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How Fast Can You Play?
- Thread starter Stickk
- Start date
I think that this is the best thing I have read on this forum, ever!
*Bows*
Thank you, thank you.
+1
By the way, have you ever noticed that just a 20% reduction in bpm feels
like your playing half speed? For example, if you play 16th notes at 120
bpm, it feels like the wheels are going to fly off. Drop it down to 100
bpm and it feels totally under control. That small reduction in speed feels
huge.
correct. Playing fast is a tool that I try not to overuse [and IMO didn't overuse in that song]. I try to play tastefully and melodically at all times. And I'm pretty sure I got all the chord changes.
- Apr 1, 2000
- 17,401
- 9,834
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Roscoe Guitars, DR Strings, Aguilar Amplification
We'll have to agree to disagree. IMO, it sounded like you were trying to outplay the soloist. That's a matter of personal preference though, and if it works for you, great.
I'm absolutely certain you didn't.
well, It's a work in progress. It sounded good to me, but I'm relatively new to jazz [only been playin' it for about 5 years], especially compared to somebody who's been doing it for a few decades.
I think part of the problem is that whenever I improvise, I look at the changes, and percieve which changes are modes of the same key, and simply solo within that root key until the next change which is obviously not in that key. Is this inadvisable?
- Apr 1, 2000
- 17,401
- 9,834
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Roscoe Guitars, DR Strings, Aguilar Amplification
I had no issues with your solo - I actually kind of liked it. It's when you're in your "support" role that (IMO) you're missing the boat. I never really feel like you're playing latin at all (although the drummer is doing a very clear bossa nova). And in doing that, you miss key elements of the song. Listen to the first "release" section of the head (at :50). That downbeat is SO important! And it's not there - the tension is not released, and the whole moment in the song (and the song is most important, right?) is missed....
Most of the time other guys were soloing, you left them no space. Hey, I like overplaying as much as the next guy - overplaying is fun. But what would you say if during your solo the sax player was soloing over the top of [/i]you[/i]?
ahhhhh. I see what you're saying. Yes, I absolutely agree. I noticed the same thing in that recording and since then I've been making a conscious effort to be a more supportive player. Part of why I tend to be so overbearing is how I was personally taught to be in a jazz rythm section. I was taught to copy and emulate what a soloist is doing while I supply the changes under him. Example: if the tenor starts doing crazy 16th note runs, I immediately crank up and start playing faster, usually at the expense of the song as a whole. I have been working on this to try and tone it down, and I've gotten an overwhelmingly positive response from the rest of the band. And, yes, I have noticed that most of my latin, funk, and rock comping all sound more or less exactly the same. This is proving to be the hardest habit to break
. Thanks for the pointers!
Hey thanks man! Yes working with Paul is awesome. I have a blast playing with him, he is a really funny guy too.
Craig
So what are you asking? Are you asking about fretting speed or plucking speed?I'm just curious how fast everyone can play. I've been only playing a bass with Jamerson-high action for about 6 months now, and I can finally play 16th notes consecutively. I went to Guitar Center, and started playing on their low-action Fenders, and I found I can play 32nd notes consecutively. 64th notes when I do tremolo plucking. I had no idea, because I've always liked how high-action feels, but now I definatley have to put low-action on my Telejazz bass. I play with two-fingers. This is partly because I can sweep, I suppose. Still working on getting faster.
Holding one note (e.g. a G) and plucking the daylights out of it is one thing. Playing a scale accurately with no mistakes and proper intonation at high speed is a different thing. Playing a proper bass line in a musical way is something else different. Playing a fast riff or fill (e.g. within a song) is also something different.
Your question isn't clear enough, IMHO. This may be why you've gotten alot of silly answers. If you clarify your question a little better, you may get better responses than "I can play so fast the Earth's rotation reverses and we get younger" or whatever.
FWIW, I can play so fast that I have to stop, put the bass down, and go make a sandwich while I wait for the amplifier to finish sounding the notes.
Seriously though, please clarify.
Amen to wankery. My playing speed was getting out of hand up until about the age of 18. But after a shoulder dislocation, wrist pain, and getting a girlfriend, I had no reason to go so fast anymore.
But I think it's a common rite of passage for most young men....
But I think it's a common rite of passage for most young men....
It's just a mental thing, that's the thing about judging speed on Bass, it's MAINLY mental, because we perceive speed in an odd way, which is why we TENSE up to get faster.
That's why the most relaxed players, can get some serious speed, but also accuracy.
After all, speed is a BYPRODUCT of accuracy, people who non bassists perceive as fast, are usually not fast, they're just player poopier, but faster.
It's kind of like taking a **** inside of Knight Rider and telling KITT to drive for a couple of thousand miles.
Bravo! I'll just have to re-quote myself from an earlier post in this thread that featured a re-quote of myself from a previous thread.
Implosion some time ago said:My all-time favourite argument in music conversations is the "you'll grow out of it". Could you give an exact age or an event or an occasion in life when this will happen? Does it happen when you get married/got a kid on the way/get a mortgage loan and move to the suburbs/get your postgraduate degree? No wait...now I got it. It's got to be when you turn 30, because that's the only thing I haven't done and I'm still playing lame angry white teen music
music IS a sport, and it is very competitive. Even symphonic players are sometimes comprised of a team of many dozens of members, all who must have the playbook (songs) down perfectly, or they "fumble" and are replaced.It's when you realise that we are creating music and not doing a competitive sport!!
same thing for your typical "battle of the rock bands" trying to out-do the competition to get that spot on the radio, or in the fancy venue that only the elite will be able to play at.
as far as competitive nature...human's would not survive without competition for something.
