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Jaco Pastorius - Modern Electric Bass

#41
Melamel said:
What scale does he base his first arpeggio on? He uses what seems to me an augmented C chord here as well as at 22:41. How does this relate to the D minor pentatonic bass line? Is thie arpeggio based on the whole tone scale? But he also has a B as the first note - pickup note-of the improvisation - this is not part of the C whole tone scale. Much of his solo seems based on d minor pentatonic licks, but then he breaks out in these spots to get out of that key. What scale does he get those "out" notes from? I hope I am asking a legitimate question here.

I am referring to the duet he does with Jerry Jermott that starts around 21 minutes into the video.
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theres a c maj 7 arpeggio he plays if we're looking at the same spot. theyre not "out" notes.
 
#42
I don't mean to be a kill joy but I never got the whole music God idolitry thing for any player. I personally really like Larry Graham and in many ways he influenced my bass playing but he ain't God, nor was Jaco or Jamerson. I honestly ask, what is it I'm missing? I can play teen town, I like River people and most of Weather Reports albums and was one of the first kids on my block to get the Jaco Album (yes album :-) To me they are just giys who play bass albeit very well. If I hear a guy playing like Jaco all I think is he's playing like Jaco. When I hear a guy thump and sound like Marcus Miller all I feel is well he sounds like Marcus Miller. I'll admit I have not heard anone really sound lke Jamerson. From what I've seen and read about him he was a trip as well and recorded What's goin on while he was drunk, laying flat on his back. So what is it that I'm lacking where I don't see where these guys are Gods on the instruments?
 
#43
phillybass101 said:
I don't mean to be a kill joy but I never got the whole music God idolitry thing for any player. I personally really like Larry Graham and in many ways he influenced my bass playing but he ain't God, nor was Jaco or Jamerson. I honestly ask, what is it I'm missing? I can play teen town, I like River people and most of Weather Reports albums and was one of the first kids on my block to get the Jaco Album (yes album :-) To me they are just giys who play bass albeit very well. If I hear a guy playing like Jaco all I think is he's playing like Jaco. When I hear a guy thump and sound like Marcus Miller all I feel is well he sounds like Marcus Miller. I'll admit I have not heard anone really sound lke Jamerson. From what I've seen and read about him he was a trip as well and recorded What's goin on while he was drunk, laying flat on his back. So what is it that I'm lacking where I don't see where these guys are Gods on the instruments?
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I'm an apathetic agnostic (I don't know if there is a God and I don't care) but I do know there was a Jaco and a Jamerson and there is a Marcus. So to me they are real and meaningful and inspire me a very positive way.
Religion doesn't always do that for people. But if calling these very special individuals a God might mean they are untouchable, that I can accept.
It's one thing to play Teen Town now... there's probably a lot of us who can do that, but to create something so new and groundbreaking, that it will inspire bassists for generations to come is something entirely different and I do look up to Jaco and others like him.
 
#44
I didn't say he was God; I just said this ought to be a sticky. I esteem teh above-mentioned very highly but I understand they're _just_ remarkable human beings. Esperanza, on the other hand, is a goddess.
 
#46
phillybass101 said:
I don't mean to be a kill joy but I never got the whole music God idolitry thing for any player. I personally really like Larry Graham and in many ways he influenced my bass playing but he ain't God, nor was Jaco or Jamerson. I honestly ask, what is it I'm missing? I can play teen town, I like River people and most of Weather Reports albums and was one of the first kids on my block to get the Jaco Album (yes album :-) To me they are just giys who play bass albeit very well. If I hear a guy playing like Jaco all I think is he's playing like Jaco. When I hear a guy thump and sound like Marcus Miller all I feel is well he sounds like Marcus Miller. I'll admit I have not heard anone really sound lke Jamerson. From what I've seen and read about him he was a trip as well and recorded What's goin on while he was drunk, laying flat on his back. So what is it that I'm lacking where I don't see where these guys are Gods on the instruments?
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For me, it's not the technical ability that makes these cats stand out. I can play Teen Town, Portrait of Tracy, plenty of Jamersons lines, Marcus, Victor, etc. The thing I think you're not considering, though, is the fact that these guys are creating this stuff from nothing, especially in the case of Jaco and Jamerson. It's one thing to mimic, it's a whole other ballgame to create.

I'd like to think my lines in my music are decent, but I'm nowhere near the level of any of them in terms of my ability to create something fresh and unheard of.
 
#47
phillybass101 said:
I don't mean to be a kill joy but I never got the whole music God idolitry thing for any player. I personally really like Larry Graham and in many ways he influenced my bass playing but he ain't God, nor was Jaco or Jamerson. I honestly ask, what is it I'm missing? I can play teen town, I like River people and most of Weather Reports albums and was one of the first kids on my block to get the Jaco Album (yes album :-) To me they are just giys who play bass albeit very well. If I hear a guy playing like Jaco all I think is he's playing like Jaco. When I hear a guy thump and sound like Marcus Miller all I feel is well he sounds like Marcus Miller. I'll admit I have not heard anone really sound lke Jamerson. From what I've seen and read about him he was a trip as well and recorded What's goin on while he was drunk, laying flat on his back. So what is it that I'm lacking where I don't see where these guys are Gods on the instruments?
Click to expand...
I don't place any musician, or any person, on the same level as God. Having said that, I think it's useful, when considering the impact guys like Jaco have had, that nobody was doing what they did before they did it.

Marcus Miller is a badass dude, but it could be said that his playing is an obvious combination of his influences. I love Mark King - but when you listen to Stanley Clarke, you instantly hear that King is doing a lot of the stuff he heard Stanley do. Even Jamerson, truly awesome though he was, might have been the most memorable voice from a community of bass players playing like he did at that time. Nothing in this paragraph is a disparagement or takes anything away from these guys.

Jaco, on the other hand, broke some really new conceptual ground on the bass. He didn't sound anything like anybody before him did. Nobody before him placed the bass at the same level of visibility in the jazz environment. There have since been guys better than Jaco in any measurable way, but all of them probably heard him and are doing some of what he did in their stuff.

My thoughts.
 
#48
Mike M. said:
Have you checked out "Jaco Pastorious Bass Method" from Hal Leonard publishing? It's a book/CD pack that was written by Ray Peterson who was one of Jaco's students.

I've got it and it's going to keep me busy for a very long time!
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This book is on my music stand. It's part of daily practice. One of the best books and easy to comprehend IMHO. A must have for the bassist wanting to further understand scales and melodic structure.
 
#49
Essexbass said:
It sounds like the changes to"Liberty City" to me?

Still a great video - bought it when it first came out here in the UK, watched it countless times when I was younger and was totally awestruck with the content. I really need to dig the DVD out and watch it again.

JP is still my all time favourite bass player, one of a kind.
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Yep it's liberty city. The actual area in Miami isn't as beautiful as the song is lol
 
#50
Man... love the look of the maple neck on his "bass of doom"...i have never seen this before, and the video is awesome.

Lots of solid advice in there, and i really love Jaco's humility about playing bass...

Thanks for posting!

EDIT: and at about 30 mins in, he explains that the maple neck is a precision one as he finds it is better for practice (wider), but uses the Jazz neck live(narrower)...awesome video!
 
#51
yeah....when my son was first learning bass, checked this out on video cassette from the library...needless to say, we were both just blown away....my son is 16 years old now.

copied and pasted a link to the youtube video on my computer....he is out of town with his mother now, but will show it to him when he gets home....

there is no other but Jaco....all others owe him a debt....some may be as good, but none are better

davesignatureII-1.png
 
#52
About the bass he's playing....Is that P neck on his bass of doom? Or is that another body? And what's the deal with the nut? Is it wider than the neck, and why is he filing it in the beginning of the video?
 
#53
Guys... Good morning first of all...
This video had also a huge impact on me when I was younger, but.. there's a particular that i don't know whether many people have made up their mind upon or not...
The bass used by Jaco has the usual abused body we have always seen playing with but.... the neck is FRETTED!
Therefore, is the bass he's using on the video the DOOM BASS which he provided with a fretted neck for a one-off video or for a period of his life or ... what?
Somebody has got info on this? I'm just curious.
 
#55
Gorn said:
About the bass he's playing....Is that P neck on his bass of doom? Or is that another body? And what's the deal with the nut? Is it wider than the neck, and why is he filing it in the beginning of the video?
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I don't know if you still care but...

Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati said:
Guys... Good morning first of all...
This video had also a huge impact on me when I was younger, but.. there's a particular that i don't know whether many people have made up their mind upon or not...
The bass used by Jaco has the usual abused body we have always seen playing with but.... the neck is FRETTED!
Therefore, is the bass he's using on the video the DOOM BASS which he provided with a fretted neck for a one-off video or for a period of his life or ... what?
Somebody has got info on this? I'm just curious.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that is the bass of doom although he did own other basses though. The neck is a fretted Precision neck that he just put on the bass, that is why he is cutting the neck for it right before they start. I'm pretty sure he mentions this in the video but I haven't watched it in a while. As for why or what happened to the bass/neck afterwards I haven't a clue, sorry.
 

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