Bilbo

Had some charts I could use to cross refer, although the chords are actually quite simple. Surprisingly so, in fact.

Very useful link, lowdown. Thank you.

Middle C on bass clef is one ledger line above the stave. On treble clef, middle C is one ledger line below the stave. learned that about a year ago. (Remember - bass guitar/double bass is written one octave higher than it actually sounds)

I am tryinhg to learn to read piano music at the moment. As I don't play the piano, this is proving problematic. Baby steps, baby steps.......

Eggsactly. Wrong targets = wrong business practices. Targets should be the acquisition of the [i]skill[/i], not the qualification. Government departments want you to get qualifications so that they can stand at teh dispatch box and say you did. The fact that you are no better qualified or no nearer getting a job is academic. They paid for the training, now its your fault you haven't got a job, not theirs.

Teachers are buisnessmen and colleges are businesses. In my recent experience, tutors of all kinds in formal establishments are pretty much told not to fail anyone. Great for business, lousy for education and students. Education seems to be about fulfilling the fantasy not about improving the student's abilities. Branford Marsalis, great as he is, is perfectly aware of his shortcomings (has finished gigs by apologising to the audience for having a bad night and telling them to ask for their oney back) and is very openminded (has played with Sting, The Grateful Dead, Bruce Hornsby and a load of other rock and pop acts). I suspect he is seeing what I see whenever I have contact with music colleges; an education system that puts its business objectives first and its students learning and development needs last. I have seen 'music' students that can't actually play a note, can't sing in tune and have no idea. What they do have is the fees. Whats [i]that[/i] about if its not getting the whole thing wrong?

Yes, I can hear tghat now, Jake. Thanks, again, mate. 'Off to shed... Doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom....

Just a few thoughts from saxophonist Branford Marsalis on what he has learned from his students. Offers pause for thought, I think?

Good points, Jake. I have some of those OP albums, certainly some recordings with Ray B and Ed T. I will have a listen to them and compare with the new recordings I have of myself. I have a bit of time today to spend practising so will get to it straight away. Thanks for the pointers.

Got my bass back from the luthier as promised and, with the new bridge and soundpost, it sounds great. Can't wait to get playing this afternoon (wedding gig - sax, bass, piano trio - just as well there are no drums as this is the first real oouting since the breakdown four weeks ago. I am expecting stamina to be an issue although the action on the bass is so much more user friendly so that will help a lot). Still, the other guys are good musical players so I am in safe hands!!

[quote name='jakesbass' post='1230785' date='May 14 2011, 10:43 AM']we can all always improve.... will PM some thoughts if you think that would be useful.[/quote] Please do, Jake. And feel free to do so in public, if you think it would be useful. One of the reasons I keep posting developments in my 'No Pain, No Gain' thread is to allow people to see what goes on when you take up an instrument like this after years of playing double bass (like a blog but without the pressure!!). I can already hear some 'shortcomings' on the track and still feel that there is a lot to do in terms of mastering the instrument but, in terms of getting from not playing to being a gigging player, its a useful marker to how long it takes and what the learning points are. I am big enough to take crticism and feel that doing so in public to help others learn would be perfectly acceptable to me.

Thanks for that, Mike. I guess my goal is to play it well and not just to play it. Its been a long time coming.

Great arrangement.

I'd rather eat my own liver.

Is it just me or has anyone ever talked to these luthier guys about hazards of branding for an international market? Or do they know ?

As some of you will know, my double bass has been poorly for a month or so and I am picking it up from the luthier's tomorrow. In the intervening period, I decided I would do something I have wanted to do for years but have never had the time. I have several trasncriptions of John Coltrane's saxophone parts on his legendary LP 'A Love Supreme' but they were all Bb parts. I have wanted to put them into bass clef for as long as I can remember having them and have never got around to it. Well, this month 'off' has provided the opportunity to do it at last. So, here is a bass clef version of Coltrane's saxophone playing on what is arguably one of the greatest and most influential jazz albums of all time. The transcription comes in 4 parts; Acknolwdgement, Resolution, Pursuance and Psalm. I have gained so much insight into this piece from the process of transcribing and listening to the album with the charts in front of me has revealed more and more detail about how deep this stuff actually is. I can't begin to explain how intense this stuff is. I am studying it but it feels like its almost a months work every two bars. Anyway, I hope someone finds a use for this. If not, I still win because I am in bass clef heaven!! NOTE this is the saxophone part [b]NOT[/b] the bass part. Some of it is playable on the bass but some is unplayable and more useful for study rather than performance. Some of the saxophone parts are phrased using wierd saxophonic idiosynracies which do not translate to a stringed instrument so I have to acknowledge having claimed at least a little poetic licence at various points in the transcription (mostly in Pursuance).

I know its not Dave Holland but it swings and I am certainly pleased with it in terms of where I was a year ago.

[quote name='Hector' post='1227647' date='May 11 2011, 03:26 PM']Sounding great Rob! How long since you first started on upright? Some disgustingly short amount of time I expect...[/quote] I borrowed a bass from Jakesbass in December 2009 and got my own last March so say 16 months? The lines I am playing are not that different to those I would have played on the Wal so all I really had to do was learn the mechanics of playing the double bass and to build the stamina (still working on that). It also helped that a short while before this session, I had my bass set up properly (it was set too high before). It all came together at that session.

[quote name='bassace' post='1227653' date='May 11 2011, 03:32 PM']Yes, very good bass playing although your drummer a bit careless with the cymbals at times. Only thing worries me; I understood from your posts that you were terribly cutting edge and had a downer on 'The Great American Songbook'. So why Witchcraft? Glad to see that you're not above doing what the rest of us do.[/quote] I just played the gig There's the me that I want to be and the me that I am. They are not necessarily the same thing.

You're all wrong. Its a kind of blue.

[quote name='purpleblob' post='1227301' date='May 11 2011, 11:22 AM']I'm not suggesting it's bad to revisit old ground otherwise I would not have commented. Sorry, I thought my overuse of emoticons would demonstrate my comment was toungue in cheek but possibly not [/quote] Fret not, old chum. My response was mostly tongue in cheek also albeit with a serious intent.

New track recently recorded. The bass is recorded through a K&K pick up and a Fishman Platinum Pro and simulatneously through a Rode NT1A microphone. I am quiet pleased with the results (more tracks to follow when they are properly mixed). [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=135296"]Witchcraft[/url] My bass has been out of commission for a month (see above) but I am getting it back on Friday in time for a trio gig on Saturday. New bridge and soundpost. Can't wait.

I have a different problem. I go up to a stranger and say 'Hi, I'm Bilbo' If they are the person waiting for me, its 'Hi, nice to meet you'. If they are not, the response is: 'Funny. You are taller than I expected'.

Its hard to play a double bass with your foot on a monitor. I also think it is pertinent to note that the rebellious 'smash the gear up in a fit of pre-pubescent pique' thing doesn't really work when you are 47, overweight and playing Lush Life. That rebel without a cause thing was started by the likes off Jerry Lee Lewis in 1849 and is a bit tired now anyway but watching it done by middle aged old farts who drove to the gig in a Volvo with a 10 plate is a bit sad. Even if they [i]are[/i] called Iron Maiden.