First lesson, first spark [long]

[keavin]

hey effcleff, can you show us the aria,i used to have one long time ago,but i traded it (as a down payment)for the alembic  

[goatfoot]

So, fellow Alembicians, what instructional book/video was most helpful in your becoming a better player?  
 
I'm by no means a pro, but I've gotten the most out of Ed Friedland's Building Walking Basslines and Dr. Lick's Standing in the Shadow of Motown.  
 
What I'd like to get out my next book is help building a groove or interesting line just from looking at a progression of chords.  Ideas?  
 
Kevin
 
(Message edited by goatfoot on April 06, 2004)

[effclef]

Keavin, I don't have any shots of it, but it's a 1983-84 Aria PRO II RSB Series bass. Looks like a blonde P bass - single split P pickup, volume, tone. Clear finish, ash body/maple neck and white pickguard. Around 1987 I stuck black hardware on it, and put a Seymour Duncan active pickup in it. I took that out before giving it to my niece. :-)  I figured she would never remember to unplug it!
 
I've only seen one on the Net for sale before, just like mine, and like an idiot I didn't save the JPG.  
 
If I get a chance, I will snap a shot of it sometime soon. For what it was, it was a decent little bass, and made in Japan. It didn't strike me until I played other basses that the frets were REALLY small - guitar frets perhaps?  
 
EffClef

[keavin]

one good thing is,  its still in the family.

[effclef]

Well, Keavin, it surprised me that she liked it so much. I mean it doesn't look GOTH like all the kids seem to want nowadays. I emphasized that I didn't want it back, and that it was hers forever, and that if she wanted to plaster it with stickers or whatever, it's her choice. She said she wouldn't do that because she likes the look as it is.  
 
The store I bought it from, around the time I had my own lessons there (1985?) had two Alembics hanging high on the wall behind the counter. I could not believe the look of them - I asked what woods they were, and they said one was coco bolo and the other was quilted maple. I believe they were both Series I basses in the standard point style and I remember at least one price tag was $1600.  
 
Kevin, as for instructional book, I am impressed with Bass Guitar for Dummies. For under $20 it seems like a nice one. They do have chapters on building grooves. Instead of the next new CD, pick that up and see if you like it!
 
EffClef

[effclef]

Well my niece's second lesson went very well. The instructor decided to teach her that rock and roll is based a lot of times on the pentatonic scale. So to begin, he had her do the C minor pentatonic scale:
 
C Eb F G Bb C - C minor pentatonic
1 b3 4 5 b7 1 - scale functions
 
Basic minor pentatonic scale
 
|-b3--|-----|--4--|-----| -G string
|-b7--|-----|--1--|-----|
|--4--|-----|--5--|-----|
|--1--|-----|-----|-b3--| -E string
 
Starting on the 8th fret of the E string...
 
He got her grooving the following:
1-b3-1, b3-4-b3, 4-5-4, etc etc.
 
Then he began playing the same groove on his bass, and so she had to follow along at the same time. She had lots of false starts but he kept encouraging her.  
 
Eventually, she made four repetitions without missing a beat. She was shocked and very pleased with herself. I pointed out that hey, twenty minutes ago, she didn't know how to do that!
 
Next, he picked a groove out of the Bass Guitar for Dummies book, and played it on the CD player to let her hear the timing. (He was impressed that the book teaches by fretboard diagrams, tablature, and clef.)  
 
She learned that groove, which only had four different pitches, in a couple of minutes, and again, he made her follow along in sync with his bass.
 
I am very impressed by this young teacher. He is doing a great job of inspiring and educating the both of us. And what really impresses me, and what is UNLIKE most bass books I struggled with so many years ago, is that he is starting her out up high on the neck, where it is easier to physically reach the frets. That takes SO much of the difficulty and frustration out.
 
She's doing great, and couldn't be more excited about playing bass guitar.
 
EffClef

[palembic]

Brother Andy,
 
that IS GREAT!
What i really like about that teacher is that HE JOINED with her. Bass-playing is for me still 90% about playing TOGETHER. Even just MUSIC PLAYING is about playing together and feeling the bond that start to lock.
An amazing feeling, you know that, and I am sure your niece feels it too now!!
 
Paul the bad one

[bracheen]

My original bass teacher was a guitar player by trade.  He would show me things on the bass and then join me with his guitar.  That was not only educational but fun!  I'm convinced that one can only progress so far alone.  To really advance other musicians are needed not only for perspective but motivation.  Playing scales or even with cds gets boring after awhile.  Joining with others keeps the excitement alive and provides comaraderie.
 
Sam

[effclef]

Paul TBO - yes, I was impressed that he did that also. Like Arlo Guthrie, she sometimes had to wait for it to come around again (Alice's Restaurant) but she was VERY very pleased with herself when she was able to repeat the pattern three times with him without stumbling.
 
He told her she should get a metronome but playing with him is good practice also. I have a small Korg metronome that _I_ should also be using. It does odd meters, triplets with the center note omitted, etc etc - very handy for hearing what the ink on the page should sound like.  
 
He also mentioned that one of his flaws when starting out was to learn scales all the way up and down the neck - lots of practice made him good at that, but he found later on that it did not exactly teach him how to play _music_. I am glad he is mixing things up with theory, scales, and at least one groove to make her hear what a bassline should sound like.  
 
Sam, what is a good way to find other musicians to play with? For my niece, she has lots of contact with school friends, but how does an adult do so?  
 
EffClef

[bracheen]

Hang out at music shops.  If you take your instrument in for service or setup, just start talking to people. At clubs talk to the musicians at break about gear or whatever.  You have a guarenteed common interest.  I've had offers to play on the spot just by comparing equipment with a bass player during his smoke break.  If you're confident enough in your playing open mike nights can be good.  I know other musicians through work, my wife's work.  Her former boss is in a cover band.  They've invited me to sit in with them. Old friends,I bet you know someone who plays guitar. I don't know if you go to church or if so what kind of music program they have but talk to those guys.  We're all over the place, like a plague.
It's kind of like meeting people to go out with.  But like dating don't be over aggresive.  You wouldn't want to walk up to someone and say Hi I'm Andy. Do you wanna play with me?  Get to know folks and develop friendships and let it happen.  For a naturally shy guy like me it can take real effort but can also be worth the pain of coming out of my shell. Which by the way gets easier as I get older.
This speach makes me sound like an old pro.  I'm not, I'm pretty much a rookie with others because of self esteem issues but it's getting better.  The more you let others hear you, the less it's a big deal.
Good luck.
 
Sam

[palembic]

I started playing bands on regular basis when I was 42. I'm 49 years old now and going steady now with 2 bands you know: BLUE STUFF and DRIVE. BLUE STUFF was the one I stared with and I just reacted on a small add in a music-store. They asked a bass-player and I the small poster was very modest and simple. I went to the audition (only later I heard there were 2 other candidates) and was chosen ...well ...on the spot.
We all have about the same age, Luc -our singer in BLUES STUFF- is our dean with 57 years.  
In DRIVE I'm with younger people: around 30.
I'm not the taking the front player but because my ...hm ...how should I put this ...format  + the bass + the rig ...well ...it's difficult to look Around me. LOL
 
Paul the bad one
 
 
Sam, playlist is coming!!!!

[son_of_magni]

The best music theory I have ever seen:
John Brimhall's Complete Theory Notebook
 
Everything from the notes on the staff to modes and the cycle of 5'ths.  Everyone I have lent it to has learned lots from it.  It's just a little book, maybe 60 pages, easy to go through and has quizzes, etc...
 
No idea if you can still get it, mine has copyright '69!
SoM

[David Houck]

It appears to be out of print; but right now there is one used at Amazon for 19.95.

[son_of_magni]

That's pretty cool.  Mine still has the sticker on the back: $5.95.  Just a good little book with all the basics presented in a straight forward manner.

[effclef]

A brief update. My niece had her fourth lesson this week and the instructor and I were both astonished at her ability. Though she still needs to be careful of buzzing frets, her MEMORY for where the notes are really surprises us.
 
He showed her how to make arpeggios on the C scale. He had her run 1-3-5 from each of the seven (eight) notes. This included major, minor, and I believe the VII was a diminished arpeggio.  
 
First he had her do it starting with each root on the A string, and just running up the neck for each the next root note to do the next arpeggio. Then he had her do this across all four strings, starting on the E.  
 
Now, it was a fairly fast lesson, done without diagrams - just show and tell, and as he wrote out her notes on paper he had her replay the arpeggios - she did it from memory, pretty much perfectly. As a spectator, I couldn't have memorized things that fast!
 
We were really, really impressed. I think if she sticks with it, she's going to be a natural.  
 
EffClef