stingrayPete1977 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 I have just downloaded that Bass Clef App you suggested its only £1.19 which looks like fun and I like the options of 4,5 and 6 string basses too. Im trying to get better so as I can actually use it, Im hoping that will keep it fresh in my mind. Both the bands Im with right now are originals with random gig dates rather than every 4 weeks at the dog and duck so being able to refresh the songs at short notice from memory only will be hard but with just a few bars of chorus,verse and middle 8's in notation that should be enough for me to bring them back from the old memory bank. Also with dipping in and out it may seam like your not getting anywhere but I bet you know more than you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurbs Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 [quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1159500' date='Mar 12 2011, 05:36 PM']Well I have grabbed an hour here and there and I guess Im close to the point where I could say I can read I could not sight read obviously but if someone gave me notation for an original song the bass line I would arrive at rehersal with would be very similar to the one the rest of the band had heard before from who ever put it down in ink, Thats without me ever hearing the song before! Its quite weird but very addictive to go from a few blobs on a page to playing something recognisable in only a few minutes. Theres still a never ending journey in front but its coming together a bit more each time I look at the books. Im up to Page 17 so far playing in time on the E and A string is all done, next section is D string notes followed by G string then D and G together (which is practically the same as E and A I have just done anyway). After that it becomes more theory based as all the notes will of been covered along with Crotchet, Quaver and Semi breve rhythyms. I guess once I have started that bit in more detail I will be back to Doddy to get some more guidance but for now I find going back to the start of the book playing Minims & Crotchets slowly right up to where I am now is taking less time and making more sense each time so I will carry on like this until I feel there is no point doing the first 20 pages again and again. There we are then just an update to keep the appetites going [/quote] Well done Pete. I am embarking on a similar journey, at the moment just learning to sight read chords (roots, roots & octive, roots, 3rds, roots thirds fifths and so on) and then improvise over it correctly... To help I have been doing my own lead sheets and deliberately not learning songs, going to rehearsals and playing cold so to speak. This has really helped me get up to speed so I can play a 35 song set with a few weeks notice for a covers band I am in. I do find the more you learn the more tempting it is to over play a song, especially dreary root note cover songs. Mind you at the last gig the rhythm guitarist got a bit of stage fright and didn't play quite a few songs at all.. meant there was all this acoustic space for me to fill! You mention in your notes a book or pages you are referring to... may I ask which book? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Thanks Thurbs it's the book suggested by others early on in this thread I think. It's an MI book, Music reading for bass. I have had one 2 hour lesson with Doddy too and almost due another one. I'm enjoying learning at the moment each bit opens a new door, The only thing is to try and not get overwhelmed by it as there is enough stuff to learn to last a lifetime and much more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Another great lesson last night and cant wait to get a few hours in on what I have learnt. Still mixing the theory and notation reading together half and half and finding things that players who started off reading and doing the so called boring stuff probably do without thinking now is facinating! Relative minor understanding would of made me a much better lead player years ago and will clearly be great for building interesting basslines in future, Ace! I know people say you can learn all this without reading but doing both together makes much more sense as your brain is more in the zone for that type of stuff, Learn a bit of theory and scale type stuff from the notation (see how it comes in again?) then play about with it until your familiar and it all makes sense then use your ears to enjoy it all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZodiaK SineZ Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 (edited) Wow, I've been lurking in the shadows a bit since i stumbled upon BC a couple of weeks ago. I've been reading up on alot of stuff: tunings, strings, pickups, fretboard knowledge, fingering techniques etc. but have just finished reading through this thread and I have to say I'm inspired! Purchased my first bass on the Bay 3 days ago and it's being delivered on monday... I can't wait to get started! Now all i need is a half-decent avatar... Edited May 14, 2011 by ZodiaK SineZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted May 14, 2011 Share Posted May 14, 2011 [quote name='lojo' post='1025104' date='Nov 15 2010, 09:00 PM']Thought Id start a new thread for those of us inspired by the other thread to learn to read bass notes, forgive if this is not required, but it is a change of topic So far, it seems to be Silddx, StingrayPete and myself on the YTS (hope Im not the only one old enough to know what this means) This is a link I just posted on the other thread Its a great online name the note game quiz, lets you click on the answer as a dot appears, Im hooked [url="http://www.studybass.com/tools/bass-clef-notes/"]http://www.studybass.com/tools/bass-clef-notes/[/url][/quote] Nice!!! 2.5 seconds average to be classified as... bass clef apprentice Seriously, I expected worse. I have only just bought a book (Ed Friedland's Building Walking Basslines) and I decided to use it to start me into basic reading. So far my only "lesson" was on Thursday night, without my bass, simply listening to the CD while looking at the dots... I am far from being in a position to recommend tuition books... but there's something about this one that just makes you go "but of course!" and slap your head I find it very "baby steps" like, so it doesn't overwhelm and well... it just made me make the decision to do something about my lack of reading skills. This site (above) seems quite interesting too. I liked the game because I can see how it's a great tool to get you to recognise notes at first sight without thinking, since the staff disappears between notes. Thank you for posting this! And if you, like me, don't read yet but want to... do check out Ed Friedland's book. If *I* find it easy, anybody else would also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 [quote name='mcnach' post='1231051' date='May 14 2011, 03:52 PM']Nice!!! 2.5 seconds average to be classified as... bass clef apprentice Seriously, I expected worse. I have only just bought a book (Ed Friedland's Building Walking Basslines) and I decided to use it to start me into basic reading. So far my only "lesson" was on Thursday night, without my bass, simply listening to the CD while looking at the dots... I am far from being in a position to recommend tuition books... but there's something about this one that just makes you go "but of course!" and slap your head I find it very "baby steps" like, so it doesn't overwhelm and well... it just made me make the decision to do something about my lack of reading skills. This site (above) seems quite interesting too. I liked the game because I can see how it's a great tool to get you to recognise notes at first sight without thinking, since the staff disappears between notes.[/quote] Ed Friedland's 'Building' and 'Expanding Walking Basslines' are great books. I'd recommend them to anyone. The bass clef game is good,but once you know where the notes are,the most important bit is then playing them on the bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 (edited) This old thread! I thought I was all alone? The Frodis bass clef ipod app is really good for practicing when there is no bass at hand as you have to recognise the note from the stave and then press the correct fret on the screen on a realistic looking neck with 4,5 & 6 strings left/right handed. Shame their is no choice for a maple finger board Keep it up from the start Zodiak it will be easier from fresh than trying to relearn it at a later date and your avatar is cool! Jose be prepared for the addiction that follows once you are reading, Doddy always points this out that it opens up more doors to new literature or in my case books I already had for scales, arpeggios etc but couldnt read them because I kept forgetting to learn the basics first and would get stuck. Then there are scales and theory which when learnt alongside reading just seam to make sense all of a sudden and it seams like you can play alomost any well known song off the cuff. We just need Nigel and Lojo to come back and get stuck in again, They looked to be doing quite well at first? Edited May 15, 2011 by stingrayPete1977 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 I am tryinhg to learn to read piano music at the moment. As I don't play the piano, this is proving problematic. Baby steps, baby steps....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 [quote name='Bilbo' post='1231944' date='May 15 2011, 01:39 PM']I am tryinhg to learn to read piano music at the moment. As I don't play the piano, this is proving problematic. Baby steps, baby steps.......[/quote] That actually brings me to a question I always forget to ask, How many Bass clef readers can read Treble clef too? Im not fussed for it right now and obviously the note lengths are the same but I dont want to confuse myself trying to read another stave right now either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 Just wanted to chip in with a "keep it up guys". My journey at the moment is about re-learning to play bass using theory and not just feel and groove alone. The motivator for this is because i love jazz and pretty soon realised that it would be more accesible with some theory than without. I have thought about getting a teacher - the only one i have found is a long way away and potentially not available when i am So, my current strategy is: Reading books The Total Jazz Bassist The Jazz Bass Book Jazzology In parallel to this i have some Real books with a bass clef edition - loads of classics with the melody written in bass clef. Finally i have a lot of the Jamey Aebersold mp3s which are great running in Cubase with the bass balanced out providing the ability to play along to some nice piano and drum tracks. With such a wealth of material its actually quite hard to know where to concentrate or how to work out a sensible programme of study. I probably practice on average about 2 hours a day five days a week. Any tips would be welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 [quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1232019' date='May 15 2011, 02:39 PM']That actually brings me to a question I always forget to ask, How many Bass clef readers can read Treble clef too? Im not fussed for it right now and obviously the note lengths are the same but I dont want to confuse myself trying to read another stave right now either.[/quote] I can,but it's not quite as fluid as reading bass clef,yet. I read the melodies in the Real Books,which helps,but it still takes me a second to get away from thinking 'second space=C'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Rich Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Bilbo' post='1231944' date='May 15 2011, 01:39 PM']I am tryinhg to learn to read piano music at the moment. As I don't play the piano, this is proving problematic. Baby steps, baby steps.......[/quote] Sounds like you need to change your sig... LEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARN INGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOR EADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUS ICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEAR NINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTO READMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMU SICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEA RNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGT OREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSICLEARNINGTOREADMUSIC well you get the idea with that one. Edited May 15, 2011 by Fat Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 [quote name='Fat Rich' post='1232030' date='May 15 2011, 02:44 PM']Sounds like you need to change your sig... LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ LEARNING TO READ well you get the idea with that one.[/quote] Or more accurately..... Learning to apply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Rich Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 [quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1232019' date='May 15 2011, 02:39 PM']That actually brings me to a question I always forget to ask, How many Bass clef readers can read Treble clef too? Im not fussed for it right now and obviously the note lengths are the same but I dont want to confuse myself trying to read another stave right now either.[/quote] And does knowing your treble clef help with ledger lines in bass clef? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 [quote name='Fat Rich' post='1232034' date='May 15 2011, 02:47 PM']And does knowing your treble clef help with ledger lines in bass clef?[/quote] I'm sure it can,but for me it's more the other way around. Knowing the upper ledger lines in bass clef makes treble clef a little easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 [quote name='Fat Rich' post='1232034' date='May 15 2011, 02:47 PM']And does knowing your treble clef help with ledger lines in bass clef?[/quote] I thought I was being clever by doing that too but It doesnt add up, I think there is one line between them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 [quote name='BottomE' post='1232028' date='May 15 2011, 02:44 PM']Just wanted to chip in with a "keep it up guys". My journey at the moment is about re-learning to play bass using theory and not just feel and groove alone. The motivator for this is because i love jazz and pretty soon realised that it would be more accesible with some theory than without. I have thought about getting a teacher - the only one i have found is a long way away and potentially not available when i am So, my current strategy is: Reading books The Total Jazz Bassist The Jazz Bass Book Jazzology In parallel to this i have some Real books with a bass clef edition - loads of classics with the melody written in bass clef. Finally i have a lot of the Jamey Aebersold mp3s which are great running in Cubase with the bass balanced out providing the ability to play along to some nice piano and drum tracks. With such a wealth of material its actually quite hard to know where to concentrate or how to work out a sensible programme of study. I probably practice on average about 2 hours a day five days a week. Any tips would be welcome.[/quote] With 2 hours a day 5 days a week you will be the teacher in a couple of years! Nice one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Rich Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 [quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1232048' date='May 15 2011, 02:54 PM']I thought I was being clever by doing that too but It doesnt add up, I think there is one line between them?[/quote] Yup, middle C is between the staves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BottomE Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 [quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1232049' date='May 15 2011, 02:55 PM']With 2 hours a day 5 days a week you will be the teacher in a couple of years! Nice one.[/quote] As long as i keep improving. Thats the goal. I have become a bit of a recluse with this obsession and cos my wife works in the home office most nights i end up playing my basses with the books out and the headphones on (when not gigging). I just wondered if anyone had some ideas for best using this time? When i say two hours i do have a short attention span and the two hours is interspaced with coffee breaks and the occassional slap fest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 [quote name='BottomE' post='1232065' date='May 15 2011, 03:03 PM']As long as i keep improving. Thats the goal. I have become a bit of a recluse with this obsession and cos my wife works in the home office most nights i end up playing my basses with the books out and the headphones on (when not gigging). I just wondered if anyone had some ideas for best using this time? When i say two hours i do have a short attention span and the two hours is interspaced with coffee breaks and the occassional slap fest [/quote] Im the same but as long as you are improving I guess thats a good thing? Thanks Fat Rich thats what I thought but I dont want to run before I can jump Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 Middle C on bass clef is one ledger line above the stave. On treble clef, middle C is one ledger line below the stave. learned that about a year ago. (Remember - bass guitar/double bass is written one octave higher than it actually sounds) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wil Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 I've decided now I'm starting to listen and play along to more and more jazz, it might be a good time to learn the fingerboard. I got the iPhone "Bass Clef" app and it's actually really good for getting the fretboard to stick in your brain - a cool thing about it is you can set it up for whatever tuning you want (I use BEAD). I've pretty much got first position in my head now, so I think I'll need to hit the Major's bootcamp to put it into practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 [quote name='Wil' post='1232775' date='May 16 2011, 10:14 AM']I got the iPhone "Bass Clef" app and it's actually really good for getting the fretboard to stick in your brain...[/quote] Cheers for this tip; I'm a sucker for music-related apps and this one looks useful. PS: in response to the OP, I'm definitely at the "YTS" level myself. Just starting out with learning notation and the basics of theory. So far I'm finding it surprisingly fun and inspirational. If only I'd started this years ago...! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted May 16, 2011 Share Posted May 16, 2011 [quote name='Skol303' post='1232835' date='May 16 2011, 11:03 AM']Cheers for this tip; I'm a sucker for music-related apps and this one looks useful. PS: in response to the OP, I'm definitely at the "YTS" level myself. Just starting out with learning notation and the basics of theory. So far I'm finding it surprisingly fun and inspirational. If only I'd started this years ago...![/quote] It's amazing that with so many people saying this (me included) that there are so many people dead set against learning but that's for another thread let's keep this one positive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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