Looking for Good Instrumental Tracks

Hoffman6000 · #1 03-07-2005, 01:33 PM

I was wondering if anyone knew of any instrumentals I could Download and use to practice scales and soloing. I'm not really looking for MIDI tracks, I find them a little stale. Something with a quality drummer and a solid beat. (no light Jazz)

Joe Turski · #2 03-07-2005, 03:37 PM

I think you may have better luck in recordings.

Moved to recordings.

Juneau · #3 03-07-2005, 03:46 PM

Well, your post is a little vague. What styles of music are you after (if any in particular) and what would you say your level of playing is? I could post instrumentals till the cows come home, but weather or not they will be what your looking for is hard to tell with your first post there. For example, I could post lost of Jaco stuff, its great, but its above my head playing wise, so its not all that usefull to me for the purpose your describing.

Give us some more info

Hoffman6000 · #4 03-08-2005, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juneau

Well, your post is a little vague. What styles of music are you after (if any in particular) and what would you say your level of playing is? I could post instrumentals till the cows come home, but weather or not they will be what your looking for is hard to tell with your first post there. For example, I could post lost of Jaco stuff, its great, but its above my head playing wise, so its not all that usefull to me for the purpose your describing.

Give us some more info

When I started playing, either I wasn't aware of it, or the technology and demand didn't exist to play with a virtual band. Of course I learned a million of my favorite tunes, but I always had that other bass player in the mix. Practicing with great live musicians makes practice more fun and interesting especially when dealing with scales. I would like to use instrumental tracks to not only improve on my capabilities, but to use these tools to teach my students. I'd also like to record their lines along with the tracks so they can take a step back and hear exactly what they are doing and how they can improve.
I'm starting to work modes and their different fingerings into my improvising and am looking for a real drummer to play over without the vocal getting in the way. I would prefer to play blues progressions or latin groove, or jazz with a funky groove. It doesn't have to be complex with time signiture changes or chord changes every 2 beats. Versatility is the key for me. I'm more of a groove player than a jazz soloist. As far as playing ability, I'm no where near Jaco, (who is?) but I've played for a living for 15 years in all styles. I just want to make my lines more colorful and solos more interesting. In my opinion, a click grooves more than most midi files I've encountered. I guess I'm just over playing 2-5-1's at 70 BPM. I'm ready to learn and teach creativity rather than stagnant scales. Any help finding these tools would be appreciated. Thanks!

tim99 · #5 03-09-2005, 07:16 AM

Welcome to talkbass.com

The Abersold stuff has the bass on the left channel and the piano on the right channel, but the drums on both channels. So you can practice without the piano or without the bass parts.

I have this first one and use it sometimes for scale practice.

Abersold Major and Minor

Abersold Nothing But Blues

Abersold Blues In All Keys

Abersold Latin

Abersold The Scale Syllabus

Abersold Complete List

bassplace.com playalongs (some funk here)

bassbooks.com play-alongs

tim99 · #6 03-09-2005, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoffman6000

In my opinion, a click grooves more than most midi files I've encountered.

The Pandora's Box by Korg has lots of different styles in metronome mode. I had a teacher who practiced all the time with one of those.

tim99 · #7 03-09-2005, 07:33 AM

For those of you who are wondering what midi files he is talking about, here is a good site with free midi files:

Some MIDI files here

Hoffman6000 · #8 03-11-2005, 04:22 PM

Thanks for the heads up Tim99. That's a good site for the Abersold stuff. I like that I can sample it before I buy....And actually the site with all of the midi files isn't half bad either. Some are done very well. At least someone used some sort of groove quantize when sequencing those tracks. I've run into a lot of swing midi files that don't swing at all. The site you posted had quite a wide range of tempo also. Thanks again. Time to start practicing.