Rob MacKillop

I’ll have to check, but I think there’s a chapter on that later on, Gareth. Have a look.

Welcome aboard, nekomatic! I’m not moving very fast, so you should catch up with me soon. I’m trying not to race ahead, as I often do with books. This stuff I want to embed.

Well, that’s great news, Gareth. Get them while young 😀 Between you and Danny, he’s in good hands. Keep us posted.

It's an honor to have you here, Danny! And now that I know you are tuning in, the more I'll have to practice! Regarding So What, being primarily a guitar player, I initially improvised over it with the three minor pentatonics and minor blues scales in C Major. The blue notes add some interesting dissonance. So I see a minor chord - especially a static one - as an opportunity to explore a variety of related minor modes and scales. That d#/eb in the A Minor Blues scale works if the general flow allows it, likewise the a#/bflat in the E Minor Blues scale. I haven't yet been so free with my bass playing, but I guess there's no reason why these things wouldn't work in context?

I've just put myself to the test over So What and Footprints, and became somewhat depressed that things didn't flow as I had expected. Occasionally I got the patterns to work, but they threw me out here and there. More time playing to backing tracks is required. Sometimes the #7 sounded ok, when thinking or hearing horizontally rather than vertically. Looks like it's just you and me, Gareth...oh well.

Thanks, folks.

Yes, I recognise what he did for the electric bass, but like he said he played it as a toy. On the acoustic upright…something else!

Thanks, itu. So much to explore!

Well, that’s kind of what we are doing with Topics Vol 1. But you could start a similar Study Group focussed on Low Down Volume 1? On the other hand, I’m not sure we have enough forum members interested enough to sustain either group. Maybe just one Study Group focused on Walking Bass would be the way forward. What do you think? And do you have a name other than spearminthideous we could call you?

Thanks, itu. Sounds interesting.

That’s a good approach. Keep up the good work!

Maybe he covered it in the first text paragraph to Ex. 5a, when he says “The V7 chord…pivots between both major and minor tonalities”? If that’s what he meant, I think a little clarification was called for. Anyway, I’m playing the examples on pages 18/19. It’s annoying how I can read quite fluently on the 4-string, but occasionally get completely lost with the addition of the 5th string, even though I’m not playing it! Oh well, I’ve only had the 5-string for a week.

I see what you mean about Ex.6. Not sure about the proof-reading oversight, as under bar 3 there is an i for minor, and a capital I under bar 4 for Major. So he seems to mean a mixture of minor and major chords. I agree, it IS confusing! The G Major in bar 4 lies between two D7 chords, so he might be saying ‘in such instances you could play change to major when in a minor key, and maybe change to minor when in a major key’? But you think he would have addressed that in his comments!

PS I see Exercises 5 and 6 are things I’ve been trying anyway, so I’ll spend a day with them, then move onto pages 18&19.

You’re making great progress, Gareth! I’m moving at a slower pace, just about to start Exercise 5. It all sinks into my brain and fingers more easily on my 4-string, but I prefer the sound of the fretless 5-string, and that gives more opportunities for fingering. I haven’t done them on one string only…. Keep going! And let me know of any problems that lie ahead 🤔

“Gotten through”, or memorised? Different fingerings? Remember, at this stage Danny is assuming we use them over static harmony. But I’ll admit I’ve tried to use them in a song context as well.

Is there a Big Stan album devoted to the DB? If not, which album has the most DB on it?

I suggest also trying the patterns over a tonic-chord vamp. I’m playing the Cm version over a loop of the first four bars (all one Cm chord) of Footprints. Then you really hear the value of the patterns. So What would also be revealing.

Yes, a backing track would definitely help. I assume you have iRealPro? Good to see you giving it a try again.

Itu, it’s not a tutor in walking bass per se, see his first two books for that: Low Down 1&2. This book is more about developing a more interesting melodic style of walking, so you might be interested in that. In Vol. 2 he discusses soloing, and as far as I can see makes a development on from the melodic walking style in Volume 1. These early exercises are for playing over a static chord, but are soon inserted in standard repertoire pieces where you might break up some regular walking with these new patterns. I’m just at the early stage, learning melodic patterns of I-V chords in all keys, major and minor. It’ll take a little while to get my old brain and fingers fluent with them, while I’m trying to incorporate the B 5th string into my playing.

I ordered the Nano, but ten days later it hadn't arrived. The Bass Centre hadn’t realised it was out of stock 🙄. So we changed it to the Double 4, which I’m very happy with. All’s well that end's well!

What do you think of the mainly V - I harmonization of the scale? It vaguely reminds me of the Barry Harris (BH) Method which everyone is talking about these days, and which I only vaguely looked at before. From what I remember, BH alternated a C6th chord with a diminished 7th chord, throughout the whole C scale (correct me if I'm wrong). Danny mentions in his Preface, "...Barry Harris and his teachings were an influence on much of my conception of harmony". So, not totally a "BH for Bass", but he's in there somewhere.

Great, though I have to admit a measure of self interest in this. Without you guys pushing my back, I might abandon ship before we are clear of land 😊

Agreed!

Good. I've created a Study Group for the book here: Please have a read and join in if you can.