Earbrass

Figured bass I am aware of - common in boroque scores for the continuo parts, but the Nashville system is a new one on me. I imagine jazzers must think largely in terms of intervals and harmonic patterns, at least the ones who can play a large repertoire in pretty much any key at the drop of a hat. Not so much required by the classical brigade, who are unlikely to have a conductor step up to the podium and demand a symphony in an unfamiliar key with no warning.

I can think of three distinct ways in which people conceptualize, remember, learn or visualize tunes: a) patterns on the fretboard / keyboard etc: often favoured by those who do not read music. On some instruments (like bass) this can facilitate transposition as the same pattern played higher or lower gives the same tune in different keys (exluding open strings), though not so much on others (like piano). It is, however, generally no help when moving between different instruments (except where the instruments are closely related, eg piano/organ, mandolin/mandola/bazouki etc.) b ) by note names, or patterns on the stave: often preferred by strong readers and those with a classical background. Completely transferable between different instruments, but of limited help when transposing between keys. c) I tend to think of tunes in terms of degrees of the scale and intervals. This has the advantage of being fully transferable between completely different instruments and also makes transposition very simple, although it is of less use when playing music like modern classical music or some far-out jazz where there is no clear tonal centre. When I'm playing with the morris band, I am often the one who has to learn a new tune, sometimes from a recording or video, and then share the knowledge with the other players. My fellow melodeonist wants to know which buttons to play, as she is a non-reader, whereas the recorder player, who has a strong background in classical piano and other instruments as well as a good ear, wants to know what note it starts on. The mandolin player needs to be told all the chords. I'm also involved in an embryonic project with a smallpipes player, in which I play the nyckelharpa. For this I am often transcribing fairly simple diatonic or modal tunes from recordings. Because of the limits of the pipes, I often need to transpose from the key on the recording. I tend to work out the tune on the keyboard, as, having played the piano since I was about 5, this comes easiest to me, and then transfer the tune to the 'harpa. Because I hear the tunes in terms of degrees of the scale and intervals, this is quite easy, as I tend to just jot down the tune in terms of these degrees (root, 5th, min 3rd etc) and can then play this straight away on a different instrument and in a different key, and also write the parts out in the required key for the piper without much effort or thought. Interestingly, there are notations in common use for methods a) and b ) - tab and conventional notation respectively, but not for method c). Any thoughts?

Shampoo : Trouble

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1457440348' post='2998522'] Lots of rooms at The Bedford in Balham as well. [/quote] That's a nice venue - I've played there with the morris at a pagan samhain do. Decent stage, plenty of room and a gallery, if I recall correctly. Also does food.

Led Zep at Earls Court, May 1975. Very echoey (?) venue. Extremely loud - felt like your ears were distorting the sound through overload. And they played for 3 hours. I had ringing in my ears for weeks afterwards.

Sold Pete my cajon. He said he'd pick it up the very next day and was as good as his word, despite having to drive all the way from Wiltshire to London to do so. Deal with confidence.

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1457304111' post='2997275'] I am thinking of it series of solo double bass recordings so I don't have to worry about anyone else!! [/quote] Actually, I think this is quite a sensible approach, despite being made (partly?) in jest. For those of us with minority musical interests, finding like-minded musicians to play with can be a challenge, and finding audiences even more so. I think we have to ask ourselves what it is that matters most to us in our music. Being a jazzer, you're clearly not in it for the money, fame and glory, and from your remarks in the OP I sense that gigging is not in itself the be-all and end-all either. If your main motivation is to produce music you really believe in, without compromising your ideas to suit other players or the fickle tastes of the gig-going public, I think sometimes you have to plough your own furrow with whatever musical resources you have at hand. It can be a lonely road, but if you succeed in creating something individual and powerful, maybe other musicians will be drawn in to your vision and want to play along, and using resources such as youtube and soundcloud you can, if you're both good and lucky, reach a larger audience than you ever could playing small gigs in your locality.

Well, if you're prepared to extend "Lapland" to the Sami regions of northern Norway you also have the fabulous Mari Boine - some of that stuff is really quite jazzy too!

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1457303793' post='2997271'] ... nor many from the nether reaches of Lapland.... [/quote] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqubyHoF4Rs&list=PL4BxjbiG30HO9S_cXCgIiw41zbr8T36Bm

Blonde on Blonde would get my vote as one that works. Arguably his greatest.

Musician. One of the instruments I play is the bass guitar. I will often refer to it as a "bass", but that's just shorthand for bass guitar.

Did this ever get sorted? I've been worried.....

I'm guessing 68 is actually [color=#141414][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][i]Louis Armstrong plays [b]W[/b].C. Handy.[/i] Don't see the point myself - if you want the [i]music[/i], get the CDs - way better audio quality. This just looks like an exercise in faux-nostalgia to me.[/font][/color]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1454015471' post='2965559'] I'm a bit surprised; I had always though that one had to 'be there' to 'get it'. [/quote] ..but [i]remembering[/i] being there means that one really didn't get it at all

Not exactly the same situation, but similar in some ways: when playing for morris, we not infrequently find ourselves having to supply an extra 8 bars (or cut some out) when the dancers screw up. It's all part of the fun and keeps you on your toes as a musician.

Would a Korg X50 be a possibilty?Looks like you could attach a strap to the end handle bits - might be a bit heavy. Or there's always http://www.rolandus.com/products/fr-3x/

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1453997920' post='2965176'] Just seeing all those Finnish names here makes me miss Finland so much [/quote] You should come!