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Originally Posted by westland I was intriqued with Jeff Schmidt a non-pro placing top in the Bass Extremes International Contemporary Solo Bass Competition, and visited his web site. There were a few MP3 clips on the site, and I have to say that I am very impressed. Jeff's tone in particular is beautiful and his music quite nice ... and I'm not surprised that he suggests that Michael Manring is a major influence.
Anyone have any tips on what to work on to improve tone and articulation in one's technique (listening to Jeff makes me realize how far I have to go, and how expressive the bass can be) |
Thank you very much westland - I appreciate the compliment and your interest.
I think you really nailed the essence of it when you asked how to improve articulation.
Articulation is the most important part of having a "voice". It's something I work on both consiously and sub-consciously all the time.
It's a lot like an accent in speech. And, not surprisingly - much like your vocal accent - your musical articulation can be influenced by the types and kinds of music you're most exposed to. We've all heard stories of people picking up traces of the accent of the "locals" when moving to an area with a different vocal accent.
The same thing can happen to you musically as well. So that's the first "technique" I would recommend. Listen to as much and as many lyrical and melodic instruments that speak to you as possible and really focus on the articulation - then imagine playing those melodies on your bass.
MIMICK melodic articulation.
Step 2 is to actually learn the melodies themselves on your bass - keeping the articulation of the original. But first - just try to mimick the articualtion of a horn. A guitar. A singer.
If you asked the average groove bassist to play a G Major triad it would sound like a scale. While the same task given to an average Sax player sounds like music. The difference is largely articulation - how the notes are formed.
The next "technique" if you're serious - is to treat, think about and play the bass as a melodic instrument at least as much as you think and play it as a traditional support instrument.
The techniques used to play great grooves will not help you play melodically. The techniques for expressive melodic playing won't help you nail a groove. They're different disciplines - but not mutually exclusive. So - for groove playing -certainly listen to lots of great bassists and absorb the articulations of great grooves.
But for melodic playing - horn players, singers and yes- GASP! even guitar players whose playing speaks you should be your focus.
Of course - that's just what works for me. Your milage may vary!
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