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She-Ra's Shed

#104
Dude, nice! Congrats. Seems like you guys as a group are pretty solid overall.

It sounds as though this was a pretty normal gig - plans can and do change when you go into battle. Stage sound isn't always optimal, sometimes sightlines are impeded...or a cable fails, or a drum head breaks, etc. Handling that is an essential part of being a stage musician, until you achieve rock-star status and you have roadies and techs. Also, congratulations for being prepared for the gig. No matter your skill level, that's a thing that's always appreciated, and it's an area where there is always, always room for improvement. You're on the right track! I gotta up my game.

One thing that may be useful and interest you is picking up something like a Zoom B1N - a portable field recorder for gigs like these. I have one that I intended to start using with a former band, and it didn't pan out, but it should deliver better sound quality than a phone recording for capturing the live band feel.

All the hard work is paying off! I think I said this before, but this is right now one of the best threads on Talkbass. I can't wait to see more of this and I hope I'm still around when you've picked up the Badu gig. :-)
 
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#105
juggahnaught said:
One thing that may be useful and interest you is picking up something like a Zoom B1N - a portable field recorder for gigs like these. I have one that I intended to start using with a former band, and it didn't pan out, but it should deliver better sound quality than a phone recording for capturing the live band feel.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

And yes, I thought about this after a few people have mentioned something similar in passing. I'm definitely planning on picking one up but, at the moment, I have to relax with the spending after putting together my rig because my wallet hurts! haha. I'll definitely check out the Zoom B1N though!
 
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#106
Thursday's Log

Today has been a very long day - left my apartment at 7am and walked in at 9:50pm - and I'm exhausted, so for this log, I just want to jot down some notes about things I've been thinking about.
  • Bass lessons - Had another lesson today and I think it's the start of working on "musical" things rather than just exercises. I expressed a bit of frustration to my teacher today in regards to my progress and what I want to do and what the best way to approach it is and he was said, "Totally normal. You're doing ok. Just keep going." So I'm gonna trust the process.
    • Today we started covering walking bass lines and focused on that. Working out of the Mike Downes book. Homework is to work on the first bit of that (triad - and inversions - based walking lines).
    • I like my teacher, he's a great guy and I'm definitely going to keep the lessons up with him. I do feel like I'd want to get a bit of a different perspective as well, however. I'm going to try and reach out to Rich Brown - he apparently lives really close to me - and see if I can do a few lessons with him as well.
  • Momentum - I had a bit of a bad week, going into a great highlight (the gig) and going into two really busy days where I wasn't able to practice properly. I played the bass both yesterday and today, but didn't write anything down as it wasn't dedicated practice.... just noodling. I need to hunker down and get back to the grindstone. Learning a new skill is hard, no matter what anyone says. And sometimes feels slow and frustrating. I know: it's just a plateau, progress will come, etc, etc. I'm just venting. That's part of what this log is about. Brutal honesty about my progress and how I feel, both ups and downs. The real reason I think I'm feeling this way is actually this: the day after the gig, the guitarist contacted me, said he really liked what I did, and offered me two more gigs with other projects - which is great. To the first, I said: "Sure, let's see if the timing works out. Give them my details." It's a chill trip-hop type thing; nothing too fancy but still - if it works out - it would be another great learning experience that I'm only too eager to get under my belt. The second gig is the reason I feel like I'm feeling right now: he sent me the playlist and it's awesome. Awesome! Robert Glasper tunes, Buena Vista Social Club tunes, Esperanza Spalding, Kamasi Washington, D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Chet Baker, BADBADNOTGOOD, and more. A dope jazzy/soul/funk/downtempo groove setlist. So good and right up my alley. And I said no. It's about 50 songs I'd need to learn by Nov 5th (with no rehearsal), about 1/3 of them are - if I'm honest - way beyond what I can confidently do right now on the bass, and I definitely don't have time to learn them all well. I mean, I've really only been playing bass for two months! But it just bummed me out because damn, this would be an ideal gig I'd love to have been skilled enough to take. I know there'll be more, but still. Anyway, in short, gotta build up my momentum again! :D
  • Practice regimen - What I'm currently doing is no longer working well for me. My progress is too slow in that, I'm not internalizing some of the fundamentals satisfactorily. So, starting tomorrow, I'm going to switch strategies. Instead of the shotgun spread approach I've been using, I'm going to take a more focused approach. I'm going to spend an 45-60mins doing warm-ups and other exercises I can do but am still working on, and then will dedicated an hour to two hours to really focusing in on one thing and practicing it deeply, over several days, in all keys. This means that I'm going to slow down with the overall amount of things I'm accumulating, knowledge-wise, but I'm going to really fix my goals around mastering the fundamentals. I'm going to do this for at least the next two/three months, and then evaluate once more. These fundamentals are going to be, in order of importance:
    1. Arpeggios - in all inversions (especially triads/7ths)
    2. Walking basslines (for blues/standards)
    3. Transcription
    4. Scales
 
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#107
Week 44/2019 Goals

Electric Bass:
  • Fretboard
    • Maj & Min triads in all inversions focusing on chord spelling rather than shapes
  • Technique
    • Bass Hanon 6
    • Bass Aerobics Workout 6
    • 16th notes - slow to fast but focusing on even touch on all strings
  • Groove & Time
    • Playing note length
    • SBL Clapping Rhythm exercises
  • Theory
    • Tetrachord work to deeply understand and ingrain tetrachords in my hands
    • Vocalizations of chord tones (literally singing the chord tones so that I can really internalize the sounds)
  • Genre Studies
    • Autumn Leaves - melody and chords (NOT walking, just straight)
    • Blues - walking bass lines on triads in all keys as per First Chapter Mike Downes Book.

Double Bass
  • Technique
    • Long tones with the bow - focus on bow speed and playing the fundamental
    • Open string exercises from Evolving Bassist AND Simandl
    • Focus on physical posture - relaxation is important
    • Focus on also NOT looking at the strings as I bow on them
Notes:
  • Ok, I'm back, properly now. Took a break this weekend to clear my head and reset my expectations before heading in again to really focus in on the foundations. As you can see based on my goals, I've REALLY pared down. I'm basically gonna focus on two things this week: major and minor triads. That's it. I think I've made a bunch of progress that I now need to settle in and ingrain becasue I just understand it and can do it, but not super well. So while it's good that I'm aware of 7ths, and m7b5s, and some of the scales, I'm now going to iron everything in.
 
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#108
Monday's Log

Double Bass
  • Open string exercises - 20
Electric Bass
  • Warmups & Noodles
  • Major Triad - 2:00
    • Root position only in various permutations (one string, two strings, one note/string, starting on 1/2/4th fingers)
    • Practiced around the CoF to imitate a ii V I movement
    • Named each note as I played it - to solidify fingerboard knowledge AND chord spelling knowledge (rather than relying on shapes and falling prey to only playing the instrument geometrically - this should help me once I start in on the inversions as I'll rely on spelling rather than the visual)
  • Clapping exercises - 15
  • Note length/16th notes - 15
  • Tetrachords - 15
    • Maj in all permutations
Notes:
  • Holy cow, I literally focused in on the most basic thing possible and drilled it for two hours at a slow tempo. It feels like I've done nothing in a way, but that's ok. I think I just need to trust the plan for the next few months because it will pay off huge dividends in the long run but will absolutely be a snail's pace in the moment.
90/10,000
 
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#109
Tuesday's Log

Double Bass
  • -
Electric Bass
  • Major Triad - 30
    • Root position review
  • Major Triad - 1:30
    • First inversion only in various permutations (one string, two strings, one note/string, starting on 1/2/4th fingers)
    • Practiced around the CoF to imitate a ii V I movement
    • Named each note as I played it - to solidify fingerboard knowledge AND chord spelling knowledge (rather than relying on shapes and falling prey to only playing the instrument geometrically)
  • Walking Basslines - 30
    • Mike Downes book - Chapter 1 - triads only for now
  • Rhythm clapping exercises - 15
Notes:
  • I'm excited to be back working hard. It's weird how comfortable and familiar the bass already feels after having not played for 5 days. This is a good sign!
93/10,000
 
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#111
Wednesday's Log

Double Bass
  • -
Electric Bass
  • Major Triad - 30
    • Root position & first inversion review
  • Major Triad - 1:00
    • Second inversion only in various permutations (one string, two strings, one note/string, starting on 1/2/4th fingers)
    • Practiced around the CoF to imitate a ii V I movement
    • Named each note as I played it - to solidify fingerboard knowledge AND chord spelling knowledge (rather than relying on shapes and falling prey to only playing the instrument geometrically)
  • Rhythm exercises - 15
Notes:
  • Had an unexpected visit from the parents this evening so did not have as much time as usual to practice. Hoping to get back to it tomorrow/Friday night so that this week I'll have really covered the major triad well.
94.5/10,000
 
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#112
Thursday's Log

Double Bass
  • Open string exercises - 20
Electric Bass
  • Hanon 6 - 10
  • Workout 6 - 10
  • Spider - 5
  • Major Triad positional review - 1:00 (20 mins on each)
    • Root position
    • First inversion
    • Second inversion
  • Major Triad Combination ex - 30
    • A new exercise: using all inversions, go through the CoF while staying locked to a span of four/five frets
    • This was actually really challenging in two ways:
      • Figuring out where the next closest root was in the next chord and starting from it
      • Spelling all the chords as I was playing them in totally different permutations than just always starting on the 3rd/5th
    • I think this is gonna be a really good one to build up a strong sense of where to go next in a chord progression. I am excited to add two variations of this:
      • remain locked to a span of five frets, start from the closest note in the next chord from the last note played in the last chord (ex. C E G > could start F on F/A/C depending on where I'm locked positionally)
      • to start from the lowest note on the neck and then climb up diagonally, go back down vertically, go back diagonally, and the again up vertically (and the reverse) creating a box shape around the neck with an X in the middle. I will worry about that fanciness later.
  • Walking lines - 30
    • Worked from Ed Friedland's Building Walking Bass Lines V1 just to get a bit of a change from all the triad work I'm doing. He really begins with the most basic way possible but covers both blues and various ii-V-I combinations around the CoF. Did up to page 18.
  • Rhythm exercises - 20

Notes:
  • I've started taking my iPad to work with me and working on writing down lines for blues in various keys during lunch. This is really forcing me to learn the spelling of chords away from the instrument. I've only done straight positional inversions, so far, so nothing fancy, but writing things out is a whole different mental workout. I'm not sure to what extent I should include that in this log because I'm at work and people definitely ask me questions and such so I'm not 100% focused. Or I'm doing it while I'm waiting for code to compile and just bust one one 12 bar line briefly and then back to work. For the moment, unless I'm actively moving away at lunch and setting aside dedicated time to do this, I won't be including it here.
97/10,000
 
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#113
Sunday's Log

Double Bass
  • Open string exercises - 20
Electric Bass
  • Hanon 6 - 10
  • Workout 6 - 15
  • Spider - 5
  • Major Scale - 30
  • Major Triad positional review - 1:00 (20 mins on each)
    • Root position
    • First inversion
    • Second inversion
  • Major Triad Combination ex - 30
  • Walking lines over blues - 1:00
  • Rhythm exercises - 20
  • Transcribed Chan Chan by Buena Vista Social Club

Notes:
  • Hey, I have 100 hours of dedicated practice on bass. Nice little milestone to hit. Next up, 250!
101/10,000
 
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#115
Week 45/2019 Goals - The 'Minor' Week

Electric Bass:
  • Fretboard
    • Min triads in all inversions focusing on chord spelling rather than shapes
    • Review major triads
    • Major & minor natural scales
  • Technique
    • Bass Hanon 7
    • Bass Aerobics Workout 7
  • Groove & Time
    • Playing note length
    • SBL Clapping Rhythm exercises
  • Theory
    • Sight reading training
    • Vocalizations of chord tones (literally singing the chord tones so that I can really internalize the sounds)
  • Genre Studies
    • Blues - walking bass lines on triads in all keys as per first chapter Mike Downes book and Ed Friedlands walking bass book.

Double Bass
  • Technique
    • Long tones with the bow - focus on bow speed and playing the fundamental
    • Open string exercises from Evolving Bassist AND Simandl
    • Focus on physical posture - relaxation is important
    • Focus on also NOT looking at the strings as I bow on them
Notes:
  • So last week my goal was to focus on major AND minor triads, but, during the week, I realized I was going to spend all week on major triads to really nail those down. So, based on last week, I'm going to hyper focus on minor triads this week.
  • I can say I've actually VASTLY improved my chord spelling, and recognition of/ability to play inversions. So while it's felt like I'm moving very slowly focusing on basically one single thing for the week, I'm already seeing massive payoff for laying the the foundations of what I'll be doing as a bassist.
  • Walking is coming along very slowly as well. I'm currently focusing on chromatic/diatonic/dominant approach notes from some inversion of the triad.
 
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#117
Tuesday's Log

Double Bass
  • -
Electric Bass
  • Warm-up
    • Hanon 7
    • Spider
  • Workout 7 - 15
  • Major Scale - 20
  • Major Triad review all inversions - 20
  • Minor Triad root position review - 15
  • Minor Triad First Inversion - 1:00
  • Walking lines over blues - 1:00
    • Using triads in various inversions for base and then approach note (semitone/tone) for the next chord
  • Rhythm clapping exercises - 20
  • Sight reading - 15
  • Transcribed I Got The... by Labi Siffre (super fun!)

Notes:
  • I'm going to stop counting Hanons and Spiders as practice time because they're just technical development. I'm going to just have a Warm-up session from now on. I'll continue tracking the Workouts as practice time because it's good reading practice for now and I'm getting great bassline patterns and ideas from them.
108/10,000
 
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#118
Wednesday's Log

Double Bass
  • -
Electric Bass
  • Warm-up
    • Hanon 7
    • Major Scale
    • Spider
  • Major Triad review all inversions - 20
  • Minor Triad root/first position review - 20
  • Minor Triad Second Inversion - 1:00
  • Walking lines over jazz blues form - 1:00
    • Using triads in various inversions for base and then approach note (semitone/tone) for the next chord
    • Using BIAB
  • Rhythm clapping exercises - 20
  • Sight reading - 15

Notes:
  • Spending so much time on just one thing is mentally taxing, especially after a full workday. But I'm just following the plan because I saw the results from last week on the major triad, so.... powering on through.
  • Walking is really challenging. Especially setting up the approach tone for the next chord. A big challenge I'm facing is that I sometimes get lost in the details and then, I have teensy bit of trouble recovering where I'm at until an obvious change in harmony. I'm working to counteract this by really focusing on the chart in front of me - but this takes away concentration from the walking. Either way, I'll slowly improve as time goes on.
  • For posterity, I wanted to upload a piece showing where I'm currently at when it comes to walking. I think it'll be nice to have and I'm sure I'll come back to this in a month/year/decade to see progress. I'm also not a very knowledgeable recording engineer so the recording is a bit rough. I went bass > mixer > GarageBand. Once I start recording more often, I'll throw in my DI for a better sound, but for now its fine. I also didn't really mix or master in any way - just a straight export after a rough level balance. Shoutout to BIAB for a really great backing track - this is the best practice tool ever! So, here it is: Bb Blues - Nov 2019
111/10,000
 
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#119
Hey, bass sounds pretty good going straight into the board in my opinion. Almost upright-ish, really fits the track well!

Setting up the approach tone for walking and "getting lost in the details" - I don't want to mislead you with bad advice or anything and I know that there are people who can walk much better than I can, but I think this is totally normal. In fact, it's my opinion (take with a grain of salt) that this doesn't actually go away if you're playing at your limit - whether that limit is quarter notes at 55 bpm or eighth notes at 150 bpm.

From what I'm hearing, you're definitely on the right track; you sound good to me and given the way you practice, you'll get comfortable walking and improvising at this tempo and you'll be ready to push your limits. (Not that faster is necessary. Not everyone has to be Charles Mingus or Stanley Clarke. But it's definitely a good thing for practicing.)

Inspired by your progress!
 
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