sound and stronger swing feel. I am also working on gritting my teeth less......

It's one of those tunes that I feel an emotional pressure to learn so I can say to my peers that I can play it and the learning of which I intellectually know would, in reality, be a waste of precious rehearsal time. You can't learn eveything and have to choose where to focus your efforts and mine are elsewhere. It's a great rock tune, though, and one of Rush's career highlights. Daaa n da da daaa n da da da daaa n n daaa n da da daaaa nn da da da daaa n n ......

Transcribe at severnthstring.com. It's about £40 and is marvellous. Yo can slow down the music without changing pitch to 70%, 50% 35% etc and loop sections, even individual notes etc. Highly recommended. [url="http://seventhstring.com/"]http://seventhstring.com/[/url]

Transcribe at severnthstring.com. It's about £40 and is marvellous. Yo can slow down the music without changing pitch to 70%, 50% 35% etc and loop sections, even individual notes etc. Highly recommended. [url="http://seventhstring.com/"]http://seventhstring.com/[/url]

Better to do your own but try these.... [url="http://www.jazztranscriptions.co.uk/"]http://www.jazztranscriptions.co.uk/[/url]

Won't play and is marked as private. Is that normal?

Very much so and its is an established tradition going back throughout the history of jazz. Louis Armstrong, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Bill Evans, Bud Powell... the list of soloists who have influenced generations of jazz musicians on other instrument is endless. I have transcribed Parker, Coltrane, Gerry Mulligan, Joe Lovano, Miles, Cannonball Adderley, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Michael Brecker, Mike Stern, Javier Navarette, Astor Piazolla, Gary Burton, Pat Metheny.... the list goes on. Bass players tend to think in a certain way whilst horn players and other instrumentalists think in different ways and transcribing solos from other disciplines allows you to braoden your perspectives on the art of the soloist. It is not only time well spent, it is arguable the BEST way to spend time. You learn a lot about phrasing, rhythm and note choice that may otherwise escape you

It is difficult to get a sesne of what your problem is without seeing you play, my friend. What I can say os that many of these kinds of problems are sorted out by concerted pracice and experimentation. You use the term 'correct' when actually you shoudl be looking for something that is efficient. Correct is only ever one person's perpsective and the greatest players in the world are often playing incorrectly. String skipping always feels awkward when you start playing but it gets easier as you get more comfortable.

Today I am mostly listening to Dave Holland's 'Conference of the Birds', his 1972 free jazz debut as a leader (he co-led the 1971 'Music From Two Basses' with Barre Phillips). It is beautiful chaos and, for me, represents one of the most successful examples of free playing that ever found its way onto vinyl. I have been listening to this recording since I got a copy of it from Newport saxophonist/bandleader Paul Hornsby in about 1988 and its is as fresh now as it was then (the recording of the bass is a little dated but the music is incredibly vibrant and edgy). Anthony Braxton and Sam Rivers on reeds/flutes and Barry Altschul on drums and percussion. The flute duos are particularly exciting, the compositions really interesting and wonderfully twisted. If Holland had never done anything else as a band leader (he has put out 23 other cds out as a leader as well as hundreds if not thousands of sideman dates), his place at the head of teh bass table would have been assured. Highly recommended and one of my top ten 'must have' jazz cds.

I was a YES nut up to Drama (saw that tour). They nearly lost me on 90125 but I was gone by the next one (was it Big Generator?) and have never heard anything they have done since. I rarely go back to them but when I do I am struck by the creativity which was a lot more common in Rock and Prog Rock during this era, before punk rendered anything longer than 3 minutes as 'self indulgent'. The groove thing is an interesting point. One of the important facets of UK prog rock was the fact that it was the first substantive movement in popular music that was not based around dance music and the blues. It isn't [i]supposed[/i] to 'groove' (even though much of it does, albeit in a different way). Loved TOrmato, loved Going For The One, loved CTTE and Relayer, loved TAAW and The Yes Album.... all great stuff. It was through buiying all of their solo LPs that I got into Jazz. I was a Squire/Howe fan but, when I bought the Bruford 'Feels Good To Me' lp and heard Jeff Berlin and Allan Holdsworth, I realised there was more to listen to.

Sounds like a straight pentatonic to me.....

Freaks....

Bairnson did the harmony guitar parts for this ol' chestnut..... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iiryJwvDtc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iiryJwvDtc[/url]

Bass Clef Wizard. I find it easier to use the keyboard than the mouse as it is about the mechanics of the answer rather than the knowledge.

I know that some of the greatest musicians in the world only do 2 hours a day. The guitar magazines say everyone does 10 hours but I can't see how that is sustainable in the real world - I guess its what you define as 'practising'. I think there is a lot to be said for 30 mins a day in preference to 6 hours once a week. I did the 'lots of hours a day' route for a few years in the 1980s (before life got in the way) and got a lot of technique out of it but, since then, my hands have been faster than me ears and head can cope with so I guess the time was poorly spent. A properly directed kid could probably make major progress if less time was spent knobbing around learning party tricks like Portrait Of Tracy etc.

My Wal - its the only electric bass I have so I have no choice - 26 years gigging without it getting stolen or broken by a punter. I see noreason not to use it. You drive your car there and leave it outside and that is worth more than your bass.... mostly

The only way to learn to play faster is to play what you can play slowly, only play it faster. If you can play something at 100 bpm, the only way to learn to play it at 200 bpm is to keep trying i.e practice. I see playing with a metronome as no different to playing with a drumm machine or playing along with a record. The only advice I have is to play things as fast as you can, not as fast as you can't You also need to decide whether you want to play 'set pieces' fast or to improvise at fast tempos. Playing things you have learned fast is one thing, improvising at fast tempos is a different skill and you need not only to be able to [i]play[/i] fast but also to [i]think[/i] fast which, IMO, is much harder. Playing fast things with other people is a good way af guaging progress but that is not always possible as there aren't that many people who will want to play 'Donna Lee' with you for hours at a time Frankly, I say go with the metronome.

This one always makes me scratch my head, at least a little. I completely agree that being a slave to a metronome is potentially self-defeating but, in my experience, spending some time with one can pay dividends in terms of defining a players relationship with the pulse. For me, what you are practising when you work with a metronome is not 'playing in time' but 'playing in time alongside another sound-source'. I have come across more than a handful of players over the years who sound great on their own but who can't really play their stuff when there is a defined pulse being created around them. In short, I think there is a lot to be said for practising without a metronome to get the thing right but playing [i]with[/i] a metronome to get it right 'in time' i.e practising playing what you are doing whilst listening to another person (machine) playing as well. When that skill is developed and you are playing with real people, you can use your developed listening skill to react to the time around you, thereby turning the metronomic into the musical. When people say 'Jeff Berlin says metronomes are a waste of time', I say Gary Burton and John McLaughlin would disagree. Personally, I prefer a drum machine to a metronome but sometimes the metronome is the convenient option. And JB is in no way the 'grooviest' player out there an can be a little 'soulless' so we have to ask whether his perspective is the only legitimate one. I am not trashing his views, just saying that metronomes have their place.

Sorted - thanks, guys. Knew I could rely on Basschat!!

There are people out there that can harmonise with their instrument and sing thirds etc to their solo lines. Horn players sometimes do this (Roland Kirk is one)

Will look it up later, Dan. Great idea.

They were both Jones in trio with Joe Farrell and Jimmy Garrison. There is some rare footage on youtube and Farrell comes out sounding really strong but these two lps are really hard to locate. They were released as one of those Mosaic 'Complete' sets (on-line at £270+) but even that is hard to find. Its a same as there are some really weak products out there being reissued again and again and what I have heard of these is much stronger and deserving of wider circulation.

Got hold of Puttin' It Together so its only the Ultimate EJ cd/lp to bag.....