Alun

Yeah, the headline seems a bit "tabloid" to me really, and is feeding off the sort of reaction it would probably cause. His actual comments make total sense in light of the "more is better" syndrome that some musicians suffer from ( that is NOT an attack on ERBs, just a comment on players who feel that having more strings, speakers, watts, etc will make them better). Jeff's comments are, IMO, often designed to provoke comversation and thought ( which they obviously do!) but if you watch his most recent Players School DVD, you'll see that he actual backs up and explains some of his bold statements. I was amazed when he performed at Bassday 07 and came across as a very humorous and friendly person when he had to ad lib his way through the power cut. From his reputation, I expected him to storm off but he stayed and chatted until the problem was fixed. Cheers Alun

Thank you gents New gig dates will be appearing in the Gigs section veeeeery soon. Cheers Alun

[quote name='Cernael' post='251777' date='Jul 31 2008, 12:17 AM']This, while part of good advice, is a false analogy. Tendons are housed in sheaths with next to zero friction; bending the wrist doesn't really make it harder to move the them. What it actually does is make the distance between the elbow, where the relevant muscles are attached, and the fingers ever so slightly longer (or shorter, in the case of the flexor muscles), meaning that the muscles must work at the extreme end of their range, where they're generally weaker. Also, since you're at the extreme range, you have less...ehh...wiggle room. Try this; make a tight fist. Now, bend your wrist in the direction of the palm, and try to hold the fist tight. Does it open up a bit anyway?[/quote] Thanks Cernael. Will amend accordingly Cheers Alun

I love the fretted vid. I like the way you play about with the phrases, building them and playing variations - really nice stuff. Your phrasing in general is very vocal, very sax player like and fluid which is great. I like the fretless vid too, and it shows loads of potential, but I think I can hear you don't feel as comfortable yet. Sure you will soon though Overall, very impressive throughout! Cheers Alun

Another one gone It;s not been a good year for jazzers - Joe, Hiram Bullock, Dave Carpenter, Esborrn Svensson. RIP Alun

I like Janek's writing a lot , and he's a great player. His solo set at Bassday 06 was superb I know he ran into some "issues" here for whatever reason, but I've met Janek twice and he's always been very friendly and nice. Cheers Alun

[quote name='Oscar South' post='238013' date='Jul 12 2008, 03:46 PM']Theres nothing specifically wrong with academic approaches to improvising, apart from in a lot of cases people end up sounding almost the same as every other academically trained improviser.[/quote] This can be true, but is more down to , IMO, lack of imagination on behalf of the student. Too often players get caught up in playing the "hip" notes and spiral off into altered tones and symmetrical scales without paying attention to melody or creating something unique. Cheers Alun

OK, here are the dates for Seth's tour... Sept 24 Clitheroe - Keystreet Bar of Music Sept 25 Manchester - The Thirsty Scholar Sept 26 Near Newport, Wales - Blackwood Miners Institute Sept 28 Milton Keynes -The Dolphin Sept 30 Plymouth - Ride Cafe Oct 1 Cornwall -Gylly Beach Cafà Oct 2 Cornwall - The Taphouse The Blackwood date ( Sept 26) will also include a workshop at approx 6.15 which is included in the ticket price Cheers Alun

[quote name='ped' post='249182' date='Jul 27 2008, 10:16 PM']Can't wait!! I will be there in some official capacity apparently and really looking forward to the show. I only came for about an hour last time (Miss ped in tow) but planning on staying until the bitter end this year! Will be great to meet you (after narrowly missing you in Scholars in Aberytwyth) and several other new faces. Look out for more info and a banner to the website here soon, basschat is supporting the event in a big way! Cheers ped[/quote] Cool I was back in Scholars about a fortnight ago oddly enough! Long way to go but always a fun gig. Cheers Alun

Apologies if this has already been posted and I'm missed it but Bassday 2008 in Manchester looks like it's shaping up to be a good one ... [url="http://www.bassdayuk.co.uk/profiles.html"]http://www.bassdayuk.co.uk/profiles.html[/url] Cheers Alun EDIT - Sorry, should have said 2008!!!

Hi all. As some of you may ( or may not ) know, I have been working on some writing some tuition material over the last few months which will eventually ( day to day life is playing havoc with my deadlines!!!) be available at [url="http://www.bassbook.co.uk"]www.bassbook.co.uk[/url]. Out of curiousity, I thought I'd post the introduction to the first book, which deals with basic picking and fretting techniques, and get some feedback ...... " [b]Why have technique?[/b] Go on any internet musicians forum and you'll find the discussion of “technique” being discussed for many pages. It's often seen as a dirty word,as if having a lot of technique turns you into a robot that just plays millions of mechanical notes with no emotion or sense of melody, and there is an almost romantic notion that the non-technical will produce better, more honest music. But technique is simply that – something that allows you to get things done. At the moment I'm sitting here with my laptop typing this. Using what? Yes, my typing technique. A technique which is, if I'm honest, not that great. As a result I make mistakes and have to correct things, and can't express the ideas in my head as fluidly as I'd like. If my typing technique was more precise I would be able to express my ideas more quickly and more accurately. Whether I decide to write a love poem or a technical manual full of long words, my typing will be up to the job. And that is exactly how I see bass technique development – a way of allowing us to express the ideas in our heads easily and effortlessly. If we then decide to play a slow ballad or a non stop flurry of notes at 400 beats per minute is down to our own sense of musicality, it has NOTHING to do with the ability in your hands. Our technical prowess is simply a way of realising the sounds in our heads,Just remember that, no matter how much technique we have, we are trying to create music, not win the Bass Olympics. [b]Getting comfortable[/b] Before we start, let's get the bass in a comfortable playing position. Now, before I start, I have to be honest and say there is not one Holy Grail of bass position. We all have different body shapes and, more than likely, we all have different shape basses which may or may not suit certain positions. However, there are some general principles we can use to get our instrument into a playing position which will: a, be comfortable b, allow us full access to the instrument c, minimise the likelihood of injury d, be consistent when performing and practicing OK, the first thing I will say might sound obvious but is missed by a lot of players, both beginners and more experienced bassists, and that is that you should practice with the bass in the same position as you have it when you play live. I have often seen players ( and I've been guilty of this too!) who practice sitting down, hunched over the bass and then play live standing up with the bass at waist level. They then wonder why all that clever stuff they practiced is so hard to play live. Think about it - if you're sitting hunched over the bass, the top of the bass is probably against your chestbone so both your arms are likely to be bent at the elbow, your picking arm may well be out at a right angle to your shoulder. Then you stand up with the bass lower down. The top of the bass is now where? Ribcage or maybe lower? Both arms are considerably straighter as you're reaching further. The chances are that, if you were practicing with the bass balanced on your leg it was further off to the side and when you stand up it's more central. Yes, you've just changed every angle of your body in relation to the bass. Imagine if you learned to drive and then, when you bought a car, the steering wheel was in the middle of the dashboard and how difficult it would be to drive. That is effectively what you're doing to your bass playing by not having a consistent approach to position. So, keep the position consistent. Either have your bass at such a height that it will sit on your body in the same way whether you're sitting or standing or, if you can't resist the low slung rock look, practice standing up. It's a really simple way to improve the consistency between your practicing and performing. The next thing we need to think about is whether our playing position allows us full access to the neck. Sitting down is generally not too bad, but make sure your arm can reach the 1st fret comfortably without stretching full length and that you can reach the top frets easily. Pay particular attention to making sure your arm doesn't collide with your torso. Standing up can be a bit more of an issue as the height of your bass can affect how accessible the fretboard is. If you have your bass slung quite low the lower frets will normally be pretty easy to play but the top end of the neck may be quite tricky to get to without bending your wrist quite sharply or changing your posture. Conversely, having the bass too high may make the upper frets easier to get to, but you could find yourself stretching for those low notes, especially if you use a 35” or 36” scale bass. So try and get the bass at such a height that you can comfortably slide your finger from the 1st fret to the top end of the neck without having to stretch or change your posture. Also consider the position of your picking hand. You need to be able to comfortably play every string It's unlikely that the bass will be low that you can't reach all the strings but I have seen some people come close! Very high positions can be worse as the picking hand can end up at a very sharp angle to your forearm. Now, many players play perfectly well like this but I try to discourage having bent wrists wherever possible. Every tendon that you use to wiggle your fingers about has to travel through a very small passageway – your wrist. Imagine your drinking through a straight straw – the liquid flows quite easily. Now, bend the straw in the middle and try again – still getting some liquid through but you have to try harder. That's effectively what's physically happening with your wrists, so I strongly recommend keeping your wrists as straight as possible. I should probably add at this point that this isn't just the opinion of a writer/teacher – I have suffered in the past with pain and problems in both wrists so am offering this advise to hopefully avoid you having the same. Either way, “no pain no gain” does NOT work when it comes to bass playing. If you start to feel pain, take a break for a few minutes. " All comments/opinions gratefully received Cheers Alun

That is very sad news, I hadn't heard Alun

Thanks all Cheers Alun

Apologies for the sudden attack of self promotion but just thought I'd let you all know that [url="http://www.panicroom.org.uk"]Panic Room[/url], one of the bands I play with, are one of the bands featured on the CD that comes free with this month's Classic Rock magazine To make me even happier, Rush are on the cover Cheers Alun

I'm on the "don't normally like MMs but like this one" side of the fence although I agree that it would be nicer with the grain on the back too. Reminds me of the Musicman ( and Peavey ) guitars used by Eddie Van Halen. Cheers Alun

[quote name='Oscar South' post='243375' date='Jul 19 2008, 02:52 PM']Heh I was just looking through my old library of Sibelius compositions, some interesting stuff, we should do some 'basschat sibelius collaboration' where we could pass around various uncompleted parts and have people add to or edit them.[/quote] That sounds like it could be fun

It is more than a littel strange in places but I must admit I really enjoyed it. It's an interesting approach to explaining music. Cheers Alun

The Squiers do sound fantastic. I have no desire to "upgrade" as mine does everything I want a passive Jazz to do Cheers Alun

[quote name='bass_ferret' post='237997' date='Jul 12 2008, 03:22 PM']We play British Legion and CIU type clubs for about £300 less agents fee's, for a 3 peice band. The singer can get £200 on his own on the same circuit singing the same songs and playing the same guitar to backing tracks. I dont declare it .....[/quote] Uh, you just did. To the entire Internet browsing world

I did a wedding a few backs where we opened with "Young Hearts Run Free" - maybe not the best choice My favourite for a while was a singer who, not really thinking about where we were, announced "Mack The Knife" as "Smack The Wife" - not good

I've always liked Zender's playing, and I know he has a lot of fans here, but he comes across like a spoilt brat in that blog. OK, the interview didn't include stuff he was hoping would be in their way, and he doesn't seem to have got on with the interviewer, but he has got several pages worth of publicity in a national magazine out of it. His rant about the cover artist, right or wrong, does seem to have an air of jealousy to it too.

I've played a neck through single cut 5 string and it was lovley. Great tone ane very easy to play. I wish Warwick did six string Infinity NTs

A couple of different ones... Panic Room Jeff Hooper Big Band Cheers Alun

[quote name='silddx' post='234257' date='Jul 7 2008, 04:17 PM']Not what to teach them as such, but HOW to teach them. A few basic principles which you may or may not have heard before. Four stages of learning: - Unconscious incompetence - Conscious incompetence - Unconcsious competence - Conscious competence [u]Three stages of the lesson:[/u] 1. Tell them what you'll teach them. 2. Teach them. 3. Tell them what you taught them. [u]An old proverb:[/u] Tell me and I'll forget. Show me and I'll remember. Involve me and I'll understand. Something I learned when teaching that really works is the feedback sandwich. [b]- Ask them how they felt about what they just did, ie. a self-assessment, - then tell them some good points, - then how they could improve what they did (in a positive way - use the word AND, not BUT when critiquing), - Tell them some more good points and summarise.[/b] It's really important to find some good points and praise them for it, even if it is difficult. Language is really important too, plenty of [b]"good"[/b]s, [b]"excellent"[/b]s and [b]"I like"[/b]s are all encouraging and give the student confidence that their future uphill learning struggle is not insurmountable. Be aware of your body language and the tone of your voice, actual words account for less than 10% of your communication. There are different learning styles, visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, academic. Finally, like the previous two post said, don't give them too much to do, they need to feel they are achieving but being challenged. Set SMART objectives for their homework. Good luck, tell us how you got on.[/quote] Great post Cheers Alun

This looks fun.. [url="http://www.roland.co.uk/guitar_room_catdet.asp?id=MICROCUBEBASSRX"]http://www.roland.co.uk/guitar_room_catdet...MICROCUBEBASSRX[/url] But only seems to be 5w?? Cheers Alun