TKenrick

In my experience, people are very swift and forthcoming with negative feedback/complaints but much more reluctant to tell you when you're doing the right thing. If that's the first one you've done, then you're off to a strong start - absolutely spot on in terms of camera work/lighting/titles and annotations, very 'current' in terms of production values. The actual content is good, too, I can't fault the idea of getting people to focus on chord tones and think about what they're playing. The only criticism is that some people might want a more thorough breakdown of some of the voicings/licks/concepts used, but the whole point of the video might well be a broad overview of ideas rather than getting bogged down in specifics - those who are less fluent in theory might want to take things at a slower pace.

I try to stay out of these things because debating them over the Internet never seems to work, but here goes... I would like to respectfully disagree with this - I'm relatively fanatical about only using one finger per fret where necessary and using 1-2-4 at all other times. For those who are interested, here are some thoughts on alteratives to one finger per fret (video should start around 13.20):

A live Bruno Mars thing with some very tasty playing from Jamareo Artis, who's clearly been at the Jamerson again: Bruno Mars - 'Just The Way You Are' (live) bass transcription PDF

I've just reread the thread and can't find much mention of using drones (not the flying variety) when working on intonation* - I'm definitely one of those awful 'phony' fretless amateurs who bought one on a whim and gets it out of the case once a year, but I've found that working with a fixed pitch reference has been invaluable in getting my intonation together on upright, so I don't see why it wouldn't translate to fretless *If you've mentioned this and I've missed it then apologies.

A personal favourite, with some surprisingly intricate playing from Colin Greenwood: Radiohead - 'Paranoid Android' bass transcription PDF Confessions of a terrible student (warning: contains mild jazz references) full article/lesson here

Absolutely agreed - I was making several assumptions, based on the fact that the OP mentioned using TAB to learn songs and therefore would be learning from recordings prior to rehearsals or gigs rather than learning music 'on the fly', which is a very different scenario. I also agree with this (and don’t think I implied anything to the contrary in my earlier post). Being able to read doesn’t automatically make you a ‘good’ player, just as being limited to using TAB doesn’t necessarily mean that your playing will be lacking.

These are the burdens of being a bass player; I doubt that there are many players who don't struggle with quickly and accurately isolating busy bass parts. If standard notation is a problem - for whatever reason - and you really want to improve as a musician then kick the TAB habit for good and focus on playing by ear. As someone who spends most of their time reading and writing music, I'd say that being able to hear things is exponentially more valuable than being able to read. Developing good ears is a long and gruelling pursuit, but the benefits are huge.

Odd-time playing that isn't prog rock or technical metal (or Take Five): 3 of Sting's Greatest Odd-Time Grooves

John bought my EBS octabass pedal and was an absolute pleasure to deal with from start to finish. Top lad!

There's your answer!

Guy 'cocaine' Pratt using an octave pedal to great effect on Madonna's 'Like A Prayer': Madonna - 'Like A Prayer' bass transcription PDF

What could have been a decent pedal demo was scuppered by my inability to say 'girth knob' without giggling; if you want sensible gear demos there's always Ed Friedland... Seriously, though, this is a nice alternative to the Boss OC-2.

A bit of Bowie for the weekend: David Bowie - 'Let's Dance' bass transcription PDF

A little look at some of Stevie Wonder's best pentatonic lines: 5 Wonder-ful Pentatonic Unisons And some YouTube channel developments, along with thoughts on why TAB is the devil:

A hair-rock classic that's a lot of fun to play, particularly the silly fill that doubles the snare drum: Bon Jovi - 'You Give Love a Bad Name' bass transcription PDF

Jon bought an octave pedal from me, I believe it was his first BC marketplace purchase. What can I say? Excellent comms, prompt payment and a totally hassle-free transaction from start to finish. Top bloke! @Lardy

I'd somehow managed to avoid playing this song until this weekend, so here's a chart: Bruno Mars - '24K Magic' Bass Transcription pdf

I did a transcription of this a few months ago and was blown away by how easy he makes it sound; the line moves all over the neck but he makes it sound totally seamless. Anthony Jackson's contribution to Chaka Khan's 'Move Me No Mountain' had a huge effect on me, as did Jamerson's line on 'What's Going On'.

Juan Alderete being relatively restrained on fretless: The Mars Volta - 'The Widow' bass transcription pdf

@Dad3353 Thank you so much, that's a huge help!

I have a gig in Paris at the end of April and the client has offered to pay for instrument hire to save me risking mine on the Eurostar and fighting my way through the Metro with it. The gig is unplugged pop stuff, so the requirements of the bass are fairly minimal. Does anyone have any advice on the following: 1. Any recommended DB hire places in Paris 2. Anywhere in the UK that might hire a Chadwick folding bass (or similar) OR anyone that would be prepared to hire theirs out for a decent fee.