XB26354

... oh and one of the best examples of a complete scale is the C major pentatonic in the intro guitar part of... My Girl!

Interesting replies, I thought I'd share my experiences as a player and teacher... The trick of learning intervals through the first two notes of a melody only works to show you an example of the interval. It doesn't really have a benefit when developing your ear, because you are hearing that interval over one harmonic sequence only. e.g. Eastenders is a major second as part of a major chord. If used as the 6th and 7th of the melodic minor it will sound completely different against the harmony. Perfect pitch is amazing but in reality is a real pain every time someone plays something slightly flat/sharp. Relative pitch (relating one note or chord to adjacent notes or chords) is the important skill to develop. Start by learning the major and melodic minor scales. Much of modern harmony comes from these two scales, so if you play each scale up and down, inside and out, then practice them in seconds, thirds, fourths etc. until you know them inside out. Then try transcribing some very basic melodies. Get a keyboard or access to one. Play basic major and minor triads in root position and all inversions in different keys, very slowly. Try to hear the differences between them. Go back and learn the diminished and whole tone scales and triads. Repeat with 4-note, 5-note chords etc. with extensions (intervals above the octave). Then go back to the simple melody and work out the chords. I cannot stress how important learning the melody and harmony is to developing your ear. If you're interested in jazz everything there is to learn is there to be transcribed. Maybe start with something like Kind of Blue, with static harmony and simple melodies. Transcribe [i]without[/i] your bass (unless you just cannot get a particular passage), then learn to play the transcription - it is not enough just to hear it, you need to hear it through your bass. Learning all the F's, G's etc on your bass is great for learning the fingerboard but has limited effect on eartraining (except for the timbre of different octaves). Unless I'm going mad the bass line to [i]My Girl[/i] starts perfect 5th-root in C major Cheers Mat

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='461809' date='Apr 14 2009, 09:55 AM']I find I just don't like the pick sound. I can articulate and shape the sound much better with fingers.[/quote] I was exactly the same for 20 years. Then I discovered Anthony Jackson with Chaka Khan. Those lines are not only fantastic, but they just don't sound right with fingers. For the Love of [s]God[/s] Money! The thing about a pick is that you need a bass with a bit of punch or growl or else it doesn't quite work. Interestingly I never played a bass with a carbon fibre neck that sounded good with a pick - Zon, Steinberger, Status or Modulus. A woody P-bass... perfect! A thick pick tends to give a more solid sound too imho.

[quote name='slaphappygarry' post='462278' date='Apr 14 2009, 05:00 PM']B-E-A-D is how i play my 4 string bass as standard too. Its very cool and opens lots of interesting possibilities that the G doesn't. Suits my playing well but i know it doesn't work for all... The relearning the neck was also not so hard.. G[/quote] I'd be interested to know what possibilities open up by [i]not[/i] having the G? Do you mean by sacrificing the G for the B you can play low stuff without having a 5-string? It does all depend upon the music and the player. I for one would not want to play the 12 fret G on the G string at the 17th fret on the D-string, but then I'm greedy and have all the strings (plus another one on top)!

Yolanda Charles?

+1, a great site and a gold-mine of obscure info about the origins of music theory.

[quote name='synaesthesia' post='456604' date='Apr 7 2009, 05:28 PM']Marienthal. I guess saxophone players don't matter much in the world of electric bass players for whom Mike Stern is so high up on a pedestal. Good player, but it quite obvious where the slant is on this forum. FWIW, I have been listening to Mike Stern since he was with BS&T, and I've met the man with Dennis Chambers in '93. Again good player, but all this "you don't like or don't know Mike Stern?" bashing is amusing to say the least in the face of 'Eric someone.'[/quote] Go back and reread my post. I praised the whole quartet for great playing. I've known Mike Stern's playing for a long time too, and merely commented that I don't like his sound. Such a heavily effected sound tends to grate over a long period of listening, especially chorusing. I also am very well aware of who Eric Marienthal is, just didn't have his name at the tip of my tongue. This is all opinion, so why not think before writing condescending posts, as if you're the only one that's ever listened to Mike Stern?

Saw him year before last at Ronnie's with Anthony Jackson, Dave Weckl and Eric someone on sax. Great, great playing but I can't stand that horrible chorused guitar sound. He had stereo amps and it still sounded thin and crappy. Each to their own I guess but I can't imagine why anyone would like that sound and continue to use it for 25+ years, especially someone with so much talent - guess he likes it!

[quote name='6stringbassist' post='456329' date='Apr 7 2009, 12:39 PM']Basically playing with someone is better than sitting at home practising, and a lot of jazz musicians can be very......shall we say 'set in their ways'. "You don't play jazz on an electric bass" is something that I've heard on a couple of occassions.[/quote] But you DON'T play jazz on an electric bass, and especially not a 6-string bass! (see my signature) Seriously, the reason why many jazzers think you can't or shouldn't play jazz on electric bass is that most players just don't swing like double bass players do - something to do with the depth of tone, and the more subtle sound of double bass. Being a more physical and somewhat harder instrument to play perhaps players get more out of each note... my number one tip to someone dtarting to learn to play walking lines - play quarter notes and nothing else. Only when you can really swing should you start to add the skips and triplets etc. and VERY sparingly.

[quote name='lowdown' post='455620' date='Apr 6 2009, 04:13 PM']Anyone fancy sitting in on this big band? There is a hard act to follow mind. Garry[/quote] Oh and check where AJ screws up at 1'04" even the best miss it sometimes!

[quote name='synaesthesia' post='455888' date='Apr 6 2009, 09:35 PM']If anything irks me is the limited view most so called jazz musos have. Mention latin bass and they can only name Anthony Jackson. It's as if Showaddywaddy were really from the 50's.[/quote] eh? I'd like to think I've listened to a fair chunk of salsa, island, brazilian and south american music (and played a fair bit of it) and I've never heard anyone say that...

[quote name='lowdown' post='455620' date='Apr 6 2009, 04:13 PM']Anyone fancy sitting in on this big band? There is a hard act to follow mind. Garry[/quote] This is bordering on film/TV theme music from the 70's a la Quincy Jones - and despite transcribing it (and the whole of One More Once) it's more like latiny jazz with a backbeat. Anthony Jackson plays a quasi-walking line over the solo section I guess... It doesn't really matter what anyone thinks about jazz - it is there for you to take it or leave it if you want. Go to some decent gigs, get some books on the subject (e.g. The Jazz Theory Book) and dip your toes in until you either find something you like or hate it all and give up! I find nowadays that the Jamey Aebersold play-alongs do a lot more for your playing if you want to try things and make mistakes in a low pressure situation than a bad jam session. OK, they're not the same as playing live but you do get to practice tunes of all types (as well as turnarounds and other jazz specifics) with some real bad-ass jazzers. Maybe Miles' playing grates for some people because like Jaco he's been endlessly copied - I've certainly played with plenty of trumpeters that did bad Miles impressions :-)

The new SR506 with Bart mk II's is very nice - sound is much improved over the first incarnation. Too neck heavy when seated for me but light enough for it not to matter in the long run. I can't recommend the BTB676 - it sure looks nice with the thru neck but basic tone was very uninspiring.

I've also had a go on the red SR300 at the Gallery, and in addition to being the lightest bass I have ever picked up (seriously, thought it was a guitar) it performs really well - this standard of bass simply did not exist 25 years ago below £500. The blend pot between "slap" and "fingerstyle is not really to my taste but works as a kind of sweepable mid, to me it was best left in the middle. Great bass and not just for a beginner.

I assume you're talking about the US models? The Standard has all five tuners in a row, Deluxe has a 4+1 arrangement. The Deluxe I had was very light and well put together, and of course it has 22 frets, SCN pickups and the active circuit. I think it boils down to whether you want to go active or passive really. I would strongly advise you to try one out in a store as quality seems very variable. I was lucky enough to try 4 at the same time and the one I bought was head and shoulders above the rest for finish and feel. Sound was of course almost identical.

I'd also add that once you find a technical approach that works for you, stick with it and push it as far as you can. You'll notice much more of an improvement in technique than if you chop and change between different approaches. I aim for comfort first, tone second. It's no good having a great sound and your wrist cramps up after one hour of playing!

[quote name='OutToPlayJazz' post='450315' date='Mar 31 2009, 10:10 AM']That's right, let's all knock what we haven't tried, don't understand, or worse still can't afford. The detractors here quite simply have way too much time on their hands.[/quote] I've tried loads of Statuses and owned a couple, understand them very well thank you and as I seem to be able to afford a bass that would retail at approximately twice the price of a S2 6-string, money doesn't come into it. Still wouldn't buy one You're right though, it is nearly lunchtime and I do have too much time on my hands

[quote name='Eight' post='443644' date='Mar 24 2009, 12:23 PM']Well... For a sense of completeness maybe. Because I'm not currently learning bass just from a functional point of view. Because its challenging. Or just because there's nothing more or less wrong with a bass solo than there is a lead guitar solo. And I don't believe you need to play jazz to pull it off. I don't gig, I'm not even in a band. So I have no whinging guitard telling me what I can and can't play. I just have limited ability.[/quote] I wouldn't try to limit yourself be believing you need to play or not play any style. It just so happens that jazz is the main style of music that specifically demands all instruments improvise at some point. The bass is and always was an accompaniment instrument in every style of music (including those where there is no tuned bass instrument, like South American and Indian music). As you say there is nothing wrong with bass solos or developing your facility to play them on bass. "Soloing" in many bass situations means taking the bass line and elaborating upon it, with reference to the melody (if there is one). As treble clef instruments tend to do the bulk of soloing they are a good place to start.

I'd respectfully ask why you feel the need to work on bass soloing if you're not playing jazz? Although it is talked about a lot it is very rarely heard/asked for outside of modern jazz circles. If you a break that you need to fill, then as mentioned above learning melodies (and very importantly, how the melody relates to the underlying harmony), perhaps adding a stronger rhythmic element if you need to groove along to the drums. Cheers Mat

I just noticed that the OP was also talking about muting strings below the one being plucked. On a four string bass Jennifer's suggestion above seems the most logical. If you go for 5- or 6-strings in the future a floating thumb (or lightly touching straight thumb) is better as if you play top G on a five you have to damp 4 lower strings.

Damp [b]plucked[/b] strings with the plucking hand. It's much more efficient as you fingers are there ready to play anyway. If you're playing on the E string then your fretting hand naturally mutes the higher strings so they don't ring in sympathy. I've played both ways and certainly for recording it really cleans up your playing. I've been fortunate to have quite a lot of students over the years and it seems not to have posed a problem for anyone. It is like many things with technique - not a natural thing to do initially but it will improve the cleanliness and punch of your bass playing. Check out Gary Willis Progressive Bassics (I think it's on YouTube) to see it in action. Cheers Mat