Steve Woodcock

Hi Caz, you're nearly there: Yes, it's in E minor - the Imaj7 chord is from the parallel key of E major. Cmaj7 is a bVImaj7 D9 is a bVII9 - it functions as a substitute for the V chord (sometimes referred to as a backdoor dominant) Fmaj7 is a bIImaj7 and is from the parallel E Phrygian mode Don't view G as borrowed from the parallel major, it's diatonic to C (harmonic) minor Maxwell's Silver Hammer is not difficult, it just contains a few secondary dominants (indicated by V7/_ on the chart below):

Thanks @sykilz, I'm glad you liked it. That's a good question: honestly no, I don't think it did make a huge difference - in fact when I submitted the session file the guys in the band didn't even realise it was fretless! 🙄 I'll take that as a compliment about my intonation I guess, haha 😅 I've been playing fretless for about 26 years now I think and have used it in similar settings throughout that time but ultimately my decision to use it on this particular session was because their previous bassist had established fretless as part of the band's sound on their previous four albums.

Another one from me, here I am playing on the new single from UK death metallers De Profundis, again with my fretless Ibanez Gary Willis signature bass:

We recorded prior to our split back in 2017, but it remained unreleased until today:

Hi @Welshbassist, glad to hear lockdown has rekindled your passion for playing! I am currently available for lessons via Zoom or Skype and, when permissable again, face to face in Chiswick - will this be too far from SE for you? Drop me a message and we can discuss the issues you'd like to tackle.

Recently bought a pickup from Roger, despite all the restrictions at the moment he posted it the very next morning. Top service!

Thank you for the kind words, Jean Marie! You are indeed making progress and I'm glad you are getting a lot out of the lessons :)

Tragic news, Sean has been a huge influence on my playing since I first heard him back in '93 and is the reason I play fretless and Chapman Stick. To lose both him and Sean Reinert this year is devastating. I had the privilege of being taught by Sean back in 2000 when he was in London recording with Bill Bruford. Not only was he a stellar musician but he was a great teacher who was very passionate about education. Years later I had the incredible honour of - albeit briefly - stepping in to his shoes to play Chapman Stick with Cynic on some shows in 2008.

I love the sound of the tabla, so it was an absolute pleasure to dep for this band a number of times throughout 2015-16: Francesco and Simran from the band did a drum and tabla clinic a few years ago which is well worth a watch, here is the part where Simran talks in detail about the tabla:

I was in to Sadus back in '91 so one of the sources is my memory 😉 Ive just done some googling and found an interview discussing the recording of A Vision Of Misery to back that up though: Also:

That's actually a fretted Rickenbacker - the first release with Steve playing fretless wasn't until Autopsy's Fiend For Blood EP in 1992, followed quickly by Sadus's A Vision Of Misery.

With most of us now stuck inside with extra time on our hands, for many this is an ideal opportunity to hit the practice shed. We're facing much uncertainty at the moment but there is at least one thing we can take control of: our bass playing. Whether you have been contemplating taking lessons for a while to perfect your technique, improve your fretboard knowledge, become a better improvisor, brush up on your reading skills, gain a deep understanding of music theory, or are simply looking for a distraction from the crazy situation we find ourselves in, I can help. I am a professional bass player and over the last 25 years I have performed with a number of name artists from a wide range of genres spanning from jazz and pop through to prog rock and death metal. Now in to my 11th year of teaching, with students ranging from beginners through to professional musicians, I am currently available for online lessons via Zoom. Get in touch to make the best use of this lockdown, and stay safe out there! www.SteveWoodcockBass.com

@Jakester, it sounds like you are trying to mute with just one finger - by doing this you are creating a node rather than stopping the string from vibrating, and this is what is creating the harmonic. To effectively mute you must use at least two points of contact (for LH muting I generally use the underside of all my fingers, depending on context) to stop the string dead .

Not a stupid question at all! Skype, Facetime, Zoom etc. are optimised for conveying speech and will actively try to suppress what they consider to be background noise (this can include bass playing!) which can result in the sound cutting in and out; there are settings in Zoom which can alleviate this but I'm not sure about the others.

Try using headphones, I've only experienced this problem when my mic has picked up the sound of my student from my speakers.

The Hal Crook books How to Improvise and Ready, Aim, Improvise! are both excellent.

Hi @bassmansam, given the current climate I'm giving all of my lessons on Skype now (well, Zoom actually as I find it more stable) so am seeing the results across a number of different connections and devices. I wouldn't normally entertain it for beginners, i.e. where you have to take a more 'hands on' approach to correct posture, technique, finger placement etc. but beyond that it works OK. A good internet connection is of course vital. Wifi connection can vary greatly from room to room in a house (I've seen this where I have two students from the same household) so find the best spot, or maybe use an ethernet cable to the router. Make sure you are in a well lit room, with the light source either in front of you or to the side - not behind as you will be in shadow. I plug my bass direct in to the computer and use a lavalier mic for speaking but this is not necessary, a built in mic will suffice but may take some experimentation - particularly when dealing with bass frequencies - to get a clear audio signal and not overload the input which results in the audio 'ducking' in and out. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Interesting that the general assumption is the student is male! She's actually an accomplished psychologist and author, with her next book coming out in May! Truly inspirational and I can only hope to be a switched on as her if I ever reach such an age.

For anyone thinking they've left it too late to take learning an instrument seriously, take encouragement from this: I have recently taken on a student who is 96.

Sean was a friend of mine, so his death came as a huge shock and has taken a while to sink in. Having first seen him play with Cynic way back in 1993 I later had the privilege of watching him play close-up countless times as I worked/toured with Aeon Spoke and the reformed Cynic as their guitar/backline tech, culminating with me playing Chapman Stick with them on a few shows in 2008 which remain some of the highlights of my career. Aside from being immensely fun to hang out with, Sean was absolutely one of my favourite musicians. I first heard him on Death's Human record and Cynic's '90 demo - his impact on the scene back then cannot be overstated, no one had heard anything like it in the genre before and he definitely raised the bar for all that followed. Unbelievable that he was only 19 at the time! A very sad loss.

Hi @bamboofrog If you haven't had any success finding someone local and are expanding your search, I am in west London (Chiswick W4) if that isn't too far?

Cool, I'll look out for the Rocket Lounge!

Not the Pyramid stage, unfortunately! Playing the Shangri-La Truth stage on Thursday night, Avalon stage on Friday afternoon and a back stage bar gig on Sunday night. Are you going?