thepurpleblob

[quote name='jezzaboy' post='598604' date='Sep 14 2009, 07:50 PM']Went to one in Airdrie a few years ago, me and my drummer mate. It was like a private club full of to**ers who all knew each other playing 12 bar blues for an hour. As we weren`t know, they didn`t really bother with us, so, we legged it and haven`t been to one since. Having said that, I think that this was the crap end of the jam nights and you will find quite a lot of people who enjoy jamming and the people are nice and friendly. If you go to one just bluff it. I get away with it most weekends! Jez[/quote] Can I go with you.... please!! Ha ha ha ha

[quote name='bubinga5' post='598601' date='Sep 14 2009, 07:49 PM']Its the best way to learn how to improvise...[/quote] A good point.... I have absolutely no concept of how to improvise. I wouldn't know where to start.

[quote name='jonny-lad' post='598595' date='Sep 14 2009, 07:43 PM']Naima is a great tune IMO. If you can find the live version where Eric Dolphy takes the solo on bass clarinet, it's well worth a listen...I found it on one of the cheap CDs you can get in HMV called 'John Coltrane Plays it cool.'[/quote] I've been trying to give Jazz a fair crack and I've accumulated quite a few recommendations off this site. I just don't get it. Most just sounds like some guy on a - insert instrument here - arpeggiating some dead hard chords at a fearsome speed. It's the same reason I don't enjoy listening to the likes of Wooten. I understand it's difficult but I don't want it on my car stereo thanks. It brings me back to my original question. I think when a chord substitution is so far removed from the original like this it just sounds to the uninitiated (e.g. me) like the band is playing two entirely different progressions. It's not musical. Not to me anyway. Sorry

[quote name='XB26354' post='598575' date='Sep 14 2009, 07:30 PM']Actually a sizeable number of well-known jazz musicians hate playing it and steer clear of it wherever possible, because the changes are so angular that it requires a lot of practice to develop anything resembling smooth lines over it. It often works better at a slightly less frantic tone, because even though the tune was groundbreaking when it was released, it's not particularly listenable after a few solo choruses. Even Coltrane repeats a few ideas over and over with slight variations. It does however open up more interesting ways to think about traditional II-V-I sequences - it was after all formulated as an exercise of sorts. Don't get stuck with Giant Steps the tune though - the album has some absolute classics (e.g. Naima), played at a much more reasonable tempo [/quote] Ok... I've listened to Naima on YouTube now. Nope... random notes. Not fun to listen to. I'm a philistine I suppose EDIT: Actually I have a question. Is this stuff learned or was he improvising as he went? Sorry... I have no concept of how jazz works.

Jam nights are a bit like swinging parties..... I've never been, I don't *really* know what goes on, but I'm slightly intrigued. I personally can't think of anything worse than going up on stage and playing something I don't know and haven't practiced. Is that what you are supposed to do? Sounds terrifying!! Please explain

[quote name='martthebass' post='598557' date='Sep 14 2009, 07:22 PM']Like many (I suspect) I've been at a loose end for much of this year while the band has had a break. I've kept myself going with jam nights mainly - normally once or twice a week to keep me hand in so to speak. I know it's no substitute for 'the real thing' but it helps pass the time of day. One nasty side effect though is spending too much time on here which has resulted in far too much buying/selling.......[/quote] I'm always in awe of people who go to jam nights. I wouldn't (and don't) dare play a piece without a good few days notice to learn it. You mean you just turn up and play *anything*? Wow!! Actually... time for a new thread....

It occurs to me that having started this thread that I'd never actually listened to Giant Steps. Now I have.... so I don't have to again (Shuffles off back to Kasabian, or Pixie Lott, or anything......... )

Multiple smart-arses I got completely lost around the term 'secondary dominant', then it got worse round about 'inside' and 'outside'. I know my place :-)

Join a band. I'm not being facetious.. it's just that not all bands are born equal. I went from playing in a *very* busy function band that played 4 times a week to a very relaxed bunch of wasters (I do not exclude myself!) that plays once a month at most. It's enough to keep me interested but not enough to make me go mental - which was what was happening before.

[quote name='Doddy' post='597359' date='Sep 13 2009, 02:20 PM']With a good teacher you will progress quicker as a player than going it alone. But,you have to want it. There is nothing worse for a teacher, than a student who obviously doesn't want to be there,and doesn't listen to a word you say,week after week. Everyone talks about bad teachers,but few mention bad students. It really is a two way street. Some people have a kind of reverse snobbery about lessons-they feel superior because they are self taught.These people often have some deficiencies in their playing that could be helped with a few lessons. The funny thing is that many of the best players have no ego and will still seek out a great teacher to continue to improve their playing. And contrary to popular belief,by taking lessons you will NOT sound like your teacher.[/quote] Musicians are particularly good at talking garbage. The "I just picked it up and I could play" boast. The fact of the matter is there is heaps of stuff to know and to get good at. You need to find the way to get up to speed in a reasonably fast way that suits you. This might be a teacher, it might be books, it might be t'internet. Quite likely it's a combination. Just be enquiring and you'll be ok. If you are happy mindlessly learning songs from tab then you're probably not going to benefit from any resource.

[quote name='Basszilla' post='596703' date='Sep 12 2009, 05:48 PM']Guys Bit of a cheeky post but if you dont ask.... Got a recording date next week and haven't owned or used a DI in aeons.... I won't be able to crank my matamp up too much as it's a home recording jobbie. Was wondering if anyone would lend me a nice DI for the week if I paid for special delivery back and forth (and obviously cover the cost of the unit if it failed on me) I haven't really got time to sort one out any other way. I would be happy to pay for the loan or you can have my bluebeard fuzz or wah for the week if anyone would like to try any of them.. Would be happy to try the hartke, aguilar or sansamp or anything nice and effective. thanks Tim[/quote] I've never been in a studio that didn't have loads of DIs kicking around. Mind you, I've not been in that many studios

The thing with teachers are that YOU (not them) need to be clear about what you want to learn and/or improve at (and be able to communicate this to the teacher). Either that or you need to be very open minded to new ideas. I've had lots of lessons and a lot of it was very valuable - don't get me wrong - but I'm just a guy who plays in covers bands and there's only so much

[quote name='XB26354' post='596744' date='Sep 12 2009, 06:41 PM']Hi, These are "Coltrane Changes" - something that John Coltrane popularised with Giant Steps. The two progressions should be as follows: Original Fm7 / / / |Bb7 / / / |EbMaj7 / / / | Coltrane changes Bmaj7 / D7 / |Gmaj7 / Bb7 / | EbMaj7 / / / | Note that both sequeces are three bars and end V7-Imaj7. The idea is that one goes "outside" the regular changes in order to create more tension before resolving to the I chord (in this case, EbMaj7). Coltrane changes are characterised by moving key centres down in major thirds. Bar 1 starts Bmaj7, bar2 goes down a major third to Gmaj7, bar three down another major third to Ebmaj7 You can start this idea off like this: 1. Original - Fm7 / / / |Bb7 / / / |Ebmaj7 / / / | 2. Original replacing Im7 with I7 (secondary dominant) - F7 / / / |Bb7 / / / |Ebmaj7 / / / | 3. Use a tritone substitution on the F7 to get B7 - B7 / / / |Bb7 / / / |Ebmaj7 / / / | 4. Obtain the major third movement by adding Gmaj7 at the beginning of the second bar, and put the relevant V7 chord D7 just before it to create sound root-movement - B7 / D7 / |Gmaj7 / Bb7 / |Ebmaj7 / / / | 5. Finally change B7 to Bmaj7 so that the first chord in each bar implies a Imaj7 in keys descending in major thirds - Bmaj7 / D7 / |Gmaj7 / Bb7 / |Ebmaj7 / / / | If you then improvise over 5. whilst chordal players play 1. you have an introduction to playing outside the changes. As long as the ideas mean something to the progression in 5., then your improvising will sound sophisticated over 1. The general advice is play something inside (i.e. diatonic to 1.), then go outside by improvising as if the chords were 5., then come back inside to the original sequence. There's lot more about this kind of sequence in print - notably Mark Levine's Jazz Theory Book, which devotes an entire chapter to it. Hope this helps Cheers Mat[/quote] Yike! Ok... the issue is that I don't understand these substitutions at all. I guess if I really wanted to get it I would need to do some reading EDIT: As usual, Wikipedia to the rescue - [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coltrane_changes"]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coltrane_changes[/url]

If you've read this article, can anybody explain to me what the hell is going on here as I have no clue and the Janek dude who wrote it fails to explain. Could be me being stupid (of course) My dilemma... He claims that the chords in the examples are a substitute for a II-V-I progression. That is in Eb (which seems to be the example key although the examples lack a key signature) that Bmaj7/D7/GMaj7/Bb7 can substitute for F-7/Bb7/Ebmaj7. I have absolutely no idea what he is talking about I have a vague (very vague) notion of chords substitution for other chords but can't understand how it works in this example - there are even different numbers of chords in the substituted progression so it becomes impossible to compare directly (I think). Can anybody shed any light?

I've tried a number of these things over the years and none made any difference worth spending money on. You end up with tone controls all over the place with plenty of possibilities for confusion. Obviously it makes a massive difference if you are going out through a PA or not. In that case you are probably better off with a decent DI, set everything flat and let the sound man do his job. Other than that any half decent head probably has more eq than you'll ever need. If you really want to go nuts, get a proper graphic and put it in your effects loop Just my $00.02.

[quote name='MacDaddy' post='589083' date='Sep 3 2009, 08:37 PM']Does the Albert Hall have a reputation for bad acoustics?[/quote] Yeh - the acoustics are terrible. They have huge inverted mushrooms suspended from the ceiling which are supposed to help but it's still like an echo chamber. I think quite a lot of work has been done since I was there so maybe it's better. It's just the wrong shape really.

I've played the Albert Hall. However, not the bass. I played Xylophone in a brass band competition (which we won by the way). Not cool Good luck with that..... it's actually a hell of a lot smaller than you think it's going to be.

Hours and hours of one-finger-per-fret scales practice I would suggest!

I'm currently very, very happy with my Overwater Perception 5 string. It just feels like somebody really thought about it and cared. It is boringly good at everything. I does like a bit like my gran's sideboard though. By far the nicest to look at is my black and maple Stingray. It's beautifully made and the neck is fantastic. The low output and the general difficulty in getting any kind of decent sound out of the G string is a bit of a disappointment, though. A special prize does have to go to my Yamaha TRB4. They can be picked up for next to nothing and are just brilliant in every respect - apart from being in any way 'cool'. Much underrated.

[quote name='BigBeefChief' post='587737' date='Sep 2 2009, 05:38 PM']I'd say leave the bass at home, shoot the dog and enjoy your wife.[/quote] Mmmm.... A bit extreme perhaps. Tell you what - leave the wife at home and take the dog and the bass

Next week I am on holiday, in a cottage, in the middle of a national park with just the wife and the dog and my bass. No amplifier no source of music no nothing. What do you think would be good things to practice given the lack of distractions?

Personally (I seem to play mostly 5 string these days). I don't anchor my thumb on a pickup at all - I anchor on the B, E or A string depending what string I'm playing. For playing the B I just back of a little with my thumb. Is this what they call the floating thumb technique? You just need to get the trick of jumping strings without plucking with your thumb - other than that easy and instant muting.

Just struggle and get frustrated. You have probably been playing long enough to know if you are out or not. Just start playing all your songs on the fretless and cringe a lot. The only thing I once tried which I found useful was to record all my scales and such on my fretted bass and then play along to the recording with the fretless. I am prepared to be told that's a bad idea though This all comes with the caveat that I am absolutely rubbish on the fretless.