That's me. I wrote some stuff earlier in this thread.
Oh, OK. I just commented about you. Read just above this post.
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That's me. I wrote some stuff earlier in this thread.
Thanks, Jeff. I read both clefs too, but I need to practice reading treble clef on bass some more.Interestingly, when I transcribe music, I only do it in treble clef. I can read both clefs equally well, but I prefer to read or write in treble. I can read both clefs on the fly because I have years on both clefs. This falls directly into what I've been saying this afternoon; experience and knowledge will make good musicians out of us all.
If the music that you are transcribing or reading is of solid harmonic stuff, then it doesn't really matter what clef you are involved in. Realize that a lot of music is only meant for regard, not direct quoting. The more that you learn, the more that you will have new information swimming around in your musical soul. Read both clefs if you feel like it. Just make sure that the music that you are working on is valid, good, harmonically meaningful stuff. They you are in the top levels of music to practice.
I would like to be able to play a little more out of my comfort zone and take my playing up a notch, but I don't really want to get bogged down with a lot of theory. I'm mostly a "by ear" player, but if I have to think about notes and scales, it slows me down. What do you suggest?
Thanks, Jeff. I read both clefs too, but I need to practice reading treble clef on bass some more.
Here's what I have been working on...
Pat Metheny's solo on "Nothing Personal" - one of my favorites
Reading out of a Cannonball Adderley book by David Baker
Learning various bebop heads (Parker, Brown, etc..)
I'd like to add some Bill Evans to this list as well.
I'm not a virtuoso with any of this stuff, but I find that the more I work on it, then my playing improves and opens up in my non-jazz oriented gigs. I seem to be more creative with simpler forms of music.
If you have already closed a door on learning theory, something that might be an important avenue of learning for you, then I have no advice. Why say no to exactly those things that might get you what you are seeking. And why do it before you've even checked it out.
I am totally blown away about how this thread is turning out. Don't you other guys feel the same?

I've been playing for a long time (30+ years), I can read and have had instruction in theory - it's just something I'm not good at, and never will be (like math). If I have to think about it, it slows me down because I'm thinking, not playing.
It's not a matter of "practice more" or "learn more", it's the fact that it's not a language I speak well... again the same is true of math for me. I'm not "closing the door", I was just thinking there may be another way to improve by leaning the way I am ABLE to learn, not the way I'm told I have to learn. Does that make sense?
I hear what you are saying as far as studying Bill's phrasing versus Pat's. I've got a bunch of Bill Evans CDs here, so I'll find something to work on.You certainly seem to be working on the right stuff. Just do it slowly, not to perform, but to duplicate at a minimum speed. As you learn more, your tempo will increase to a more performance-oriented speed. Good luck. P.S. I went to Youtube and I found this kid playing that solo. Check it out. P.P.S. You could find some solos a little bit more harmonically interesting than this solo by Pat. Go for those Bill Evans solos. pat is a great guitarist, but he repeats himself and his lines are mostly "horizontal" instead of "vertical". Bill Evans is "vertical". He plays much more chordal-type harmony than Pat does.
I hear what you are saying as far as studying Bill's phrasing versus Pat's. I've got a bunch of Bill Evans CDs here, so I'll find something to work on.
Thanks for your advice!
I'm done after this because I've finally realized what so many others have (some of whom will be quoted below) that there is no satisfactory answer to "well, they disagree with me, therefore they don't have (pick one) a good understanding, experience, confidence etc. Personally, I think the list speaks for itself.
Stu Hamm - Jeff Berlin and I once got into a huge discussion regarding the use of a metronome, and even though I disagree with his perspective, I respect him immensely as an instructor and a player…. I do like to practice with a metronome …
John Patitucci – With regard to "time": you can do more things to work on time. But there’s a bunch of different levels of it: One is that you’ve got to have internal time...so you’ve got to put in time with a metronome. In jazz, there are certainly elements of this, where you’re sometimes pushing and playing with a little edge, or laying back. But the deal is that you should have control over it. It shouldn’t be the instrument pushing you, with you having no causation about it (you just HAVE to rush, or HAVE to drag). Based on your emotions and what’s right for the music, it’ll dictate where to put it, and then you’ve got to have the muscle control to actually do it. So you have to practice playing with other musicians, and you have to practice playing with a metronome...being good with the click.
Bruce Gertz – pages 77 though 79 of his book are discussions of using the metronome to develop a steady time feel
Michael Manring - [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Discusses the use of loopers and metronome/click tracks to develop a solid rhythmic approach to solo playing
Rich Appelman – from his book, “Practice these exercises slowly, and be sure to use a metronome. This will improve your timing…”
Chuck Sher - from his book, “USE THE METRONOME REGULARLY. Your ability to keep good time is crucial and using the metronome will help strengthen this skill…”
Gary Burton - Jazz vibraphonist and longtime Berklee educator Gary Burton suggests practicing with a metronome in order to develop a steady sense of pulse.” It was very helpful to my subconscious mind, which is where our sense of time and pulse is located, to hear the results back on tape. Can you imagine judging your physical appearance without a mirror? You'll learn about things other than time from this kind of reflection and analysis, but time and consistency in rhythmic execution is probably the most major skill to be mastered through practice and observation."
Max Dimoff - http://contrabassconversations.com/2009/02/21/cbc-109-max-dimoff-interview/ Check out his practice packet, while he never specifically talks about metronome usage, it’s clear from the notes (practice 2x at 8thnote=mm, 3x at different mm etc.) that this is to be practiced in time with a nome
Lynn Seaton - There are many fun games one can play with the metronome including the one you suggest with the click on 4. Dave Douglas gave a clinic where he demonstrated playing with the click on various beats including the second 1/8 note of the beat! I agree that the metronome becomes more of a “time check” than keeper when one gets used to playing with it. The analogy that I use is this: A metronome is like the lines on the side of the road. When we first learned to drive, it took a lot of concentration to keep the car between the lines. As we became more experienced drivers, the lines help with a reminder to keep things on track. The metronome clicks serve the same purpose.
Jon Burr – from his book, “5. Add metronome – learn to stay with it and maintain awareness of it while feeling it in the music”.
Uwe Kropinski – from his book , Invalid Link Removed
Pat Metheny – “Besides jamming and playing in a band context, did you sit alone and practice guitar much?”
Oh yeah. About eight hours a day. I was a complete fanatic; I used to cut out of study hall and gym and go in the bathroom and practice during high school. I played tunes, which are that what I still practise on. I'd take something like (trumpeter Miles Davis') 'Solar' and play it all different tempos with a metronome beating on 2 and 4.
Dave Liebman - It goes without saying that at some stage of development, (the earlier the better), everyone must practice scales, arpeggios, lines, patterns and so on with the metronome executing the material accurately in time. …After doing that reasonably well at tempos ranging from slow to very fast, I urge the student to use the metronome more creatively in different parts of the bar, for example only the fourth beat, or only the upbeat of three, or the upbeat of one, etc. The idea is that a musician can get very loose and confident in relations to feeling all four beats without being tied down to one, two, three, four. … In any case every musician should get friendly with the metronome.
Sonny Fortune – from an interview with Marion Meadows – “Although Sonny was mostly known as an alto saxophonist, I had never heard a player reach like that on soprano since Coltrane. Sonny would always tell me to be cognizant of time and meter. He would practice to the metronome constantly.”
John McLaughlin - Do you work with a tape recorder?
Sometimes. I also work with a special metronome that a friend of mine named Leo Hoarty built for me. PS, this isn't from an advertisement
Mark Turner – from an online forum discussing HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR TIME –
“
If we're just talking metronome tricks, here's a few I got from Mark Turner when I was in Banff.
Metronome on dotted half note (ie: 1, 4, 3, 2, 1 etc...)
Metronome on quarter note triplet... then make that the quarter note and alternate between the two in the phrase group of your choice (4 bars, 8 bars, whatever)
Metronome on quarter note triplet starting on the "and" of 1... same as the other.
In 5/4, put metronome on "1" and the "and" of 3.
In 7/4, put the metronome on "1" and the "and of 4.
But again, if you have decided in advance that only one thing is true, it doesn't matter that anyone else has had another set of experiences. They're just wrong...
Hi Jeff, I'm really digging your discussion here, and I think it is great that you are taking the time to share your wisdom and experience with all of us. You are right -- TalkBass is a fantastic forum with a lot of passionate, inquisitive bass players hanging around.
Someone tipped me off that I was "mentioned" here, so I thought I would comment on the Invalid Link Removed where I talk about practicing the bass. Regarding practicing with or without gadgets, I wrote this in that particular article:
"Practice things slowly or even out-of-time to make sure that you nail the notes and fingerings. I think that a metronome is a useful tool when practicing; just like "play-along" CDs, "Band-In-A-Box," and drum machines. Always remember that you are practicing so your bass lines and solos groove on their own. A good bass player (that would be you) can groove alone or with a drummer, with a click-track or with stuff falling down stairs. It is up to you to make it feel good."
Later in my list of 60 things to practice, I write:
". . . play with a metronome on 2 & 4. Also practice without the metronome."
I think it is obvious from what I say there, that while I would approve the use of a metronome in certain practice situations, it is more important to take a musically effective approach to learning. I agree with you that slow, even out-of-time practice is the most effective way to start. Although I will not agree to use my metronome as a paperweight
Keep writing -- I'm glad you are hanging out on this forum!
Absolutely.
That's one thing that's kept me a paying member of Talkbass - and this thread is like super rich icing on the already rich cake.
There are players of all stripes, levels, ilks and creeds here - and most are open to deep exploration of our shared love that starts with playing bass, but ends with music.
I've said it before - but I think is worth saying again - time and level of detail you've put into this thread is nothing short of fantastic. Regardless of anyone's stance on metronomes or other points of contention, your thoughtful participation here is very much appreciated!
Before this thread I'd only considered the 'controversial' things you've said in passing and regarded it all as bluster and hype over a famous player saying unpopular things. Now I will always consider any quote or comment that is attributed to you much more carefully.
Finally - and most importantly to me - this thread has reignited my personal desire to PRACTICE a LOT MORE than I have been (which has been not at all in recent months...). NOTHING takes the place of good, honest, hard practice!
Now where's my metronome?....
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Man, you make this SO hard.Dave Liebman got from Lenny Tristano to jam with a click putting the click on 2 and 4, on 4 and on upbeats as an ear training principle. If he and other guys like this method, then I won't criticize it. But realize that Lenny Tristano's and Charlie Banacos' and Dave Liebman's students could play. If they couldn't, then they never could study with these guys because these guy require a good level of musical excellence to learn their sophisticated music lessons. Therefore, if these students can already play, then these teachers consider them qualified to move the click to different places and play along with them, not as a time-developing principle, but as an ear training one. Make sense?