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Double Bass The Real Book!

#43
Paul Warburton said:
I use it every day either in my teaching or when I find it hard to remember lyrics, composers or just some obscure Standard or Jazz tune that my old brain left to rest. Most of what I consider are the definitive versions are in there and many others in many different keys to boot.
Click to expand...

And you say you know a lot of tunes? hmmmmm..........
Could be one man's tool is another man's crutch?.....not the what but the how?
 
#51
Back on track:
While I do get Chuck's point, you have to make a personal decision in the "authenticity" issue.
Are you going to play on gut strings? How many Pops Foster transcriptions must we do before moving on to Blanton?
Are you going to move to New Orleans for a few years, then Chicago then NYC?
Are you going to do the same drugs Miles did when he decided to embarrass Jackie in front of Duke?

For better or worse, I think real books are part of modern musicial life, like steel strings, amps, fiberglass bows, ipods, youtube, etc.
Again, if standards are your thing there are clearly more thorough ways of really learning them.
 
#52
damonsmith said:
Back on track:
While I do get Chuck's point, you have to make a personal decision in the "authenticity" issue.
Are you going to play on gut strings? How many Pops Foster transcriptions must we do before moving on to Blanton?
Are you going to move to New Orleans for a few years, then Chicago then NYC?
Are you going to do the same drugs Miles did when he decided to embarrass Jackie in front of Duke?

For better or worse, I think real books are part of modern musicial life, like steel strings, amps, fiberglass bows, ipods, youtube, etc.
Again, if standards are your thing there are clearly more thorough ways of really learning them.
Click to expand...
Thank you. Damon. You have clarified my position and your position well. I will say this. I do use charts at home for tunes and I personally like to take a chord chart and write the lyrics underneath (or in) the bars where they would be on a lead sheet. The chord charts even without the written melodies make more sense with the lyrics. The melodies come to you easy that way. The chord progressions come together and make more sense, with this format. But, as I said before, I don't like to bring books to gigs for improvised music. I don't think it is necessary to know thousands of tunes either. I think after you learn lets say a hundred, you really know them all harmonically and melodically(subconsciously) but to learn the lyrics that's something you have to work on, as Paul Warburton has said here and in other threads. I think a reasonable exercise would be to pick 20 tunes. Go to the real book website and print them out in any keys that please you. Go over the changes and make adjustments and corrections if need be. Then write the lyrics where they would be rhythmically in the bars(approximately). Try to sing the tunes with lyrics while looking at the changes above. Imagine the tune with the band playing with you while your singing. I also like to whistle the tune sometimes while looking at the chord chart first......then I try to sing it with the lyrics while playing. It's hard to play bass and sing so if need be just play roots while you sing. Whole notes, half notes.... whatever you can do. May seem corny and old fashioned but it works. You know 20 tunes more than you did last month this way and you don't forget them. This is my little routine, so it's just IMO, IME and all that other stuff.

 
#53
Yeah, lyrics are so key for any tune you really want to know. For one thing the way different words and syllables fit into note values are going to change the way you phrase each note.
Especially when so many standards have simple melodies, knowing the words can really be what brings the tune to life.
The last tune I really slaved over was Mingus' (Happy BD to him today!!) "Eclipse".
The words REALLY helped get both the melody and the changes in the right place.
 
#54
I know 'old thread'.......there are so many versions of the 'real book'......its crazy..
so many fake books......but its true that you have got to listen to what the cord player is doing.....after a while its not that hard.....there are just so many variations....
hang in there....learning to play in different keys can also make you nuts... when its written in the book as 'c'...and the cats play it in dflat.......ha..ha
 
#55
One thing that has helped me transpose is learning tunes in relation to I (one). Being a bass player with strings tuned in 4ths actually makes this easier. I think of the relationship of the different changes as to where the finger pattern leads you from or to I.

For example, if you're going from a simple A section pattern in the key of C (I) and the bridge starts on an F#(#IV) half diminished, you think of where the tritone up from One is in the finger pattern. Basically, it doesn't matter which string you play on or what key you are in because it will be in the same place in the fingering scheme.

That's the simplistic way to relate to the tunes, and in time that can grow into a more full blown understanding of how the changes work in various tunes. Hope it makes sense.

Ike
 

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