I'm all over the blues right now...but also working out Flea's bass lines on some "I'm With You" tracks...et tu??

I also haven't even really listened to I'm With You yet... not intentionally, but i was looking through some of the RHCP i used to play a lot (soul 2 squeeze, around the world, suck my kiss), and got reinspired. i gotta take a listen!

what're your favorite tracks to take to the shed?

He was amazing at taking a simple bass line and using timing to make it everything
Anything from The Meters, especially Cissy Strut.
Reggae and blues come to me most naturally, so I tend to gravitate towards those tracks, but I also like some of the punchier bass lines in current music

Long time, no rap BTW.

Anyway, haven't been transcribing too much outside stuff lately. Last thing I worked out on bass was Rose Darling by Steely Dan and Play The Game. and Dragon Attack by Queen (John Deacon is a much better player than I gave him credit for). I keep telling myself that I need to learn more outside repetoire, but I find myself working out the part of songs I like and then moving on like Funny Bone by Chic. My lack of practice is my downfall

I have a cpl standbys to test whether my chops are up or if I've been slacking off. Peg by Steely Dan and Let's Work by Prince.

The day I can get Lopsy Lu by Stanley Clarke and Get On The Floor right for real, you won't be able to tell me nathan

As far as gear, I played the bass parts for the new thang with a Geddy Lee Fender Jazz. Still practice with my P Bass knockoff.

PS. You still hear from those guys (C, O, and their crew)?

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I've been thinking about getting a cheap P for the times that I want that classic tone...

I got one by Cortez. The company now known as Cort. Japanese thang, but quality piece. Beautiful tone. Got it from a pawnshop for a song many moons ago

>I've been thinking about getting a cheap P for the times that
>I want that classic tone...

But these days you can get a P Bass from Fender for dirt cheap and they sound great(if you get some decent strings)...

Look:
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Squier-Vintage-Modified-Precision-Bass-103726642-i1166456.gc


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>My lack of practice is my downfall

I learned that the hard way when I first started and for some insane reason I told myself I'll just rock out a Flea bass line in 10 minutes :-\

>As far as gear, I played the bass parts for the new thang with
>a Geddy Lee Fender Jazz. Still practice with my P Bass
>knockoff.

I have a 4-string Frank Bello bass...which I basically bought because of the bad ass paint job on it...it played like shit until I got it professionally set up. But I rarely play it because I have a 5-string Yamaha TRB that's my everything. Me and that B string are friends!!

>PS. You still hear from those guys (C, O, and their crew)?

Every now and again...not as often as before :-\

>>My lack of practice is my downfall
>
>I learned that the hard way when I first started and for some
>insane reason I told myself I'll just rock out a Flea bass
>line in 10 minutes :-\
>
>>As far as gear, I played the bass parts for the new thang
>with
>>a Geddy Lee Fender Jazz. Still practice with my P Bass
>>knockoff.
>
>I have a 4-string Frank Bello bass...which I basically bought
>because of the bad ass paint job on it...it played like shit
>until I got it professionally set up. But I rarely play it
>because I have a 5-string Yamaha TRB that's my everything. Me
>and that B string are friends!!

You play 5? Interesting. Yamaha makes NICE ass basses. I got turned on to them listening to Jonathan Maron, formerly of Groove Collective. I've never had the urge to play 5. I slap alot so I feel like the B will get in my way. One day I will get a 5, for those rare time I write basslines below low E and I dont want to use keyboard bass...

Set up is damn near everything. have a bass set up right and it almost feels like a new instrument...




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I actually got the 5-string first...this guy was selling his black one (brand new) because he had the same bass but in a natural wood finish and he didn't see a need to have two of the same bass, so I got the black one for $500...it has wonderful tone, but what I really want is a Pedulla fretless...they just sing! I found one at Guitar Center once but I missed out on it thinking it would still be there when I went back...I took a huge "L" on that one...

My slap game needs more practice...like...a LOT of practice...

>Set up is damn near everything. have a bass set up right and
>it almost feels like a new instrument...

1000% right!! Ron Pace set up my Frank Bello Fender and when I went to pick it up he said he could have driven a mack truck under the strings when it came in...lol...the action is WAY better with the strings lowered and it helps me move faster and more fluidly....do you play with anyone now?

>I actually got the 5-string first...this guy was selling his
>black one (brand new) because he had the same bass but in a
>natural wood finish and he didn't see a need to have two of
>the same bass, so I got the black one for $500...

$500....for a Yamaha, that's a damn steal!

it has
>wonderful tone, but what I really want is a Pedulla
>fretless...they just sing! I found one at Guitar Center once
>but I missed out on it thinking it would still be there when I
>went back...I took a huge "L" on that one...
>
>My slap game needs more practice...like...a LOT of
>practice...

main pointers I can give is hit at the end of the fretboard with the tip of yr thumb for accuracy. keep yr thumb still and let it all come from your wrist. your motion should be like a bouncing ball. alot of folks think they have to pound the bass when they slap, a lil wrist goes a long way. figure out which finger feels better to pop with, index or middle, and stick with that

>
>>Set up is damn near everything. have a bass set up right and
>>it almost feels like a new instrument...
>
>1000% right!! Ron Pace set up my Frank Bello Fender and when
>I went to pick it up he said he could have driven a mack truck
>under the strings when it came in...lol...the action is WAY
>better with the strings lowered and it helps me move faster
>and more fluidly....do you play with anyone now?

high action will kill yr fingers...when the action is low, fretting is a breeze...I mainly only play for my projects unless someone asks me for a bass part...

what made you wanna take up bass? its rare for a woman to pick up the four string....did you take lessons or just study under a friend?


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>$500....for a Yamaha, that's a damn steal!

Why yes....yes it is

>main pointers I can give is hit at the end of the fretboard
>with the tip of yr thumb for accuracy. keep yr thumb still and
>let it all come from your wrist. your motion should be like a
>bouncing ball. alot of folks think they have to pound the bass
>when they slap, a lil wrist goes a long way. figure out which
>finger feels better to pop with, index or middle, and stick
>with that

Thanks, I'll just have put more practice in...I think I'm one of those people...trying to slam my thumb through the body lol...I'll ease up and see how that feels.


>what made you wanna take up bass? its rare for a woman to pick
>up the four string....did you take lessons or just study under
>a friend?

I was just listening to music like I usually do and one day all I could hear was the bass in every song I listened to...I'd listened to those same songs hundreds of times, but for some reason, all of a sudden the bass was right there. Then I started to hear how differently bass lines sounded in different genres of music and I loved it all, so I bought the Yamaha and it's been loverly ever since! I took lessons every week for about four years and now I go bi-weekly. My instructor is insanely talented...I learned theory first which was borrrrr-rrrrrring cause all I wanted to do was play. But it helped me immensely when we started interpreting why bass players went in a certain direction when it came to their parts in songs and as you said, it's useful when writing music, too.

As far as actual gigs I've been doing mostly gospel and pop/rock stuff. Jazz gigs have just about all gone away in my area.

Gear? I've been rocking a custom Alleva Coppolo jazz for a little over a year. Here's a few pics:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_VtvGIzKFZZo/TRvFQRn3cNI/AAAAAAAABuE/6MLEwPH71G4/s512/full.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_VtvGIzKFZZo/TRT-fLTQodI/AAAAAAAABqY/wIJM5pS9ylw/s640/photo%20%281%29.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_VtvGIzKFZZo/TRT-31S4STI/AAAAAAAABro/YhH2MvrqIBs/s640/photo%20%283%29.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_VtvGIzKFZZo/TRT_YrzAInI/AAAAAAAABsk/raTN16J2r-E/s640/photo%20%287%29.JPG

I love this bass. But when it comes to jazz basses, they all are gonna have a great tone. Here's a clip of my playing Herbie Hancock's Actual Proof, and this is with a Mexican made Fender Jazz that I got for around $200. The tone is killing though!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMzVBOz9xLM

why you gotta be all in the back?? lol

That is a BEAUTIFUL bass, it's looks comfortable to play...I know that sounds weird....but it does. Musicians....we take pictures of our gear like they're our kids, don't we? lol I've got a stack of fauxtoes (hi tank!) of my two...

there's no way I'm gonna try to solo over those changes! That's a hard enough tune just to play...

>why you gotta be all in the back?? lol
>
>That is a BEAUTIFUL bass, it's looks comfortable to play...I
>know that sounds weird....but it does. Musicians....we take
>pictures of our gear like they're our kids, don't we? lol
>I've got a stack of fauxtoes (hi tank!) of my two...

Thanks! And yeah...I have a TON of gear pics...

Soon as I hear somebody say Bach, I know that they STUDY the bass...LOL

>I love this bass. But when it comes to jazz basses, they all
>are gonna have a great tone. Here's a clip of my playing
>Herbie Hancock's Actual Proof, and this is with a Mexican made
>Fender Jazz that I got for around $200. The tone is killing
>though!
>
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMzVBOz9xLM

Damn, son...you good! The Paul Jackson lines can work you because the timing HAS to be right while staying funky...and yeah, that tone aint too shabby at all for a Mexican model

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But it's great for building up the sight reading chops...

Thanks! Yeah the pickups in that Mexican Jazz are swapped out, I'm using single-coil Duncans. I swapped out the bridge for a Hipshot B, and everything else is stock - no preamp. It's a good bass to use for practice so I'm not wearing out the strings on my main axe.

I'm just getting back into playing after a while of the bass sitting in storage. I'm starting off slowly. I'm just playing along to tracks off of vinyl, for now.

it's hard to get back into after a while because it's like you have to familiarize yourself with all the scales again and 're-stretch' your fret hand...the best feeling is coming back to it after a while and your fingers just naturally play a tune you used to play all the time...

When I started to play bass in the late 80's, my influences were Lemmy, Geezer Butler and Kevin Rutmanis (Cows) and I never really tried to play differently (well, I tried to study jazz-bass for a while but I don't really like electric bass in jazz so it was mostly important to me in terms of learning music-theory rather than technique which I lack the stamina to improve) even after I got into jazz, funk, reggae etc.

Mostly, I just improvise along unamplified to whatever I have playing in the background which could be a Tv-commercial or anything. My bass is now at my parents house and my beloved amplifier (a used Laney Linebacker with a massive distortion) that I've owned for over 20 years seems to be stolen from my basement so I've been seriously slacking...

>my beloved
>amplifier (a used Laney Linebacker with a massive distortion)
>that I've owned for over 20 years seems to be stolen from my
>basement so I've been seriously slacking...


it seems to be stolen? that's the most polite way I've ever heard a theft phrased - bravo!

It took me a minute to learn to work things out by ear...I'm much better at watching someelse play something and then playing it myself. If I can see their hand position on the fret board, I've got it. Get back in the game...you remember how fun it was....this time sans amp :-)

It's one thing to hear exactly which notes that are being played and another to actually play it, you know? That's always been my problem because I think it's SO boring to practice technique but still, I used to do it 20-25 years ago. Unlike many others though, I always thought theory was really fun (I always loved math, maybe that's why) so if you ask me to play some fucked-up scale or arpeggiate a weird chord I can do it but I can not do it *well*, LOL...

Anyway, I will pick up the bass more seriously again because it's a really fun instrument to play, much more fun than a guitar IMO because you can put so much more force, physicality and "yourself" in the actual playing-as opposed to just the notes (well, if you play with your fingers, people who play with a plectrum are not REALLY playing bass IMO), at least that's how I feel, I'm sure some disagree...

I keep playing bass lines in my head. Now I want hear them coming from an actual bass guitar. I love the sound of the fender bass.
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this past January I bought a Fender Jazz-Bass (FSR Series). Ive been looking at some youtube videos on doing the basics..but I know i need a teacher. I'm thinking of either getting a weekly teacher or buying the TEACH ME BASS GUITAR DVD set to get started learning the basics...any tips yall can provide would be hugely appreciated.

thanks.

Whatever you play, practice it with a metronome at a very slow tempo, and when you are able to play it 5-10 times in a row with no mistakes, bump of the speed a bit and practice until you can do it at that speed 5-10 times with no mistakes. Keep this up until you have it at tempo.

Practice the stuff that you DON'T know. Don't waste time practicing stuff that you can already play. Work on things that are difficult for you, and continue to work on them until they become a strength.

Play with other people, and gig as much as you can. I was a music major in college, but when I first got there I didn't even play bass - I was a piano guy. I got tired of not being able to find good bass players to I started learning bass. I learned literally on the gig. There was a VA hospital that let us come in and play for the patients on a weekly basis. We did it for free, as a jazz quartet. We sucked because we were all learning to play, but the patients didn't care because they were happy to hear some music and have us come in to visit. And by the end of the first semester we were sounding good enough to get calls for paying gigs. By the end of the second semester I had switched my major to bass performance and it was my main instrument. Playing with other people (and in front of an audience) will drive you to get better. It will improve your time, and your ears. It will greatly improve your dexterity and stamina. Find some cats and start playing!

Back in the day when I was learning, home studios hadn't blown up yet so it was still a rare thing to do studio work as a beginner. So I didn't get a chance to record myself and hear myself playing. But now, with all the software available cheap and free, or some of the nice hardware practice tools, it's easy for anyone to record themselves. You can record yourself playing along with backing tracks or even just the CD. This is helpful because you can REALLY hear what you sound like so you know what you need to work on. When I was a new player it was always a rude awakening playing in the studio and hearing myself, because my time and feel wasn't as good as I thought it was. I would have LOVED to be able to record myself as easy as you can now while learning.

but then again, this is my bass

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j127/lonesome_d/4edfcafa.jpg

Haven't played it in quite a while; last song I used it on I probably did last September. Used to take it to old-time jams quite a bit but that was before kids and a wife got in the way.