lownote

wasn't the inventor famously turned down by the Dragons for investment?

It's easy to over think this and I really don't agree you need all those modal scales and three position arpeggios n all. I have (had) much the same problem. You mention you play rock and funk: Point 1: A very recent issue for me (this week in fact) is that bass is the most important insturment in funk. Funk is about being right on the groove but also needing to know well defined and sometimes complex bass lines that the audience will expect. That's hard and a bit of a mission in some cases. OTOH, most rock and blues, unless you're doing covers, just requires building a melodic bridge between drums and everything else. You'd be surprised how few notes you need providing you're right in the pocket and work intelligently with the drums, something I learned from Scott Devine. Even just root and 5th can sound great if augmented by the occasional octave root, ghost note and approach notes. Point 2. Practice a lot to songs you know well. Keep playing until your fingers figure out for themselves what works, having regard to point 1 above.

As most who know me will attest, the words 'Lownote' and 'correctness' or 'snowflake' have no history of contiguity. But even I take exception to every valedictory comment in that list talking of 'female bassists' not 'bassists' 'One of the best female bassists', like they're a totally discrete sub class of musicians. Having seen Yolanda Charles absolutely nail an extended and very fast funk solo despite the hangover from hell at the 2017 LBS, I have no trouble doffing my normally misogynistic cap.

A not irrelevant skill, involving as it does, dexterous digital manipulation in the aforesaid position.

i love the violet eyes. call me simple,

Sounds wise to me Paul

My entire bass experience for seven years is founded on this most excellent philosophy. I buy basses to locate the one that will find the pro musician I know lurks within me. None has succeeded yet but I'm an optimist and will keep on buying trying.

Yamahas... never had a good un.

Weeeelll... all I can say is when I first joined the Norfolk Blues Society jam scene five years ago I was sometimes the only 'floor bassist' all night. Now almost as many bassists turn up as guitarists - also true of the new local funk jam. And they're all mostly better than me, which BURNS. You know? I blame Scott Devine.

The Reindeer, Dereham Road, Norwich, Teebs. Next one's Feb 28th.

We have a fantastic new funk club in Norwich. The standard of playing is awesome and I love it. Well.. I would, only I'm just learning that bass is high profile in funk, and well known numbers involve well known seminal bass lines. Now I have a dreadful memory and can't learn bass lines, and therefore have always been in bands which allow me to do my own thing. Is this 'lese majeste' in funk, should I make the effort, or are there grounds for allowing me to go my own way?

he's doing a masterclass at the Bass gallery in London 29th Jan: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-bass-gallery-presents-a-masterclass-with-sharay-reed-tickets-53855377885

I usually attend blues jams where it's pretty easy. Well, it is except when a/ the lead mumbles "its in *** ee". You're not sure if they said G, B, D or E and by the time you work it out you're getting sour looks, or perhaps the most pretentious putdown I ever had: "I thought you were playing the Myxolydian all the way through" . Or b/ (remember you're at a blues jam) "Do you know X... it's easy? D, B, C, E, F#, then A, C and back to G [or whatever] .... etc. etc. You'll soon pick it up, off we go then."

Just to be a bore, be aware that linseed soaked rags can pose a fire hazard. The wet oil oxidizes in an exothermic reaction. Dunno if that's the same for Truoil but I used to have be very careful with the cloths I used to treat my gun stocks.

Hohner B Bass VI in great nick. Thru body neck, nice sound. £175 on fleabay.

It's some years since I had mine but I vaguely remember the tight wires were redesigned after the first batch of basses.

I know this is a bass site. But on the off chance anyone know a good sax teach who's into funk/blues? My old teacher has hung up his mouthpiece ("students annoy me and there's bugger all money in it") and another just lives too far away. I'm in the middle of the bump of East Anglia. EDIT: Now found someone, ta

I’d hazard a guess a large proportion of Scotts students, are like me, in the final quartile not kids.

Anywhere else notice a boom in the number of bass players? When I first went to my blue jam 6 or so years ago I sometime had the whole evening to myself, which was great. Now there's almost (almost) as many bassists turn up as gits. And the standard is pretty high too. Is this Scott Devine's influence, or a general swell in interest?

Can't fill in the survey cos I didn't read to the end of your email and now see I don't qualify. But if it helps Scott Devine has done many podcasts with top session players and asked most of them what it took to get to the top. You might want to explore that resource. Going by my ancient and faulty memory the 3 top tips seemed to be : 1/Be very good at what you do 2/ Be very flexible and adaptable 3/ Fit in super well 4/ Know or get to know lots and lots of people 5/ Never turn down anything 6/ Be prepared for it to take years 7/ Exploit modern media - much session work is conducted via the web 8/ Don't expect miracles, the market is far smaller than it used to be. Um... that's 8, sorry. I'm closely following Seth Tackaberry who's only 20, still a student, finalist in the BBC Young Jazzist of the Year, and seems to me to have virtually all the requirements of success buttoned down already. He's very approachable.

i took up sax. Now I'm crap at playing two instruments instead of one. A whole new world of self-defecation.

Do Scotts Bass Lessons. If you don't find anything to re-enthuse or divert you there you really do need a holiday

Two things here. And I have thought about this. I agree that for kids 121 is good. As long they’re good and that’s a big if. The teachers of both bass and sax I know are all fantastic musicians and extremely iffy teachers. No 8 is right to reference my need for help but fact is I was rescued by a fellow trainee and an SBL team member within hours. So it’s no different from 121 help. And anyway no 8, what are you doing having kids. I had you down as a young thing.

The interesting meta point is the cost v 121 traditional lessons. It’s roughly a quarter the cost and for top notch teaching plus invaluable support from the hundreds if not thousands of other students on the course. I feel sorry for traditional music teachers - like so many other trades their day is over seems to me.