Bilbo

Did two double bass gigs in one day, yesterday, one in Petersfield and another in Hayes. 4 x 50 minute sets over about 7 hours in total. A bit sore by the end but, after a night's sleep, all is well and certainly nothing is out of the ordinary. Just as well because I have another gig tomorrow

That's am awful lot of girls for one band. Can't be right

Your video linked me to this l;ovely version of Body And Soul. Nice sound bearing in mind the tiled wall! [u][color="#0066cc"][url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YaLwx7iwchY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YaLwx7iwchY[/url][/color][/u]

Never too late. It is possible to write more than one book at a time!

A minute to learn and a lifetime to master. Step One: Play the relevant scale. Step Two - Step seven million - Break it into thirds, argpeggios, broken arpeggios, pentatonics, repeated notes, chromatics, passing notes, rhythmic pushing and pullling,,,,, this list is endless and pointless. What you need to do is to listen to a zillion bass players, transcribe a zillion walking lines and experiment. Gradually, over 30 - 60 years, you will see an incremental improvement in the quality of your lines. You need to relate your lines to those of the other musicians around you; if they go up, you can go up or down or stay where you are; it doesn't matter what you choose to do, only that you choose to do it (i.e. it is not random accidents). There is no right way, just [i]your [/i]way. Don't be afraid of repetition; it is inevitable, You just need to disguise it by changing what comes before and what comes after. Learn which notes sound strong and which sound weak. Don't start every bar, two bars or four bars on the root note. Think across bar lines occasionally. Just enjoy the creative process and make great music. Simple.

I listened to a 1974 live recording (Fly By Night era) the other day. You can see why they took off.

The decision is made and I have some really exciting news about it. But I can't tell anyone!! AARGH"!!

Give your self the day off, mate . You have it faster than most sax players you will ever work with and have probably learned all you are going to from that exercise. Playing at those tempos is shallow showboating and serves little or no musical purpose. As I said elsewhere here, just because you can, doesn't mean you should I thought these guys were more mature than this. Clearly not

I have a German and French one. One cost about £200 the other was 'free' with the bass. I can't really tell the difference yet. My point is that, until you have some emblance of ability with one and some insight into what they are supposed to be for, it is hard for you to make an assessment. I say get one of this starter bows and plunge right in. Endorka, on here, has one of the Yita bows and swears by it as do several others. I say try one and then, when you are nailing it, you can try out one made of unicorn horn and angel's hair and know where best to spend the money.

Are you reading dots? If not, that would be a MASSIVE way to improve

Thanks again. It's all gone off now! I can relax for a few days until they come back to me with more queries and asking for an index! This is all a headache I shouldn't have had but, when I started this book malarkey, I wasn't completely up to speed on the requirements of referencing for publication (its slightly different than for academics). Older and wiser so, next time, all of this should be unnecessary.

Marvellous. Thanks again. I have references going back to 2005/6 and, on the occasions when I didn't write them down correctly (those were the early days of my research), it has been a case of looking for needles in fields full of haystacks!! You have saved me a lot of grief and time and I will be eternally grateful.

Thanks, mate. You rock!

The article was written by Richard Johnston in [i]Bass Player[/i] magazine, October 1999. I need the article title and the page number. Can anyone help? My copies went to a bloke called Jake who may be in China!

There is an article called 'Working Bass Hero' in the September/October edition of Bass Player. Can anyone tell me what page number it is on? Need to reference it and have given my copies of the magazine away!! Can anyone help?

I always play a low F first. Why do I do that?

I just wanted to register my appreciation of the Fish. One of the great creative players in music.

I don't warm up, really. Tend to play so much I am close to match fit at all times. If not, I just make sure the first few tunes aren't hardcore. I guess its more important to warm up if you are on the edge of your physical potential at all times. As a jazzer, I tend to not get into that zone very often so can 'warm up' with the first half of the first set. At home, I suppose its depends on what you are practising?

Yes. But I urge caution because the F and F sharp contradict each other so hanging on one would clash big time if someone else was hanging on the other. Not a deal breaker but a major change in texture. With reference to the term 'does it work', the answer is always yes as every note has an effect on every other but what you have to decide is what are your intentions. If you want it to clash and to create dischord, it will sound great. If you want it to sound smooth, it won't.

Flamin' norah.... they'll be bringing in soft furnishings any day now... Seriously, though. Welcome. Did you know the head of the Welsh College of Music and Drama's Jazz COurse is a female bass player? Looks like all the blokes over that way must be drummers. Tidy! I'm from Cwmbran myself but have been away from there 25 years now so its probably changed a bit. Family are still there; got 'lectric and everything.

Tragic news, my friend. I hope it turns up.

POst a picture on Ken Smith's site. They know everything!

Mark Levine's Jazz Theory is the book louis refers to. Best place to start is Spotify. Listen to as much Jazz as you can and then get a couple of Jamey Aebersold's play-a-longs and have a go. Or get a teacher who knows Jazz. Any walking bass line book with get you stared (they all contain the same information just laid out differently). Once you get the basic principles, you just do it as much as you can and learn as you go.

Coutn Basie used to talk about 'total hearing', listening to the whole band rather than just yourself. Its a real skill and takes a LOT of practice and discipline. On the rare occasions where I achieve it, it really shows you how much you do on automatic pilot and how much better you can be if you focus.

I think Fons is a monster musician but I think his material is quite weak (I have 5 of his cds and have reached the point where I can't listen to them any more - they grate). I would love to hear him performing compositions that are a little less two-dimensional. His tricks and licks get a bit samey after a while. And yes it is a high C, like mine