Just to clarify - You're referring to the time when they were learning what an F is and how it's played on their instrument or learning new rhythmic concept that they had encountered before. Is that what you mean?
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Jeff Berlin Discussing Music Ed Part II
- Thread starter Mark Wilson
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Just to clarify - You're referring to the time when they were learning what an F is and how it's played on their instrument or learning new rhythmic concept that they had encountered before. Is that what you mean?
I just had to chime in here and comment because seeing visible improvement is such an exciting and motivational thing. Music DOES solve technical problems. Warmup and technique exercises are so limited in what they can accomplish because they often don't relate to how the instrument is played in performance. By learning challenging musical concepts and etudes that are beyond my abilities, slowly and with much repetition, i'm able to isolate and correct weaknesses in my technique at the same time as i work on getting familiar with my fingerboard in a musically relevant manner. I'm loving my bass at the moment and can't put it down, even when i get home from being in rehearsals all day, so i'd just like to say thank you Jeff, it truly is a privilege to be able to learn from you here.
+1. I was really blown away with how much better I could perform a difficult Bach Cello Sonata (gigue from number 4 in Eb) after not playing it for months, and practicing instead the jazz exercises that my teacher was having me do, things like learning Charlie Parker solos. These things improved my technique so much that I could rip through the cello sonata with much greater clarity.
I too really miss the bass if I go a day without practicing!
+1. I was really blown away with how much better I could perform a difficult Bach Cello Sonata (gigue from number 4 in Eb) after not playing it for months, and practicing instead the jazz exercises that my teacher was having me do, things like learning Charlie Parker solos. These things improved my technique so much that I could rip through the cello sonata with much greater clarity.
I too really miss the bass if I go a day without practicing!
The other thing that is beautiful is that certain music has been somewhat "demystified" and i'm able to listen with a more appreciative ear. Learning the language is helping me to hear the art in what in the past, has just seemed to make no sense to my ear. The only analogy i can think of is that if someone takes the time to learn the language of Shakespeare, then only will they be able to look past what seems strange to them and see the beauty of his storytelling. I have to confess to feeling like a kid in a candystore
Books are hard to recommend because I could recommend something that doesn't apply to your particular level of music. I don't know what you can or can't do, and so I go back to my old stand-by; go find a teacher who teaches well and let them evaluate you and recommend something exactly to your personal needs. Really, there is no better way to find out your reading particulars.
I meant that conservatory trained musicians learned how to read via repetition and no clicks. You might be interested to know that there is not a single classical work in the entire classical repertoir for over 400 years, that required a metronome to play it. Why? Because not a single piece of composed music, including the much-destroyed-by-bass-players-using-metronomes J.S. Bach, was intended to be played without some kind of human breathing of the music.
Many thanks for your kindness. Actually my messages are practically always about that logical approach to music that some other players seem to miss; you can't play what you don't know!
Further, warm-up exercises are a humbug, a non-event for most players since playing music IS a warm-up. Actual warm-up exercises are only an invention of the last few years, invented by bass players who simply didn't know enough about music to recommend other bassists to learn it. Music is a bitch because it doesn't come easily to most players. If you don't take the time to learn how to play and what to play, then music very reluctantly gives up its secrets. The truth is, I know EXACTLY how to save bass players years of confusion trying to figure out how to play (I can do the same thing for guitar, drums and keyboards as well), but only a handfull of them are serious enough to try and find out what that is. I want more for our instrument and I don't see other famous guys guiding anybody toward that narrow corridor that leads to heightened musical ability. There is a huge gap in the world between "wanting it" and "doing something to get it." If I don't sugar coat things, it is because I am speaking to adults and not children and don't feel a need to talk to you guys the way that I now talk to my nieces and nephews. They are kids and I try to soften the things that they ask me about. But, Truth is a straight right hand to the chin, but I think that many are tough enough to take the truth that is aimed right for their kisser.
+1. I was really blown away with how much better I could perform a difficult Bach Cello Sonata (gigue from number 4 in Eb) after not playing it for months, and practicing instead the jazz exercises that my teacher was having me do, things like learning Charlie Parker solos. These things improved my technique so much that I could rip through the cello sonata with much greater clarity.
I too really miss the bass if I go a day without practicing!
This is why I tell players not to learn their lessons perfectly, but to learn them well. Then they should put them away for a time and then take out that music and try to play it again. Nine times out of ten, if the player has been practicing the right stuff the right way, they will instantly see that the older music that once might have been a bit hard is suddenly easier. The proof is in the pudding.
You guys are catching on to what I've been saying. It only took me 20 years of angst from the bass community who simply could not grasp the concept that practice improves a player and that EVERYTHING MUSICAL COMES FROM WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED! Remember that old expression from the 1960's, "You Are What You Eat"? Well, "You Are What You Learn" as well. You are catching one and I am glad!
- Jun 25, 2007
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- Artist:TC Electronic RH450 bass system (original test-pilot)
- Jun 25, 2007
- 4,531
- 135
- 63
- Disclosures
- Artist:TC Electronic RH450 bass system (original test-pilot)
Here's a problem I have.
On a peice of music that has many "quick" chordal changes..Say every measure (or a couple chords per measure)...I find myself going to the "1" to try to define the chord.
If its not going by too quickly I'll add a double stop (usuallly the 3rd an octave up, maybe combined with the 7) or the 5.
When am I getting "in-the-way" of the other chordal instruments (guitar-keys..etc.)?
The root kinda defines the chord usually..IF I start on a different inversion of the chord..It changes the whole thing depending on the interval I use.
I always hear it about 1 second after I do it!
(seems hard for me to "resolve" chords moving "quickly")
On a peice of music that has many "quick" chordal changes..Say every measure (or a couple chords per measure)...I find myself going to the "1" to try to define the chord.
If its not going by too quickly I'll add a double stop (usuallly the 3rd an octave up, maybe combined with the 7) or the 5.
When am I getting "in-the-way" of the other chordal instruments (guitar-keys..etc.)?
The root kinda defines the chord usually..IF I start on a different inversion of the chord..It changes the whole thing depending on the interval I use.
I always hear it about 1 second after I do it!
(seems hard for me to "resolve" chords moving "quickly")
This means that you simply have to practice those tunes slowly and resolve to a non-root note when you solo from chord to chord. Remember the difference between academica and art. Sometimes the root IS the best resolution note to go to. But it isn't always. Your problem is a typical bass player difficulty, but it is easy to fix. You just need a little time to do it!
- Jun 25, 2007
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- Artist:TC Electronic RH450 bass system (original test-pilot)
I'm a good "resolver"
(Rain Man)
I just hate it when I "change-up" the whole chord from my note-choice (to the ire of the guitarist sometimes)
Not too often by the way!
Presumably you mean the 400 years prior to 1962, when Gyorgi Ligetti composed "Poème Symphonique for 100 metronomes"
- Jun 25, 2007
- 4,531
- 135
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- Disclosures
- Artist:TC Electronic RH450 bass system (original test-pilot)
- Jun 25, 2007
- 4,531
- 135
- 63
- Disclosures
- Artist:TC Electronic RH450 bass system (original test-pilot)
- Jun 25, 2007
- 4,531
- 135
- 63
- Disclosures
- Artist:TC Electronic RH450 bass system (original test-pilot)
Did you notice that they are all out of time as well? Not one metronome is in time with another.
Semantic quibble, but one could make the case that in fact they are all in time with one another...they're just not marking the time concurrently.
Call Vicky at The Players School. I guarantee that you will go home a different guy. The event is in March and we just had a couple of cancellations so there's space.
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