Gary Willis Masterclass (SBL)

[GastonD]

@ErikP.Bass
It is not supposed to start looping immediately, if that's what you were expecting, but at certain point it falls into a 4-bar loop. I guess that is where it threw you off.
And our friend @fu22ba55 points to some good questions regarding note choices in his treatment of your example above.

 

[fu22ba55]

@ErikP.Bass
It is not supposed to start looping immediately, if that's what you were expecting, but at certain point it falls into a 4-bar loop. I guess that is where it threw you off.

It's hard to say. I can interpret the text either way (which is MADDENING).

I think the "spirit" of the exercise, (or what I'm supposed to be eventually learning), is the ability to change keys (or chords) instantly REGARDLESS of where I am in the line, or the bar, or wherever. Trying to avoid roots on 1, trying to learn to change chords mid-stream.

But I'm with Erik: I think I'm obsessing too much about this exercise, since the instructions contradict themselves. It's impossible to follow his "passing tone" rule AND make the exercise loop in 4 bars for each chord tone.

I tried sticking to a 4-bar loop, and got basically the same results are Erik, with a few notes:

Bar 8: A & G both break the "within one step of the note before AND after" rule.

Bar 15: both A & G break the rule.

Bar 19: I have to change direction early (contradicting the exercise) to make the LOOP work in 4 bars

Bar 24: both A & G break the rule.

 

[ErikP.Bass]

I think the "spirit" of the exercise, (or what I'm supposed to be eventually learning), is the ability to change keys (or chords) instantly REGARDLESS of where I am in the line, or the bar, or wherever. Trying to avoid roots on 1, trying to learn to change chords mid-stream.

This is where my head is at with it too but I am feeling like I’ve failed miserably with the first challenge. As far as I understand, Willis is saying ALL of these do create a four bar loop on a four string but in a way I’m glad to hear that @fu22ba55 is getting stuck too because it’s making me wonder if it is really possible.

I’ve asked a few others to take a stab at it so we shall see. One thing I’ve started to consider is that there’s no reason that the lines need to ascend first if they’re starting on one of the middle pitches.

The lines sound super smooth when they come together and I really hope that some of this work helps me get more comfortable with starting phrases from a pitch other than the root.

 

[fu22ba55]

I am feeling like I’ve failed miserably with the first challenge.

Yeah, I'm moving on. It's insanely frustrating to roll up your sleeves, and dig into a new "method" with some dedication and perseverance, only to find that there's not enough info for you to succeed properly with the FIRST exercise. (Especially when he mentions that the book "builds" on all the previous exercises). Just needs a bit of clarification.

So, I'm just playing along with the chords looping in the background, and trying to develop my ear and my reaction time to "switch" chords no matter where I am.

Moving on to the rest of the exercises.

 

[Spin Doctor]

Yeah, I'm moving on. It's insanely frustrating to roll up your sleeves, and dig into a new "method" with some dedication and perseverance, only to find that there's not enough info for you to succeed properly with the FIRST exercise. (Especially when he mentions that the book "builds" on all the previous exercises). Just needs a bit of clarification.

I haven't looked at this stuff in awhile, but this is my issue with Willis and his teaching style. What he asks you to do seems straight forward on the face of it, but once you get into it, it never seems to make a lot of sense. This may have been my source of confusion when I worked on it initially, but I never put my finger on it. At that point, I just kinda left it. But it feels worth figuring it out. I will probably take another stab at it at some point.

In my opinion, Willis falls into that category of guys who are great players, but not so great teachers.

 

[fu22ba55]

What he asks you to do seems straight forward on the face of it, but once you get into it, it never seems to make a lot of sense. [...] In my opinion, Willis falls into that category of guys who are great players, but not so great teachers.

I know what you mean.

I never know if a teacher is giving me a task that has secret hidden value that will suddenly pay off after months of blindly practicing it (like Karate Kid, wax on, wax off). OR if they just can't accurately articulate how they developed their own technique, so they're trying to reverse engineer it for others.

I can sort of read between the lines and "future-see" what skill he's trying to get me to develop. I'm sticking with his flight plan. But I think part of the exercise (and any musical guidance) is me figuring out what the value is in the exercise for myself.

I'm come across other books (Berklee Press: Playing the Changes: Bass) which has similar exercises in it, so I think I know what he's prodding me to figure out.

 

[ErikP.Bass]

I just wanted to update the thread because I was fortunate enough to receive a response from the man himself. It confirms what our consensus had so I figured it’d be worthwhile to place it here for anyone that might wind up with the same question.

“I used the one example to show that loops sometimes happen but you don’t need to seek them out and try to make them happen from every chord tone. The goal isn’t to loop but being able to start from each chord tone is the right approach. If you find a loop, great - if not no big deal.”

Practice on my bass brethren!