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Jeff's Thread. No Topic! Just Go for It. But, Be Nice!

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#83
Hey Jeff- glad to see you stopping by.
Looks good for me to attend your school full time come September, minus one Friday a month.

I'm still digesting the one week intensive material, but really, it's a journey without end. So I'll take the next step, which for me is learning these chord tones up and down and all around. And doing harmonic analysis of tunes based on what Matt taught. And writing out songs with the chords inverted. And practicing trombone music. And...

Taking it easy and not working too hard, but keeping at it- kind of like the tide against the shore.
 
#84
Hi Jeff, I've been playing for a while but mostly i'd guess as a supportive player to other instruments in my combo, I can walk & read reasonably well (always room for improvement) and am doing a bit of transcription. But I've never learnt to solo over changes, As of recently of been becoming more and more wanting to solo & I've tried but it just comes out sounding like rubbish. I realize that this is a big subject but i'm a bit stuck as to where to start are you able to give me some pointers...
 
#85
Deathblade Eric said:
My 2p if I may...

WB, you don't say how long your two students have been playing, but I'd say that (assuming they're fairly new to all of this) maybe, just maybe, you're hoping for too much too soon.

From my point of view the fundamental start point is to lock in with the bass drum with the root, then, as experience & self-confidence grows to expand that into simple grooving, & further on to blossom into the harmonic interaction with all the other players, whilst still locking it down & grooving like it's going out of fashion.

When I started playing out (after years of bedroom noodling), it was a bit of a shock to realise that I knew next to nothing & had to gently learn how to fit all that I thought I knew into a real-world situation (if that makes any sense). So I went back to the start - Root 'n' Lock >> Root 'n' Groove >> Groove & Phrase >> Mix 'em all up & have a Ball.

Still working on the last two, long way to go & there's no destination... just the journey. :D

As to your soundguy... Does he play an instrument? If he doesn't, maybe offer some lessons. Perhaps he can't hear the individual interactions & nuances of the performance purely because he doesn't know from experience how we all interact. I'm sure there are Pro soundguys out there who don't play, but I'd bet they're a rare breed - the desk is an instrument in its own right, I feel.

Jeff... Great thread, thanks for taking the time. Much is sailing 30,000 feet over my head at the moment, but there's good stuff so far & I'm sure much food for thought to come.

Pete.
Click to expand...

You and Jeff are both probably right...I just remember straining to hear every nuance of music I could for as long as I can remember listening to music, even before I played an instrument. I didn't always pick out the bass line correctly at first, but I listened to the sound of the instruments as hard as I could. I was worried that anyone who wasn't doing that by the time they were a teenager at least, wasn't going to.

I'm sure the girls will be ok (I suggested one join TB without letting on she's a she), but the soundguy...well, our main soundguy is overworked, I'm playing bass, our media director admits he's not that good (he's a video kinda guy), so we'll take who we can get. Hopefully he'll learn to love music as much as the rest of us with a few pointers. Or, we'll just use him as a sub.
 
#86
Hi Jeff,

I've been listening to your record 'in Harmony's way' lately and I've got two questions for you about it:

- Is there a way to get these songs in mp3 format? The cd has some kind of copy protection: my macbook ejects it immediately, I cannot play it at all this way. My 'regular' cd player is getting old and keeps skipping, not the nicest way to listen to your music.

- Can you tell me how you recorded your bass on this record? While it is not exactly the sound I'm striving for myself, I like the warm quality of the tone you get. It sounds like a bridge pickup with some tone rolled off, is this correct? Did you mic an amp or record directly?

Thanks for your time!
 
#89
Guys - don't kill this thread. Threads like these are a great opportunity. I'd like it to remain for a little while.
Take the conflict someplace else. Life is too short.

Jeff - thanks for the music over the years. I caught you on the BX3 tour a coupla years ago - at the BB King Club in NYC. You were great - both with your instrument and with your stand up comedy. :) Fantastic night for us. Thank you.
 
#91
shwashwa said:
hey jeff, have you ever checked out garzone's chromatic triad approach? i hear banacos had a similar concept (it kind of results in chromatic tone rows that eventually resolve) any exercises or insight you can share on this?
Click to expand...

Fascinating. That's the first time I heard of that.

Just tried to read about it. Very interesting although I admit I'm definitely not fully getting it yet. Would love to see a bass flavor of the concept.
 
#95
JeffBerlin said:
)*(&_)(*!@*(^&@#&^@#$()*@&#$*(&!@^#_*(&$#(&*@#*$^(*&^(!@^$#

Seriously, in the last post I mentioned that many bass players don't know how to play well, nor have an ear to tune their own bass. i suggest that players over here make an effort to improve their ear and their playing. The best way to do this is to learn written music and the facts that can be offered via this method, and to learn how to tune one's instrument without a tuner. These are helpful suggestions. Let me know if they work for people.
Click to expand...

that makes things come together a little better for me- i asked about interpretation yesterday and your answer was very specifically limited to elements of music. the follow up question got a golf analogy (good one). i had not considered that people reading this thread would actually fit the description you gave above. do you really find that to be true?

i can go out and shoot a decent round of golf even though i'm not a pro. i can't imagine trying to play the game if i didn't know the rules or the fundamentals.

that not only clarifies your response, it kinda blows my mind. thanks.
 
#97
There Would be something to see hear - if people would stop - Again - taking a discussion opportunity and steering towards past nonsense that no one wants to hear about - and will just kill the thread.

People needing to talk about the past - yeah, please move on.
People wanting an opportunity to talk bass with Jeff - please hang in.
 
#100
Pedro -Just a couple of unrelated questions

1. Do you believe in a 'ear training regiment'? That is a particular or specific method of training the ear or is it simply a matter of transcribing music that trains the ear?

JEFF_ I certainly believe in ear training lessons, absolutely!

Pedro 2. At The Players School do you discuss the business of music? If so, how and in what context?

JEFF- We don't do that because the music biusiness, as far as a musician is concerned, is not complicated. I would rather get people to play first instead of worrying about something that probably isn't in their immediate future anyway.

Pedro 3. With respect to question #2, if you were a young musician starting your career now. You'd finished your education, could read music proficiently, etc., where would you go and how would you start?

JEFF -I could read fly paper due to my violin upbringing. Because of it, I had more gigs, in more styles, with more name musicians than you would ever believe. Plus, a couple of thousand other gigs simply because the band leaders could rely that I would play what they presented to me almost on the spot.
 
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