Intonation=DEATH

[Ed Fuqua]

And then there's the fun of playing with instruments with tempered tuning (like piano) and those that don't (like sax)...

[Treyzer]

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

And then there's the fun of playing with instruments with tempered tuning (like piano) and those that don't (like sax)...

Just to add to all of the good info, Although drone notes and play alongs ect. are good, and certainly bow practice is key, nothing beats playing live. Why? because you only get one shot. There are no retakes (like in a studio situation). Typically, in a live music situation other musicians are counting on you and there is an audience. For many of us, these factors seem to focus the mind pretty well.

[Mark Perna]

Originally Posted by Treyzer

Just to add to all of the good info, Although drone notes and play alongs ect. are good, and certainly bow practice is key, nothing beats playing live. Why? because you only get one shot. There are no retakes (like in a studio situation). Typically, in a live music situation other musicians are counting on you and there is an audience. For many of us, these factors seem to focus the mind pretty well.

Yep. This is particularly true if you are playing with guys better than you.

mark

[damonsmith]

Adrenaline shots never hurt. A more long term solution is to always stay up on basics. I like to say the bass doesn't care what your name is it only cares what you have practiced the last few days.
If I play early Simandl pieces, all twelve major scales and triads I sound a lot better than when I don't. You just have to get in and do the work.

[kaybass1952]

I having been using Don Hermanns' Accompanied Rudiments Course
for my daily practice for a few years now . All the Major and Minor scales, whole notes thru to 16ths + all intervals +triads (3 variations) + Chromatic scales . It' s a six cd set with book.A great resource IMHO

[Stephen Edwards]

Originally Posted by calivox

...Tonight, I was listening to the various false starts on So What and Paul Chambers ruined a couple of takes because he was horribly out of tune. Paul Chambers! The man and the legend. One of the mighty pillars of jazz bassdom. In fact, his intonation isn't the greatest on the intro of the released take. So if Paul isn't in tune all of the time, you really can't expect us lesser mortals to be either...

I was just listening to those false starts today and man some of them were terrible. But he is still the man.

And +1 on the Simandl with the Bow.

[Mark Perna]

Originally Posted by Stephen Edwards

I was just listening to those false starts today and man some of them were terrible. But he is still the man.

That's for sure. They got the job done, though. I was listening the early takes of Blue in Green. Man, the final take is amazing but listening to the early starts on it was torture. It's amazing they went from that to the final.

mark

[Ed Fuqua]

Mark - have you heard the out takes/rehearsal takes from MILES SMILES? my buddy Hyland played part of FREEDOM JAZZ DANCE for me the other day and it was pretty hip, hearing how Miles got Ron to develop the bass line for the head...

[pcreelbass]

Something else of utmost importance that nobody mentioned, or if they did I missed it, is being consistent with the way you hold the bass. If you keep changing the height of your endpin, play with different shoes, or just hold the bass differently the intonation will be effected. Also, turning your head to look at you left hand position will change the angle of your hand which in turn also affects intonation.

[chicagodoubler]

And....

Are you playing on the absolute tip of the finger? John Clayton calls this "playing on the bone." The pad of the finger is a far less accurate way to stop the string.

Try hearing the pitch in your head and reaching out with the tip for the pitch. This helps alot of guys tremendously.

+1,000 for bow practice. Be aware that the pitch MUST be supported by good bow technique. Your finger may be in the right place but without the "breath support" you will never hear your true pitch.

[hdiddy]

I used drones, but I would drone various notes from the same scale and play the scale using a bow. Drone the root while playing the scale. Then drone the 3rd, then the 5th, the 7th, the 4th, etc. etc. each time playing the scale until I get that relative sound in my head. Each time I played the scale, I'd sing the note either vocally or internally and expect the correct pitch as Ed suggests.

Again to tie it with what Unca P says, I try to also expect the intonation to be correct just the same way that I expect to say the right words to come out when I open my mouth and try to express a certain idea. Without that intention on expecting the right intonation, the exercise is kinda meaningless, IMO.