Kevin Glasgow

[quote name='Alun' timestamp='1316869559' post='1383859'] I'm really enjoying the Karma album so looking forward to hearing it live (and trying to work out how you play some of the unison lines!) PS another good example of quintuplets is in the main riff to Mike Keneally's Uglytown (the first two beats of the second bar in the intro are quintuplets) Cheers Alun [/quote] I'm glad that you're enjoying the album. (Yeah, some of those lines are really tricky. I better get practicing them again before the gig! ) Had a listen to "Ugly Town", really cool! Those Zappa guys are all over that stuff! Gonna check out more of Keneally's stuff.

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1316691051' post='1381442'] Not so much as note groupings but I do sometimes play songs with 5/7/9 etc based meters. I get them into my head by just tapping on the desk and emphisizing the 5th/7th etc taps until it no longer feels like a "forced" grouping, dunno if that would be at all helpful. [/quote] Yeah, I play quite a lot of different time signatures in some of the different bands I play with. I've found that practicing and playing these odd meters definitely helps me with polyrhythms, but I find that I still struggle when it comes to solidly playing 5 or 7 in the space of 4. I think it's the challenge of being able feel/play the two rhythms simultaneously which makes it really tricky. [quote name='Alun' timestamp='1316813614' post='1383401'] I have practiced them quite a bit over the years. The easiest way I know to play quintplets is to say "Hippopotamus" on each beat, although any 5 syllable word will do. It's sort a simpleton version of Indian rhythmic vocabulary. For septuplets try "Hungry Hippopotamus". For examples, there are loads in Zappa's work - Black Page has all sorts, Montanta and Inca Roads have quite a few quintuplets, amongst many others. Cheers Alun PS Kevin - looking forward to seeing you with Tommy Smith in Cardiff [/quote] "Hungry Hippopotamus"!! Awesome! I like that. I'll definitely give that a try. Thanks for the Zappa recommendations, I'll check those out. Yeah, hopefully see you at the Tommy gig. Should be fun! (Maybe I can steel some more polyrhythmic tips off you while I'm there! )

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1316605656' post='1380225'] A common instrument agnostic excercise is cycle through the key sequence playing over the [b]same range of notes [/b]say a c to c octave but adding one more sharp/flat each time to reflect the next key in the sequence. This is good for learning how to shift tonal center without abrupt melodic leaps but in the sort of music I play such shifts are a relative rarity - but if you play jazz/fusion etc youl probably get alot of milage out of it. [/quote] Yeah, I've found these sorts of exercises to be very useful. One good way to do it on the bass is to choose a specific area of the neck (e.g. between the 7th and 12th frets, or any area that covers about 5 or 6 frets) and arpeggiate/walk/or solo over the changes of a tune or chord progression without moving out of that specific area on the neck.

[quote name='lobematt' timestamp='1316604324' post='1380189'] Don't suppose you've got any examples of this sort of stuff? [/quote] He does a nice one of those licks in his solo on 'Port of Entry' from 'Night Passage'.

[quote name='lobematt' timestamp='1316602562' post='1380148'] I was doing some reading about Jaco that said it quintuplet runs were one of his little trademarks, I could never really get my head around them though! Wouldn't mind being pointed in the right direction too [/quote] Ah, that's interesting. Do you know of any good examples of him playing quintuplets?

There's a whole bunch of jazz tunes which utilize the cycle of fifths movement. A few good examples are:- I Got Rhythm Sweet Georgia Brown Jordu Skippy

Hi Folks, Just wondering if any of you practice/experiment with/or use odd tuplets (e.g. quintuplets, septuplets, etc)? It’s an area that has always intrigued me but one that I find hard to make much progress with. I’d be curious to know how you guys use them in your playing and how you practice them. Also, do you know of any good examples of them in recordings/pieces? I only know of a few different examples like Zappa’s ‘Black Page’, Steve Vai’s ‘Bledsoe Bluvd’, and ‘Five’ by Bill Evans. Cheers, Kev

[quote name='wombatboter' post='1375385' date='Sep 16 2011, 12:21 PM']"Le Band" I liked a lot and I still think that his slapping is a bit more musical than what others seem to accomplish.. The technique he has developed makes his slap more melodical and it leaves the "open E-string"-territory where a lot of bass-players linger just a little too much sometimes..[/quote] Yeah, 'Le Band' is great. I really like Alain's slap playing and tone. It's incredible the way that he can play those complex melodies (like 'Freedom Jazz Dance') with such precision and clarity. I wish I knew how he did it!!

I've been checking out his latest album 'Sep7entrion' on Spotify. It's got some really great tracks on it.

[quote name='lowdown' post='1312669' date='Jul 22 2011, 01:00 PM']He was also a composer well into his Rhythms. He liked to take the Rhythms certain birds made when tweeting away, and incorporate them into a piece. Interesting character and i think he was a tutor to Stockhausen somewhere. Garry[/quote] Yeah, the bird stuff is wild! There’s an interesting documentary about him called ‘La Liturgie de Cristal’, he talks a lot about his interest in birdsong and how he incorporates it in his music. There’s also some footage of him out in the forest transcribing birdsongs, straight down into a little manuscript book! He must have had a serious pair of ears!!

[quote name='risingson' post='1312243' date='Jul 22 2011, 12:18 AM']You listen to much Debussy or Ravel Kevin? I only ask because that wholetone work and dynamic play in that video had really strong overtones of both composers. Really very enjoyable to watch and as far as I'm aware, very unique as well.[/quote] Hi Risingson, I'm glad you enjoyed the video! Yeah, I have listened to Debussy and Ravel but I’ve only really checked out their famous works (Clair de Lune La fille aux cheveux de lin, Daphnis et Chloe, Bolero, La valse, etc), which I love, but I keep meaning to check those guys out in more depth. Recently I’ve been listening to loads Olivier Messiaen's music. He’s an incredible composer, who I believe was heavily influenced by the music of Debussy.

Thanks a lot for the kind comments guys!

Hi Folks, Here's a solo vid I recorded a while ago:- Here's a vid from a gig I did last week:- Cheers, Kev

Hi Hector, I use very light gauge strings on my bass. I've found that placing little squares of thin cardboard under the strings at the nut solves the problem. It doesn't look very nice but it's cheap! K

Hi Phil, Something I find useful when working on right hand technique is to take a simple 'root, fifth, and octave' shape and practice it using different right hand patterns. Here's some examples:- (R=Root, 5=Fifth, 8=Octave) R 5 R 5 R 5 etc.. R 5 8 5 R 5 8 5 R 5 8 5 etc.. RR 55 RR 55 RR etc.. RR 55 88 55 RR 55 88 etc.. R 8 R 8 R 8 R 8 etc.. RR 88 RR 88 RR 88 etc.. RR 8 RR 8 RR 8 RR 8 etc.. RR 55 RR 55 RR 55 etc.. (plus any other permutations you can think of) I find these types of exercises really useful as they allow me to focus solely on my right hand. Hope they're of some help. Cheers, Kev

Thanks for the welcome guys! [quote]have you gone back to bass then?[/quote] Yeah, playing loads of bass again. Never stopped really, but I did spend a few years focusing more on guitar. It's good to be back in the 'bass zone' again!! k

[quote name='BassBus' post='1220985' date='May 5 2011, 01:16 PM']Good to see you posting here Kevin. I met you years ago at a jazz session in Edinburgh, no you won't remember Saw you playing with Leah Gough-Cooper last summer at the Sunday Grassmarket gigs. I was just getting into it when the heavens opened. What I heard was great. Always liked your playing. Graham[/quote] Hi Graham, Nice to meet you on here. I'm glad you enjoyed the gig at the grassmarket, it was a really fun gig, shame about the weather though! k

Hi there, I've actually been a member of this forum for a few years but up until now I have been too shy to do any posting I figure I should start by introducing myself, so here's a bit of info about me:- My name is Kevin Glasgow. I started playing guitar when I was 14 then took up bass when I was 16. I've played lots of different types of music over the years (Irish/Scottish trad, indie rock, punk, metal, pop, funk, etc) but nowadays I mostly play jazz and fusion. I've been living London for the last three years. I play with a number of different bands/projects and I also do quite a bit of freelance work. I also teach bass at the Academy of Music and Sound in Swindon. My gear:- Yamaha TRB6 Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 Genz Benz STL 12T Genz Benz STL 10T Please check out my website [url="http://www.kevinglasgow.co.uk"]www.kevinglasgow.co.uk[/url] Cheers, Kev