Bilbo

If you haven't got a knot of frustration in your stomach when you are practising, you are probably not learning anything new and should find something more challenging/demanding which does produce that visceral effect.

Recommended.... (I have it on my desk in work) [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Encyclopedia-Reading-Rhythms-Workbook-Instruments/dp/0793573793/ref=cm_cr-mr-title"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Encyclopedia-Readi...=cm_cr-mr-title[/url]

Its Jaco guesting with the Gil Evans Orchestra - Egan was the bass player on the gig, Jaco was 'visiting'. The mud was slung by previous Basschat members who 'don't get' him. For the record, the band are shocking.

Some nice sounds in there, Mike. Do you programme everything yourself? Or are they stock backing tracks? More to the point,. I had that Cool struttin' lp cover on a t-shirt years ago, when Jazzwise started. Its long gone but its a great LP for hearing Paul Chambers

[quote name='lobematt' post='1320135' date='Jul 29 2011, 10:17 AM']Thanks for all the replies. Tapping out the rhythm sounds like a good idea, my problem is though I don't know if I'm doing it right and theres not much point practising something wrong? [/quote] You are missing the point. Its the doing of it that you need to practice. Getting it absolutely right is not actually that important at this stage (it will quickly become obvious as things fall apart when you get it wrong, which you will). What you are doing is practicing something that you can already do but not very quickly. Reading one bar of a rhythm is not that hard. Reading two is a little harder, four starts to get tough but the real test is reading pages and pages of stuff. WHen I say look at a random chart and tap out rhythms, you are not practising 'getting it right' in the conventional sense. you are simply practising 'doing it'. As you get better at 'doing it', you can then focus on 'getting it right'.

[quote name='Skol303' post='1319339' date='Jul 28 2011, 02:25 PM']I mean, where does one opinion end and another begin...?? [/quote] When one basschatter's post stops and another starts.... Seriously, though, I think technique in music is like technique in acting; if you can see it happening, its not working. Trouble is that there are more impressionable kids whose heads are turned by Wootenesque excess than there are people who can recognise what makes a great musician truly great. It distorts everything. I was thinking about the slapping/popping/tapping stuff and wondered how many notes are played with those techniques that are truly musically appropriate as opposed to showboating. I suspect the ratio is not in favvour of musicality.

You choose.....

[quote name='james_guitar' post='1318908' date='Jul 28 2011, 02:41 AM'](Swing/Jazz) - Moondance - Van Morrison[/quote] Wrong on both counts

I don't think its a case of plucking that e-string as hard as possible but of plucking it as hard as you are going to when you are perfroming. If you are plucking it as hard as possible when you are playing, you will lose all the finesse in your technique.

[quote name='Earbrass' post='1318405' date='Jul 27 2011, 04:24 PM'][attachment=85767:Bilbo1.JPG][/quote] These Victoria and Albert theme nights will be the death of me. PS the beard went months ago....

Me far right. I guess that's a high, then? (Note: Lord Voldermort hiding in my shirt)

Another simple exercise is to take any chart of any type in any clef and just read the rhythms (i.e. don't worry about what the notes are just their time values). Tap them out on a table top - you can do this away from your bass. Time well spent.

[quote name='lojo' post='1317512' date='Jul 26 2011, 07:25 PM']Would going from Jazz to Rock be like shrinking ?[/quote] No, shriveling

Metal - Rock - Fusion - Jazz Felt like a pretty organic process. I grew and the music grew with me.

An interesting debate. I think there is an interesting tension between the idea of the art and craft of music, the art and craft of entertainment and the complex dynamics of genre and the market. It is perfectly possible to have a career as a 'musician' without any significant technique (e.g. Adam Clayton) and to have great technique and little or no market for what you do. In simple terms, technique stops and music begins when the artist/performer does not have to seek the means to execute his or her ideas but has them at her or his fingertips. I guess this means different things to different people and a metal bassist a la Cliff Williams will have no strong ambition to excel 'tedhnically' whereas Jeff Berlin will define his development by this aspect of his playing. Horses for courses. The fact is, the overarching 'market' that is music has no baseline (sic) for competence. If you can hold a bass in a video, that'a all that is required for some producers. Others (Becker & Fagan?)look for something that is much harder to define.

Patience. Reading rhythms is a process that takes time and continnued practice to develop. Start with quarter notes and rests, then move onto eigth notes and rests and when you have mastered them, and only when you have mastered them, move on to 16ths. When you get onto 16th, you will soon realise that they are simply 8ths going by quicker and are actually quite easy to read. But the message is, TAKE YOUR TIME!! It will come. If you rush, you will not consolidate your learning.

Works for me, mate.

That solo bass piece is beautiful, Kevin. Unlike most solo electric bass, it is sold by the harmonic and melodic content, not by the technique (which is there in spades but serving the performance, not defining it). Great stuff.

[quote name='xgsjx' post='1304411' date='Jul 15 2011, 09:44 AM']So where does that leave us Scots? Best shinty players? Good with things that involve rain? [/quote] World's leading caber tossers? A lot world class comedy in Scotland? And a couple of great saxophonists in Tommy Smith and Bobby Wellins. Great whisky distilliries?

Wider stands are a good idea but, if you have several pages, you will still have to turn occasionally. My main nugget of advice is to turn the bottom corner of the r/h page up so you can grab it quickly and reduce the time it takes to turn. If you work ot ok, you can usually keep fretting notes with your l/h if necessary and, to be fair, most (not all) arrangers try to produce charts where the turns aren't smack in the middle of you sixteenth note solo section so you will probably have plenty of time.

[quote name='Vibrating G String' post='1304370' date='Jul 15 2011, 09:21 AM']....shaving the neck.[/quote] Should have got them to do his lip whilst they had the gear out...

There is no in-bred relationship between ones country of origin and ones ability to play in a certain way. What there is is an increased probability, a bigger pool to draw from. More people per capita play football in Brazil than in, say, Wales = more Brazillian footbaal players = higher probability that there are going to be more 'great' Brazillian football players. More West Indians play cricket = more West Indian cricketers = better standard of cricketer in the West Indies. More US jazz musicians = Americans are going to be better jazz musicians. More Indian sitar players = the best sitar players are likely to be Indian. Bigger samba scene in Brazil = best samba players are from there. Same with Cuban congueros, Indian tabla players, Aborinial didgeridoo players and Argentinain accordian players. There is a reason why there is always an overrepresemtation of medals from the US, Russia and China iin the Olympics. There are always more kids to choose from who play the Sports in question. Its why the best skiers tend to be from countries where it snows etc.

When Steve Morse worked as an airline pilot, he used to drive 100 miles to work along a straight desert road. He told Guitar Player that he took his guitar on the journey to work with him and practised whilst he was driving, controliing the vehcile with his knees. THAT is practising!!

I think a lot of it depends on a lot of things. There is the nature/nurture debate; how much of what we become is innate and how much is the result of the developmental processes we are subjected to. There are many great, great players who grew up as the children of musicians and willo have benefitted from 'on-tap' advice and guidance from day one. How can they NOT be better quicker than those of us who took up an instrument as an adult. Kids can play all day, practicing, jamming, listening to music, watching dvds, looking at t'internet, whereas adults who have to pay rent, do their own laudry and cooking etc have less time to commit i.e. the earlier you start, the more of the 10,000 hours is wuality practice time) There are those whose parents support their kids development by providing good instruments, consistent tuition, supportive environments (good practice space and encouragement as opposed to 'shut the f*** up, I;m watching tv'). Some can't afford to provide that kind of support. People who grow up near a 'scene' are going to have a better chance than those who grow up in the sticks - more people to say it can happen that it can't. Some kids will become great musicians because they want to AND their parents want them to. Some will not because their parents want them to but they don't. The individual factors are moot but the point is that there are lots of factors that can impact on the development of an individual. And all of this is before you add in the ability of an individual to absorb information e'g' dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, ADHD, IQ, sense of humour, ability to listen, work ethic - the 1m and 1 things that come together to make us, well, us. I accept that there may be such a thing as talent but, in the overall scheme of things, I reckon there is more we can do to give someone a better crack at it than we may think. I can't help but look at the number of great musicians who are the children of great musicians. The concept of talent carries with it an implication that there is some spooky 'mojo' force that some folk have and others don't. I think there is more truth in the impact of the environmental than the supernatural.