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A Talkbass Challenge: Calling Everyone Out

Originally posted by frankencow150
I think tonight im gonna tab out a miles davis tune,probably "so what".I'm gonna give it a shot soon.

Can we please not mention the words "Miles Davis" and "tab" in the same sentence? Please?
 
i've already started on mine. kinda weird that this thread came up at this time ... OoOoO-woOooOoOo-WooOoOoo ...

playing bass in a pop-rock capacity (5 piece band, with 3 guitars :eek: pity me). coming from a full-on pick-weilding death metal background, this should be incredibly interesting. or just plain ugly.
 
Originally posted by frankencow150


Ok,I'll try to put it out on notation!Sorry,but when I figure songs out I usually put it in tab,ill try it in notation this time.

MONSTERBOVINE

That will help your sightreading too. It may be slower than tabbing it out, but transcribing is at least as helpful to reading as practicing reading, if not more so.
 
Originally posted by frankencow150
Everyone's making excuses...

"I'm moving to another state..."

"I just started a new semester..."

C'mon guys pull it together!I expect to see more out of you,whine,whine,whine,thats all I hear from you!

Sorry,I'm having a nervous breakdown because I still don't know what I got on the algebra exam,and if I don't pass I'll have a D on my report card,and move to Math C,but while all this is happening,I STILL FIND TIME TO PLAY BASS!

ya im doing just about the same thing.but i do need to work on theory.i will not tab i will not tab...
 
This is a great idea for a thread. The reason I haven't replied before now is because I can't decide on one specific thing I should concentrate on - in the past, I've delved into reading, theory, and other things, and I could benefit on really working at one thing.

Something I've been meaning to do for a while is working out a bassline (I was thinking something by Jamerson - Heard It Through The Grapevine, or Bernadette for example), and transcribing it. That should help me train my ear and get to grips with notation.

Oh, and something else I want to be able to do is to understand one of JimK's posts about rhythm. :eek:;)
 
...alright, that's enough!

Bruce-
The challenge for me & a tune like "So What"...
How can I play 'it' differently; that is, unlike how it's been played by everyone else.
Is there a way?!

Sure, it's only 'two chords'...how 'bout some of these free romps that are devoid of any changes? Are they any less challenging than, say, a standard like "Indiana"(with many changes)?

Gotta go! ;)
 
Jim - I agree there is a certain challenge in playing these tunes, but I was replying to Shelley'sBovine who mentioned "Tabbing out" So What!! I was sort of being ironic, but I would be interested in what this would consist of? I was just seeing it as an idle boast, that wouldn't actually ever be attempted anyway....or am I wrong?
 
Originally posted by jazzbo
...find one particular thing that you have little or no exposure to. Some ideas might be: Song writing (writing in a different genre, writing lyrics if you've only ever written instrumental pieces, etc.) Anyone interested?
I am!

I have been strictly a cover band player for most of the 7 years that I have been playing. Recently, I parted ways with my band, giving me the time to work on some of my own tunes. I have taken all of the bass lines that I had been sitting on for years and years and arranged them. I've also been writing and arranging guitar and drum parts for them. I have already spent about 16 hours on just three songs and today, I spent about four hours on just one song! It's more challenging and time consuming than I thought it would be, but I really feel like I am accomplishing something. The next step (after getting all the music the way I want it), will be to try to write some meaningful lyrics, which should be yet another huge challenge for me!
 
mine has definetly got to be learning the names of the notes on the fretboard, i know how it all works and stuff because i've been learning the piano for almost 10 years, it's just i've been putting off learning the names of the notes on the fretboard since i started playing and it's really starting to hold me back, especially since i recently joined my school orchestra and have been given loads of songs to learn in standard notation (rather than TAB, which is what i've been using up till recently :rolleyes: )
so there u go, thats my challenge for myself, wish me luck!

l8rz

Tom
 
Well, I just went back to a four string. I decided to strip everything down and start from (almost) the bottom again. I realized I started adding strings instead of practicing. So I'm going to be working on shifts! I'm so used to being able to play something in one or two positions. I whipped out a Bach Cello suite that I had to play for a proficiency and it was MUCH easier on a six!
 
playing with a pick is still something I find difficult- I'm fine with simple eighth note lines or picking accross the strings at a slow tempo, but fast cross picking, string-skipping stuff is tough.
eg. "my last words" by Megadeth- it's hard to get that intro sounding smooth.

so far I've stuck to fingers only for live playing and recording- I've often thought a bassline of mine could sound good played with a pick, but found that it has to be played all downstrokes to get it to sound as even as with fingers, which then complicates things when fills have to be played with alternate picking, and you have to then return from alternate picking to all downstrokes.

one bassline I'm trying to learn with a pick is, bizarrely enough, given the bashing Mike Anthony gets here on TB, "Pleasure Dome" by Van Halen.
the continuous 16th notes in the pre-verse section are difficult with fingers, but fairly easy with a pick, but conversely the fast guitar & bass unison fill at the end of each verse is difficult (impossible for me as yet) using a pick, but relatively easy with fingers.

re. slap playing, I'm fine practising that on my own, but something I need to practice with a drummer to tighten up my timing- I hardly ever have to use slap though.
 
Originally posted by frankencow150
Everyone's making excuses...

"I'm moving to another state..."

"I just started a new semester..."

C'mon guys pull it together!I expect to see more out of you,whine,whine,whine,thats all I hear from you!

Sorry,I'm having a nervous breakdown because I still don't know what I got on the algebra exam,and if I don't pass I'll have a D on my report card,and move to Math C,but while all this is happening,I STILL FIND TIME TO PLAY BASS!

Sorry, but school is the most important thing in my life. Bass playing isn't going to pay my bills later in life (I play mainly for personal enjoyment). It's all about priorities. I would have worked hard to bring my grade up to an A in any class before thinking about playing bass. This set of priorities has made me a heck of a student but a really sad bass player. :D
 
This is cool, we can swap roles... the jazzers can try and get to grips with playing "Master of Puppets" with a pick, all downstrokes, no cheating!;) and we rockers can concentrate on odd times and any intervals other than 5ths and octaves.
I'm planning to get a guitar soon to write some songs, I think this will halp me improve vastly as a bass player for some reason when I write a song by myself I tend to write more constructive and tastefull basslines.
 
Originally posted by FLEABITE
This is cool, we can swap roles... the jazzers can try and get to grips with playing "Master of Puppets" with a pick, all downstrokes, no cheating!;) and we rockers can concentrate on odd times and any intervals other than 5ths and octaves..

NO NO NO - we will choose worthwhile forms of alternative music to study - like Charlie Haden chose Latin American ballads from Cuba and Mexico for his album "Nocturne" !
 

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