Double Bass Improvising on maiden voyage

[Basscat125]

So it's been over a month since I last posted my solo on maiden voyage. I wanted to share this latest solo I did for jam of the week on all of me! I know I still have to work on not sticcatoing the notes as much at phrase endings and spacing etc.. But anyway.

 

[Basscat125]

 

[Robert Strickland]

Very nice improvement. I agree with you, the phrasing could be just a bit more legato, with more dynamics. Right now, almost everything you are playing is basically the same attack, and the same volume. Try putting some dynamics into your expression.

I like the melodic nature of the solo. You are doing better at not sounding like you are playing separated scales over changes. That's something that took me a while when I started playing jazz, and I still work on it, along with intonation. A friend of mine told me that he talked with Ray Brown at a workshop 5 or 6 years ago, and Ray told him that he was also still working on intonation. Nature of the beast.

Nice work!

 

[sean_on_bass]

Sounds good! I like some of the ideas you put forth and some of the slides too. I do agree about the length of notes, though, longer and more sustain would be an improvement.

Do you have any videos of you walking a bass line? This may sound weird, but practicing walking can make a huge improvement in your soloing ability too. Walking essentially follows many of the same concepts as soloing, but with some added constraints. There is a synergy there in the skill set. Practice walking, slowly, up and down the neck of the bass. Play the same song in different positions of the neck, shifting to different areas of the neck for different sections of the song. Just walk quarter notes, focus on note length and intonation. I believe this could translate into an improved solo ability, peace!

 

[statsc]

Try beginning some of your phrases with the following rhythm: Eighth note on the "and" of beat 1 followed by an eighth note triplet. This often works well arpeggiating a chord. It's a bit of a jazz cliche, but it can impart a bit more swing to the beginning of your lines and get you into a more swinging feel in general.