bass_dinger

I want to create a walking bassline for Dance Monkey. Chords are F#m, D, E, C#m. So, is the key A, or C#m? I know to play a leading note (one tone or semitone?) below or above the root note of the next chord - so, F#m D F#, E, D, C#, D. However, what would work for the D to E? Chromatic notes?

What a palaver! It seems to me that you are very much having to make things happen yourself, with those instruments - your own loops, your own frets, your own string care regime.

A wife who is 30 years younger? Very Rock and Roll!

Odd - I would have thought that a violinist would be the best way of stepping out to mandolin. It has the same scale length, the same narrow neck (which encourages single notes or double stops rather than chords), and the same tuning (which means that relative note positions are already known). Thank you for your kind words! Yes, they can be loud, especially with double strings (which are intended to help increase the volume). I use a red Jazz III xl pick, which is more mellow than the black version. I have also used a wooden plectrum (too dull). Generally, I think of the mandolin as a melody instrument, rather than a chordal instrument. I think of it as a plucked fretted violin, rather than a smaller guitar. For me, it is that different tuning, and the difficulties of playing chords, which make for the new possibilities.

I have started to play the mandolin again. Mandolessons.com is a great resource. The website has the facility to sort tunes by key, and difficulty. From that, I found easy tunes in G, with sheet music and tablature. Each tune is recorded with mandolin, or guitar or both, normal speed and half speed. So, I am learning stuff in G, reading the music - effectively learning scales and note positions by learning tunes. After sight reading in G becomes second nature, I will move to C, which will involve changing the F# to F - one new note. Then onto F (the B of the C scale will be flattened to the B flat of the F scale). So, I will learn to read music properly on an new instrument. For me, I won't be learning chord shapes - I have a capo and a Lowden that covers the high register, and my £40 German Democratic Republic instrument cannot compete, tonewise. Instead, I find that the tuning in 5ths is more logical than the 4ths and a 3rd of the guitar, and teaches me the fingerboard, ready for a better instrument. Who else here plays bass and mandolin?

That is a question worthy of a whole new thread. (See what I did there?)

Fruit boxes are what I use - that. and PVA glue to stick the parts together. Two joined lengthways made a good box for a banjo (and the section on the middle was cut to make a neck rest). As for the amplifier, insert puns below about Orange amps, Apple Music, or a Pear of speakers...

A pedant writes: "I think that you will find that it is a Singer Chamois - the next model up from the Imp". A shame, because Pimp my Imp has a certain ring to it! However, not as good as the strap-line of the car club for owners of Mini-based Rileys, which referenced classic minis, Rileys, and the Italian Job theme song: "We are the Elf Preservation Society."

Stairway to Heaven. Thank you. I'm here all week... I think of it as musical exercise - if I can play Led Zeppelin, ABBA, Stevie Wonder, Chic, and Bach, then I will be able to manage whatever else I am asked to play. However, if all that I can play is Hillsong 4-chord songs, then the music will sound very samey.

I feel a bit silly now, remembering the time that I mentioned to them that they had not included a jack adapter in my order. Simply huge!

Over the weekend, one of the drummers wanted to work on his rhythmic chops. He had heard Toto's Roseanna shuffle, and had found out that it was based on John Bonham's Fool in the Rain. I rather like it too, so, that is our homework for the next few weeks.

For £120 a set, you should not be attaching the strings to the instrument - you should be framing them! Fascinating post - I look forward to seeing the photos of the instrument.

In church? An amp, a cable. . . . And I have a Boss TU2 tuner, used as a mute switch. Anything more complex would be too difficult when a different band play in the following week.

It's made worse when one knew the person in the çasket. It is very much more personal.

How was it?

I do sometimes wonder if that is a thing. Any thoughts from others here? It feels to me that a good worship band attracts good musicians to the congregation, who will then move to the band.

Can someone explain the concept (and the purpose) of Transposing Instruments, and what a B flat or E flat Instrument is? I see those terms used in relation to brass instruments but don't grasp the purpose - written C sounds as an E flat, for example.

Craig Gardener? Where is he in the music industry now? Tell me that! Whereas KingPrawn is a veritable Collosus of the bass world.

But if you play the fretless bass, you can do something similar. Strap a GoPro to your fretting hand pointed at your plucking hand, and share the results here. I once heard the trombone described as the fretless trumpet.

I am thinking about having the neck made into a lined fretless. Before that happens, I have a question for those bassists who are playing a lined fretless. I already know that I don't use the position markers on the fretboard. I instead use the side dots. So, should the dots to be on the fretline rather than in between them? I don't already play fretless so, I have no opinion on what side dot positions I would prefer.

This feels like the equivalent of taking one's dog to the vet for major surgery, only to be told that it's just indigestion, and that some Syrup of Figs will sort it out... I have learnt that: Not all 5mm Allen keys are equal. So I will get a proper one, to keep in my kit case, rather than the one from my Poundland set. Not all luthiers are equal. In retrospect, it seems obvious that the first luthier should have tried an engineering solution (loosen the nut), before the luthier solution (replace the neck or truss rod). Ironically, @Bunionwas closest to the target when he quipped about truss rod gel being the answer.

Yes, it will ruin a guitar. What product ruined this guitar? Olive Oil.

"Uncle Len, tell us the story again, about how you served in the War...." And in so doing, teach me how to serve better. Yours expectantly, but Puffed Up with Pride and Impatience. Bass_Dinger

A solution in search of a problem.

I spoke with the singer on Sunday. "You were singing the other Sunday." "Yes! I enjoyed it! I can't wait to do it again." "Did you manage to..... listen.... to the service?" "Yes I did!" "How was it?" "Very good!!" Clearly, she can't hear herself. Truly awful singing and no self awareness. Someone needs to tell her, because if I do, it won't be pretty.