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Newbie Bass player looking for Jazz

2blackrooks

2blackrooks

Guest
Dec 28, 2013
4
0
#1
Hi all I have a Harley Benton PB 20 BK standard series never played a note in my life, I've 2 books Hal Leonard bass method and bass guitar for dummies. The genre I'm really liking and would like to get into and learn is Jazz with a heavy bass tone (trio jazz). So where do I start?? can't afford tuition yet but I know this is the best way and anyone recommend any Jazz music/artists where the bass is really heard??
 
#4
Jazz uses the same fundamental skills as any other style of music. To learn jazz, first you need to learn how to: hold the bass, pluck the strings, identify the notes on the fretboard, play scales, play arpeggios, read music notation, play by ear, keep good time, etc.

Just keep working through those instructional books, and each time you learn a new concept, apply that concept to jazz songs. For example if you are learning the difference between major and minor, put the radio on the jazz station and listen for which songs have a major sound and which have a minor sound.

My artist suggestion for you is Ray Brown. He is considered the "greatest of all time" by a lot of people. One place to start is to go on YouTube and search "Ray Brown transcription." You can follow along with the transcription while you listen to the performance. This will train your ear, improve your reading, and build your musical vocabulary.

But first you need a solid foundation of scales, chord arpeggios, rhythm, etc. so work methodically through those beginner lessons, and be patient with your progress. It is a long journey! :)
 
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#7
+1 to What @Mushroo posted

scales and chord arpeggios are the lego bricks of jazz bass (and every style)
to construct your own bass lines, learn how the bricks interlock.

Once at a party I witnessed a guy playing some great walking jazz on a bass.
I asked him how he learned to play that way, and said:
"transcribe Ray Brown"

so learn bass lines that you like
and find the lego bricks and how they fit together

anyone who wants to play jazz should spend a lot of time with
12 bar blues variations and Rhythm Changes
 
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#9
I would by no means consider myself a jazz player but I've gotten a lot from the book/cd Crawl Before You Walk, by Tom Warrington. It really breaks down one of the most fundamental aspects of Jazz (walking bass lines) into an easily understandable and applicable process.
 
#10
You know how to play a major scale? Do,re,mi,fa,so,la,to,do. Everything you need to know is in the major scale. Learn it, inside out and upside down. And when you get a question ask somebody. PS and practice constantly.
 
#11
Listen to lots of jazz! Borrow CDs from the library or friends. Ask any friends who like jazz what they listen to and artists they recommend.

I listen to this online internet station Classic Jazz -- they cover the whole gamut old to new, combo, big band, fusion, latin, vocal, bop, jump jive. This station really plays the best of the best! Pay attention and focus on the bass players and LISTEN what they are doing: for straight ahead songs, for latin, for jazz*rock & fusion.
 
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#13
2blackrooks said:
Hi all I have a Harley Benton PB 20 BK standard series never played a note in my life, I've 2 books Hal Leonard bass method and bass guitar for dummies. The genre I'm really liking and would like to get into and learn is Jazz with a heavy bass tone (trio jazz). So where do I start?? can't afford tuition yet but I know this is the best way and anyone recommend any Jazz music/artists where the bass is really heard??
Click to expand...

Hmm, well...

I remember Miles saying in an interview that he doesn't play "jazz" he just plays the blues. So, if you've never played before, and you can't afford an instructor, I think you should just learn to play the blues first. Crosscut Saw, Texas Flood, Red House, Stormy Monday and stuff like that. Buy a good blues compilation and get an app that will let you loop songs measure by measure. Copy what you hear. Learn ALL of those songs, however many there are. Work on your reading and recognizing blues chord progressions.

Then join a blues band. This is where the fun starts. Blues bands are great party bands, lol.

Anyway, at that point, you can start learning jazz blues... Freddy Freeloader, Mr. PC, stuff like that. There are a zillion jazz blues songs. You should have been using your blues study time time to listen to a galactic boatload of jazz and freaking love it. This is all a very long process... Maybe by that time, you can afford an instructor and build on the experience, but getting some gig time is the only way you will learn to play. So start easy.

If you start out trying to play jazz but you can't play the blues or anything else for that matter, and then on top of that, start out with a bunch of esoteric scales and modes, I don't think you will ever get it. You will hate it. Having said that, it takes a long time to get even a glimpse of jazz, much less play it with conviction.

Now don't misunderstand, scales and all the associated harmony are really important, but you can't start there with no experience. Best to learn a bunch of blues tunes, go get some gigs, then work on the scales and technical aspects later. This is more or less the route I took, but I was working on technical stuff at the same time, because I had instruction. However, the best advice I ever got from someone who was not my teacher (a music lover, but not a musician) was "Forget all that Jaco Pastorious s*** and learn to play the blues." It was a turning point for me. Thanks Lenny.

Let me mention, that you will definitely need to learn the major scale and the natural minor. leave it at that for now. Melodic minor, Harmonic minor, Lydian Dominant, etc. Your head will explode and I hate the sight of brains. There's WAY more to jazz than learning right notes. It's mostly about vibe and conviction, because, if you play them right, even "wrong" notes can sound awesome.

So now, I have a really good gigging jazz band now and we can play pretty much anything... That process took me about 6 years from buying a bass, never having owned one in my life, to gigging in my jazz band we call Higher Standards. I was in 3 other bands from that first blues band to this current one.

I'd say that's probably faster than normal, but like I said, I had a really good teacher in the beginning of my musical journey. He is honestly one of the best on the planet, and I was pretty OCD about practicing. A good teacher can save you literally decades of wandering in the wilderness. Sorry for the long winded post.
 
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