Anyone use non-human accompaniment?

[Sean Ormiston]

Hey all,

I'm trying to learn jazz, both on electric and double bass, but it's a bit of a catch 22. Nobody wants to play jazz with a novice and I can't learn without playing with others. I'm 21 and all my friends don't give much of a hoot about jazz, so that's out, and it seems most people my age who are jazz players have been at it for a while now. They're preparing for conservatories and whatnot. I'm where they were at in the beginning of high school.

I've got strong ears and can transcribe some pretty uppity Paul Chambers stuff. Have knowledge of chords, arpeggios, and can think theoretically. But it's time to DO it.

I recently got this thing called band-in-a-box which allows you to shoot in chords and pick a "Style" and it'll start comping away for you. I'm digging through sheet music now and programming it for accompaniment, so I can feel the changes and get going. The MIDI synthesized by my computers soundcard is pretty wonky, but that's not the point. The idea is to learn the chordal language, so that I can hear somebody and know what kind of chord or scale or "vibe" to respond with in kind. It also has a chord ear training quizzer.

Anyone else do this? Have any advice? Use a different program perhaps? Percieve pros and cons? Who practices chord charts without accompaniment?

Thanks.

[hdiddy]

I used BinAB alot myself, but I don't think it's that great. It does the trick when you have to resort to it. Try to get as much music played by recorded by live players. There's alot of Aebersold play alongs that you can get.

BinAB kinda sucks in that the way that it plays the music and the chord voicings they use typically aren't representative of what people normally play. So be careful so that you don't think that what it puts out is "normal". Don't get dependent on it. I think the better thing, albeit a little harder, is getting used to practicing with just a metronome. You can try going at a new tune with BinAB first just to get some of the chords in your fingers, but it's better to be able to carry the melody and chords by yourself on a metronome. Get used to counting off the metronome so that the clicks hit on the 2nd and 4th beats of a measure. Doing so will improve your time and your ear.

Also, check out this thread on learning tunes in an in-depth way.

Finally, get yourself a teacher. You're in the jazz capital of the world and it should be easy to find a decent one to get you started. I probalby wouldn't worry about finding folks to play with, I'm sure they're out there and you just need to find them. I'd just start practicing alot after getting some help from a teacher, and since you're 21, you can try going to a jam session or two and get experience that way. I didn't start til I was 30 (I wish I started at 21 myself) so I don't think you're late at all. If you really want to do it, you can but it's all up to you and how much you want to commit.

[Marc Piane]

I'm not crazy about Band in the Box. Part of what you need to learn as a bass player is feel. If you can't find other people to play with I recommend the Jamey Abersold play-alongs. I'm not a big fan of his methods, at least without a teacher to guide you, but the play-alongs are good. They have common tunes you should know and the people he hires to record them are big name players. M-->

[Kam]

I used to use the boxed band a few years ago. I think the version I have is about 5 or 6 years old, and I'm not sure if the newer ones are better, but in my opinion, the accompaniment "styles" are very stiff and bland. You're better off with an Aebersold book & recording for faux ensembles.