goigne

25 crafter cruisers ...and a hammer.

+1 for what Dan says about frameworks - the internal finger memory is yours and not to be sniffed at...that doesn't mean don't sniff your fingers don't be scared if you sound the same...if that makes sense..that same is a very personal thing..if it sounds good you needn't put something else in for the sake of it...if you listen to the African stuff - the stuff by people like Fela Kuti, you can hear a repetitive line that shifts only slightly...i get the feeling and i could be wrong ,but alot of headway can be made going "deep" into a simple idea...its a good idea to limit the size of your "room" by this i mean no effects, no complcation...even play unplugged...this is where i relate the frameworks idea - you are structuring your improv house, putting walls in to narrow things down..

the language in which improv is described can often sound new-agey and ephemeral - not at all like the prescribed way in which i hear music theory itself explained. i feel i can offer a little advice and it might seem a bit counter-intuitive, but how about actually trying to switch "off" your thought process? so to add to what chris says scales.. scales.. scales... then forget them.. - I've found that the cerebral, including those nagging doubts in my head, are my worst enemy when it comes to improvising..for me its the holy grail - to be able to play whats needed and to play just one note that stokes me out..to pretend you're in the band that your improvising for might also work I don't think any musician can expect to improvise without something to improvise to - so getting together with either a CD or better still, a group is important..hope this helps...Ben PS - also setting up a synergy between your voice and your bass can be useful for phrasing...its not always the complicated stuff that works as I'm sure you know, but using your voice at the same time as playing can work well...it might be that there comes a point where your bass becomes your "voice"..so the time between intent and execution becomes that much shorter.

thanks for your replies. i have tried a few out - i liked the Aria GT4 actually. the neck is thick enough for me and the range of toe seems pretty good.

Hi fro Southampton in the US of K. I'm not a bass player - please stop hitting me..Im interested in getting a bass for computer recording - asI'm sure you're aware the landscape has shifted slightly and with computer recording it causes people who have an idea to want to chime in on collab sites and perhaps become the dreaded m-word...I'm a guitarist who likes the idea of adding an idea or two on bass. I've always admired the way bass glues the other instrumets together..and my favourite players are Jamerson, Larry Graham pre GCS, Billy Bass Nelson and Chris Squire if only for the start of Heart of the sunrise and fish out of water...and yes i do think the second incarnation of the experience was better - the billy cox driven one. I cannot be molested by angry bassists as i have an entourage which includes bodyguards...anyway I'm looking with interest at a bass that is two steps up from a chipboard wonder - i had my mind on a yamaha BB414, hopefully for £120...