TKenrick

It's been a while since I've posted anything up here, this is the first of several Me'Shell tunes I've been working on - the rest will be put up in due course. The intro/chorus line is played on a synth on the record, so getting the phrasing and articulation together on an electric bass might take a bit of experimentation (it did for me anyway). Chords are by ear, please feel free to correct! Tom [attachment=33782:Shoot_n_...t_n_High.pdf]

There's an organisation called BAPAM (www.bapam.org.uk) that specialises in treating musicians/performers, they were a great help to me when I had problems with my shoulder. As for technique, I'd definitely recommend going an seeing an experienced teacher to make sure you're doing the right things - maybe have a look in the teaching section of the forum and see if there's anyone in your area that's recommended. Best of luck with it, I know how frustrating it can be when all you want to do is practice and your body refuses to cooperate!

I don't know if you'll find it any less dreary, but Mick Goodrick's book 'The Advancing Guitarist' is probably the most comprehensive book on the subject that I've found. Yes, it's aimed at guitarists, but 90% of the concepts can be applied to the bass. An hour a day should get you up to speed in no time!

www.sheetmusicdirect.com seems to have quite a few songs available to download, although i couldn't get the preview to work so I don't know if you get notation as well as tab on the sheet music, but I guess you would. If you'll excuse the self promotion, I have a few transcriptions available for free on my blog page (the link is in my sig). Not exactly thousands, but there should be some there that'll offer some reading practice.

Gary Willis has a page on his site that I've found to be extremely beneficial for my pitch reading abilities: [url="http://garywillis.com/pages/lessons/read.html"]http://garywillis.com/pages/lessons/read.html[/url]

[quote name='Mikey D' post='512135' date='Jun 12 2009, 02:08 PM']What harmony is this played over?[/quote] Sorry, my bad, its E7#9, although there's no other harmonic instrument playing at that point.

This one? [attachment=26899:Bona_Lick.pdf]

[quote name='Faithless' post='474782' date='Apr 29 2009, 08:45 AM']TKenrick, fellow Basschater, has a few transcribies of Jamiroquai on his web.. But not the old ones, i mean, Runaway, for example..[/quote] Thanks for the shout out, i'll do some old jamiroquai tunes next month when I get some more free time. In the mean time I'm going to have to edit and re-post Runaway as I was using it to teach the other day and noticed a few glaring mistakes!

Thanks for all the responses guys, its good to know that this kind of stuff is appreciated There are now a few more transcriptions on my blog site (the link is in my sig.), with more hopefully being added as the weeks go by. If anyone has any specific requests then let me know and I'll do my best to transcribe them. cheers, Tom

I had this listed in the amps and cabs section a while ago, I really need the space so I'm letting it go free of charge. Made in 1991, 8 ohm cab rated at 240W rms. Weight is roughly 25kgs. I'm located just off junction 2 of the M4. cheers, Tom [attachment=23651:IMGP3296.jpg] [attachment=23652:IMGP3297.jpg] [attachment=23653:IMGP3298.jpg] [attachment=23654:IMGP3299.jpg] [attachment=23655:IMGP3300.jpg]

I've got a Bacchus Strong EXT36 (previously owned by a couple of other BCers) and I'd recommend their basses, great build quality and playability. The only downside to mine is that it's a tad on the heavy side (11lbs), so I don't tend to use it for longer gigs.

Thanks for the replies guys, I spoke to Mark at bass direct and they don't have any in stock, although he said he'd ring SKB on monday and see what he could do... It looks like i might have to go to denmark street and grab a hiscox case - the management company can pick up the bill though And yes, the management are a bunch of cheap asses. I gave them the exact specs of the case I wanted from Castle over a month ago, it came to last week and they still hadn't sorted it so now it's too late to get one, they assured me that they'd sorted out a suitable alternative which turned out to be the stagg cases, luckily my Bacchus didn't fit in the case so I had to say no - I couldn't believe how badly made the stagg suff was, looked like something a 5 year old had made out of tin foil and card after watching blue peter.

Due to the gross incompetence of a certain management company, I'm frantically trying to find a decent case to take my basses on tour with (management bought stagg flight cases, which are the worst things I've ever seen). I don't want to be worrying that my basses are going to arrive at each destination in several pieces I've heard nothing but good about SKB bass safes so I thought I'd get myself one, only problem is that the gallery don't have any in stock and neither do gear 4 music. I leave on tuesday morning, so I need to get one asap - does anyone know of any other places that sell the SKB bass safe? Shure distribution are closed on weekends so I can't get a list from them until monday... Any help/suggestions would be hugely appreciated! Tom

Here's my two cents regarding beaming of notes: If I'm writing out parts, I'll always try group notes and rests to make each beat of the bar as clear as possible for whoever reads the part, so if you had the rhythm that you suggested of 8th - 8th - (8th rest) - 8th then I'd beam the first two together but have the last one on its own. Regarding the use of dotted crotchet rests vs quaver then crotchet rest, it's up to you - I find that i'll use dotted rests in simpler parts and subdivide each beat of the bar in more complicated things. As for whether you present your transcriptions as sections only charts, note-for-note scores or a combination of the two, I think it largely depends on the piece that you've transcribed. I'm trying to do more note-for-notes transcriptions to improve my accuracy, but if the song is simple or largely riff-based then i'll do a sections only chart. Tom

I wouldn't advocate shelling out money for ear training courses or software, just use cds you already own as a basis for ear training. Take small sections of songs (the simpler the better to start with), listen to what the bass is doing then try and sing the part being played. Once you've got the notes, find them on your bass. This will develop the link between your ears, your voice and your hands and should help to speed up the process of being able to play by ear. As an add-on to what Jake already said, don't just limit yourself to bass parts. Try and work out vocal melodies, sax lines and piano stuff on your bass. And be patient, it may take some time.

[attachment=20530:Use_Somebody.pdf] This was requested by one of my students, I thought I'd post it here for general consumption. Corrections, advice and comments are always welcome! Tom

[quote]Just wondering, are there any full-time session players on the forum? If so I just have few Q's: -Is it well payed? -How hard is it to find work? -Roughly what do you earn a year? -What qualifications do you have? -Do you play upright too? -And what is your main bass? Just a few things i'd like to know as i'm 16 and considering a career in music, possibly session playing.[/quote] I'm not a full-time session player, but I do a fair bit of paid work and I'd say the bulk of my income comes from playing. 1. Relative to other jobs, it is quite well paid. I'm currently working with a singer and get paid for rehearsals and gigs, but the issue is that the work isn't regular enough to give up my day job. Trying to get the money from management companies can also be quite a long and painful process... 2. In London it's not hard to get gigs, but if you're working with original artists who are in the process of 'making it' then IME the chances of getting paid anything more than expenses is minimal. The paid stuff that I've got has either come through auditions or being recommended by other musicians. 3. Not enough to give up my teaching job.... 4. I have a BA in music, but that in itself has never got me a gig. Comes in handy when going for peripatetic teaching jobs though. 5. I play upright, but not well enough to go out and gig with it yet. 6. My main bass is a USA deluxe jazz, I also have a 5-string Bacchus as a backup or if I need the low notes. Above all, it's really about [b]who[/b] you know rather than [b]what[/b] you know. Go to local jam nights, meet other musicians, try and find out if there are any agencies near you that can help you find work (there are various websites such as starnow.com and ukmusicjobs that are useful as well). One more thing.... learn to read! Tom

Bought a Mark Bass 1x15 from James last week, great communication, smooth transaction, great cab!