BWV 813

E Maj Scale

I've been trying to do some "pencil" time with practice. I've also been trying to learn the Simandl positions. Here's something I am working on with both of these.


I have no idea if this is how you are supposed to write fingerings and positions in DB sheet music. This is based on a very old method book I have. For me, it's just a way to record what I am trying to learn, and I might even post over on TalkBass for some guidance. It's clear that there are many ways to get up the fingerboard, and I am sure that left hand fingerings really depend on the musical phrase you are trying to play.

On My Mind

So bass is much on my mind. I am not certain I've made any progress in the past few weeks, but I do think I am poised to make some headway. Being realistic about my goals will be important. Right now I am digitizing Nick's Jamey Aebersold play-a-long records: Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, and Blue Note standards.

Soundpost

About Me

And and old shot from public tv in 1990:




That's me during the first year I played holding somebody else's Rick 4001. The thing was messed up and had the frets ripped out.

This is from my first year of electric bass lessons playing a Charvel/Jackson that my dad got my for Christmas. I hated the headstock, but it was a great sounding bass and solid as a rock. Got stolen from the back of my car.

Here's a Japanese '62 re-issue P-Bass that I had set up with LaBella flats for studying James Jamerson Motown lines. Sold it on eBay years ago.

This is me at Steel Drum Band rehearsal with my ultimate gig bass: a 1964 Fender Jazz that had been to hell and back. The fretboard was ebony--yes, someone pulled the rosewood board off of there! The alder body had been refinished a few times, so I had it re-done, too (in a sweet Olympic white nitrocellulose finish). Badass II bridge, EMGs and the original reverse tuners. That was a great bass. It was a player, though, so when I knew I would no longer gig on electric bass I sold it on eBay and plugged the dough into another project.

This is my American Standard, purchased for $50 from A.J.'s next door neighbor. Got $500 in trade for it towards my current bass. I had no idea these things would fetch big money today. I still came out ahead of the deal, though... my current bass has appreciated in value more than the worth of a mid-60s American Standard.

First Lesson

My first lesson with Nick went great. He's very close to work and home, and his home is very nice for bass lessons. I recorded the lesson on my H2, so I will be able to listen to it over and over before my next lesson in about 2 weeks. I think that studying with Nick is going to work out well. He is very laid back, somewhat informal. It's clear that I am going to have to be the disciplinarian on myself. Two quick experiences to share:

• I was understanding everything we were doing until the last 20 minutes. I really need to go back and listen, because there was a point when it felt like I had just lost my capacity to understand, particularly as he was talking about intervals (3rds, 5ths, 6ths). My brain just came unattached and I felt like a zombie.
• I listened back to the lesson soon after and came to a section of playing and instantly thought "man, I want to sound like that!" Then it became clear that it was me playing! I really do have a tone that I like, and when I am playing things that I know, I enjoy my own sound. Also, there is just no beating the sound of my bass.
  

Practice @ Work

Since Chuck retired, there is now a bass on campus that doesn't get used. And it's sitting in an office with a piano. So, I think that 2-3 times per week I need to get over there and practice on my lunch hour. What a great set up!

Speaking of set up, next week I am taking my bass in to have bridge adjusters installed and to have the fingerboard planed. Should make the bass much easier to play. I'm looking forward to the lesson thing.

Some Learning Taking Place

Okay, so I am not sure if I should be depressed or excited about this. Here's what is happening.

I went to the very first exercise in the Mooney "Walking Bass Lines" book, and this goes through all 12 keys. It starts in F. I like to play in F. Normally, I would noodle around with the exercise until my ears and fingers could play it and then I would try to let my eyes follow along. They never would of course. I would get a few exercises in, stop making progress, and quit.

This time is a little different. First I copied the exercise out myself, giving myself a little "pencil time," which is what I am calling it. My handwriting looks like a child's. I think back to the Autobiography of Malcolm X:

In my slow, painstaking, ragged handwriting, I copied into my tablet everything printed on that first page, down to the punctuation marks.

And this time, I tried to play the notes but they sounded strange. They didn't sound right. So I pulled out my handwritten copy of the exercise and thought I should analyze it. I read the text that came before it. This is a very, very, very simple exercise. I took it into the bathroom with me: "this is 2+2" I said to myself, realizing that for me, 2+2 is very hard at this point. As I type this, I can think of two categories of things one must know about this exercise in order to play it and understand it.

1. Beforehand: You need to know what it's in the key of F. You need to know that it's 24 bars. You need to know that it's I-IV-V blues. You need to know that the notes are only 1-3-5 notes of the triad. You need to know that the notes only come on beats 1 and 3.
2. As you are playing: For each bar, you need to know the chord for that measure. You need to know which note of the chord you are playing. You also need to know which beat of the measure.

So, the very first note contains all kinds of simultaneous knowledge that is required. You are playing the F7 chord; you are playing the root or 1 note of that chord; that note is F; it's the first beat of the measure; the note only lasts for one beat. That's a lot to know in that one second. And guess what? It all changes a second later.

Feels like I am making the simple difficult.