3 questions from canada

[BassForGrace]

Hey Janek,

I'm a young bassist from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and I have 3 questions

1. I'm fine with improvising over chords but I can't solo using other that just the root and that scale. For example Cm7 I'll play the C and the other notes associated with that scale but i can't go anywhere else with it. is there something i could practice or study or could you explain it to me?
for example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0pMf...r_profilepage# I got someone to explain this one to me already. but i love this video of you!!!!

2. i see most bass players with there ring and pinkie finger tucked away but i don't do that i just leave them out there. is it personal preference or better technique to tuck them away?

3. When are you coming to Canada (Edmonton in particular) it would be great to have you here you could even stay at my house

[janekbass]

to assimilate vocabulary for soloing and improvising I would suggest transcribing material from other soloists that you like. The sooner you can get away from thinking about a chord in an intellectual sense, and feel them as a vehicle over which to play melodies the better off you'll be. I would suggest working on the fundamentals of the chords - root 3rd 5th and 7th, and having those shapes and patterns underneath your fingers in any inversion anywhere on the instrument. This will help commit the basic aspects of harmony to your muscle memory and let you think more about melody, and less about harmony as it's passing by.

Then I would start to transcribe soloists that you dig. NOT ME! try some guitar players, saxophone players, piano players, pretty much anything except bass players. this will help get you out of the natural comfort zone of doing things that are super easy on the bass, and it will make you think about music in a whole different dimension.

as for the fingers... I don't keep them tucked away, I'm using them to mute strings that are open.

3 - I would love to come to Canada sometime soon.... I'll be working on some dates for 2010, and will post more in this forum when they're confirmed.

Easy,

Janek

[thombo]

just out of curiosity, why would you suggest not transcribing you?