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TKenrick

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Posts posted by TKenrick

    Free Bass Transcriptions

    in Theory and Technique

    Posted

    [quote name='OliverBlackman' timestamp='1505295318' post='3370763']
    Great coverage. He did a masterclass in 2009 in my first term at ACM and he was pretty similar to how he was here, although I think he might have been touring with VV Brown at that point. It's funny that during the masterclass I went to, he knew nothing about gear and was very bullish in his persona, a stark contrast to what we see in the YT vlog. Funnily enough these days, I find myself caring less about gear and more about transcribing and improvisation, so I wish his vlog covered more what he said in he masterclass as I'd appreciate it more now.

    Did you record any others? I wish it was something I had done, there were masterclasses from Ruphus Philpot, Laurence Cottle, and Gary Willis, all where I only remember bits.
    [/quote]

    It's definitely amusing to see how he has relaxed his stance on certain topics - this may or may not be as a result of his desire to appeal to a wider audience; more people want to watch videos about gear than want to actually get down to it and [i]do the work. [/i]

    There weren't that many decent clinics when I was there (2005-2008), I think I we had Stu Hamm, Todd Johnson and the rhythm section from Jamiroquai. I would've loved it if we'd had Rufus, Laurence or Gary! I actually found that the most informative ones were from drummers...

    The last part of the Janek thing should be up in a week or so.

    Noble preamp, any BC owners?

    in Amps and Cabs

    Posted

    [quote name='CameronJ' timestamp='1503672041' post='3360210']
    Cheers for clearing that up - makes my GAS much less acute!
    [/quote]

    I haven't had any noise issues with mine when running several pedals on gigs - is that your concern?

    [quote name='HazBeen' timestamp='1503739822' post='3360615']
    I am envious of everyone that owns the Noble, I have an Avalon and JDI that are great and I never thought I would find something I like more, but then used the Noble once and have been secretly lusting for one ever since.
    [/quote]

    Only one cure for secret gear lust ;)

    Pattern / rhythm

    in Theory and Technique

    Posted

    [quote name='Nico@Bass' timestamp='1502292582' post='3350510']
    I have no theory background and would like to describe this to the drummer to add into our music.
    [/quote]

    It's difficult to explain the rhythmic ideas in both examples without some sort of reference to music theory, but here's what I heard...

    Firstly, Periphery are one of my favourite bands, so it was nice to have an excuse to give them a closer listen. There's a great British band called Sikth that Periphery have 'borrowed' a lot of ideas from.

    Broadly speaking, both examples are interesting because they use syncopation and rhythmic displacement to move the accents away from the downbeats. I don't claim to have transcribed exactly what's going on, but it should give you an idea of the concepets that they're using.

    'Absolomb' has the guitar playing a pattern of five 16th notes which creates an accent that shifts by one 16th note on each repetition (top part of the notation below). The bass and the kick drum also have a rhythmic phrase that shifts by one 16th with each repetition (bottom part in the notation):

    [attachment=251172:Absolomb.jpg]

    'Prayer Position' uses a triplet subdivision, but almost all of the accents are syncopated, which stops it sounding too much like a regular 'shuffle' groove:

    [attachment=251173:Prayer position.jpg]

    Get a metronome, start at a slow tempo and get comfortable with clapping the examples against the metronome click; with the triplet example it's helpful to start by clapping every single 8th note in the bar until you can feel where the accents should go.

    Remembering long passages - tips?

    in Theory and Technique

    Posted

    [quote name='redbandit599' timestamp='1501590068' post='3345708']
    I think you are probably right there - the tricky thing is that you can get along reasonably well with rudimentary theory, and so for me (and I'm guessing others too) you can get out gigging and playing to a decent pub band standard without 'digging deep' into theory. Then all the other stuff that comes with being in a band takes over your time.[/quote]

    This is, in my experience, the case for most people - because the bass is a symmetrically-tuned, pattern-orientated instrument, we can do a lot of playing without having to necessarily know what most of it means. Most bassists' fingers are more capable than their brains (or their ears, or eyes...) and you can definitely develop a level of playing without much knowledge - this is actually more practical (and easier to remedy) than [i]knowing[/i] lots of theory but not being able to put any of it on the instrument.


    [quote]In my case with theory (and other dry stuff, like spread sheets etc) I really only 'get it' with practical examples - but then I don't seem to retain it for long as, by and large, I don't 'need' it to function in my cover bands. If I was writing or depping (I'm not that good :D ) then I think theory would be a tool that'd get used more and so sharpened.[/quote]

    A useful question here is "How much theory do I need to know for the gigs that I do?". There's not a huge amount of value in trying to wade into the Dark Arts of Jazz if you're gigging AC/DC songs in pubs (this is not meant to belittle those gigs, I make my living playing 'Wonderwall' and 'Valerie' at drunk people).

    Now, I don't know your answer to that question and I don't know what you know already, but these two things are pretty much everyone needs to work on (including myself):[list=1]
    [*]The notes that go into chords
    [*]Their location on the bass
    [/list]

    Most people struggle with theory because they don't know their fretboard well enough - the same applies for reading music. People have trouble with 7th chords because they haven't spent enough time working on triads, and people get confused about triads because they haven't got a firm grasp on intervals; they can't get their head around intervals because they don't [i]really[/i] know where the notes are on their bass.


    [Quote]I'd be interested in any ideas or pointers that would set me on the right path - any ideas where to find theory well taught or presented welcome.
    [/quote]

    The internet is a minefield of idiots pedalling absolute nonsense dressed up to look legitimate facts (the same could obviously be said for me...). I'm yet to find a book that explains necessary contemporary theory in a succinct, practical way - a few people on here have had success with Ariane Cap's 'Music Theory For The Bass Player' book, but I haven't read it so I'm not really in a place to comment either way.

    If in doubt, avoid YouTube and get one-to-one lessons with some local to you who:
    1) gets booked for gigs/other music work regularly by other people
    2) reads music
    3) has some sort of formal music education.

    It's possible to find great teachers who don't meet any of the above criteria, but it's extremely unlikely.

    A longer reply than intended, but this still only scratches the surface...


    Tom

    Remembering long passages - tips?

    in Theory and Technique

    Posted

    [quote name='redbandit599' timestamp='1501586398' post='3345665']
    Really wish I had a brain wired for theory :rolleyes:
    [/quote]

    Not wanting to derail the topic, but this comes up frequently...

    I don't believe that [i]anybody [/i]starts with brain wired for music theory (or quantum physics, bricklaying, language learning etc.)

    With any of these it's a matter of putting in the hours - the more I teach, the less I believe in talent and the more I see the value of a consistent work ethic.

    Unfortunately, music theory is often badly taught and presented as a dry academic subject, completely removed from the playing side of things. This stops people from engaging with it and seeing it for what it truly is - a useful way for musicians to put labels on sounds that explains why certain things work and others don't.

    Sorry, sermon over.

    Free Bass Transcriptions

    in Theory and Technique

    Posted · Edited by TKenrick

    Having spent the last couple of months enduring all sorts of self-induced technical hitches it's finally time for some new content.

    First up is part 1 of a clinic with Janek Gwizdala that I bootlegged in 2007 when I was studying at ACM in Guildford. Here he talks about what he learned by 'ripping off' great players like Herbie Hancock, Allan Holdsworth and George Benson:
     



    There's a PDF of the transcribed speech/widdling available HERE

    How often do you use your pinky? (...on the fretting hand)

    in Theory and Technique

    Posted

    [quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1496389421' post='3310933']
    I use the pinky a lot, but I tend to use double bass style fingering lower down the neck, where the hand spans three frets and the pinky is supported by the ring finger behind it.
    [/quote]

    This. Pretty much all the time, including higher registers - it just feels more secure and allows me to keep my fretting hand more relaxed and maintain a relatively straight wrist.

    [quote name='danonearth' timestamp='1496371426' post='3310883']

    [color=#191919][font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif][size=4]...so I am favouring a more spread out position (which doesn't seem to hurt my pinky as much, but I have also even just begun playing it with index-middle-ring fingers and no pinky at all)

    ---------------4-5-
    --------3-5-7-----
    -3-5-7------------

    Thanks![/size][/font][/color]
    [/quote]

    This makes my hand hurt just thinking about trying it. Biomechanically speaking, your hand isn't really designed to stretch too much between the middle and ring fingers.

    Bass Playing Listening Test - for my PhD research

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    I almost lost it when having to decide between two equally awful slappity-poppity notegasms, but I soldiered on.

    Just out of interest, were the tapping examples Michael Manring and Billy Sheehan? Think I managed to clock everything else, but those ones had me stumped.

    I found myself having numerous internal debates as to whether it's harder for someone to convincingly play a simple sounding groove in an odd time signature or complicated sounding sloppy slap tricks in 4/4...

    Adding some structure to my learning

    in Theory and Technique

    Posted

    Glad you got something out of the post! Just re-read your original post and this jumped out at me:

    [quote name='j1mu5' timestamp='1494180747' post='3293857']
    I'm currently having lessons every other week which give's me something to work on but feel like I could do with a template or guide to ensure I'm maximising my practice time.
    [/quote]

    Without wanting to pass comment on your lessons - about which I know nothing - this is really an area that [i]any[/i] teacher should cover sooner rather than later; it stops you wasting time (and money) and ensures that they don't spend lesson time recapping too much content from the previous lesson. Everyone wins.

    If a teacher can't outline some clear and effective strategies for practising that are directly applicable to you then, well...

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