Thinking outside the box

Try jumping outside of your musical envelope.

 

Three quick ideas-

1)Walking bass that covers a couple octaves-
Tunes with minimal chord changes like "So What"(or "Impressions") or "Haitian Fight Song" &/or tunes with numerous chord changes(12-bar Blues or "Rhythm Changes", etc)

2)Funk/Rock figures that have a 'Question/Answer' vibe...could almost be 2 independent parts working together as 1.
Example-
Beat 1 can be the 'question' or 'A-component'
Beat 3 can be the 'answer' or 'B-component'.

If, say, the bass' rhythm is-
l1e&_----3_&_----l etc

Play the "1e&_" down Low (in BOLD)
Play the "3_&_" up High

Putting Notes in-
lGEG_----A#_B_----lCC#D_----F_F#_----l etc

Come to think of it, RHCP's "Give It Away" is an example of what I'm trying to get across.

3)Latin bass tumbaos/figures
The LOW component can be your bass emulating a Low-pitched drum with the HIGH component being a bell.
Ago-go rhythms are cool to use as a practice thingee.

 

Transcribe some solos from other styles and instruments!

 

Edit Joe: Sorry Mike, Had to remove the spam.

 

I presented a clinic based on my new method at the TB NYC GTG (Talkbass New York City Get Together) and sold out of books in about 5 minutes. Here is a quote from pointbass:

 

I divide the fretboard into sections. in support situtations, I generally work between the nut and fret 6. I get all the notes I need between N-6 (major and minor keys). I also like using open string patterns mostly.

So I view the fretboard as a 2D plane that can be divided into sections. I see the fretboard in two basic sections N-6 and 6-12. And from there, I can further divide these sections into even smaller sections. And as you know, the fretboard repeats itself after fret 12.

Code:

   EADG
N  [U]0000[/U]
1  0|||
2  |000
3  000|
4  |||0
5  0000
6  [U]||||[/U]
7  0000
8  00||
9  ||00
10 0000
11 ||||
12 [U]0000[/U]

Other smaller sections I use include:

Code:

String(s)    Fret
-----------------
ADG          N-6
DG           N-6
G            N-6
ADG          6-12
DG           6-12
G            6-12

Then from there, its just a matter of knowing where the tonic is and relavent intervals that you need to use.

So you could say, divide the box into smaller boxes, and "map" your way around them.

 

You mis-understood my point.

Basic problem solving is all about dividing a whole into smaller chunks. Try a bit of computer science.

 

Here's a couple of diagrams to further clarify my reasoning.

Sectional View N-6 and 6-12

Playing in wholetone patterns only

 

Try setting up some 'limitations' for yourself. Play a song that you know, but only use the D and G strings, or only the E and A or A and D, whatever.... but it will force you to move about the neck more.

Or.. use all four (or 5, whatever you have) but only from the 6th fret up.

Little games like this rarely ever bring about something useful musically, but they might cause you to look at something old in a new way. Putting old things together in new ways is really what creativity is all about. (few ideas are truely original)

Whenever you are stuck in an idea, try doing the exact opposite (whatever that means to you).... there is always a different way to do something... and sometimes its better.

 

I'm liking those diagrams, tim99 - thanks!

 

The scale method at the top of this folder might help. If you get every note position well into your head, would that be what you're looking for?

 

I noticed that, but I think there's a different way of doing it. He mentioned that there were only a few variations possible on the scale you're playing. I never bothered to look at them or try and remember them. But if you just do the counting up bit, I found it helpful for notes on the fretboard.

Also, just noodling around can really help.

 

You can try Wayne Krantz's approach to guitar. To give you an idea, he likes taking a small set of notes. For example

1)take a 3-4 note lick of anything you like. Get to know exactly what notes you're hitting. F#? G? C? How do they relate to eachother? Triad? Scalar?
2)Take only the first 4 frets of the bass and learn to play this lick until you can play it relaxed. In other words, engrain it into your system.
3)Using the same 3-4 notes, create a solo with the same 3-4 notes. Play it slow, fast, double stops, whatever.
4)Then, once you have it down in the first four frets, move up one fret and do it all over again. (i.e. repeat steps 1-3 now on 2nd-5th frets).
5) Just keep moving up the neck with the same idea... 3rd-6th frets, 4th-8th frets, etc. etc.

Keep working on 4 fret regions til you can't play on the high registers anymore. You can work over other ideas in the same fashion, 5 note pentatonics, various licks that you like, make your own scales, etc.

Wayne spent 15 years developing his own style in this way. He would record himself practicing and only pick out the licks he liked after listening to the practice session. Those licks became his own original vocabulary. If you're interested more in this stuff, get his book that he just wrote (I can't wait to get my copy). Also check his stuff out (www.waynekrantz.com). He has no guitar/musical heroes and his style is all his own. You'll see him playing with top electric bassists too (Anthony Jackson, Lincoln Goines, etc).


Second approach was something I got from the jazz guitarist Jim Hall (I think it was him). Similar to what Wayne Krantz does but rahter than working over 4-fret regions, work only 2 strings at a time, but use the entire length of the neck. i.e. learn to play scales, licks, ideas on just the G and D strings. Once you ahve that down, move on to two other strings. Rather than go across, restrict yourself to going just up and down the neck. I think the key is playing double stops or intervallic scales over two strings up and down the neck does. 3rds, 5ths, 4ths, etc. This stuff kicked my butt but it makes you totally play differently.

If these two concepts don't break you out of the box, I don't know what will.