Rut bustin'

[emilio g]

To put it bluntly, I feel like my playing is at a point where it definitely doesn't suck. My solos and walking lines are musical from what my teachers tell me. For the most part I sound like a competent player, but there are still tons of limitations I'm trying to work through, just like lots of musicians.

That being said, I feel like certain aspects of my playing aren't getting much better and I'm starting to get tired of my routine, which means I need to change up what I'm working on.

Since I probably don't practice as well as I could, I'm looking for any way to streamline my practice. I was watching some videos of a Rabbath clinic and he says that one must practice like a virtuoso to become one. That, and among other things, a performance injury really got me thinking about how and what I practice.

What I work on:

Transcribing- I do this as much as I can. I listen, write it down, and play it. Rinse and repeat often. This process somehow makes me better. Is that really all there is to it? Should I be memorizing what I transcribe?

Arco and Classical Music- Love playing classical music. I have no aspirations to be an orchestral player, but I work on Simandl lots, play in orchestra, work on solos. Love arco solos (think Edgar Meyer, PC, Terry Plumeri) but don't really have the technique to do it well yet. Any advice on getting out of the panic arco solo phase would be appreciated.

Licks/patterns in 12 keys-I think you need to imitate before you innovate, so I have no shame about learning other guy's licks. Usually I just take a lick and play it moving in 4ths until I've played it in 12 keys. I'm finding that no matter how much I do this, getting those ideas to "come out" in a solo takes a conscious effort. Is that normal? Should I be transposing around the keys in a different way?

Learning Jazz Repertoire-This has always been tough for me. I generally play the changes on piano, walk/groove along to a recording, and practice the melody along to a recording. What makes it tough is outside of school, I can't seem to get involved with a group where I play the same tunes often enough to burn them into my brain. I have to learn tunes over and over again. Melodies are easy to forget especially because I usually don't play them in bands. Recently, I made a list of all the tunes I've ever learned...was definitely over 50 songs. I might be able to really play only 10 or 20 from memory. Should I just keep shedding those same 50 tunes?


Also, although I can play different styles, (in a bebop way, a swing style, more modern, etc). I can't really play a burning solo in any style. I've contemplated working on nothing but bebop for a month or two. Just transcribe PC and Sonny Stitt, learn bebop licks, shed donna lee, for a while. I've been working on a little of everything for a while and I'm wondering if this is the wrong approach? For instance, if I wanted to learn German, living in Germany seems like a good approach...its total immersion. I want to play burning bebop solos so maybe I should "live" in bebop for a while?

Anything to help bust out of the usual grind would help me out!

[mattfong]

I'm not really experienced enough to answer the first 3 things, but as for learning tunes and stuff... I find what helps alot is, along with practising them on your own, is organizing sessions with even just one other guy to shed a few tunes for an hour or two. I think when you're playing with other musicians it really makes you focus more than playing along to a recording, and you learn the material much more thoroughly.

[chris dammann]

I am working on many of the same things you are and have found the best way to focus my practice is to spend a bit of time in the morning and before i go to bed just playing. you could call it playing free, but i think of as playing the bass the way i did when i first began playing music before i had any facility or any expectations of myself as a musician. its a bit of time to remember what playing music is all about, where i'm just trying to make a sound to please my ears. it helps put everything else i do (tunes,scales, etudes) into perspective. its also a lot of FUN. which, when you think about is what its all about.
I think of practicing licks the same way i do about scales: its about developing facility on your instrument. all of us have something original to say on our instruments. i'm always trying to find what it is i'm trying to say when i solo. i try and make my mind as blank as possible and just be with my bass--i can't imagine forcing a lick. I love PC. He was the first upright bassist i ever heard, in my mind when i think the sound of the upright bass i think PC. I know many of his solos but i would be embarrassed if i ever quoted my favorite of his solos on a gig. I'd feel like i was cheapen what he had to offer to music and what I had to offer to music as well. That of course is a personal choice, so if it speaks to you great if not, great as well. I've heard stories of Sonny Rollins playing his favorite Lester Young solos on gigs before. I guess I imagine Sonny and Lester having more in common then I do with PC.
Its hard these days to find young people that want to hang out and play tunes. and its really hard to carry a tune on bass without accompaniment. my secret pleasure is to learn to sing the melody and accompany myself. its a really fun way to practice tunes when you don't have a singer or horn player to work with and a great way to ingrain the form of the song into your body/mind. sorry to ramble this is a post in a after gig drunken stupor...
chris

[hdiddy]

I dunno. I kinda feel the same way about my practice routine. There's always lots of chores to do (scale practice, licks, repetoire etc) but I think I also lack some sort of vehicle for inspirational play. Stuff that makes you feel good to hit the strings. We're supposed to be enjoying this... it's not supposed to be all work. Feel inspired and I think more things will come from that good space... what that is I'm not entirely sure.

Playing with others often sparks it a bit tho.

[Steve Clark]

Excellent questions. I have the same ones although I am not able to devote as much time as you. I have the same issues as question 4 and the others apply although I don't have as positive an opinion of my playing as you do of yours. Which may be part of my problem in the first place. I look forward to following the thread.

[Paul Warburton]

Emilio...you menton listening. How about trying to JUST listen, and leave the transcriptions out for a minute? You have to spend some time soaking it all in with your ears. There may be some subtle stuff going on that is untranscribable.
If you feel you've exhausted your listening possibilities, ( which in jazz is pretty impossible ) expose your ears to somebody you haven't spent a bunch of time with.
I still find some gems in stuff i've listened to for over 50 years.

[Marc Piane]

Originally Posted by chris dammann

I am working on many of the same things you are and have found the best way to focus my practice is to spend a bit of time in the morning and before i go to bed just playing. you could call it playing free, but i think of as playing the bass the way i did when i first began playing music before i had any facility or any expectations of myself as a musician. its a bit of time to remember what playing music is all about, where i'm just trying to make a sound to please my ears. it helps put everything else i do (tunes,scales, etudes) into perspective. its also a lot of FUN. which, when you think about is what its all about.

+1. We do often get so focused on the *right* thing to play or do that we forget that our ear (and heart) will guide what we play.

I went to a clinic with Dave Liebman a couple weeks back and he suggested the same thing as an exercise in your practice routine. Just play. No books, no tunes. He also suggested recording it. Maybe you'll hear something you really liked and turn it into a tune or something you want to repeat in a solo.

I also often record most of practice sessions to listen back and critique. I have found this to be an invaluable tool.

[Ed Fuqua]

Originally Posted by emilio g

To put it bluntly, I feel like my playing is at a point where it definitely doesn't suck. My solos and walking lines are musical from what my teachers tell me. For the most part I sound like a competent player, but there are still tons of limitations I'm trying to work through, just like lots of musicians. That being said, I feel like certain aspects of my playing aren't getting much better and I'm starting to get tired of my routine, which means I need to change up what I'm working on.

This is EXACTLY where I was when somebody handed me this article by the man who would become my teacher for the last 10 or so years.

Originally Posted by emilio

Transcribing- I do this as much as I can. I listen, write it down, and play it. Rinse and repeat often. This process somehow makes me better. Is that really all there is to it? Should I be memorizing what I transcribe?

Well, I don't really think that's the question to ask. My recommendation (which is my teacher's method, which was his teacher, Lennie Tristano's method) is to get some kind of half speed recorder or program. Take whatever you are transcribing and listen at half speed A LOT; the idea being that you want to be able to sing along with the solo or line at half speed and catch ALL the nuances - pitch, attack, decay, timbre, vibrato (or lack), staccato/legato etc - basically get to the point that it sounds like Pres (or whoever) coming out of your mouth. Then take it to full speed and do the same thing. If you're not doing this with a teacher, you need to be recording your efforts and objectively assessing whether you're making it or skating over certain aspects (it's not just the notes). THEN you pick up your bass and play the notes that you are hearing/singing. What you're working on hear is not just ear training (recognizing the notes someone plays), you're working on the mechanism of improvisation - hearing a note internally with enough clarity that you can play it on your instrument with no hunting and pecking.

Originally Posted by emilio

Arco and Classical Music- Love playing classical music. I have no aspirations to be an orchestral player, but I work on Simandl lots, play in orchestra, work on solos. Love arco solos (think Edgar Meyer, PC, Terry Plumeri) but don't really have the technique to do it well yet. Any advice on getting out of the panic arco solo phase would be appreciated.

There are no shortcuts. Have you talked with your teacher about your concerns?

Originally Posted by emilio

Licks/patterns in 12 keys-I think you need to imitate before you innovate, so I have no shame about learning other guy's licks. Usually I just take a lick and play it moving in 4ths until I've played it in 12 keys. I'm finding that no matter how much I do this, getting those ideas to "come out" in a solo takes a conscious effort. Is that normal? Should I be transposing around the keys in a different way?

Well, see the first point. The key is not to force stuff, you're supposed to hear something and play that. If you aren't hearing anything, the best choice is to take your hand off the instrument. If you don't hear it, don't play it. You are going to be able to make a more cogent and communicative musical statement by following that simple dictum. Nobody on teh stand (that's listening) cares how much gibberish you can spout, they want to hear what you have to actually say. I know this becuase for years I spoke fluent gibberish.

Originally Posted by emilio

Learning Jazz Repertoire-This has always been tough for me. I generally play the changes on piano, walk/groove along to a recording, and practice the melody along to a recording. What makes it tough is outside of school, I can't seem to get involved with a group where I play the same tunes often enough to burn them into my brain. I have to learn tunes over and over again. Melodies are easy to forget especially because I usually don't play them in bands. Recently, I made a list of all the tunes I've ever learned...was definitely over 50 songs. I might be able to really play only 10 or 20 from memory. Should I just keep shedding those same 50 tunes?

The methodology for learning tunes I got from Joe (which he got from Lennie) is outlined in a thread I started called REALLY LEARNING A TUNE. The work you do this way on three or four tunes really informs your approach to any tune and really makes it much easier to hear your way through stuff from the Great American Popular Song (standards and such like). It's harder when you get to Wayne tunes and stuff, that calls for some pretty heavy duty ear training outside of just learning tunes. I've also outlined how we're working on ear training in several posts on this site.

Originally Posted by emilio

Also, although I can play different styles, (in a bebop way, a swing style, more modern, etc). I can't really play a burning solo in any style. I've contemplated working on nothing but bebop for a month or two. Just transcribe PC and Sonny Stitt, learn bebop licks, shed donna lee, for a while. I've been working on a little of everything for a while and I'm wondering if this is the wrong approach? For instance, if I wanted to learn German, living in Germany seems like a good approach...its total immersion. I want to play burning bebop solos so maybe I should "live" in bebop for a while?
Anything to help bust out of the usual grind would help me out!

Well you wouldn't move to Germany to say things that German people told you to say, right? You would want a way to express YOUR thoughts, feelings, ideas etc in German. I know that licks and tricks really seem to be the way to go, but that's NOT the same thing as immersing yourself in a language. It's a lot of stuff concurrently, but just focusing on vocabulary (licks, phrases, etc.) does not (in my long and bitter experience) get you there. It just gets you further along the path that you are already on, of sounding like you can play rather than really playing something that really means anything to you.

You don't want "a really burning solo", you want authenticity...

[Steve Clark]

Wonderful post Ed. I always value and enjoy reading what you write on these topics. Inspiring.

[Willy2911]

Oh, I am sorry I thought you said N** bustin - Which is my favorite past time....

[Marc Piane]

Originally Posted by Steve Clark

Wonderful post Ed. I always value and enjoy reading what you write on these topics. Inspiring.

+1. Though it always reminds me how much work I have to do.

[davidAaronCarte]

Originally Posted by mattfong

I'm not really experienced enough to answer the first 3 things, but as for learning tunes and stuff... I find what helps alot is, along with practising them on your own, is organizing sessions with even just one other guy to shed a few tunes for an hour or two. I think when you're playing with other musicians it really makes you focus more than playing along to a recording, and you learn the material much more thoroughly.

For sure
I'm lucky that my girlfriend's a piano player - I'll make her sit there and play the same tune with me for an hour sometime ahah

[Eric Hochberg]

"This is EXACTLY where I was when somebody handed me this article by the man who would become my teacher for the last 10 or so years."

Thanks for this, Ed. My students will be getting a copy this week.

[EggyToast]

Ed's much further along that myself, and everything that he says is true. In the scheme of things I'm still starting out, but I've been involved with music as a hobby for the last 10-odd years. Mostly false-starts and herky-jerky movement, but I've picked up a few tidbits that have helped me get past the depressing "I suck what I am I thinking" phases that I think we all have occasionally.

1) You don't have to be a virtuoso. Yes, hearing an incredible solo and reading about the exploits of Another Bass Hero are great, but that's not where most of us are with our music. Many of us will never be at that point with our instruments. When you have a solo, or you're practicing for "your part," you don't have to wow everyone, yourself included. For the bass, sometimes notes need to be long. Sometimes the best solo will be a variation on the groove, with the other parts dropped out. And, sometimes, looking at past (or current) masters isn't the best way to progress.

For example, if you're impressed by Edgar Meyer but have no interest in making his particular kind of music, ignore him. I'm not saying he should have no input in your musical progression, but don't get bogged down by a virtuoso, especially if they're not making music in the genres that you're interested in. A Jazz player can learn a lot from a classical player, but should focus on what he prefers -- jazz. There's nothing wrong with saying that you're focusing on a particular style or genre, and that choice doesn't need to be flashy or ornate.

2) Complexity is not equivalent to good. I've been interested in electronic music for a long time, which is what I spent most of my musical experience with until I picked up double bass. In electronic music, it's relatively easy to develop something that's musically complex but essentially soulless. More to the point, I've learned that people listen to music for different reasons, and each of those reasons are valid. Some people like something straightforward that they can dance to. Others like catchy hooks so they can sing along in the car. Others like to be challenged, but even then in different ways -- some prefer challenging song structure or time signatures, others prefer challenging sounds or effects.

In many cases, though, people that are making music will go to great ends to end up at one end of the spectrum -- very simple, or very complex. There's a vast middle ground, and many many people enjoy music that's a part of the spectrum -- not just one slice of it.

In other words, if your heart is saying "This is what I should play here, to fit," then try it, and listen to it. Does it fit? Your brain may be saying "No, that's not 'interesting' enough" or something. Sometimes, the best run of notes is just one note repeated 4 times!

I'm getting a little into song theory, but I think it applies. If you're bored, change up your routine with new music or a different structure. Perhaps change your routine to include some creation on your part, for example; perhaps your next music purchase should be a drum machine or a music sequencer, so you can create more than just bass. Think about where you want to go with your music -- and then work towards that. Not everyone should strive for being 1st chair at a big city orchestra, or have music books with their "method" on it. Sometimes, just playing what you like to play is enough.

[Sam Sherry]

Originally Posted by EggyToast

I've picked up a few tidbits that have helped me get past the depressing "I suck what I am I thinking" phases that I think we all have occasionally.

And don't get the impression that I don't respect that just because I'm about to disagree with you a bit.

You don't have to be a virtuoso. Yes, hearing an incredible solo and reading about the exploits of Another Bass Hero are great, but that's not where most of us are with our music. Many of us will never be at that point with our instruments.

Shoot for virtuosity! Why ever not? Of course I will never reach the point that Itzhak Perlman is at. So what? I am still going to aim for it every time I pick up the bass. I'm not going to reach whatever I aim for so I am aiming for the all-time gold standard.

When you have a solo, or you're practicing for "your part," you don't have to wow everyone, yourself included.

Again, I respectfully disagree. You should be trying to wow everyone, yourself included, every time you play. You don't have to shred like Al DiMeola to wow people. Go ahead -- aim for wowing people like Michael Moore instead.

For example, if you're impressed by Edgar Meyer but have no interest in making his particular kind of music, ignore him. I'm not saying he should have no input in your musical progression, but don't get bogged down by a virtuoso, especially if they're not making music in the genres that you're interested in. A Jazz player can learn a lot from a classical player, but should focus on what he prefers -- jazz. There's nothing wrong with saying that you're focusing on a particular style or genre . . .

The longer I do this the less I am interested in becoming a jazz bass-player. My goal is to become a musician who plays jazz on the double bass. The more I open my ears the more I bring to my love of jazz bass playing. I learn from Lee Sklar. I learn from Gary Karr. I learn from Ruben Rodriguez. I learn from George Harrison.

Sometimes, just playing what you like to play is enough.

Chief, that's all we ever get.

Back to work . . .

[davidAaronCarte]

Shoot for virtuosity! Why ever not? Of course I will never reach the point that Itzhak Perlman is at. So what? I am still going to aim for it every time I pick up the bass. I'm not going to reach whatever I aim for so I am aiming for the all-time gold standard.

Oh, I'm going to be a virtuoso
Not one yet, but it's easy enough to keep practicing

[EggyToast]

Originally Posted by Sam Sherry

And don't get the impression that I don't respect that just because I'm about to disagree with you a bit.


Shoot for virtuosity! Why ever not? Of course I will never reach the point that Itzhak Perlman is at. So what? I am still going to aim for it every time I pick up the bass. I'm not going to reach whatever I aim for so I am aiming for the all-time gold standard.

Nah that's cool, it's all about what motivates you. Some people really get the push by striving to be "the best." I'm a pragmatic person, though, and that kind of talk just doesn't get me going. My problem is that the "shoot for the top" peptalks are very common -- all the praise for virtuosos on this and other places, for bass and other instruments, can often drown out the "try to get to the next stage. Then, get to the next stage beyond that, and don't be afraid to say to yourself 'I'm happy with where I am' if it's the truth."

I'm all about setting a realistic goal I can meet in a realistic timeframe, and then hitting that and moving on to the next. Keeps me going. If I get worked up about some far-off goal without filling in the steps to get there, I'd just get lost. Like someone who says "I want to own a 2M house and a boat," but never talks about how he/she will actually pay for it! :D

[Ed Fuqua]

Hmmm. Of course, whatever floats yer boat. But for me that's two different things. I have reached a point where I realize that all I can sound like is what I sound like. But that doesn't have anything to do with being in the shed and what I'm working on. Pretty much anytime I play, there are things that I'm aware of that need work - my ear, my physical approach, what the melody really is - and that informs the work I have to do in the shed. The real idea is that your "benchmarks" are internal, not external. You're going to have a greater chance at achieving some contentment with your playing and your progress towards goals if what you're aiming for is to get deeper into your voice. Not trying to achieve what someone else did.

[Treyzer]

Thanks Ed for the great post and Sam Thank you as well.Don't really have anything to add. Funny how some of these things can be depressing and uplifting at the same time. I Know for Christmas The H2 recorder by Samsung (sp) is at the top of my wish list for many of the reasons you stated as well as an easy way to do live recordings.

Again,

Thanks both of you

Trey

[emilio g]

Ed, tremendous post. Thank you so much!

At the end of the day I feel kind of funny posting in the "jazz" section because I just want to be a great bass player. I got into bass because between DB and electric you can play so many different kinds of music. Right now I'm in jazz school, but I'm planning on a masters degree in classical music. I really just want to be able to express myself whenever I have a bass in my hands.

Of Ed's whole post, this hit home the hardest:

I know this because for years I spoke fluent gibberish.

I know lots of people like this! They're just lick machines. I had started to wonder if I needed to be able to do that. Maybe it was a necessary stage? I asked my teacher about it (Mike Richmond) and he said he never forced vocabulary like that. Practiced music in 12 keys, yea. He took solos he really liked and "made them his". Really tried to nail every articulation, every dynamic...as well as play the notes. Really got me thinking about how one develops his or her own voice as a musician.