Bebop on the Fretless Bass.

[giedosst]

Hi Everybody!

I got a question for my fellow low enders especially those of the jazz cats!



I'm working on Cherokee and am trying to weave a flowing stream of eight notes through the changes. I have a very good understanding of the changes and the tonal centers, but what I can't seem to do is play them up to speed. It seems like not matter what I do, I can make the notes swing at high tempos and my notes come way behind the beat and it sounds awful. If I slow the tempo down I can weave the line threw the changes and it sounds great but at high speeds I end up tripping over myself. I'm trying very hard to achieve a John Coltrane kind of flowing bebop line but I feel like I keep tripping over my fingers! What have you guys done to get better at playing bebop lines at break-neck speeds?

[waleross]

The other day my piano teacher slowed down Scrapple from the Apple to a ballad tempo. Now this works for all instruments.Before I can ever approach a fast tempo on the bass, I have to nail it down at a slow to moderate tempo. What I do from time to time is start at 60 BPM
then double it in a half time feel. Of course you have to use a metronome.............................Good luck

[davidAaronCarte]

Originally Posted by waleross

The other day my piano teacher slowed down Scrapple from the Apple to a ballad tempo. Now this works for all instruments.Before I can ever approach a fast tempo on the bass, I have to nail it down at a slow to moderate tempo. What I do from time to time is start at 60 BPM
then double it in a half time feel. Of course you have to use a metronome.............................Good luck

Definitely start slow.
If you listen to a lot of bebop (or even just fast lines) you'll notice they don't really swing. Once you hit a certain tempo you have to straighten out your playing or it just gets messy and usually slows down. Practice some bops lines slow and medium as a straight feel and slowly speed them up. Bonus points if you take a couple heads and just work on those straight.
My favourites for this are Blues for Alice, Confirmation, and Subconscious-Lee because they all end up working on a different aspect. Alice is very simple phrasing and all standard bebop lines so you can get it really fast and its easy to still feel good. Confirmation is a little more awkward because of all the subdivision changes and you'll have to focus more to really get it in the pocket. Subconscious-Lee (or any Konitz/Tristano-style head) will give you bebop style phrasing with unconventional note choices and will help you break out of patters.
Finally, listen to a lot of bebop - Dizzy could play what he could because his ears were that fast, not his fingers.

[giedosst]

Thanks guys!

You have re-enforced everything I have suspected. Playing straight eighth notes is waaaaaayyyy easier than trying to swing them at 250 bpm!


So what would be a good way to practice playing bop lines straight?

[davidAaronCarte]

Originally Posted by giedosst

So what would be a good way to practice playing bop lines straight?

Turn on a metronome and make it feel good
I like to think of a boogaloo kind of drum back-beat while I'm playing to keep everything straight
Any kind of straight style would work if latin or rock is more comfortable, but the basic idea is to make the eighth notes feel good and "in the pocket"
Ideally they should convey the time just as strongly as your walking basslines so you can get the groove happening
As you get more comfortable, use less metronome - move it to the half notes, then once a bar, then once every two, etc.
The better these feel at medium tempos the stronger it will feel at faster tempos