For getting your chops up to speed it probably would be OK on the EUB. Certain elements of tone production pizz and arco will probably be different, but a lot of things will be fine.
Thanks. I went back and reviewed my comment. I hope it didn't come off as "snotty" to you; I certainly didn't mean it to be!
I just wanted to imply that I don't see how an EUB could ever match the "real McCoy," but the advantages are obviously portability as well as its being applicable for certain more "modernistic," less traditional forms of jazz & pop where that traditional string bass sound is not so vital.
And I do think that the neck action is quite close enough to the "real thing" that it is acceptable.
N.B. I have sent an email to Dr. Aubrey Tucker who is the Chairman of Jazz Performance Department at Houston Community College, asking for recommendations for an instructor.
I think what will be optimum, given the dearth of available time, is meeting for an hour every two weeks with an instructor to sort of "coach" me back into form. I do remember a lot of stuff, though I was never "very" good. But just helping correct my errors in form, and directing my self-study, would be a great improvement.
BTW, Robert Brown told me that he distinctly remembers your encouragement when he was a student at UNT. Although it's hard for me to credit since he seems to be such an accomplished musician, he was concerned about not "measuring up" to many of the other musicians - I believe he started FORMAL music education when he was already in his late 30s, although he had been a professional musician in fact for some time.
I have a REAL problem with "feelings of inadequacy" myself. It has plagued me all my life with regards to making music, which I dearly love to do, but consider myself wholly inadequate to the task. Robert and I are trying to work toward my "just having fun" with it, relaxing and just doing my best despite my inadequacies real or perceived.
At my advanced age (relatively speaking; I'm just a few months younger than you are), I am just now realizing how much I DON'T know about the Jazz literature and theory, in particular. It is somewhat daunting, but at the same time the logic of it is appealing to my engineer's mind. I flatter myself that I have always had a "feel" for it, but I want to try to learn the mental game, and somehow marry the intuitive/emotional with the deliberate/mental.
Maybe the day will come when I feel confident enough to actually dare to "sit in" with someone who is accomplished, knowing that I can do my part to lay down that bottom line!
Thanks for your presence here, and again I apologize for seeming rather testy earlier. I didn't intend for it to come out that way at all!
