• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

what's the most difficult key

#101
M.Wrenn said:
First of all I said "one key or multiple," I made no mention of ignoring the key, and there are plenty of extremely musical players who can solo purely by ear, but that is beside the point.

And I do know the melody to footprints, but I hadn't analyzed it to that extent, mainly because I learned it by ear in the middle of playing the song at a gig so I could incorporate it into my solo.

All that being said, this all still has nothing to do with the fact that it's relatively annoying to play in Eb on a four string or Bb on a five string because you can't reach the low roots in standard tuning. At this point we're merely discussing the harmonic and melodic content of Footprints and you're attempting to send your bass gospel down from on high. While you may be extremely knowledgeable about music, you're just coming across as someone who has nothing better to do than patronize members of a bass forum who happen to be less musically informed than yourself.
Click to expand...

I'll forgive your youth. I am sure that when I was 18 I thought I knew more than I did, as well. Actually I love players like you, because instead wanting to learn, you think you actually know something. It means, and always has, more work for me.

Now if you need to play that many roots, I can see where you're having trouble.

BTW, if you really want to play jazz, Bb and Eb are the keys the pros play in. So either learn them or play something else

BTW I am not sending my "bass gospel down from on high" I am speaking from both experience and expertise. Don't listen if you don't want to. When I was an original Ask the Pro here, it was the same crap, people with little or no experience thinking they knew it all
 
#102
Mike Dimin said:
I'll forgive your youth. I am sure that when I was 18 I thought I knew more than I did, as well. Actually I love players like you, because instead wanting to learn, you think you actually know something. It means, and always has, more work for me.

Now if you need to play that many roots, I can see where you're having trouble.

BTW, if you really want to play jazz, Bb and Eb are the keys the pros play in. So either learn them or play something else

BTW I am not sending my "bass gospel down from on high" I am speaking from both experience and expertise. Don't listen if you don't want to. When I was an original Ask the Pro here, it was the same crap, people with little or no experience thinking they knew it all
Click to expand...

I'm not arguing with the content of what you're saying. It's spot on, you're just kinda patronizing that's all.
 
#104
Why isn't the 11th fret on E a low enough root? When I play the Phish song Gumbo, which is in Ebm, I usually play from that position, rather than from the low B, because it actually sounds better a little higher up. I can understand some songs in D sounding a bit high playing from the 10th on some songs, but on others, it sounds perfectly fine.

Also, I read that Phil Lesh never went below G on the E on Big Brown, and didn't play the G that often, except to drop bombs. When you hear a weird synthy low sound emanating from his speakers in the '74 shows, it's apparently him playing that G or an open E, and it's too low for the speakers to handle, so any low Ebs he played before he got his first 6 string are that "high" position, so it baffles me to read about no roots available for Eb on a 4. Granted, none of us has a 40 foot stack of speakers, but I don't see a lack of range there.
 
#105
M.Wrenn said:
I'm not arguing with the content of what you're saying. It's spot on, you're just kinda patronizing that's all.
Click to expand...

:eyebrow:

I don't want to pick a fight with him, but he's being quite patronizing, and that last post about forgiving youth is a bit much. There's really no need to talk like that... And I don't think M. Wrenn has been acting like he knew it all, either. Maybe my reading comprehension skills are waning, but I've read this conversation and don't see it that way.
 
#106
AlvarHanso said:
Why isn't the 11th fret on E a low enough root? When I play the Phish song Gumbo, which is in Ebm, I usually play from that position, rather than from the low B, because it actually sounds better a little higher up. I can understand some songs in D sounding a bit high playing from the 10th on some songs, but on others, it sounds perfectly fine.

Also, I read that Phil Lesh never went below G on the E on Big Brown, and didn't play the G that often, except to drop bombs. When you hear a weird synthy low sound emanating from his speakers in the '74 shows, it's apparently him playing that G or an open E, and it's too low for the speakers to handle, so any low Ebs he played before he got his first 6 string are that "high" position, so it baffles me to read about no roots available for Eb on a 4. Granted, none of us has a 40 foot stack of speakers, but I don't see a lack of range there.
Click to expand...

Well that was with the electronics and amplifiers they had in '74.

the 11th fret on the E string just doesn't quite have the oomph of the Eb an octave lower. That's all.
 
#107
AlvarHanso said:
:eyebrow:

I don't want to pick a fight with him, but he's being quite patronizing, and that last post about forgiving youth is a bit much. There's really no need to talk like that... And I don't think M. Wrenn has been acting like he knew it all, either. Maybe my reading comprehension skills are waning, but I've read this conversation and don't see it that way.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

That's all I was saying.
 
#108
jmattbassplaya said:
Keys are difficult on bass? :confused:

Maybe coming from a woodwind background has made me bitter, but playing in any key on most stringed instruments is an absolute breeze.
Click to expand...

Yes, play scale (Hanon in my matter) in Ab key (and some other keys), on the 4 string bass,
- prioritizing on first five fretboards position, so I fret the root note with my left little finger on Ab at E string then move to left side of the root note,
involving open strings and plucking them with Strict Alternate (Index-Middle) right hand fingering - felt hard to me. I was kept making mistake.
The wider fretboard space near the nut stretch my fretting finger more, and my right hand Strict Alternate order keep reversed.
So I focus on them, to be able to be equally good in any possible position on fretboard.

Thank God now it's getting easier for me.
Practice makes perfect.

FYI:
of course in other situation (for example: if I'm hired to play on a record or live onstage), there's no problem for me to play in any keys too, cause in that situation I don't play in my weakness position or I don't care if my Strict Alternate fingering reversed or I don't have to involving open strings, etc.
But in practice situation, I'll try to find my weaknesses and try to eliminate that weaknesses.

I apologize for my english limitation, but I hope you understand what I mean.

Cheers
 
#110
Buxtehude said:
Huh?
Click to expand...

lamer.gif
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back