Samashton12 Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 Hey Guys, Looking for help from a few of you BC veterans Any useful resources for helping with Improvisation on the bass? I can improvise in basic terms i just feel i'm stuck in the same "box". I'm self taught and have only ever learnt my basic pentatonic shapes which i adapted from guitar? Any help would be appreciated Thanks, Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 [quote name='Samashton12' timestamp='1372853109' post='2130675'] Hey Guys, Looking for help from a few of you BC veterans Any useful resources for helping with Improvisation on the bass? I can improvise in basic terms i just feel i'm stuck in the same "box". I'm self taught and have only ever learnt my basic pentatonic shapes which i adapted from guitar? Any help would be appreciated Thanks, Sam [/quote] Can you sing improvised stuff you want to hear? Either in your head or out loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samashton12 Posted July 3, 2013 Author Share Posted July 3, 2013 [quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1372853393' post='2130680'] Can you sing improvised stuff you want to hear? Either in your head or out loud. [/quote] I dont sing, ever yeah, i just have difficulty translating that onto a fretboard :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 The only way to translate your imagination into music through your instrument in a split second is to have great command and knowledge of your fretboard. You need to find the notes in your head on the board instantly and know what they are going to sound like. I'd recommend lessons with a very good tutor and learn theory. Thing is though, why do you WANT to improvise? And we have no idea of your current skill level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah thomas Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 You might find scott devine's lessons helpful - http://scottsbasslessons.com/ It's handy to have something to go at whilst tackling the marathon of knowing where everything is on the fretboard! He has lessons for different levels of ability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Rich Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 [quote name='Samashton12' timestamp='1372853797' post='2130688'] I dont sing, ever yeah, i just have difficulty translating that onto a fretboard :/ [/quote] Lessons are good, in the meantime try playing the melody of a tune a day. Don't spend much time on it, it doesn't have to be perfect or in the right key. But play a new tune every day and pretty soon your fingers will be finding the notes you hear in your head quickly on the bass. Play them for a few minutes then move onto practising other things. Start simple and work up to more complicated stuff, it'll break you out of the familiar patterns and shapes you usually end up playing, and you'll soon find working out basslines from records much easier too. For example pick something like TV theme tunes, they're usually pretty catchy for example: Fawlty Towers, The Sweeney, Minder..... or maybe Beatles songs or your favourite band, anyhing you like and is in your head. It'll also give you an appreciation of good songwriting versus aimless riffing over some chords that so many artists are guilty of these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTractor Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Sam, did you see the thread on the SessionBand Jazz version app? I think it's for Android and IOS. I think that that one could probably draw you out of the fixed solutions thing you mention. Sfar as I can see, it allows you to have short or long loops in all kinds of styles, and this, I'd gather, would force you to expand your horizon. Mind ya, I haven't yet played enough with it to know whether one can change harmonic progressions in detail, but even if it doesn't allow you, I still think it can help. best, bert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samashton12 Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 [quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1372979286' post='2132545'] Sam, did you see the thread on the SessionBand Jazz version app? I think it's for Android and IOS. I think that that one could probably draw you out of the fixed solutions thing you mention. Sfar as I can see, it allows you to have short or long loops in all kinds of styles, and this, I'd gather, would force you to expand your horizon. Mind ya, I haven't yet played enough with it to know whether one can change harmonic progressions in detail, but even if it doesn't allow you, I still think it can help. best, bert [/quote] I flicked through the thread a few days ago Bert, i'll download it and give it a try. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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