Hector

Bloody hell, looks like a real labour of love - thanks Adrian! Will enjoy poring over these.

Watching this I feel a strange mixture of loathing, amusement, and pity that I can't find a word for. http://youtu.be/kx_XWq7dAQs "Expert" village indeed.

There was a good thread about this over on the DB forum: [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/217259-is-it-really-just-as-simple-as-transcribing-records/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/217259-is-it-really-just-as-simple-as-transcribing-records/[/url]

Used to be spiro weichs full set. Now I'm on D'Addario Helicore Hybrid (Mediums) EAD and Zyex G. Basically I wanted a bit of a fuller sound on the G string - I have quite a bright bass, so the Spiro G ended up sounding a bit nasal. I decided to give the helicores a punt since I was changing strings. Similar sustain and growl to spiros, but a little darker and almost gut-like after some breaking in (which is a good thing on my bass). They are slightly higher tension than the spiros, but that's nit-picking a bit, and that slight extra tension suits my bass without impairing my ability to pull a big sound. It's a nice balanced set. I particularly love the sound and feel of the Zyex. It's a poor man's alternative to an Oliv G, basically, but it's actually a really great string in it's own regard and I'll likely not bother trying Olivs for a while. Overall, it's a good set that seems to have made my bass come alive a bit. I get a lot more compliments on my sound since I changed strings.

FLoyd man, don't scare me like that!

[quote name='FLoydElgar' timestamp='1379587358' post='2214417'] I don't play bass anymore [/quote] What.

You might be interested in reading this article: http://www.daveliebman.com/earticles2.php?DOC_INST=13 Transcribing is good, but you need to go about it in the right way. I think a really useful thing to do is to transcribe a single line you personally like the sound of. Learn to sing it first, matching as closely as possible the tuning (obviously) but also the articulation and time-feel. Once you can sing it along with the record, learn to play it on the bass. Once you can do it in the original key, learn to play it in all 12 keys. You might want to write down your lick, and analyse the notes within in order to transpose it to every key. Next, go through a tune you play a lot and insert that phrase wherever you can. Start to alter the phrase a bit, change some pitches, or durations. You can even alter it to fit a different set of changes (e.g. play a major ii-V lick over a minor ii-V - you can either do this by altering some of the notes in the lick, or playing the unaltered line in the relative major over the minor changes). A good trick for altering the lick is to break it down into smaller segments, and only use one of the small segments before adding something of your own to it. In this way, you learn some vocabulary that is properly internalised in your mind's ear, and can be applied in a variety of situations. By using it as a springboard, it ensures this vocabulary is generative, rather than just a mechanical lick you insert in a particular place. Because you're transcribing lines you like, and adding your own bits to them, your own voice develops as a matter of course.

I've enjoyed using the app "Karajan" on iOS, maybe there's an android version? It's dead useful, customisable and keeps track of which bits you find hard. I also use something just called "Ear Trainer", which is good for spotting cadences/chord progressions (amongst other things). Ear training can be a huge ballache, but that feeling of being able to hear stuff on the gig is unbeatable!

Hope the recovery goes well Pete! Have you considered some ear training while you're laid up? Heaving intervals clearly can really help with intonation, at least as much so as physical technique.

Brilliant videos Geoff! This is genuinely top quality instruction. Really like that you explain how to play, then support it with saying why that works. Wish you had been my teacher when I first started - a lot of the things you're saying really resonate with me, but I had to find them out the hard way..... Especially dug your talk of 1-1 ascending or 4-4 descending shifting. I'm picky about this, but for finger replacement reasons. If you're playing G on the low E string, decent hand shape means your 4th finger is over the A, so you can just replace 4 with 1 and proper hand shape now gives you a B under your 4th finger. Took me years to riddle that one out, and you're just dishing it out for free!

Had a week of sharing the stage with an AI combo for bass players. Total nightmare. Spent most of my time looking for the mute switch - supposed to just plug in and play but there are 10^10 little buttons and things with tiny writing illegibile under stage lights. Least user-friendly piece of kit I've ever had the displeasure of playing through, you'd need a master's degree to operate it! I'm off to read the user manual to avoid ballache in the future when stage-sharing. When I could get it going (blind luck) it sounded good and if I owned one I'm sure I'd be able to practise using it. Prefer a little more of a plug and play vibe with my kit though.

Spiro E is an absolutely classic sound, very hard to beat for that sort of tone. Good choice on the strings all round and, since I didn't say it before congrats on the new bass!

Haha yeah! I defy anyone to try and think of all that crap in real time whilst playing. But it's useful to be able to use it to speak about transcribed lines, and then know what specific devices to practice if I want to make the same noise on the bandstand.

I kind of think of that whole segment as in Ab Major: Dbmaj7 (IV) Dbminmaj7 (IV min) Cmin7(III) Bdim7 (bIII) Bbmin7 (II) Eb7 (V) Abmaj7 (I) There are then just some colour notes in the non-diatonic chords for interest and to create some nice guide tone lines that warrant exploring. For example, through that sequence you could play a really lovely descending line (one note per change): F, E, Eb, D, Db, Db, C. Just add in some notes form Ab major in whatever melodies you hear in your head and it's golden! Of course, another way to conceive of the Bdim7 is, as Lowdown said, G7b9 with a B in the bass: you could play C harmonic minor (rather than C phrygian from the chord in the preceding bar) over it. Either way, you get that B and that D to add to some tasty tension and resolution! But that Bdim chord could also substitute for E7b9, Db7b9 and Bb7b9 and notes from any of those could be a cool sound - diminished chords have so many interesting possibilities. The sequence is a classic IIImin7 bIIIdim iimin7 V7 Imaj7 progression which crops up in a lot of tunes from which you could get some classic vocabulary. The B section of Someday My Prince Will Come springs to mind, and there's a Miles Davis version with PC on the bass again. Once you get comfortable with that progression, you could start subbing it over IIImin7 VImin7 IImin7 V7 Imaj7 progressions too! But that would be blowing, which is another kettle of fish. If just walking, the whole chord tone and approach note thing works beautifully over changes like that. It's a really pivotal part of the tune though, separates the men from the boys and if you nail it, it'll let everyone know where the form of the tune is.

[quote name='timbo1978' timestamp='1376589672' post='2176596'] Question... did you use the weichs to take pressure off your left hand/arm? And did the d'addirios also help in this area? Do you find the volume is better from the d'addirios? Sorry for all the questions, but strings are so expensive I want to get it right!!! [/quote] No worries man, getting the right strings is tough for sure! I originally had some unidentified/unnamed strings on there before switching to the weichs, pretty much on the recommendation of more experienced players in my area. I did find they were a lot easier on the hands and the bass was a lot more playable, but I have absolutely no idea what the strings were before. I enjoyed those for a good few years until my recent change. I found the spiros (G in partcular) to be a little lacking, and it often sounded a bit nasal. Probably because they were bright strings and I have quite a bright bass. I figured since I was experimenting with the G, I would try all the rest of the strings too! Ended up with the helicore hybrids, but decided to try a zyex G (as a poorman's alternative to a velvet anima or pirastro oliv). They're all mediums I think (will check when I'm at home). That set feels like it really projects much more, got loads of compliments on my sound after changing. I think the G especially I was pleased with - the difference is best described as someone singing with a cold before, and without a cold afterwards. The helicores are nice too, a gold bit of oomph behind each note. The whole set has a very lively, rich sort of sound, quite powerful with a good bit of body behind it. I haven't really noticed a detriment in how the bass plays, relative to the sprios. The string game is a tough one, based on how particular players sound on particular basses, not to mention that everyone has their own bass sound in their head to strive for. I spent lots of time chatting with teachers/other players and taking into account how my bass reacted to spirocores as a litmus test to deal with the variable of my bass' own tonal characteristics. I now have something I'm pretty happy with, and the bass sounds like the real deal as far as I'm concerned. I might experiment in the future, but current set sounds great and doesn't break the bank. I think there's a good deal of "grass is greener" sort of thinking with strings, which I try to avoid. Would rather focus on the "hector's pizz technique" part of the equation for the forseeable This is all train of thought dashed off on my phone while supposed to be working so might be a little incomprehensible! Feel free to PM me with questions. If you're ever in Oxford, you'd be very welcome for a cup of tea and some string chat/try my bass out if it would help. EDIT - Here's what the Gollihur website (Bob and Mark G are both excellent and knowedgable people, whose combined opinion I trust very much) says about the Zyex strings: http://www.gollihurmusic.com/product/2162-DADDARIO_ZYEX_UPRIGHT_BASS_STRINGS.html

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WMO0nJRWAM[/media] Am I doing this right? I'm a jazz guy.

Cool stuff Matt! Is that Bar 39 really from the B whole/half diminished though? That would have an A# (Bb enharmonically) rather than that A natural on beat 4. Could be he's thinking ahead of where he's playing, using the A natural as an approach tone to the Bb he presumably plays in the next bar? Those diminished passing chords are funny old things really, and my vocabulary on them isn't stellar either. That bar 39 you gave though did give me an idea: in 4 beats you've actually not got that much to play with, especially if you think R or chord tone on beats 1 and 3, and an approach to a chord tone on beat 2 - with H/W diminished, it'll always fit to play a semitone below any chord tone on beat 2. Then beat 4 you can just use to set up beat 1 of the next bar with a chromatic approach note, which may or may not fit the scale/chord. It's a nice propulsive thing to do, walking through the changes rather than strictly with the changes. Anyway, sorry for rambling, but just to say thanks because that transcription got me thinking.

I have far too many bass books and jazz biographies at home as well. They're all a good source of ideas though, but I'm gonna feel a right plum when moving house next week. Yeah, that Goldsby book is a really great read. He also comes across as a lovely bloke in his online presence (that I'm aware of). He can play as good as his book suggests, beautiful tasteful solo on this (3m25 ish onwards): [media]http://youtu.be/U9p-GYUAPg0[/media] (I thought I was sick of the cry me a river lick, but somehow he makes it sound fresh!)

[quote name='FLoydElgar' timestamp='1375794268' post='2165656'] I wouldn't rush such a thing if you want great results! Reason why I said Duncan's exercises... Is because assuming one isn't too familiar with the rosin end of the bass! This would facilitate the hand with correct shape and all etc... So when you come across the vomits or those types of various exercises your hand goes into position as you have practiced it previously! Instead of "finding the note" and praying to the high gods for a miracle lol! [/quote] I'm completely on board with this idea. I didn't mention it as I thought the suggestion would be wildly unpopular and Bilbo mentioned he was fine in position, but part of what helped me improve my shifting was slogging through the simandl books and playing each position across the strings as in tune as possible. Then I know how the position feels under the hand. I guess it's a two-part problem: getting to the position in the first place (by playing into it through step or a jump, or simply finding it from the get go) and then having the proper hand shape in that position.

[quote name='ubassman' timestamp='1375715040' post='2164637'] ....oh there is an exercise that I haven't done in a long while which is to start on any root note , then hit the 2nd , then back to the root, then 3rd, root etc and simply keep going up the string making the intervals bigger and bigger . The trick I am told is to say / sing the note out loud that one is aiming for - its supposed to reinforce the fingers / muscles remembering whats where . Major scales first and then Minor etc ...off to give that one a whirl ! [/quote] This is just the same as vomits isn't it? In the famous Dimoff warmup package: [url="http://doublebassblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/max-dimoff-warmups.pdf"]http://doublebassblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/max-dimoff-warmups.pdf[/url] There are all those finger combinations to practise too, quite the exercise if you do it for all those scales!

[quote name='jakenewmanbass' timestamp='1375703258' post='2164405'] If you can live with Db you're doing it wrong... Ab has the momentary relief of a major 7 open G and cheeky flat five and flat 2 side slips... all open strings. Db is across the break for similar moves... I urge you be more varied in Db and report back with bleeding tendons. Also Db is a beautiful ballad key.... (chelsea bridge and other Strayhorn beauties) Hold those crotchets longer I tell you!!! [/quote] Db is easy though, look: [media]http://youtu.be/ZriDqnzsOrQ[/media]

Far be it from me to tell you, or anyone, anything about playing the bass, but I have personally found that the answer with anything technical is to do it very very slowly until it is done perfectly. Doing it faster then takes care of itself. Maybe you could try practicing your arpeggios in minims at 40bpm and really focus on the tuning and motion of your body? With any big jump, it seems for me to be about a bit of preparation in my left arm - usually the shift comes from the shoulder, with my elbow preceding my hand slightly. In thumb position, it's about anticipation too but with a slightly different movement. My hand tends to bunch up, with the thumb coming upwards to meet my other fingers on the way before I have started the shift proper. It's only really by practicing at a glacial pace that any of this has become apparent to me and I've been able to micromanage my technique for specific weaknesses in my playing. Another thing you could try is vomits? Hope this is helpful. These larger shifts really start to open up the fingerboard. EDIT - Another one is the "note finder" exercise. Take one note, say G and try to find every single instance of it in every place on your fingerboard.

Anyone else heard of him? Been listening to lots of his stuff recently, good straight-ahead player: solid gold feel, tone to die for (no amp) and some brilliant melodic vocabulary. Dig it: [media]http://youtu.be/C311JUA3Fko[/media] This is where I first heard him, got a transcription (hand-scrawled, sorry) if there's any interest. [media]http://youtu.be/5VRG4Q8bZYc[/media] He's got a few albums out there, the ones I've heard are very nice indeed.

Call yourself what you like, I'll be calling you "sir" from now on!