Bilbo

I have recently discovered this technique and argue that it can be done without the nail (I hve hardly any nails) but not for more than a few mintes at a time at first. You need to build up a callous on the top side of your thumb the same as you did the bottom side so take your time an be patient. Its a case of practising the techique until it is 'automatic' and confortable, same as most other aspects of technique (PS I haven't used it on a gig, yet, and feel that I am unlikely to!)

For me, this is another of those things that is surrounded in myth. When we are young, developing players, we are convinced that we need to give 100% to our chosen instrument, in this case the bass, and that to spen anytime with another instrument, such as the guitar, will udnermine us in some way. Bad! There are 1,000s of great musicians out there that can play more than one thing. The one that impresses me at the moment is saxophonist Chris Potter who also plays guitar, keyboards and flute (if not more). Charles Mingus and Jack DeJohnette have both done solo piano lps, most arrangers have more than one instrument (piano is often one of them). Steve Swallow writes mostly on piano, as, I believe, does Pat Metheny. Al DiMeola is a credible percussionist. Omar Hakim, drummer with Weather Report and Madonna () plays guitar. The list is endless. I play guitar and bass and am getting into piano to fill some gaps in my knowledge of harmony and orchestration. Bass is the one I gig on (have done a few on guitar but you wouldn't want to hear it ), Its the music that matters and knowledge you gain from playing one instrument is invaluable in broadening your insight into the MUSIC

I've got a jazz gig with Nic France on Monday. He's played with Allan Holdsworth, Jim Mullen, Ronnie Scott, Ian Carr's Nucleus, Loose Tubes, Kenny Wheeler, John Taylor, Andy Sheppard, Hank Crawford, David 'Fathead' Newman, Mose Allison, L. Shankar, Bill Withers, Pete Townsend, Jools Holland and Annie Lennox, Billy Cobham, Terry Callier and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour ('David Gilmour Live' DVD). Not that I am nervous or anything Its the Anglia Ruskin University Jazz Singers bash in Cambridge. I think every other bass player in East Anglia must be busy that day. I am just looking forward to playing with a great, great drummer and seeing if I can deliver at this level. Should be interesting, one way or the other.

Hadn't gigged for a month before a jazz trio gig I did last night. Sounded like it

Anyone know what happened to that Jaco fella?

I played one and a half minutes of jazz on the National Lottery Live in 1994. The piece opened with 12 bars of walking bass with the camera on me throughout - full screen. When I went to work on Monday, everyone had seen the programme but noone had recognised me (except an offender who appeared in reception on the following Thursday). So much for 15 minutes of fame!

AAAH - the wonders of tabulation!!

Last month, I posted a transcription of the first saxophone solo I ever wrote down (it is under the Theory and Technique forum), Gerry Mulligan's baritone solo on 'Song For Strayhorn'. The amazing thing was that I did (most) of it from memory (there was one four bar passage I made a complete dog's breakfast out of and had to revisit) - I originally learned that solo before I bought my Wal in 1986. Nowadays, I can't remember my name unless someone shouts it at me.

Passive Jazz? Is that like Kenny G?

Definately a wah. One of my earliest 'party tricks'!

I have used Transcribe for several years now and it really dioes make the job so much easier. At the price quoted, its a must have. After years of rewinding cassettes, this was, for me, a blessed release. I can now hear stuff I previously struggeld with because, by slowing it down with this software, it has become familiar enough for me to recognise it on the fly. Marvellous tool and its costs less than the average PC game (and you know what I think of THEM!!)

Marc Johnson - Bass Desires Dave Holland - Extensions (quartet) and Ones All (solo) Steve Swallow - Damaged In Transit Tribal Tech - Spears (Gary Willis) Stanley Clarke - Journey To Love Wayne Johsnon Trio - Grasshopper (Jimmy Johnson) Pat Metheny - Bright Size Life (Javo) & Rejoicing (Charlie Haden) Paul Chambers - Bass On Top Herbie Hancock Quartet - V.S.O.P. Live (Wynton Marsalis, Tony Williams and Ron Carter) Pat Metheny Group - Still Life (Talking) and We Live Here (both Steve Rodby) John McLaughlin Trio - Live at the Royal Festival Hall (Kai Eckhardt) Gradually Going Tornado - Bruford (Jeff Berlin)

Dig that crazy beat......

As a card-carrying jazz nazi, I am supposed to be an 'acooustic is best' fanatic but I have always thought: Electric bass strings - wires and electricity (pick-ups) - wires and electricity(amp) - wires and electricity (desk) - wires and electricity (amp) - wires and electricity (speakers) vs Acoustic bass strings - wires and electricity (microphone) - wires and electricity - wires and electricity (desk) - wires and electricity (amp) - wires and electricity (speakers) So, on that basis, if the chain goes Electric bass strings - wires and electricity (pick-ups) - wires and electricity (compressor) -wires and electricity(amp) - wires and electricity (desk) - wires and electricity (speakers), how is that cheating? Whatever you need to get the sound you want is entirely defensible. It's the music that matters not the tools you use to get to it.

[quote name='The Funk' post='485818' date='May 12 2009, 12:26 PM']While listening to some of the classic recordings of those three tunes, I can hear some of the band bringing in the changes slightly ahead of the bar when it should happen. Am I supposed to follow that or does that undermine what they're trying to do?[/quote] It is pretty rare for a pianist or guitar player to comp on the first beat of a bar; they do tend ot push to the beat by playing on the 4th swung off-beat (4 and). It helps push the tune alone, helps give it some momentum. The secret is for the bass player to stay on the beat and the drummer to accent the pusheed beat with the harmony instrument. The bass player can, on occasion, push too, creating a certain urgency to the groove, but this should not be overdone as it will get boring quickly.

[quote name='jakesbass' post='484714' date='May 11 2009, 12:08 AM']too much messing around rhythmically makes it sound like a mess.[/quote] Jake's right, but here's the rub. When you get the harmonies involved deep into your head, AND when you are playing with great players who you KNOW you can trust AND who trust you, AND you are playing in a conducive environment, you can get into some really advanced rhytmic stuff and play excruciatingly complex cross rhythms, knowing that it will resolve organically when its completes its cycle. Its all about tension and release but you've got to be ready for it. THAT is why you study, so your s*** is really together when you need it to be. The best thing to so in most situations, however, is as Jake says play straight four. I listen to a LOT of Paul Chambers (odd that...) and he hardly ever breaks things up like, say, Scott LaFaro or Dave Holland. When he swings he SWINGS....THAT was why he did 300+ lps in 13 years with the greatest players in the world (37 with Coltrane alone). Your job is to make the singer/frontline players sound good. Most rhythmic juggling doesn't do that and,if you over egg it, you won't get called back for more gigs.

I am self taught but that's not the point. I think its down to your learning style. I do books etc but did have a couple of lessons early on (Dan Quinton and Dudley Phillips). You need to find your own way but I would say that, teacher or not, you do most of the work yourself as there are no quick fixes. Teachers don't give you new skills by osmosis but by giving you the information you need to learn when you need to learn it and by stopping you from going up blind alleys and wasting time.

Don't worry, pip. I only found that out last year and I have been reading for nearly 20 years

A transcription of Steve Swallow's intro solo to his tune 'Let's Eat' off his cd 'The Real Book'. Its quite a fast tune and it is important to note that Swallow plays it with a pick (the phrasing works better that way but you can easily play it without). The composition is based on the chord changes to 'Softly As In The Morning Sunrise'.

They are all in the theory and technique section of the forum (as they are meant to help people with their reading practice)

So that' it. The value of jazz in 21st Century is a bowl full of p***. Good job this is only a bass players forum and not for musicians

Just wanted to draw attention to the fact that the transcriptions I have been putting up here over the last few months have now been downloaded a total of 354 times! Does my heart good to see that there are some people out there who are interested enough to have a gander. The most popular was Miles Davis' All Blues solo (63). Then Steve Swallow's 'Wrong Together' solo (45)and Dave Holland's 'Serenade' (41).

[quote name='Ray' post='482687' date='May 8 2009, 08:29 AM']shouldn't that be ii V I rather than II V I? [/quote] Yup.

It is best to think in terms of key centres rather then chords. The opening five chords of Scrapple, for instance, are all in the key of F major so, rather than thinking of each chord, you can approach it as a II V I in F major - one scale fits 5 chords. You go through the chart and look at sequences of chords in order to find the 'blocks' of chords in each key centre. When you look at these charts in this way, they become a bit less iintimidating (eventually )