Improving your skills

So you want to improve as a bass player? Who doesn’t? There are a couple of ways to build your chops that I would suggest you start with. These ideas are coming from a non-schooled player, so don’t expect anything over your head here.

1. Scales – I know: boring. But I have found that as I learn to play a few scales, it starts to open up my creativity. Really what I think is happening is that I am building my knowledge of the fretboard, so now when that C-chord comes up, I have an idea of some options I can work with. I use Bass Scale Finder: Easy-to-Use Guide to Over 1,300 Scales 9 inch. x 12 inch. Edition by Chad Johnson to learn scales and patterns and I think you will find it easy to understand and use yourself.
2. Your favorite songs – Got a song you love? Someone else here in cyberspace loves it too. And someone else loves it enough to put together a chord sheet for it. Maybe someone else loves it enough to put together a tab for it. Either way, If you’ve got the recording and an outline of the chords, you can start mimicking the players you love by trying out the songs that inspire you. I know for myself that when I figure out a McCartney lick, it makes me so happy and my playing improves just trying to keep up with him. I used to put Wings “At The Speed Of Sound” on my stereo and play along with the whole thing – just to figure out what he was doing. Eventually, I could play right along.
3. Learn Chords – Learning chords and chord rules (major, minor, diminished, augmented…) is a great building block for your playing. Songs are (well, MOSTLY) constructed of chords after all.

So nothing groundbreaking, right? Just common things anyone can do. Clearly, if you can afford a teacher then get one – they will add structure and discipline to your efforts, which will show immediate benefit. Then there’s all the bass resources you’ll find online – including free lessons on YouTube. The bottom line is there are lots of ways to improve your skills and all they will take is a little of your time.

Great Moments in bass – “Country Comfort”

Elton John, Dee Murray and Nigel Olsen

Dee Murray was Elton John’s original bass player. And what a player he was. I challenge you to find a more tasteful, interesting, and technically adept player. Of the two top rock bassists of the 70′s, Dee was right there with McCartney. While McCartney was always leaving you with that feeling of almost coming off the tracks, Dee was a player who always seemed in full control of his stack-knob Fender Jazz. There is no better example of this than his playing on “Country Comfort” from Elton’s Tumbleweed Connection album. This song is a prime example of Dee’s mastery. Listen to the upper-register work in the second verse and take yourself to school. Like many of my favorite players, Dee always made the intricate seem effortless and more importantly – appropriate. Do yourself a favor and listen to this track and you’ll understand why he is so deeply missed today.

The Great Players – Norm Stockton

Wonder just where a bass player can take his instrument? Wonder how a bass player can lead a band and hold down a groove? Wonder how the so-called “next level” sounds? Then get familiar with Norm Stockton. You might not have heard of him, mainly because he works primarily in the areas of jazz and Christian music, but believe me – he is one of today’s elite players.

Norm’s two solo releases, Pondering the Sushi and Tempest in a Teapot are both works of stellar musicianship. And maybe that word is what defines Norm more than anything. In his hands, the bass is not a minor player in the scheme of sound – his musicianship insures that it is a primary contributor to the sounds you hear.

Norm is a great instructor and offers DVD courses that anyone can benefit from. I suggest you visit him at normstockton.com and think about picking up his series. Having had the honor of hanging with him and seeing him in action a number of times , I can promise you’ll be a better player for it.

The Great Players – Rutger Gunnarsson

 Rutger Gunnarsson – not a household name? Maybe not. But you know his work, I can almost guarantee it. You see, Rutger is the tasteful groove-master behind every single song recorded by the Swedish supergroup, Abba! Can I get a witness? Save for, well, McCartney, there isn’t a bass player on the globe whose work has sold more records. We’re talking over 400-million records to date. Not bad.

Rutger is a rock-solid pop bassist. His lines are right in the pocket, with an equal emphasis on melody. Abba always mixed his lines up top, and for good reason: they propel the songs ahead without ever getting in the way.

Rutger’s talents extend beyond the bass, and from 1976 until they folded in the early 80′s, he also served as Abba’s string arranger.

Mama Mia! What a talent!

Rigs of The Ox (John Entwistle) from thewho.net

thewho.net (http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/gear/bass/bass6771.html) has a nice page devoted to all the rigs of John Entwistle. I’ve been curious about gear lately, so I’m tracking down who played what through what. Here’s a little sample, but please check the link above for more complete info on the Ox’s soundfarm:

1968–1971

Bass

• Vox Violin Bass
  • Used on Magic Bus
• 1965 sunburst (later refinished salmon pink) “Frankenstein” Fender Precision Bass (see 1967).
• Sunburst Fender Precision Bass with rosewood fretboard.
• Late ’60s black Fender Precision Bass with rosewood fingerboard (1970).
• 1967 Rickenbacker 4005 (“Model 31”) bass in natural Mapleglo
  Serial no. GE 2208.
  Round-top body with chequer binding, “slash” soundhole, bound fingerboard with triangular markers.
  Acquired late 1968/early 1969.
  Used in studio only, including The Seeker
  Used in television promos, including Beat Club, 1969 (for Tommy) and I Can See For Miles (on Pop Goes the Sixties, 1969)
  Sold in Sotheby’s auction, 2003. Estimated £1,200–£1,800. Sold for £7,200.
  Now featured on Björn Eriksson’s Rickenbacker Info.

Amplification

• Sound City:
  • Two Sound City L100 amps customized to the CP103 spec, unbadged or badged as Hiwatt.
  • Two or four Sound City 4×12 cabinets with 50-watt Fane speakers.
• Hiwatt
  • Three Hiwatt DR103 100-watt amps customized to the CP103 spec (i.e., no “The Who” faceplate).
  • Beginning early 1970: three Hiwatt CP103 100-watt amps. Two Hiwatt DR201 200-watt amps and one customized Hiwatt DR103 100-watt amp.
  • Four Hiwatt SE4123 4×12 cabinets.
  • Two Hiwatt SE4151 4×15 cabinets and two Hiwatt SE4123 4×12 cabinets.

The Basses of Geddy Lee

Were you ever curious about all the basses Geddy Lee of Rush has used over the years? Well here’s a quick summary for you:

• Fender Precision
• Rickenbacker 4001
• Rickenbacker 4080 (Double-neck, 4001 bass & 12-string guitar with humbuckers)
• Rickenbacker 3001
• Fender Teardrop Bass (the original Precision bass with the body modified to a teardrop shape, a blue “water” paint, and an additional pickup added)
• Rickenbacker 4002
• Fender Teardrop Bass
• Fender 1972 Jazz Bass
• Rickenbacker 4080 (Double-neck, 4001 bass & 6-string guitar)
• Steinberger L2
• British Wal Bass
• White Steinberger XL2
• Fender Jazz Bass
• Fender Custom Shop Jazz Bass (Sunburst in D-A-D-G Tuning)
• Fender Custom Shop Jazz Bass (Red in Eb-Ab-Db-Gb Tuning)
• Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass
• Taylor Acoustic Guitar
• Fender Jaco Pastorius Jazz Bass (Fretless)
• Fender Jaco Pastorius Jazz Bass (Fretted)
• Schecter 004 Bass in unique Dark Walnut finish

The Great Players – Jaco Pastorius

Jaco Pastorius was a brilliant, but troubled genuis. There simply was no player like him when he arrived on the scene, fully formed, in 1976. His high fret work, intricate melody construction and mastery of the fretless electric bass (a 1962 Fender stack knob Jazz), made him a standout in jazz - only one of four bassists ever inducted into the Down Beat Hall of Fame (don’t get me started).

Jaco didn’t have a very long life, making it only to age 35, but his influence looms large. For many modern jazz bass players, he is Everest.

My personal favourite work of Jaco’s are the albums he played on with Canadian singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell. “Hejira” (1976) in particular, was unique in pop, primarily because Mitchell was wise enough to let the bass lead in the construction of the intricate backing tracks.

If you’ve never heard Jaco play, check out his offical website and you’ll understand what all the fuss is about.

From Bassplayer.com – Men in the mirror

Louis Johnson put the chill in "Thriller"

On this first anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson, take some time out and read about the bass players that helped him create the grooves that changed pop music forever. In this article from Bassplayer.com, you’ll hear from “This Is It” bassist, Alex Al, James Jamerson Jr., Chuck Rainy, Nathan Watts, Louis Johnson, Nathan East, Freddie Washington, and many others.

Read the article here

Great Gear – Schecter 004

Now discontinued, but a fantastic bass from Schecter

This is another bass that I own and love. I went to pick myself up a new bass and was open to about anything that sounded and played well. Price wasn’t a priority. Well this number was both affordable and easily the best playing bass I have picked up in awhile. I’ve owned my 004 for about three years or so now and it’s rocked many shows with me as a low-end shaking machine. Here’s the specs:

“Schecter’s 004 bass boasts a distinctively shaped-ash body, 2-band active EQ that can be switched to passive mode, master volume, and blend control for extensive tone-shaping capability. The custom bridge accommodates either string-through-body or top loading. Other special features include jumbo frets, block inlays, neck binding, brass nut, and a rock-solid 5-bolt neck attachment.”

Schecter 004 Bass Guitar Features:

• 5-bolt neck attachment
• 34″ scale
• Ash body
• Maple neck
• Rosewood or maple fingerboard depending on finish
• 24 Jumbo frets
• Block Inlays
• Schecter active/passive pickups
• Master volume and master blend controls
• Active 2-band EQ
• Schecter Custom String-Thru-Body (or Top Load) bridge
• Creme binding
• Schecter tuners
• Chrome hardware
• Brass nut

If you can find one of these beauties out there, I highly recommend picking it up.

Great moments in bass – “Bust A Move”

Bust A Move - Flea makes you itch

Hip Hop is an ever-evolving pop music form. Never was this clearer than in the 80′s when Run DMC got together with Aerosmith for their biggest hit. Another example of this merge of rock and Hip Hop was when Young MC brought Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ bass player, Flea into the studio to record the blistering bass for “Bust A Move”.  Flea’s relentless 1/8 note walk, with trademark entrys and exits runs circles around the vocal, like a cowpoke roping a steer to the ground. In a reversal of form, the kick drum on the tune actually tracks to the bass – an inverse of the common relationship of the two elements, which takes a typically mechanical element (especially in early Hip Hop) and makes it organic and fresh. Once again, it’s not the complexity of the line that makes it rock – it’s the beautifully executed simplicity instead. Flea finds the pocket and doesn’t let go. This here’s a story for all the fellas who want to understand what it means to be “funky”. Revisit this great moment in bass today!