TKenrick

[quote name='funkle' post='1079223' date='Jan 5 2011, 09:49 PM']I've done everything up to and including 'A' in all 12 keys, and am currently working on a lot of other Charlie Banacos exercises as opposed to this stuff, but I intend to return to this and finish off everything from Ab onwards as time allows. My neck knowledge isn't perfect but it's a lot better than it used to be.[/quote] Am I right in thinking that Charlie Banacos is pretty much the guru when it comes to ear training and jazz improv exercises? Any chance you could shed some light on what the exercises focus on?

I think all instruments are fair game when it comes to transcription - I've done a few bits of Wes, along with some George Benson and a whole lot of Pat Metheny. I always find checking out other instruments rewarding as it results in me playing ideas that I wouldn't come across if I only transcribed bass players.

Here are some things that I've found helpful in terms of designing practice routines for myself and my students: 1. Set yourself some clear, achievable playing goals - these will depend heavily on the genre(s) of music that you're passionate about and the players that you admire. 2. As Jake said, practice in 15 minute blocks with short breaks in between. This stops your brain/muscles from getting overloaded and means that you retain more information, making your practice time more effective. Think [i]quality[/i], not quantity. 3. Keep a practice diary, noting everything you practice each day. Not only does this help you remember what keys/tempo you practiced yesterday, it also helps you to measure your progress over the course of weeks/months/years. 4. Become content with making small improvements in your playing. Progress will not be immediate, and sometimes it's hard to realise that your playing is developing. Don't beat yourself up about making mistakes, they're an essential part of practicing (funkle's post said this and more in a much better way...) 5. Keep reviewing your practice routine to evaluate what works and what doesn't, then adjust accordingly. In terms of areas to study, I'd suggest splitting your 60 minutes into quarters and tackling technique, harmony, reading and transcription. Some BCers will know I'm a staunch advocate of the benefits of transcription as it acts as it helps to develop your skills in hearing and writing music, builds repertoire and provides an excellent basis for developing your own musical vocabulary. This is all just opinion, and it seems like you're on the right track already, especially regarding your attitude towards practicing. [quote name='Tandro' post='1076386' date='Jan 3 2011, 03:49 PM']What about a 1 hour lesson every other week, is that too little? I dunno if I can even swing that. The going rate seems to be around £25-30 an hour? (As I'm out in West London, I had called Techmusicschool and they quoted £40 an hour, which seems a bit high).[/quote] I'm based in Chiswick, so if you have questions on any of this stuff then feel free to give me a shout. Tom

[quote name='wotnwhy' post='1045118' date='Dec 2 2010, 02:14 PM']And anyway, it doesn't matter how hard you hit the strings, you'll never be heard un-amplified. So why work harder? [/quote] I agree with this, up to a point... While I'm definitely in favour of not using too much effort when playing, I find that there has to be a certain level of attack in order to produce what I'd term a 'solid' tone (of course, tone is an entirely subjective thing). Having been to clinics with Todd Johnson and spent numerous hours trying to imitate Gary Willis' right hand technique, I find that the tone generated by floating thumb playing is a tad 'weak' for my tastes. While I appreciate that it has benefits, and lends itself to certain playing situations, I think it lacks a certain something when it comes to playing grooves. Obviously it's a matter of personal opinion, but I find that I produce a stronger, more defined tone from using anchoring and rest strokes.

[quote name='lojo' post='1027076' date='Nov 17 2010, 05:00 PM']What we need is a random note on the stave generator that will set a bar or 2 of notes to play along to at a time, and at a tempo set by the user (slow for the YTS guys )[/quote] There's a really good random note generator here: [url="http://garywillis.com/pages/lessons/read.html"]http://garywillis.com/pages/lessons/read.html[/url] You can adjust the range of pitches as well as the percentage of accidentals, and you can set the tempo to what ever you like as long as you have a metronome to hand...

[quote name='jakesbass' post='1024501' date='Nov 15 2010, 12:12 PM']If it's Sibelius how do you get the cross note heads for deadened note...? I've searched high and low![/quote] The shortcut for dead notes is shift + alt + 1 (this works on a mac, I assume it should be the same on a PC). Changing the number gives different note heads. Tom

Last week mostly involved me learning 60ish tunes for an audition - the bulk of them were fairly uninspiring, but a couple stood out due to some nice bass work. I thought I'd post them here for those who want some fresh reading material. 1. Beyoncé - 'Deja Vu' The thing that caught my ear about this was the contrast between the catchy 2 bar vamp and the high register fill at the end of the verses (good ledger line reading practice!). Some nice lines in the prechorus as well. [attachment=63641:Deja_Vu.pdf] 2. Cee Lo Green - 'Forget You' Really simple verse groove, the real highlight for me is the bridge, which has some nice Motown licks in there (the first bar of the bridge reminds me of 'Bernadette', the fill over the D7 in bar 7 is pretty much stolen straight from Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons 'December 1963') [attachment=63642:Forget_You.pdf]

It's also a good tool for learning the accidentals in each key, especially if you're interested in reading/writing standard notation. If you start at C (no #s/bs) and go clockwise (up in 5ths) then each successive major scale has one more sharp: G major has F#, D major has F# and C#, A major has F#, C# and G#... The same process applies with flats if you move up in fourths from C (F major has Bb, Bb major has Bb and Eb etc) As Jennifer has already said, lots of chord progressions move up in fourths (or down in fifths), so practicing things around the cycle of fourths helps to prepare you for a lot of 'real life' musical situations. Tom

[quote name='choobakka' post='1001065' date='Oct 26 2010, 01:06 PM']I seem to be able to understand [i]how[/i] to play the triads (R-3-5 and inversions all over the fretboard) but I can't seem to grasp [i]why[/i].[/quote] Triads (or intervals, or scales) are a means to an end, rather than an end in themselves. The goal here is to make music, and triads are one of a number of tools that can help you do that. In most playing situations you'll encounter a guitarist/keys player that is providing harmony (chords) in some form or another, and part of your job as the bass player is to outline those chords. Triads are good starting point for this because they contain all the notes of a specific chord. The more knowledge you have of chord tones (the notes that make up triads, 7th chords etc) then the greater your ability to support the harmony played by other musicians. This is why I asked if you knew the pitches in each major triad - being able to play triads in all inversions/positions has limited musical value if you only really know the root note. Knowing the pitches that make up chords allows you to create bass lines that move smoothly between chord changes - again, we're looking to make music, not play exercises. Say we have a chord progression: C / / /| F / / / | G / / / | D / / /| Rather than just playing triads in a R-3-5-R pattern (or similar) for each chord, think about the pitches in each chord and how they relate to the chord in the next bar. For instance, moving from C to F, you could make E (the major 3rd) the last note of the first bar, followed by an F to start bar 2. This gives a nice bit of tension and resolution. This is one of many ways of moving from C to F, here are some more examples, all of which just use notes from the major triad: [attachment=62220:Picture_1.png] Where are triads leading you? The next step on the ladder is 4-note chords (7th chords) - all 7th chords are some sort of triad with an extra note added. Before approaching 7th chords I'd suggest getting to grips with minor, augmented, diminished and suspended triads in all keys (both how they're constructed and the pitches involved). Hopefully this helps! Tom

It hasn't been updated for a while, but this might be worth a look: [b][url="http://tomkenrick.wordpress.com/basstranscriptions/"]free bass transcriptions [/url] [/b] (apologies for the self-promotion!)

The reason for studying/practicing triads is that they form the basic harmony for nearly all styles of music. Having a sound knowledge of triads gives you options when it comes to bass playing, so you can create lines that don't just involve the root note of the chord and navigate chord progressions in a more musical way. Also, a good working knowledge of triads is essential if you're going to move on to studying 7th chords. [quote name='choobakka' post='1000556' date='Oct 25 2010, 10:05 PM']I know which notes to play, (R-3-5, 3-5-R, 5-R-3) and I know I can play any of those notes whether it be above or below the starting position,[/quote] When you say you know which notes to play, are you referring to intervals or the actual names of the pitches? You need to know both. Most people never get past learning a shape for triads, which isn't enough. Some suggestions for practicing triads: -Play root position triads (R-3-5-Octave) around the cycle of fourths: [b]C F Bb Eb Ab(G#) Db(C#) Gb(F#) B E A D G[/b] This makes sure you play things in every key, and also gives you practice at playing ideas over chords that move in fourths, which happens all the time in a number of genres. - Work out fingerings for root position major triads starting on your 1st, 2nd and 4th fingers. - Play major triads in all inversions (from the root, from the third, from the fifth). It already sounds like you know how to do this, but practice this horizontally (moving up the neck) as well as vertically (staying in one position and moving across the neck). Play them ascending and descending around the cycle of fourths. If any of the above isn't 100% clear then please shout! Tom

I'm pretty sure one agency (Face Music) handles all the musicians for X Factor, quite a few guys I work with have been on. From what I know the rate for miming on X Factor isn't that great, but it certainly looks good on the CV. Other session agencies handle work for other shows, so it's a case of getting on their books and having the right look.

[quote name='J.R.Bass' post='997693' date='Oct 23 2010, 01:13 AM']Hope you enjoy, and any feedback about it would be great. Also, the chords arn't the best i don't think.[/quote] The transcription looks good, the only thing I'd suggest is concerning chord symbols. Where there are add9 chords, the convention is to write the interval rather than the note name, so C(add9) and G(add9)/B rather than C(addD) or G(addA)/B. Also, a point about altered dominant chords -the chord in bar 63 is D7+9, personally I'd prefer to see it as D7#9 to avoid any possible confusion (the + sign usually represents augmented chords).

Hey Jake, Can't help with all of them, but here are a few I did a while ago. The 'Bad' transcription never got finished, but it should give you a reference point if nothing else - I seem to remember the recording is somewhere between A and Bb, I wrote it out in A. I also have a scan of 'Rock With You' from Bass Player, PM me your email address and i'll send it over. Tom [attachment=61971:Billie_Jean.pdf] [attachment=61972:Thriller.pdf] [attachment=61973:Bad___unfinished.pdf]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='993277' date='Oct 19 2010, 10:54 AM']Always found Sanborn to be a bit of a lightweight. Great production values and some good players etc but no depth.[/quote] I find him a bit naff personally - clearly a good sax player but I find his tunes/playing a bit dull. I do occasional gigs with a quintet led by a sax player that loves Sanborn, so 70% of the set is Sanborn tunes. Pleasant enough to play, but nothing to really get your teeth into. [quote name='Rich' post='993423' date='Oct 19 2010, 12:42 PM']Yes. The late Bob Berg was like that too, instantly recognisable. God, that was a tragic loss.[/quote] A massive +1 for Bob Berg, he doesn't get nearly as much exposure as he should. I first heard Berg on 'Snakes' (not to be confused with the Sanborn tune) and immediately got hooked.

[quote name='blackmn90' post='988495' date='Oct 14 2010, 10:02 PM']For my essay iv got to analyse my practice routine. So i wondered what the typical routines for basschats finest were......[/quote] I'm guessing from your location and the fact you've got to write an essay on your practice routine that you're at ACM? I just re-read what I wrote for the same assignment a few years ago and it's amusing how routines change! At the moment it involves getting my double bass playing together, lots of piano playing, internal clock exercises and loads of transcription. What I have found is that [i]how[/i] I practice is as important as [i]what[/i] I practice: 15 minutes of practice, 5 minute break, repeat. This is something I got from a Todd Johnson clinic and it immediately changed my approach to practice completely and stopped my brain getting saturated, which meant that I got more benefit from the time I was spending with the instrument. Keeping a practice diary (and setting some practice-related goals) definitely helps in keeping track of what you're doing every day and enables you to see progress over extended periods of time.

[url="http://garywillis.com/pages/lessons/read.html"]http://garywillis.com/pages/lessons/read.html[/url] A random note generator which is pretty good for working on pitch reading - the fact that it won't make musical sense is actually quite beneficial as it really forces you to look ahead. There are also plenty of transcriptions in the link in my sig.

Just to offer a different option.... Personally I use anchoring - I tried using floating thumb for a while after going to a clinic with Todd Johnson (who used to study with Gary Willis) but found that it didn't really work for me and that I preferred the sound that I get when anchoring. When I'm playing a 5, my thumb never anchors anything above the E string, and I use my right hand ring finger to help with muting. It's harder to explain without pictures, but here goes: [b]String [center]Anchor point[/b][/center] [left]B[/left] [center]Pickup[/center] [left]E [/left] [center] Pickup[/center] [left]A [/left] [center] B string [/center] [left]D [/left] [center] E string (B string also covered by side of thumb)[/center] [left]G [/left] [center] E string (Thumb also mutes B string, Ring finger mutes D string)[/center] Having just written that I realise that it sounds odd and unnecessarily complicated when compared with floating thumb, but it works for me! FWIW, I teach both anchoring and floating thumb and let the student decide what feels most natural. Just because it doesn't suit me doesn't mean it's not a worthwhile technique.

[quote name='EBS_freak' post='948055' date='Sep 7 2010, 10:26 AM']With regards to playing positions, I've seen various people comment on some great players on YouTube saying that they are playing in the wrong position. I would be one of those people who would have to take such criticism. Generally playing a 5er, I prefer playing up the dusty end of the neck off the low B string rather being anchored down the first few frets. How important is it to play in the "right" position...?[/quote] In my opinion, people who spend their time criticising other people's playing on youtube would probably be better off working on their own playing... As far as 'right' or 'wrong' positions, I don't really think they exist. Obviously there are less efficient ways to play things (the horn line from Sir Duke on a single string, for instance...) but the 'right' position to play anything in is the position that works for you and your technique [i]while still sounding good[/i]. Whilst it's true that fretboard position affects tone (especially with open strings), the difference is usually so subtle that most people in the audience won't notice. 'I Wish' was mentioned earlier in the thread - I tend to play it all down in first position, but that's only because I prefer the sound of the line in that area of the fretboard, and I have large enough hands for the stretches to not be an issue. Playing the line with position shifts is no less valid - the deciding factor when approaching any part should be "what sounds best?" Sight reading gigs tend to change things - when i'm reading I tend to avoid changing position wherever possible so will play passages with a fingering that I might not normally use, or use open strings where I'd normally use fretted notes (or vice versa). EDIT: This is one of the many advantages of standard notation - it lets you decide on the most logical way to play things, rather than giving you someone else's opinion of how/where a line should be played.

[quote name='Marvin' post='947600' date='Sep 6 2010, 08:19 PM']Dots then please! But excluding the usual Jaco, Miller, Clarke, Wooton and other Jazz and fusion bass 'heros'. Also not overly interested in soul, R&B or funk dots. What I want is dots for rock, indie, alternative and more rock etc. The problem is no one writes the dots for the music most of us want to play that's why TAB sites get used. As for sitting down and working it out for ourselves, some of us have full time jobs and the usual array of responsibilities the preclude sitting down trying to figure out a bass line so buried in the mix it's barely audible.[/quote] I use current rock/indie stuff as a means of teaching my students (most of whom are between 12 and 17) to read. Seems kids these days don't want to read Bach, but this gets them used to dots and keeps them away from TAB. Try this for reading material: [url="http://tomkenrick.wordpress.com/transcriptions/basstranscriptions"] [b]Some dots for rock[/b] [/url] (Apologies if you've already been through what's on there, I'm back teaching next week so there'll be plenty more rock transcriptions on the way soon...)