Double Bass Play-alongs? Bad idea? Good idea?

[Roy Vogt]

Not at all. Jamey Aebersold has over a hundred CDs and I even think he's got a 5 volume set for The Real Book. There are also a slew of great Bass Line Books that go along with these with lines by Ron Carter, Rufus Reid, Todd Coolman and many other fine Jazz Bassists. www.jazzbooks.com
I use Band in a Box with my students a great deal. The grooves are a little stiff (I do have the real drum samples and wish to upgrade to the all-sample B in a B) but it's nice to be able to slow a Charlie Parker tune down to a speed where a EB or DB student has a prayer of playing Bird's solo.

 

[Jack Clark]

Hey Jack, I still regularly use Aebersold Vol. 1 for lots of stuff. IMO the first four tracks are fantastic. Long tones, scales/arrpegios, getting eight bar phrases in your head, three against four, or trying to play 5 against 4 as much as I want and not pissing anybody off. It's even good to just play an F over the first track, it's amazing to find it in tune as the root of a chord and then feeling out of tune when it becomes the 9th of the next 8 bars, then changing character again when it's the 3rd of the Dm7. I don't confuse it with playing music, but I find lots of things to do with it as a practice tool. The others can be useful as well (turn off the bass side, don't look at the music and try and learn the changes by just hearing the piano for one thing) but the first one is great if you ask me.

I gotta try all this. Thanks, Chris.

BTW, heard Paul again last night. On the bass. You did know he's also playing double bass now, right?

 

[Ike Harris]

I wish I'd had these when I was first learning bass(elec). I would play with tunes on the radio, and while watching TV late at night, the bass was still in my hands, playing along with the Tonight show band, commercials, anything with music in it. Later, 1st working on upright, I'd learn bebop tunes by playing with an 8 track of Supersax(RIP Jake Hanna) and loop them over and over. You could hear the rhythm section better than the originals. Even better with the Aebersolds or Music Minus One, you have control to cancel the bass side or lead part and play either. Go for it!

Ike