xilddx

Yes, hello mate The key thing when you are beginning is to get a little technique under your belt. Playing the strings cleanly and with decent technique. Like xgsjs says, just ply along with some of your favourite songs on the the bass. You should be able to discern whether the notes you play sound good or bad. Get a tab book for your favourite band and learn a couple of songs. The most important thing is that you ENJOY playing. Without enjoyment you have no reason to carry on. Try to record yourself or at least make some effort to track your progress, even keeping a diary is helpful. You need to see how you are progressing. Remember that the more you learn, the more you realise there is to learn, but concentrate on makes you happy in the meantime. In six months you can start the work of realising your dream and working in a more focused fashion towards it. You will have plateaux, and depressing times when you feel you are making no progress. But believe me, you can try to play something, and struggle for three weeks, then like a lightning bolt you can find you can play it with ease, like a switch. The brain is a funny thing. Have fun, you'll get loads of help here mate.

[quote name='ShergoldSnickers' timestamp='1319219958' post='1411553'] OK a suitable backing track has been downloaded. I'll warn you that no attempt will be made to follow any existing melody. Or any melody whatsoever come to that. It will be an off the cuff pass through, and I'll have a go this weekend time permitting. [/quote] Excellent! No point playing anyone else's melody, just express yourself mate!

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1319143999' post='1410614'] Been a bit busy doing other bits and bobs lately but just had a quick go on the online Clef game and got a 1.4 wizard on the first attempt with no errors so I think the notes themselves are pretty well nailed now, just needs more time spent reading music. Are there any good books for reading popular rhythms to help recognise groups of notes? Im not too bad now but it takes me a long time to work out a whole song, far from sight read although if you read the opening posts from the start of the year I said I would be happy if I could class myself as a reader which I now can. Anyone else done anything or have you all given up? [/quote] I've given up, quite a while ago

[quote name='mcgraham' timestamp='1319193114' post='1411014'] No need to apologise! It's nice to have some proper conversation about music on a music forum (fancy that!) My apologies if my first few sentences seemed somewhat terse, they were not meant to be! [/quote] No worries mate!

Fair comment mate, sorry.

To urb, McGraham and Bilbo, These are interesting questions, and I find the comparison with martial arts doesn't sit with me well. A martial artist often has a philosophical approach to his art, but the desired outcome is usually highly efficient self defence. Music is different, because the desired outcome could be anything depending on the situation. Pleasing your band leader, the rest of the group, yourself, the audience, or challenging them, or yourself. Could be financial gain through record sales, teaching, ability to play anything any time anywhere to a high standard etc. etc. BUT, a wrong note is not a wrong note if it achieves a desired or accidental positive outcome. And everyone's approach to music is different. However there are so many other factors involved beyond the music. That my slightly ridiculous first attempt at soloing with a bass, over a jazz tune (neither of which I am at all familiar with), made Bilbo laugh so much, and caused Mike to say it had 'originality, a powerful sound and expressive, emotional playing' is a totally accidental and very positive outcome for me. But if they'd heard it on Youtube from someone they had never heard of, with no real context, would their reactions be different? I have always thought cooking is more suitably analogous to music. You can have the most fabulous ingredients and make something that tastes horrible with them, and vice versa, and what you might find horrible-tasting may be delicious to someone else. However, it's consistency that's most important if you're running a restaurant.

[quote name='urb' timestamp='1319137249' post='1410504'] It sounds great Nige - kind of Scott Thunes plays a jazz ballad - now that's compliment if I ever gave one - a famous jazz piano player said something like "improvising is literally about having the courage to go from one note to the next" - after that you've cracked it. I think the one defining aspect of jazz is improvisation and in reality the more you know and have at your finger tips, the more freely 'in theory' you can do this - but as has been extensively argued on BC technical ability/theory knowledge is not a substitute for originality, a powerful sound and expressive, emotional playing. I think your solo had a mix of all of these things - in spite of your protestations about not knowing any theory your ear is actually good enough to tell what works and what doesn't and one of the things I enjoyed most was a 'wrong' not then resolving to a 'right' one - if you know what I mean - that sounded ace. Anyway fearlessness is the way forward and I too am feeling particularly fearless with my playing too right now - leaping into the unknown and knowing you will land just fine if you trust your instincts is what making real music is all about... yay! [/quote] Crikey, Mike, I am not worthy of such a magnificent compliment, but it raised me a very broad grin! Thank you

[quote name='ShergoldSnickers' timestamp='1319049804' post='1409390'] OK... I'll bite. [url="http://soundcloud.com/fear-of-bicycles"]Fear of Bicycles on Soundcloud[/url] 'Acht' is probably the most accessible. . It is all improvised from the off and what you get is what you get. Unfortunately. 'The five minutes' was all done without any of us hearing what had already been put down so we were working blind, and is the only one we have done non-live together as it were. The best bit is the cat purr near the beginning. Oh we enjoy doing it so stop complaining. [/quote] I like Helium! Very much my cup of tea. This is not easy listening, but it's damn good! It couldn't handle The 5 Minutes, sorry, but I did like Acht. Your bass tone is really nice, deep and rubbery in the low end, and loads of chorus (I think). Quirky playing, not sounding like Karn, but with lots of his sort of attitude if you know what I mean.

It's good! I just posted my first Soundcloud thing. It's total car crash jazz [url="http://soundcloud.com/silddx/silddxs-brown-bossa-thats"]http://soundcloud.com/silddx/silddxs-brown-bossa-thats[/url]

[quote name='BottomE' timestamp='1319013788' post='1408786'] Had my first ever bass lesson last night from a real live person. It was great. Inspired by Nigels lack of fear i am going to have a go at this track and put a little bit of soloing on it! I have a more up tempo version but in the same key. [/quote] Like McGraham says, just go for it! Although I've been taking the piss somewhat, I did make a genuine attempt at something musical that reflected my personality and emphasised the mood of the tune and its changes. I don't play jazz, I have no theory that would have helped me navigate the tune, and don't know the note names I was playing or any knowledge of what keys the tune is in. I started with a random note and took it from there, purely playing by ear after hearing the tune a couple of times. Have no fear, no-one will judge your results unfairly. My confidence comes from knowing I'm a decent player and writer in the music genres I play with my bands, that and the fact I approched it with a sense of humour and with nothing to prove other than to myself. I really enjoyed it! It was actually a very liberating exercise on a number of levels. And the most satisfying vindication of my efforts is I made Bilbo laugh so much

You do know I'm only joking chaps, don't you? That wasn't really me, it was Alain Caron.

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1317653565' post='1392770'] Ha ha, back on the good ship Warwick, mate? [/quote] She sails like a dream mate!

Hey, thanks for that fellas! I'm glad I've got this one cracked. What's this Anusol thing, and does it have a link to the backing track for Giant Steps, I want to have that one next. Thanks again! Nx

HAHAHAHAHA! How could I resist! http://soundcloud.com/silddx/silddxs-brown-bossa-thats

Christ mate, this was nice to come home to! Thank you!

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1318444177' post='1402295'] Great drummer, found him a bit creepy though. I can see the value of the excercises, but you'd have to be quite disciplined (not to mention imaginative) not to simply fall back on familiar patterns & phrases when undertaking them. [/quote] There are other exercises for developing your imagination. And what's wrong with discipline? I would think a lazy and unimaginative musician wouldn't be doing this in the first place. I tried this last night, it was interesting how I just jabber on the bass sometimes and can't repeat what I did, once i started thinking more about my phrasing, it became easy to repeat. I think it's a clever exercise.

Believe me, Clarky, you sound great! Lovely intonation and sensitivity.

Ace!

It's great mate! She has a lovely voice, and it's a very nice song. It's not my usual cup of char so I won't give perfunctory comment. That era of this sort of music does little for me, sorry man, but i have friends who would like it. However, I [i]can[/i] comment on the performances, and they are excellent! I can't believe after all that sh*t you said about needing a lined fretless and that you had trouble with no frets that that is you playing! It sounds ace! As do all the musicians, it is VERY professional sounding indeed! You are far too humble mate

This is GOOD MUSIC! It really sounds like the '70s, it felt very nostalgic. Great vocal, and the sound and mix is spot on, a great balance of lofi and hifi - enough to be nostalgic and enough to satisfy the demands of the modern ear. Really great playing by all. Very strange feeling listening, it reminded me of mucking about in Coventry fields in the '70s with the 'modern' semis in the background, all in Kodachrome. Great stuff mate!!

Really really excellent! I love it! I'll be doing some of this tonight now. Thanks very much for sharing that.

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1318425787' post='1401982'] I'm going to annoy you and tell you. You got your first git before I was born [/quote] Jesus, I always imagined you to be older than me

[quote name='paul h' timestamp='1318407573' post='1401606'] My first bass was a Satellite. £25 from the local second hand shop. I want to say it was a P bass but I have a sneaking suspicion it was a short scale ric-a-like. Can't remember. [/quote] My first guitar was a s/h Satellite, 3T sunburst. £25, back in 1978.