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Hi to all from Jeff Berlin

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#162
I want to be kind, but sugar coating isn't my style. I like people and I want them to be better players since this is what many state is in their interest to be.

Musicians who discuss musical improvement and who don't include music in their lessons are making a mistake. Rocco Prestia is the first guy to say that he knows little about music, but he knows a lot about the style of bass playing that he excelled in. Elvis Presley said it best when he said, "I don't know anything about music. In my line, you don't have to!" Both these guys never came forward to say that they can help you become a better player because they know that they aren't qualified to do this.

I only wish that bass players in the position to offer good musical advise would guide players to the people who really know what they are talking about in musical terms.
 
#164
JeffBerlin said:
What everybody (and I do mean everybody) doesn't know is that each situation of playing has a different element connected with it. Playing in your room is different than playing in the garage, which is different than practicing which is different that showing your teach what you practiced. Rehearsals bring a totally different reality than the reality and privacy of learning music off your CD. There is no answer to fix this except to either get used to the different playing spaces that you cooupy, which happens over time, or count. Counting solves everything because it synches you up with the other rhythmical players in the band. If you and they know that you are supposed to come in on a G after 1,2,3,4,5,6, (for example) then you can't miss. But you have to rehearse this. Good luck.[/QUOi i agree.i guess i'll have to get better.methinks i better start counting.thank you for your time.:)
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#165
beggar98 said:
Hey Jeff-

Thanks for taking time out today. I'm wondering your opinion on play along books/CDs, such as Aebersold, as practice tools? What are the benefits/disadvantages as you see it?
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I think of Abersold as a guy who supports music and only publishes musical material. I don't know this for a fact because I never researched this. But, I think that this is true of him.
Any book that contains jazz harmony is probably a good book to regard. Trombone music is far and away, the best material to read because, for me, most of the electric bass books are not worthy of the money you would spend on them. Trombone music is written by players who grew up with functioning in melody and as far as content, they are superior to any electric bass book in the country.
 
#168
Thanks very much for your time. I hope that I helped and I hope that you will make steps in improving your bass playing. Let's do this again in a few weeks. I have a Players School One Week Intensive from March 16-20 and I would be pleased to report how things are going during the event.

Meanwhile, keep playing, keep practicing, and keep reading. Love to all.

Jeff
 
#174
Dang, missed out again! I really wanted to ask you why you are so angry with teachers who explore more abstract concepts of music such as groove and heart. It's like if it's not strict academia, you don't want to hear from it. And while I certainly can't say I'm anywhere near the caliber of musician you are, I have been around the block a few times, and I feel the emotional aspects of music can't be overlooked. Music as I see it is about evoking emotions in the listener, and adapting these abstract concepts helps me greatly to keep the emotional content at a high level, which to me is every bit as important as theory and developing motor skills.

Am I BSing myself here? I really don't think I am, because if I start playing a song while I'm not thinking about such things, it sounds terrible and dull to me, while if I'm alert and concentrating on making it sound like I care about putting emotion into the music, it means something to me, even if I'm pounding out root notes 8 to the bar. I guess you could argue that it's simply a more alert state of mind, but I've heard very alert bassists play like they just woke up, so that makes me think there's more to it than just alertness.

I honestly don't get it. Sorry. I'm trying to be respectful here, but when I read some of the things you've written about the subject, it just seems angry and disrespectful to those who keep those concepts as a high priority.
 
#177
odin70 said:
JimmyM maybe Mr. Berlin would have answered something like:

Check out the Markbass J Berlin amp and come down
to The Players School of Music and i will answer your question.
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Already checked out the amp...love Markbass and have nothing bad to say about them. Jeff's combo isn't my favorite product they make, but it's a swell piece of kit. And I certainly wouldn't expect Jeff to invite me to his school to answer a question asked on TB. Besides, he's a boxer and I don't want to get my ass kicked ;)
 
#180
Jimmy, I think Jeff's point is that you have to learn music inside and out so that you can then play things which touch people in the manner you describe, which is the whole point of the exercise. And he believes his method of learning music is the best and fastest. It's a means to an end. That's what I get from him, anyway.
 
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