Hi my “Bass” friends and colleagues,

I’m’ back… It’s great to be here again!

Thank you for the private emails about my lessons. I want you to remember, if you are new to my work, that this is a very long course about improvisation. I started these lessons in November 2008… it’s really a long and difficult run my friends. I know that these lessons could be a little boring if you don’t understand the reason of this course. Repetition is the key! Repeating similar exercises over and over create a solid foundation in your brain and muscles!

We worked over some chords, bass fingerboard training, ear training tips, be bop and chromatic approaches, plus various suggestions about technique, and transcriptions… so especially if you are a new follower, please check all past lessons. You can find it in the magazine or in my personal website.

Today I want to talk you about double time phrases. Always I want you to remember that I studied with the great Charlie Banacos… he gave me some incredible ideas to work with. You can find these ideas in my lessons. Charlie was number one.

This time I’ll show you a simple double time phrase using same ideas of past lessons. Double time phrase is an art and for me, it’s really magic. If you take a look at the exercise, you will see a combination of chord tones and chromatic approaches. The difference between old exercises and new is that this time you play sixteenth notes. If you find notes you don’t understand, stay calm and try to reason… you’ll find the answer! Hey my friend… I can’t show you all my secrets!

It’s time for usual homework assignment:

1) Take the exercise… What happens here? I wrote a simple solo phrase over dmin7 chord.

Remember: do not use a metronome! Only when you have the exercise “under your fingers”, can you can use a metronome. As usual play the exercise as fast as you can!

2) Transpose the exercise in all keys

3) Analyze how I used the notes and then write an exercise on your own. It’s primary!

4) Listen to Jazz records!

Good luck and have a great practice time!

Andrea