Stuart Clayton

[quote name='Eight' post='1245731' date='May 26 2011, 03:09 PM']Sounds good. I'm in. Really hoping for an e-book format here. *fingers crossed*[/quote] No e-book unfortunately, copyright license doesn't allow for that! Stuart

Hi all, I wanted to let you all know that 'The Jamiroquai Bass Book', which I have been working on for the last year will be available towards the end of June. The book covers the band's first two albums, Emergency on Planet Earth and The Return of the Space Cowboy and contains the following songs: When You Gonna Learn Too Young To Die Hooked Up If I like It, I Do It Music of the Mind Emergency on Planet Earth Whatever it is, I Just Can't Stop Blow Your Mind Just Another Story Stillness in Time Light Years Manifest Destiny The Kids Mr. Moon Scam Space Cowboy All transcriptions are done, so I'm just down to final checking and arranging the printing. The book will be on sale through the Bassline Publishing site (you might have noticed our new banner ad that occasionally appears at the top left of the page) and will be priced £19.99. Each song also features detailed performance notes, and the book includes a biog of the band, and original bassist Stuart Zender. You can check out the cover art and some sample pages here: [url="http://www.basslinepublishing.com/jamiroquai-bass-book.html"]http://www.basslinepublishing.com/jamiroquai-bass-book.html[/url] Best wishes, Stuart

Hi guys, I started work on a transcription of this about thirteen years ago when I was working on cruise ships and had loads of time for such things...! I recently typed up what I had in Sibelius, and have attached it here for your reference. Not saying it's right or wrong, but maybe it will be useful to those that are figuring out this great tune. Cheers Stu

[quote name='muppethenry' post='485479' date='May 12 2009, 12:13 AM']I failed my grade 8 theory by 8 marks... then passed by 8 marks! Woop woop! As a quick question - what scales/technical exercises does Rockschool recommend for grade 8? I need some technical fodder (and the correct/best fingerings (although thats pretty subjective i guess!)) and dont wanna shell out for the book! Itd be cool if there was a 'Big book of bass scales and technical exercises' that was around to take you from utter begineer with scales to a pimp-ass scale-monster... and if it came with a free metronome... I can do like major and all the modes (and variants of the above), but need the 'next' thing to make me improve and to get me warmed up at the start of practicing. Cheers![/quote] I hate to do the shameless plug thing, but I wrote a 'big book of bass scales and technical exercises' recently. You can check it out here: [url="http://www.basslinepublishing.com/the-bass-player-s-guide-to-scales-and-modes.html"]http://www.basslinepublishing.com/the-bass...-and-modes.html[/url] It has loads of free audio files with it (as a download on the site) that demonstrates all scales and modes being used in real world lines. It's helped a bunch of my students at BIMM with their theory, and I was discussing the teaching methods used in it with a friend at Rock School recently who was asking my advice on scales. Again, sorry for the plug, but it seemed relevant! Stuart

Hey guys, Thanks so much for all the nice compliments, really pleased you've all enjoyed this video. I'll practice up another one! Cheers Stuart

Hi all, I've finally gotten around to recording a new solo bass video - my solo bass arrangement of the Metallica classic 'Nothing Else Matters'. You can check it out on YouTube here: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sHvUv_w18I"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sHvUv_w18I[/url] As some of you might know, I originally intended this piece to be part of my 'Solo Arrangements for Electric Bass' book, but copyright restrictions prevented this from happening. It's an arrangement that I am still very proud of however, and I'm pleased to have finally recorded a performance of it on video. The good news is that the sheet music and an MP3 are available for FREE on my publishing site, www.basslinepublishing.com, so if you want to have a crack at it yourselves, you can. Hope you enjoy it! Stuart

That's an excellent article, and bizarrely, is similar to something I've been working on recently. My new year's resolution was to improve my jazz soloing, and so I took an inspiring lesson with Joe Hubbard, and began transcribing and analysing one of my favourite solos - Chick Corea's solo on 'Spain'. So far I have transcribed the first chorus of Chick's solo and learnt it. In doing so, I found some melodic ideas that were confusing. Some research was needed in order for me to understand what he was doing, but once I had uncovered the [i]concept[/i] behind the lick (rather than just the notes), I had a new piece of vocabulary to incorporate into my own playing. I studied every idea in that one chorus of the solo and uncovered so many ideas it was unreal. Using these ideas, I began to improvise my own lines on the form, taking it a few chords at a time - I looped a backing track in Transcribe for this. The result is that I have written a few pages of new licks and have begun combining them into some etudes. I'm really enjoying playing these now, and feel that having taken the time to analyse just a few bars of Chick's playing, I have learnt an incredible amount. Once my etudes and accompanying explanations are finished I will upload them for you all to check out. Great article! Stu

Hi Tom, Nice stuff, I enjoyed it. I'll be interested to hear more, some of those ideas are crying out to be developed into longer pieces! Nice one. Stuart

[quote name='Doddy' post='1152526' date='Mar 7 2011, 02:33 PM']No-Wimbish came in after that track. Edit.... It was a guy called Chip Shearin that played the bass on 'Rappers Delight'.[/quote] I heard that, but I also heard that (label/studio owner) Sylvia Robinson herself did it! Unlikely... Stu

Just had a few queries about this - Yes, you do need a broadband connection and a webcam! Stuart

Hi all, I've been doing more private teaching recently and have decided to begin offering Skype lessons for students who live too far away to visit me in North Devon. As some of you will know, I am a fully qualified teacher (recently completed a PG Cert qualification) and am able to teach students of all levels. I am able to cover: ▪ All aspects of music theory ▪ All scales and modes, in a musically relevant way ▪ Sight reading - beginner level to advanced ▪ Slap bass technique - beginner to advanced, including double thumbing ▪ Right and left hand technique ▪ Two handed tapping ▪ All styles of music covered [b]Beginners Welcome![/b] In addition I am able to teach a large range of songs and am happy to cover material from the Rock School grade books. I am also happy to teach students to play any of the solo pieces that I have recorded for my Solo Arrangements book - this has been a popular choice recently! If you are interested in taking a Skype lesson, you will need high speed internet access, and you must have the Skype software installed on your computer. I am also happy to use iChat if you are a mac user and would prefer this. With all new students I am happy to schedule a test conversation prior to the lesson in order to confirm that your internet connection is sufficient. I charge £30 an hour for one-to-one tuition at my home, and am offering Skype lessons for £25. Discounts are available for block bookings. If you are interested, please feel free to either contact me via this forum, or by emailing me at: [email protected]. Cheers Stuart

I always enjoyed Terry Gregory's arrangements. I still play his versions of 'Don't Get Around Much Anymore' and 'Mercy Mercy Mercy' to this day. In fact, I played them this morning! Stu

I'd recommend Zander Zon's album 'Sonorous'. He's written some really great music that you can enjoy as solo bass, but which you can also enjoy just as music - what I mean, is that it doesn't sound like a typical 'bass' album. Check out his YouTube channel: [url="http://www.youtube.com/user/Zander4724"]http://www.youtube.com/user/Zander4724[/url] I'd also recommend Michael Manring's 'Soliloquy' too - awesome stuff. Stu

Such a great song. We play it in the function band I work in since we've got an awesome singer who can really pull it off. The hardest part is getting that groove to swing - the interaction between the bass and drums is so important on this one. Fun to play! Stu

[quote name='crez5150' post='1108557' date='Jan 30 2011, 07:50 PM']Everybody dance...... that is an absolute killer to play.... took me ages to get up to speed with that one... great tune[/quote] If you can do it with the Bernard Edwards 'chucking' technique then my hat is well and truly off to you!! Stu

There's a full transcription on my site: [url="http://stuartclayton.com/media/transcriptions/"]http://stuartclayton.com/media/transcriptions/[/url] Might be some other stuff to tempt you there too... Stu

Welcome back Rich, and those are some sweet looking basses you have/had there! Stu

Without wanting to plug my own work toooo much, you could do worse than to check out this transcription book that I wrote a couple of years back which covers the funk and disco grooves of Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards: [url="http://www.basslinepublishing.com/nile-rodgers-and-bernard-edwards-funk-and-disco-grooves.html"]http://www.basslinepublishing.com/nile-rod...co-grooves.html[/url] The book contains guitar and bass transcriptions to all the hits that Nile and Bernard wrote with Chic, Sister Sledge and Diana Ross. Obvious highlights - as mentioned by some of the other posters - are 'Le Freak' and 'Good Times', but for Bernard at his best, you should check out his lines on 'My Feet Keep Dancing', 'Thinking Of You', 'My Forbidden Lover' and of course 'Everybody Dance'. Phenomenal playing and some of greatest funk/disco that you could ever want to listen to! Stu

[quote name='Conan' post='1095942' date='Jan 20 2011, 08:13 AM']Very nice. Loving the section from 0.58 to 1.06. Tasteful use of double thumbing too![/quote] Awesome tone - great job too! Stu

[quote name='silddx' post='1079583' date='Jan 6 2011, 10:29 AM']That's all fine, Stuart, but I don't have an iPad I can read on the khazi [i]I think BGM, for all its spellchecking faults is a good mag[/i] There are more faults than just spelling and grammar though, like reviewing a different bass to the pictured one, awful ratings systems for reviews, and reviews for cheap basses pitched in the same way as those for £4k basses (does the potential buyer of a £4k bass need a picture of the bridge with the caption "the bridge is adjustable for each individual string"??). Another problem is photos rarely having captions which can be very annoying. Parts of an interview was missing recently and there was no redress in the next issue, despite complaints. Dud information, incorrect transcriptions in the learning section. That awful, awful, pointless scholarship blog. The lack of any challenging editorial that gets players, manufacturers and retailers thinking. You are right that Mike is an ace interviewer and writer, and I trust his CD reviews too. Mike Brooks however has suddenly started writing like he's been told to "sex things up a bit" or something. It's not all bad, but it could be so much better with some care and attention, and a more balls.[/quote] Absolutely, care and attention is the key. The issue as I see it is that there are not enough people proof-reading the material, for whatever reason - presumably a budgetary one. I have offered in the past to help out, as well as check all the music notation and format it to the same size/font/style etc (as it should be). Unfortunately it's not something that I would do for free, and so it hasn't happened. Stu

[quote name='Rich' post='1079465' date='Jan 6 2011, 07:53 AM']+1. I used to automatically buy Bass Pamphlet, sorry [i]Player[/i] whenever I saw it in Smith's, but last time I flicked through it first and none of the few bits I could see between the adverts appealed in the slightest. So I walked away. A lack of competition doesn't excuse a lack of care though. I hate to say it, but Bassist was a far more polished product.[/quote] It will undoubtedly seem that I am saying this because I sometimes work for BGM, but do people honestly think that Bassist was a good magazine? I read it (and bought every issue) purely because it was the only UK mag available at the time, and something was better than nothing. However, the blokey, man-in-the-pub writing style was appalling, the reviews were dreadful, the editorial was poor and... well, there was that Burt Reynolds bass cartoon as well wasn't there? I did not miss it when it went. I think BGM, for all its spellchecking faults is a good mag. There are some great writers there - Mike Flynn being the one who springs to mind - and Nick has done a great job since he took over as editor. After all, taking a bi-monthly magazine to a monthly magazine during a recession can't be the easiest thing in the world to do now can it?! It's also a shame to see Bass Player US getting slimmer every month and losing staff - I was sad to see Bill Leigh go, and don't feel that Jonathan Herrera was quite good enough to replace him. I'm really hoping they keep it going and don't merge with Guitar Player. I personally think some of the online bass mags are starting to create some real competition to their printed counterparts. Stu

I just interviewed Stu for Bass Guitar Magazine, and we discussed his new bass in a fair amount of detail. There's not a lot I can add to what was said above, but the pickup configuration is unusual, and there are piezo's in the bridge. I guess it may not look much, but I think the picture is the prototype - no doubt Stu will do for a nice sparkle finish like on some of his Urge basses! I've heard Stu's album, 'Just Outside of Normal' and it's really good. Some unusual stuff on there, and some great compositions. Oh yeah, the bass playing is pretty good too... Look for out for all of the above in an issue of BGM coming soon. Stuart

Hey Grant, Not sure if it's of any use, but it's in The Mark King Bass Book - which I wrote last year. You can check the book out here: [url="http://www.basslinepublishing.com/the-mark-king-bass-book.html"]http://www.basslinepublishing.com/the-mark...-bass-book.html[/url] Hope that helps, Stuart [quote name='Grant' post='1030758' date='Nov 20 2010, 07:35 PM']Hey everyone, Would appreciate the tab of a section of this tune by Mark King if anyone has it. It's the section from 11: 45 on The Essential from his Influences solo album. Only lasts a minute, but I adore this little piece. Can anyone help...? Cheers Grant[/quote]