Double Bass Transcribing

[weary gill]

I've always felt that it's not necessarily the memorization that matters, but the process. By the time you get to the point you can play whatever solo from memory cold, you've probably listened to it and played along a zillion times and analyzed the **** out of it. That's how it benefits you, IMO. By that time, I'd wager it's pretty well ingrained in you. And whether you can tell or not, the things that really jumped out to you from the solo will creep into your playing in various and often subtle ways. I do more basslines than solos and this is very true for me in basslines. Again, IMO.

 

[jsamuel]

That makes enough sense I suppose. I have memorized things in the past, but generally find that it is more work then it's worth What are people working on at the moment? and how do you pick what you're gonna transcribe?

 

[LeleLele]

Hey Samuel,
I agree, it's hard work, but pays off very well. Just stick at it, or limit yourself to particular phrases if you can't wrap your head around it!
I'm working on 2 things at the moment:
1. Writing J.J. Johnson Bloozineff down (a sweet easy tune)
2. Finishing Lucky Thompson solo on Miles' Walkin' (kinda harder)
As you can see, I'm bent on the blues lately =)
Peace
Lele

 

[weary gill]

I'm working on several Ron Carter basslines and solos for my senior study in school. I'm doing several different versions of Autumn Leaves for the sake of comparison. I'm doing a cut from the Plugged Nickel stuff with Miles, the one from the Alone Together record with Jim Hall, one from a Japan Billy Cobham record called The Art of Three, and the one from his Golden Striker record. It's been pretty rewarding so far.

 

[jsamuel]

'nuther couple of questions...
in bassius' first post he reached the end of the process having fully memorized the solo. what would the next step be? would you go straight onto your next project or work on integrating the phrases you've learned into your own playing?
and if the latter, how would you go about doing this?

p.s. i been working on a couple of Miles Davis solos, 'Oleo' from Bags Groove and 'Blues By Five' from Cookin'? I figured a blues and a rhythm was the best place to start!

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

I think your questions have already been answered in Will's post:

I've always felt that it's not necessarily the memorization that matters, but the process. By the time you get to the point you can play whatever solo from memory cold, you've probably listened to it and played along a zillion times and analyzed the **** out of it. That's how it benefits you, IMO. By that time, I'd wager it's pretty well ingrained in you. And whether you can tell or not, the things that really jumped out to you from the solo will creep into your playing in various and often subtle ways. I do more basslines than solos and this is very true for me in basslines. Again, IMO.

 

[jweiss]

'nuther couple of questions...
in bassius' first post he reached the end of the process having fully memorized the solo. what would the next step be? would you go straight onto your next project or work on integrating the phrases you've learned into your own playing?
and if the latter, how would you go about doing this?

In addition to Will Yager's comments about the benefits of the process:

Isolate the phrases from the solo that you that you would like to integrate into your own solos. Usually these are one- or two-bar phrases. Determine the harmonic structure that they fit. For instance - is it a minor ii-V phrase (ii half diminished to a V7b9 or Valt)? Play the phrase over that harmonic structure through all keys (moving by 4th, 2nd or 3rd to the next key).

Then select 2-3 other tunes that contain similar harmonic movement, preferably several times per chorus. Practice inserting the phrase into your solos over those tunes. Try changing the rhythm or other aspects of the phrase.

Band in a Box is a useful tool for both of these exercises. Presumably you are a bass player, so turn off the bass if you are playing with BIAB or a playalong recording.

 

[Anonymatt]

Yeah, not that you wouldn't end up memorizing it anyway, but if you were writing it down you wouldn't have to memorize it.

Writing any kind of music is good for you anyways, right, especially if you're a big visual learner.

 

[weary gill]

Both great solos to do

'nuther couple of questions...
in bassius' first post he reached the end of the process having fully memorized the solo. what would the next step be? would you go straight onto your next project or work on integrating the phrases you've learned into your own playing?
and if the latter, how would you go about doing this?

p.s. i been working on a couple of Miles Davis solos, 'Oleo' from Bags Groove and 'Blues By Five' from Cookin'? I figured a blues and a rhythm was the best place to start!