Doddy

I managed to get hold of an advanced copy a couple of weeks ago,and it took me 3 or 4 listens to get into it. I thought that the songs were lacking the balls that they had live. I'm digging it now though.

I've noticed a couple of posts lately which,to me,give the impression that there are some people who feel that gear is an important part of improvement as a player or more important than the player themselves. It's not just limited to this site or bass players in general...I've seen it with a lot of drummers and guitar players too. I love gear as much as anyone but I feel that the gear is somewhat secondary to the player and that everyone would benefit so much more from spending money and time on lessons and practice rather than spending thousands on gear. I understand that some people are collectors of instruments but I'm guessing that the vast majority of people on here are more than that.

I think the best bet is just to learn the notes that are in the scales-that way you can play them over one,two,three or four strings. You don't need a specialist book for playing on one string.

The Double Bass should not hurt your rig-I've used mine through similar rigs with no problems. However....I still wouldn't lend my amp,just because that's what I'm like. If you've got a gig,you should take your own gear-even if it's only a DI box. I'd never rely on another player for an amp and I expect the same from others.

[quote name='billyapple' post='1369493' date='Sep 11 2011, 03:50 PM']I find them strangely attractive, but doesn't this style prevent upper neck access?[/quote] No. If anything,I find that they generally make upper fret access easier. [quote name='billyapple' post='1369493' date='Sep 11 2011, 03:50 PM']Are they for a particular playing style,[/quote] Really? They're just like any other bass...you can play whatever the you want on one. I love Singlecut basses.

[quote name='daz' post='1369259' date='Sep 11 2011, 11:46 AM']'fraid i have to agree. Why on earth is it being moved? Just to get Marcus Miller as a guest ? Big deal! I thought that the idea of a bassday, is surely about the equipment not the guests. Guest players are nice but secondary.[/quote] Funny,I always find the players more important than the gear. It's awesome that Marcus is going to be doing it,but I don't know if Band on the Wall is the right venue,as cool as it is-it might be a bit small. I won't be going though because the date has been moved to the same day that I fly out to LA.

If space is tight,you can always have the boom coming from the side-it makes it a little less likely to get knocked. Also,if you are concerned about people thinking they can have a go,simply remove the mic from the stand when you're not playing.

[quote name='bassman7755' post='1366813' date='Sep 8 2011, 07:01 PM']Right but if you know the third of C is E and you know where the Es are then you don't need this app/we page thing right ? (which was kind of my point)[/quote] But do you know other chords? If you know what notes are used in what chords and where the notes are over the fingerboard,then no you don't need a chart like this. But,there are obviously a number of people who don't know what notes are in a certain chord or where those notes are-it's those people that may find something like this useful.

[quote name='bassman7755' post='1359548' date='Sep 2 2011, 09:40 AM']Take C major for example ... Locate (one of) the root note, lets take the one on the A string 3rd fret. The intervals are 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th all natural (i.e. non-flattened) since its the plain major scale on the fingerboard those intervals are: [note that "up" a string means up in pitch i.e. to a thinner string] up 2 frets on the same string (2nd) up 1 string and down one fret (3rd) up 1 string same fret (4th) up 1 string up 2 frets (5th) up 2 strings down 1 fret (6th) up 2 strings up 1 fret (7th) and then up 2 strings up 2 frets takes you the next C root[/quote] Alright...... Now,play a C major scale,ascending, starting on the G string of a standard tuned 4 string bass......your fingering pattern has just gone completely out of the window.

[quote name='bassman7755' post='1366563' date='Sep 8 2011, 04:01 PM']OK I'm genuinly curious as to the exact cirsumstance that people find things like this useful. I dont mean to target this specific page but I mean the whole chord/scale locator thing. For example if I needed to know where all the C major notes are I simply locate all the C notes and using my interval knowledge locate the 3rds and 5ths.[/quote] Because you don't want to have to think "right,where's C? There it is...so the third must be here".It makes it so much easier if you know what the notes of the chord/scale are and that you can just play them.

[quote name='ojwethorns' post='1366579' date='Sep 8 2011, 04:07 PM']Yes, I know it will sometime show sharp / flat designation but it is still the same relative note. I could easily show the name of both notes that share the same fret position - would this help?[/quote] Not really because if,for example,we are in Bb minor the third is always Db and not C# (which would be the #2/#9). If you are trying to teach about chord tones it is important to make the distinction between the two.

You may want to check out some of the notes. For example in the key of B flat minor you have C# as the 3rd and it should be a D flat. I noticed things like this a few times.

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1365516' date='Sep 7 2011, 05:49 PM']All this recent talk about music shops made me think. How would you honestly describe yourself as a customer?[/quote] I think you're the best judge of that as far as I'm concerned.

[quote name='Phil Starr' post='1366369' date='Sep 8 2011, 01:35 PM']I also want to understand how things make me a better player. Its easy to see how ear training will improve things and I'm trying to work on that. Music theory is trickier. If I'm playing F# then my fingers know where the 5th above is without thinking and my brain knows it is C#. I can play scales of F#,C# without thinking but how does knowing the note names help other than when I'm talking to another musician. That is probably a dumb question but I suppose it is the bit I don't get.[/quote] Well,to be able to communicate with other musicians sounds like a good reason on its own. OK...you can play a C# scale without thinking-I'm guessing you are playing a pattern or shape like a lot of players. But,can you play it on one string or over various octaves? If you know the notes you have the whole fingerboard at your disposal-if you know the shape,you have one shape you can work with.

[quote name='Phil Starr' post='1366118' date='Sep 8 2011, 10:07 AM']I don't have enough life left to do the 10,000 hours at the hour a day i can spare for practice or formal learning. Equally I don't expect to become expert, just better than I am now. I'm not looking for shortcuts, just the most effective way of using the time I have and some practical next steps.[/quote] You can read about things like chord tones anywhere and then apply them to the instrument when you get chance. It's not overly time consuming to read that a C major chord contains the notes C,E,G.You could read and understand this in a few minutes while watching telly or having a crap or anything. Then when you get to pick up the bass,you just have to play them. If you only did one of these a day,you would know what notes make up every major chord in less than 2 weeks,and will have seriously increased your fingerboard knowledge. Of course,you could learn the shape in 10 minutes and move it up and down but you won't actually know what you're playing-only the shape.

[quote name='gary mac' post='1366019' date='Sep 8 2011, 07:33 AM']I recently had to learn this for an audition, at first those sections were tripping me up until I started counting it "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 and 6 and 7". As soon as I did then the chord changes were spot on and it all became easy. [/quote] Being pedantic about things (Me? Pedantic? Noooo. )-if you count it like that you will get a bar of 13/8 instead of 7/4, unless you are counting '7' as two syllables (sev-en,counted as two quavers). Otherwise the correct count would be 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+

It's a good DVD-although I think that Anthony Wellingtons section on rhythms is the best bit from an educational point of view. I think Victor talks rubbish at times-like when he says that he embraces wrong notes.Anyone that's seen him live will know that he grimaces and even groans when he makes a mistake. It's still an enjoyable DVD though.

[quote name='J.R.Bass' post='1365887' date='Sep 7 2011, 10:46 PM']Erm, they're not triplets. What you have there is this,[/quote] This.

[quote name='Phil Starr' post='1365376' date='Sep 7 2011, 03:44 PM']So are we saying it is a choice between ear training and formal music theory? I've another 20 songs to learn in the next two months.[/quote] No...do both.It's never an either/or choice. If you get your ear together you will be able to hear what the chord is,if you get your theory sorted you will be able to know what notes are in the chord-it will also give you the knowledge to know where a song is going before it gets there (this is where understanding at least the basics of diatonic harmony comes in very handy.) By using a combination of theory and ear training it becomes easy to learn 20 songs in an afternoon.

I'm not a huge fan of the Boss pedal. The Roland V-Bass has some great synth patches though. If I want synth type sounds I'll either mix up a bunch of effects ( OC2 is a very good starting point) or just use an actual synth (which is my preference lately)

Protection Racket are great...that's why nearly everyone uses their drum cases. I've had one of their gig bags for around 8 years or so-the old style one that is basically the same as their drum cases,only one pretty useless pocket. It's held up great and is still in great condition.

[quote name='Bankai' post='1364325' date='Sep 6 2011, 05:38 PM']Also consider tucking the cable behind the strap so that it doesn't get pulled out? [/quote] Although if the jack socket is slightly enlarged it will still wobble around and crackle if you move about a lot.

How about putting the effects in loop A,the U- Bass in loop B,and putting the VT Bass in the output after the line selector? Then the VT is always available,but you can bypass it when you use the U-Bass. Ok...your signal will always be passing through the VT,but it's not going to be a big deal.

Check out the Johnny Shredfreak power supply,by all accounts it's the same as the Diego but way cheaper. I run all my 9 volt pedals with on-the ones that need more all came with their own plugs,so I use those.

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1363622' date='Sep 5 2011, 11:46 PM']I'm not sitting through four minutes of this. I guess he doesn't say anything of importance throughout?[/quote] You should...you'll get the importance of 'ass tight jeans'.