Practice Concepts: Using A Drone With Fretless

Simple practice tip for fretless: Use a drone to practice with so you are always playing against a tonal reference.

Having studied North Indian music, I decided to utilize their concept of 'drone' (playing with a tambura) into my daily practice regimen as it really helps in getting your ears together on fretless bass.

So an easy way to set this up for practice is to use a software program. I personally use Ableton Live and have a whole practice set-up that I use so it is always ready to go. I have drones in all 12 keys set-up plus various chord sequences drum beats and meters all ready to go so I don't have top waste time setting materials up. I am also always adding new materials to it as I need. It really has become an indispensable tool for my practicing.



I then practice scales, arpeggios, and more with the drone so I am always referencing a tonal center. You can do this with tunes and melodies as well. Also, you can try playing with a drone that isn't the tonal center; from the fifth, fourth, third, or wherever. (try from a half-step!) This makes you hear the intervals in a new context. I feel this has really helped in getting my ears together and I hope it helps you out!

Practice Concepts: Getting A Grasp On The 12 Keys

Feeling bogged down and overwhelmed with learning all of your scales, arpeggios, and modes in all 12 keys? Try this great practice idea I got from the great bassist, Putter Smith.

Practice scales and arpeggios at the pace of one key a week. I thought this was a brilliant idea as it takes a big subject and breaks it down into manageable parts. So, instead of trying to cram all of your major and minor scales, arpeggios, plus modes; in all 12 keys, into your daily practice, proceed weekly through the Circle of 4ths. (You can also use the Circle of 5ths if you prefer) So on Monday of you first week of practice, you start in the key of 'C', then the following Monday you move to 'F', 'Bb' after that, and so on... After 12 weeks, you are back at 'C'.


This way of practicing takes a longer time to unfold as you are on a 12-week cycle (You do get through all 12 keys at least 4 times a year); but remember, we're running a marathon here, not a sprint. The 'up' side is that in the long run, you end up with a more thorough understanding of all of the various keys. Also, you don't spend your entire practice time only working on mechanics and burn yourself out. This way of practicing allows you to make this daunting subject manageable so you can get on to other musical items like learning tunes, playing techniques, and whatnot.

Hope this helps!

Dr. John Ciambotti

I just learned today that Dr. John Ciambotti has passed on. He was my chiropractor for years, but so much more. He was the bassist in the underground, influential band Clover, who became Elvis Costello's back-up band on My Aim Is True, Huey Lewis' band (Had songwriting credit on a song or two on Huey Lewis album "Sports"), he played and managed Lucinda Williams, played with John Prine, turned down the Rolling Stones when Bill Wyman left the band, had stories of hanging with just about everybody in Rock & Roll.

He helped a lot of musicians in LA with repetitive motion problems, I benefited greatly from him and know many who have. We always shot the shit at our appointments and talked "shop". He was way into playing upright bass again. My heart goes out to his family.

Dr. John will be sorely missed.

Gig Advice from Dave Carpenter

I was fortunate enough to study with the great bassist Dave Carpenter (Allan Holdsworth, Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Boz Skaggs, Peter Erskine) for about a year-and-a-half while I was attending CalArts and I learned a lot from him about music and professionalism. I remember that he had some great, simple advice about the requirements for taking a gig.

Dave's simple criteria is as follows:

1. Who's it with?-You don't want to turn down a gig to play with a big name or a local guy that will take your career to the next level and provide you with real opportunity.
   
2. Where's it at?-You want to make sure you can physically get to the gig and you need to know if the gig is down the street or possibly in another state or country.
   
3. How much? You want to know what you will be compensated for your time and skills.

This was the order. Notice that money was last. Dave's reasoning was this. If you are offered a gig with Wayne Shorter at a club 5 miles away, but it only paid $50 bucks, you take it. The exposure alone was worth the little money and you get to play with Wayne!

If you are offered a casual gig with a top forty group in 120 miles away, but it pays $300, you take it. Money compensates you for the 7 or more hours of time to do your job.

If Murph and the Magic Tones calls you for a gig at the Holiday Inn, 90 miles away for $25, you can respectfully decline (unless you are really hard up!)

The thing I really liked about this is that it really puts the music and your experience first. If the above scenarios all were offered on the same evening, the Wayne Shorter gig for $50 is still probably the gig to take because simply, the exposure would most likely pay you back ten-fold to the higher paying casual and it takes less of your time. As well, it still gives you time to schedule other gigs or lessons with students before the evenings performance.

Top Ten Electric Miles Davis Recordings

I decided to list my top ten favorite Miles Davis recordings of the electric period. Miles is not just one of the biggest musicians of all time, but one of the biggest artists of all time- regardless of discipline. His entire career output is of the highest quality, extremely forward thinking, and extremely varied. I am a big fan of all of his periods, but the area I think he his going to be remembered the most is for his revolutionary electric period. In this period he not only created cutting edge music, but he actually invented a new genre or two and with 'On The Corner', he and Teo Macero pioneered and revolutionized modern record making techniques. Don't listen to those who say he sold out, they just simply have not listened. Miles' electric period, especially in the early stages before his first retirement is some of the most challenging listening you will encounter. The music is groove-oriented dissonance which keeps me going back again and again. Plus, you have the extremely amazing bass playing of Michael Henderson, one of my favorites bassists period.

So here it is:

1. On the Corner
   
2. Bitches Brew
   
3. In Concert: Live at Philharmonic Hall
   
4. In a Silent Way
   
5. Agharta
   
6. A Tribute to Jack Johnson
   
7. Live-Evil
   
8. Pangaea
   
9. Dark Magus: Live At Carnegie Hall
   
10. Get Up with It
    

Ornette Coleman's 2007 Lifetime Achievement Speech

I found a transcript of Ornette Colemans 2007 Lifetime Achievement award, acceptance speech on The Jazz Clinic blog by Matt (no last name and actually from his old blog site) and even though it is about three years old now, I thought it was too good, beautiful, and timeless to pass up. I remember Aashish Khan (who himself was also nominated along with Zakir Hussain for best world music album that year at the Grammies) attended the party and told me about what a beautiful speech Ornette had given that night.

image by Frank Schindelbeck

Here it is:

Ornette Coleman:

It is really very, very real to be here tonight, in relationship to life and death and I’m sure they both love each other.

I really don’t have any present thoughts about why I’m standing here other than trying to figure out something to say that could be useful to someone that believes.

One of the things I am experiencing is very important and that is: You don’t have to die to kill and you don’t have to kill to die. And above all, nothing exists that is not in the form of life because life is eternal with or without people so we are grateful for life to be here at this very moment.

For myself, I’d rather be human than to be dead. And I would also die to be human. So you can’t die, you can’t die to be neither one, regardless of what you say or think so that’s why I believe that music itself is eternal in relationship to sound, meaning, intelligence…all the things that have to have something to do with being alive because you were born and because someone else made it possible for you to be here, which we call our parents etc. etc.

For me, the most eternal thing is that I would like to live until I learn what it is and what it isn’t…that is, how do we kill death since it kills everything?

And it’s hard to realize that being in the human form is not as easy as wondering what is going to happen to you even if you do know what it is and it doesn’t depend on if you know what is going to happen to you.

No one can know anything that life creates since no one is life itself. And it’s obvious, at least I believe, it’s obvious the one reason why we as human beings get there and do things that seem to be valuable to us in relationship to intelligence… uh, what is it called…creativity and love and all the things that have to do with waking up every morning believing it’s going to be a better day today or tomorrow and yet at the same time death, life, sadness, anger, fear, all of those things are present at the same time as we are living and breathing.

It is really, really eternal, this that we are constantly being created as human beings to know that exists and it’s really, really unbelievable to know that nothing that’s alive can die unless it’s been killed. So what we should try to realize is to remove that part of what it is so that whatever we are, life is all there is and I thank you very much.

Jeff Berlin-Impact and Thoughts

I was lucky enough to study with electric bass great, Jeff Berlin a couple of times throughout my life; while I was at Musicians Institute (although I was 18 and intimidated and mostly just sat and listened to his playing), privately at The Bass Centre, when it was near Laurel Canyon (now only in London), and lastly when he taught for a year at CalArts, right before he started his Players School in Clearwater, FL.

He is, without a doubt, one of the top-two, best pedagogical experiences I have ever had for tonal improvisation. (Gary Willis and him are tied as far as I'm concerned. Both an extreme wealth of information.) I still work on the material he gave me 15 years ago; partly from procrastination on my part and mostly because of the overwhelming amount of information to absorb!

Jeff's material is not always the best in my opinion, but his playing is undeniable. A true master. Forget what people think or say about him and listen to what he plays, it is of the highest caliber and unlike any other bass player out there. No licks, all idea-based improvisation, and all with a deep knowledge of harmonic thinking.

Listen: Bass Solo on "Manos de Piedra"
Listen: Bass Solo on "Water On The Brain Pt.2"
Listen: Unaccompanied Bass solo "Dixie"


As an extra: There is a lot of bullshit reactions on the internet about Jeff (from people who don't know Jeff, or have ever met him quite frankly) and some of his pedagogical beliefs: not using metronomes, fretless bass, 5 & 6 string basses, anti-tablature, and so on. The fact of the matter is that these are his truths and he is passionate about them. A lot of people thought Charles Mingus or Miles Davis were a dicks as well. Doesn't negate their genius, end of story.

I have to say when I studied with him, I was (and still am) a 5-string, fretless bass player and you know what? He called me on it and I explained that this is what I wanted to do (I had been playing fretless exclusively for 4 years in 1994, when I last studied with him. I didn't even own a fretted bass from 1990 to 1996). In the end, he told me, "To each his own" and talked about the extra work to get your ears developed and a couple of lessons later gave me my biggest compliment by saying that I "didn't sound like Jaco". I think that is THE highest compliment a fretless player can hear after so many were subjected to third-rate Jaco clones for so many years.

Also, on the matter of metronomes, even though Jeff doesn't advise using metronomes*, I have used metronomes all throughout my practice time, clicking only on 2&4, only on 1,2,3, or 4, etc. I think they can help a bit, but I also think that using a metronome hasn't been the major reason for success in my time feel. Over the last couple of years, I have become a bit ambivalent about them. I attribute "good time" more to the learning and thinking in subdivisions that studying Indian Tala has taught me, i.e.: What speed (subdivision) are we in? 2 speed (1/8th), 4-speed (1/16th), 3-speed (12/8)? I think that in thinking in this way, It has become easier to play with metronomes.

Let's be clear: That is the opposite effect of what is supposed to be the prescribed course of "playing w/ metronome=good time".

My observations.

*(He's hardly the only one. Tabla master, Swapan Chaudhuri also told his tala class on the first day not to use a metronome; as well, I heard West African drummer Alfred Ladzekpo tell his class to listen for speeding up and slowing down instead of using a metronome)