That's my worst nightmare if I try to concoct any tune/melody.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Calling all theory nerds!!
- Thread starter misterCRUSH
- Start date
That's my worst nightmare if I try to concoct any tune/melody.
Dabbling a little bit with writing songs, helped me realize about "unpleasant" side of a selfish bass player.
LOL.
It's a little hard because I like to have an instrumental credit somewhere, but I'm thinking I may leave my scratch piano track in, since it's simple rhythm and not horrible, and let the other piano player comp around it as he sees fit.
I've had people ask to hear my music so I sent them links thinking they just wanted to hear some music. Then I get back a whole lot of unsolicited advice about changes they would make to songs that I wrote and recorded in 1993. It's like, why? Do you really think I'm going to go back and change something that I've been done with for almost 20 years? I thought you just wanted to hear my songs, but nooooo... everyone's a critic!
Anyway, not going to keep the derail going on this thread. Carry on and maybe i'll post here when it's done, or at least after I get the piano part back.
I have had a similar experience with sharing my music. I don't do that much anymore. I do post some things on facebook but that is very limited as well nowadays. Mostly now I just play my songs for my wife, who is very appreciative.
I posted my most recent song on Facebook and mostly got decent feedback, but there were a couple of people who insisted they wanted the vocals louder. So I went to another group of musicians I trust and asked them what they thought; they all thought the vocals were fine.
I didn't make any changes. The thing is, I'm very sensitive to the fact that I'm the singer and I need to avoid the pitfall of mixing to hear myself. So I have a formula for how I seat the vocals, which is basically that I need to be able to hear all the nuances in the voice, but it doesn't need to be any louder than that. And then I will compare with other records with singers whose range is similar, just to see. I've recorded with bands that buried the vocals to the point where you couldn't hear what I was doing, which I didn't appreciate, and so I try not to do that, either.
But in this case, one person saying this was an older musician, so probably hard of hearing, and the other admitted to having some hearing loss. My voice is high-pitched, so it stands to reason someone with hearing loss wouldn't hear it as well. If I accommodated those people it'd all be a screeching mess. At least I had the sense to ask a few people I trusted before I mastered it.
It is also important to note that these days most people are listening to all your hard work on their tiny little phone speaker. Not everybody, but most people. It's frustrating to me to put all this work into a finished product and have so many people listen to the first 30 seconds on a 2 millimeter speaker and suddenly they're experts. lol
Diving right back into it I have also been using the whole/half diminished scale over various things. Without tipping my hand, I would like to hear if others have used this and how they may have applied it. Thanks.
Yeah that is a problem. I saw a clinic that Marcus Miller was giving and he specifically told people that if they were watching online, to use earbuds or headphones or something other than their little telephone speakers.
I've spent a little time on working with Diminished scales. I chose to start with the half/whole vice the whole/half as it tends to have more application over dominant chords. I've read that the whole/half is used more for fully diminished chords, which you don't run into a whole lot, unless you are working on songs with rhythm changes. Having said that, they are really two sides of the same coin, so I suppose you can use either however you want. The half/whole is used for a few different alterations of dominant chords, but the basic use is over Dominants with a b9, e.g. C7b9.
I can't say I've spent a whole lot of time with it, but I have copped this run from Mike Stern, which I got from one of his YouTube videos. If you have an interest, I'll try to hunt it up and post a link so you can hear how it sounds. I have a few other exercises that I got from a sax player, but it's still a work in progress. I wrote the Stern run out in the below fashion since my bass is strung from E-C.
One by-product of having worked with this stuff at least somewhat, is that I hear it all over the place, in solos I've been transcribing.
Last edited:
Wow thanks that is fantastic stuff and I would concur that half/whole is primarily used over dominants with a b9
I’m happy to fully endorse Damien Erskines (sp) book “the improvisers Path” it is a detailed and thoughtful foray into jazz theory. Warning: not for beginners or tab-only-readers. I’m completely enjoying every single page.
(Just for the sake of discussion.)
In measure 2, Damien has "b9" not just 9 with A7(b9).
What if we also change 11 to #11 with that A7(b9) chord in M2?
I tried this out and it was really salty...I liked it, although trying to stay with the set notes for the exercise, it would be fun to sharp all the 11ths throughout just to try a different sound.
My question was more about Damien’s instructions to play 7 9 11 13 of the (scale?) but notating b9.
Oh right I just now caught that...duh. I guess I didn't make the connection because I was just reading the music and playing through the exercise...but that is a really good point.
(As a slow pre-Christmas day)
It's my pet peeve about (just) mechanically playing chord extentions.
Let's take the first chord - Emin7(b5) in Measure 1.
There are two Locrian modes/scales:
My next question is: What scale/mode should I use?
E Locrian #1
Or
E Locrian #2
Both Locrian modes go with Emin7(b5).
Should I play 9 or b9 in Measure1?
Last edited:
this is all a little above my pay grade, but I'm going to say b9.
OK.
It means that you are not playing 9 but playing b9.
More about that question playing Locrian #1 or Locrian #2 scale.
From a very serious source, of a very knowledgeable Musician, Don Kasper.
From here:
Anyone have a harmonic analysis of Stella by Starlight?
"For example, in the first measure, Emin7b5, try hearing and incorporating an F#(the natural 9) in that chord, as well as the following A7b9 (now with "13!"). That F natural in the Emin7b5 is not a pleasant note, IMO - the F#, is, to my ear, a note that should be heard and explored melodically, as well as harmonically. Abiding by the key signature and melody, only, may delay this discovery. Try it at a piano and see if you like the F or the F# in that Emin7b5 chord. In the A7b9 chord, the F sounds great, as well as the F#. Any experienced jazz pianist or guitarist (IME) would not play the F in the Emin7b5 chord, but might play either the F or F# (or no "F" at all) in the A7b9 chord."
Last edited:
