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How to Study… What to Study?
That’s a very important question don’t you think so? Well, I think the same, so in this month’s article I will mention very briefly the subjects that I consider the most important for a bassist to learn. Obviously the intention of this article is just to serve as a guide for your study and not to be the subject of study itself, because for something like that we’d need about ten thousand articles more….
Rhythm
In my opinion this is the essential subject for a bassist, the first one to address and the first one to care about. Here are my suggestions:
1) First of all understand the most important concepts like Rhythm, Beat, Time, Tempo, Time or Meter Signature, Measure, etc.
2) Then it‘s important to start developing the sensibility for being able to keep a steady speed with the beat. This is the same as when a person starts learning to drive a car. At the beginning when you are trying to keep a straight line, once the car starts slightly to move to the left you won’t notice that immediately, and when you notice that it will be usually too late, so you’ll have the tendency to over-correct the steering wheel to the right and eventually your “straight line” will look like a “snake”.
Practicing hard with a metronome will help you out with this task like no other device or weird way of practicing will, and this is because this device will help you to develop your internal sense of pulse which is controlled by your nervous system that in charge to develop a so called “Micro Circadian Sense of Time” within your body.
3) Learn to subdivide a beat. That means subdividing it in 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 etc. parts and make connections (slurs or dots) within each of those parts. I suggest starting to manage the subdivisions of 2 and 4 fractions of a beat and then continue with the other subdivisions to eventually be able to play Triplets, Quintuplets, Sextuplets and Septuplets too. Learn then how to subdivide more than one beat, like 2 beats subdivided in 3 parts etc. The limit is the sky here.
4) Study the different time signatures by learning how to build “groups of beats” separated by a strong accent, obtaining on this process the different “Meters”. That means you must be able to understand and feel the sensation of 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 etc. groups of beats by accentuating on the very first beat of each group that have a pair number of beats and also (but softer) over the beat that’s right in the middle.
On the groups that have an odd number of beats (apart from accentuating strongly on the first beat) you’ll need to get use to accent (softer) over the beats that are right on the side of the “center” of that group of beats (measure).
5) Get used to recognizing the different rhythmic figures and get use to their different time value depending on the time signature gradually increasing your reading speed.
Melody
1) Study deeply the main concepts involved within this subject, like Intervals, Key Signatures, Scales, Modes, etc.
2) You have to go through a profound study of the main scales we use to play in occidental music. I suggest putting the most of your energy on studying The Major Scale, The Melodic Minor Scale, The Harmonic Minor Scale and The Pentatonic Scale, each of them with all their respective modes.
3) Practice recognizing “by ear” all the possible intervals, and also (if you don’t have an absolute pitch) try to get use to singing a C note (or any other note) whenever you want to use it as a reference to be able to get any of the other notes “by the interval”.
3) Learn to sing any scale and interval you play. You must develop musicality in the first place… please never forget that.
4) Get familiar with terms like Inversions, Alterations, Extensions, Triadic Chromatic Approach, Displaced permutations, etc.
5) Get used to recognizing the notes on the staff and on the fretboard gradually increasing your reading speed.
Harmony
1) The intervals are the main topic to manage on this subject too, so when you study them never forget that this will help both your melodic and harmonic knowledge and skills.
2) Study all the chord species (Major, minor, diminished, etc.), all the extensions, all the Slashed Chords and Polychords. Obviously you must learn to identify and to write the proper notation for every chord.
3) Try to play all that chords on your bass identifying the different voices, and trying to sing them. The vast majority of the chords can be played on a 4-string bass.
4) Study the relation of all the different chords with each of the modal scales.
5) Understand the progressions and the many ways to connect a chord with another chord. Get familiar with terms like Secondary Dominants, Substitute Dominants, Tritones, Extended Dominants, Secondary Relative Minor Substitutes, etc…
Technique
(Assuming you are a right handed person)
1) Start to build your technique from the right hand to the left and not the opposite.
2) The open strings are just enough to build a good right hand pizzicato technique. In relation with that, please always consider not repeating the fingers, and sweeping every time you can, don’t hit the strings just push them, always look for the minimum movement (the smallest possible) so helping you out with increasing your speed, but never compromise the sound, prefer the floating thumb technique, and finally avoid bending your wrist as much as you can.
3) Diversify your technique study and also practice slapping, palm muting, harmonics, and the different kinds of tapping techniques, but always take into consideration what technique you’ll be using the most depending on the music style you wish to play. After assessing that put the main energy on that specific technique. What I’m trying to say is that it is not necessary to spend crazy amounts of time and energy on a technique you will never or almost never play, affecting with that the practice time of the techniques you will be using a lot.
4) Consider always your anatomical characteristics before “buying” anything you read (including this article), because something that can be proper for person A won’t be proper for person B… please never forget that. There are concepts that are applicable to everyone though.
5) Regarding the left hand, never forget the Lower Pressure Point, keep your elbow close to your waist and escape as far as you can from those teachers that want you to apply “Upright Bass Left Hand Techniques” to the Electric bass.
6) Finally… relaxation is the “Holly Grail” of Technique… if you don’t start by controlling this aspect.., all the other aspects will be completely useless.
Integrating and Applying
Once you feel you can manage all this information at a certain level that you feel confident with, you must start integrating all these subjects and focusing on other topics that are just as important as the main subjects.
Focus on mastering topics like Dynamics, Agogics, Improvisational Resources and Concepts like Q&A, Chordal improvisation, Melodic Improvisation, etc… communicate with the musicians of the band while you are playing, develop creativeness through the constant singing of original melodies (doesn’t matter if it’s while you are in the shower), always practice different rhythms tapping with your feet and hands, (it doesn’t matter if it’s on the surface of a table, over your thighs or wherever). You really don’t need your bass all the time to be able to develop musical skills… don’t forget that!
See you in my next article my friends… and don’t miss the great articles of my colleagues too!!!
Bass CDs
New Album: Jake Leckie, Planter of Seeds
Bassist Jake Leckie and The Guide Trio Unveil New Album Planter of Seeds,
to be released on June 7, 2024
Planter of Seeds is bassist/composer Jake Leckie’s third release as a bandleader and explores what beauty can come tomorrow from the seeds we plant today.
What are we putting in the ground? What are we building? What is the village we want to bring our children up in? At the core of the ensemble is The Guide Trio, his working band with guitarist Nadav Peled and drummer Beth Goodfellow, who played on Leckie’s second album, The Guide, a rootsy funky acoustic analog folk-jazz recording released on Ropeadope records in 2022. For Planter of Seeds, the ensemble is augmented by Cathlene Pineda (piano), Randal Fisher (tenor saxophone), and Darius Christian (trombone), who infuse freedom and soul into the already tightly established ensemble.
Eight original compositions were pristinely recorded live off the floor of Studio 3 at East West Studios in Hollywood CA, and mastered by A.T. Michael MacDonald. The cover art is by internationally acclaimed visual artist Wayne White. Whereas his previous work has been compared to Charles Mingus, and Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet with Charlie Haden, Leckie’s new collection sits comfortably between the funky odd time signatures of the Dave Holland Quintet and the modern folk-jazz of the Brian Blade Fellowship Band with a respectful nod towards the late 1950s classic recordings of Ahmad Jamal and Miles Davis.
The title track, “Planter of Seeds,” is dedicated to a close family friend, who was originally from Trinidad, and whenever she visited family or friends at their homes, without anyone knowing, she would plant seeds she kept in her pocket in their gardens, so the next season beautiful flowers would pop up. It was a small altruistic anonymous act of kindness that brought just a little more beauty into the world. The rhythm is a tribute to Ahmad Jamal, who we also lost around the same time, and whose theme song Poinciana is about a tree from the Caribbean.
“Big Sur Jade” was written on a trip Leckie took with his wife to Big Sur, CA, and is a celebration of his family and community. This swinging 5/4 blues opens with an unaccompanied bass solo, and gives an opportunity for each of the musicians to share their improvisational voices. “Clear Skies” is a cathartic up-tempo release of collective creative energies in fiery improvisational freedom. “The Aquatic Uncle” features Randal Fisher’s saxophone and is named after an Italo Calvino short story which contemplates if one can embrace the new ways while being in tune with tradition. In ancient times, before a rudder, the Starboard side of the ship was where it was steered from with a steering oar. In this meditative quartet performance, the bass is like the steering oar of the ensemble: it can control the direction of the music, and when things begin to unravel or become unhinged, a simple pedal note keeps everything grounded.
The two trio tunes on the album are proof that the establishment of his consistent working band The Guide Trio has been a fruitful collaboration. “Santa Teresa”, a bouncy samba-blues in ? time, embodies the winding streets and stairways of the bohemian neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro it is named for. The swampy drum feel on “String Song” pays homage to Levon Helm of The Band, a group where you can’t always tell who wrote the song or who the bandleader is, proving that the sum is greater than the individual parts. Early jazz reflected egalitarianism in collective improvisation, and this group dynamic is an expression of that kind of inclusivity and democracy.
“The Daughters of the Moon” rounds out the album, putting book ends on the naturalist themes. This composition is named after magical surrealist Italo Calvino’s short story about consumerism, in which a mythical modern society that values only buying shiny new things throws away the moon like it is a piece of garbage and the daughters of the moon save it and resurrect it. It’s an eco-feminist take on how women are going to save the world. Pineda’s piano outro is a hauntingly beautiful lunar voyage, blinding us with love. Leckie dedicates this song to his daughter: “My hope is that my daughter becomes a daughter of the moon, helping to make the world a more beautiful and verdant place to live.”
Bass CDs
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
In a thrilling solo debut, bassist Nate Sabat combines instrumental virtuosity with a songwriter’s heart on Bass Fiddler…
The upright bass and the human voice. Two essential musical instruments, one with roots in 15th century Europe, the other as old as humanity itself.
On Bass Fiddler (Adhyâropa Records ÂR00057), the debut album from Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and bass virtuoso Nate Sabat, the scope is narrowed down a bit. Drawing from the rich and thriving tradition of American folk music, Sabat delivers expertly crafted original songs and choice covers with the upright bass as his lone tool for accompaniment.
The concept was born a decade ago when Sabat began studying with the legendary old-time fiddler Bruce Molsky at Berklee College of Music. “One of Bruce’s specialties is singing and playing fiddle at the same time. The second I heard it I was hooked,” recalls Sabat. “I thought, how can I do this on the bass?” From there, he was off to the races, arranging original and traditional material with Molsky as his guide. “Fast forward to 2020, and I — like so many other musicians — was thinking of how to best spend my time. I sat down with the goal of writing some new songs and arranging some new covers, and an entire record came out.” When the time came to make the album, it was evident that Molsky would be the ideal producer. Sabat asked him if he’d be interested, and luckily he was. “What an inspiration to work with an artist like Nate,” says Molsky. “Right at the beginning, he came to this project with a strong, personal and unique vision. Plus he had the guts to try for a complete and compelling cycle of music with nothing but a bass and a voice. You’ll hear right away that it’s engaging, sometimes serious, sometimes fun, and beautifully thought out from top to bottom.”
While this record is, at its core, a folk music album, Sabat uses the term broadly. Some tracks lean more rock (‘In the Shade’), some more pop (‘White Marble’, ‘Rabid Thoughts’), some more jazz (‘Fade Away’), but the setting ties them all together. “There’s something inherently folksy about a musician singing songs with their instrument, no matter the influences behind the compositions themselves,” Sabat notes. To be sure, there are plenty of folk songs (‘Louise’ ‘Sometimes’, ‘Eli’) and fiddling (‘Year of the Ox’) to be had here — the folk music fan won’t go hungry. There’s a healthy dose of bluegrass too (‘Orphan Annie’, ‘Lonesome Night’), clean and simple, the way Mr. Bill Monroe intended.
All in all, this album shines a light on an instrument that often goes overlooked in the folk music world, enveloping the listener in its myriad sounds, textures, and colors. “There’s nothing I love more than playing the upright bass,” exclaims Sabat. “My hope is that listeners take the time to sit with this album front to back — I want them to take in the full scope of the work. I have a feeling they’ll hear something they haven’t heard before.”
Available online at natesabat.bandcamp.com/album/walking-away
Gear News
New Gear: Esopus Guitars Launches New Acoustic/Electric Bass
Esopus Guitars Launches New Acoustic/Electric Bass…
Esopus Guitars is proud to announce the new “Tailwater” bass guitar, from legendary bass luthier Stuart Spector. This 32” scale bass is handcrafted by Stuart using the only finest woods and components at the Esopus Guitar workshop located near Woodstock NY in the Catskill Mountains.
From its fully carved spruce top (the top is carved on both its exterior and interior surfaces) with a thumb rest that is elegantly carved into the top, to its custom-made Fishman piezo pickup and super hard Carnauba wax finish, every detail of the Tailwater is part of creating the ultimate playing experience.
The Tailwater bass features a fully chambered spruce over alder body (15.5″ lower body bout width, 2.25″ body thickness measuring from the peak of the carved top) that delivers a super comfortable tonal tool for all your low-end needs.
Each Tailwater bass is hand-signed and numbered on the back of the peghead by Stuart Spector. A very limited number of Tailwater basses are handcrafted each year at the Esopus workshop.
“I am proud to present the Tailwater bass, a bass that I have spent the last three years perfecting. The Tailwater is a culmination of all of my 45 years of experience, knowledge, and passion for bass guitar crafting. I am so eager to hear what fellow musicians create with this exciting new instrument.” -Stuart Spector
Direct Pricing : $4995.00 plus options.
For more information about Esopus Guitars and Stuart Spector’s handcrafted instruments, visit www.EsopusGuitars.com.
Bass Videos
Tour Touch Base (Bass) with Ian Allison
Ian Allison Bassist extreme…
Most recently Ian has spent the last seven years touring nationally as part of Eric Hutchinson and The Believers, sharing stages with acts like Kelly Clarkson, Pentatonix, Rachel Platten, Matt Nathanson, Phillip Phillips, and Cory Wong playing venues such as Radio City Music Hall, The Staples Center and The Xcel Center in St. Paul, MN.
I had a chance to meet up with him at the Sellersville Theater in Eastern Pennsylvania to catch up on everything bass. Visit online at ianmartinallison.com/
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This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
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Tour Touch Base (Bass) with Ian Allison
New Gear: Spector Woodstock Custom Collection Volume II
New Gear: The Dingwall John Taylor Signature Model
Interview With Bassist Edmond Gilmore
Have Fret Sprout? Sharp Fret Management… a How-To Video
This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Tour Touch Base (Bass) with Ian Allison
Interview With Audic Empire Bassist James Tobias
New Album: Avery Sharpe, I Am My Neighbors Keeper
