Archive for December 2017 - Page 5
Raymond Elgar’s Books On Double Bass Republished
If you’re interested in the history of the double bass, you may want to check out Stephen Street’s new republished editions of three books by Raymond Elgar: Introduction to the Double Bass, More About the Double Bass, and Looking At The Double Bass. Originally published in the 1960s, the books chronicle the double bass in three aspects. Introduction covers the...
Thin The Herd Guitars and Birdsong Guitars Announce the CBG 30.5 T-Bass
Thin The Herd Guitars recently collaborated with Scott Beckwith of Birdsong Guitars to create the CBG 30.5 T-Bass. The bass takes elements from each of the companies’ instruments. “Scott started with our familiar Model T body, then applied his signature ‘recipe’ for quality tone and ease-of-playability into the design. Loaded with EMG-sized, custom-wound PUNCHBUCKER Pickups – specified by Scott Beckwith....
Alex Canion: Bass Playthrough of Voyager’s “Ghost Mile”
Voyager’s Alex Canion gives us a closeup look at the bass line to the title track from the band’s 2017 album, Ghost Mile. Armed with a tone that will bite your face off, the bassist tears through the bass line with slapped notes for punctuation. “This song is deceptively hard to play live and it features a few different techniques;...
Top 10: The Most Watched Bass Videos (November 2017)
Time for one of our favorite top 10 lists of the month: the reader favorite videos. Here are the 10 most watched videos we shared in November, 2017. Thanks for watching, commenting and sharing. 1. Tim Akers & The Smoking Section: Uptown Funk Tim Akers & The Smoking Section is a group of stellar musicians in Nashville, anchored by bassist...
Dyslexia and Music
Q: I’m 28 and I have played bass since I was 18. I’ve always been a hard-working student but always had trouble in reading music, no matter how I hard I tried. Now I’m a bass student at the Palermo Conservatory in Sicily, and despite my very good grades in all other subjects, I keep having a hard time in...
Karl Clews: Run For Cover
Karl Clews recently sent us this video of his ambitious all-bass arrangement of Marcus Miller’s “Run for Cover.” Karl shared: “I imagine a lot of folks have a go at Marcus Miller’s iconic bass part for ‘Run For Cover’, but there probably aren’t many foolish enough to try playing the melody at the same time! Hope you like it!”
“On Air” Compiles Early Rolling Stones Recordings
Listen up, Rolling Stones fans: the legendary rock band has put out a new compilation album called On Air. The 18-song collection brings together live and studio performances from various BBC shows between 1963 and 1965, during which time Bill Wyman was starting to produce some of his most iconic bass lines. Tracks include takes of their classics “Come On”...
Fodera Reveals Masterbuilt Yin Yang Hybrid Bass
Fodera revealed their fourth and final Masterbuilt bass for the year, and it’s incredible. The Masterbuilt Yin Yang Hybrid combines two signature instruments to pay tribute to their respective owners: Victor Wooten and Anthony Jackson. “Not only are these two artists pioneers in their craft, but also in instrument design through our collaborative relationship,” the company writes. “It was because...
Tedeschi Trucks Band: The Letter
Tedeschi Trucks Band shared this excellent video from their performance at Gathering of the Vibes on July 31, 2015. The band perform’s Joe Cocker’s version of “The Letter,” with some typically wonderful bass lines by Tim Lefebvre.
Ron Carter’s Comprehensive Bass Method Reissued
Bass master Ron Carter has teamed up with 1630 Jazz Books to re-release his Comprehensive Bass Method instruction book and two song books. The 84-page bass method book builds on the original from the 1970s with “several of his compositions, a transcription, new photographs and video links to Ron demonstrating several exercises.” Designed for both upright and electric bass, it...
Bass of the Week: Mas Hino NYC Matador
Master luthier Mas Hino is a man that can appreciate the finer things in life. That’s why his bass design called the Matador is inspired by both Picasso and Lamborghini. “The Matador was inspired by Pablo Picasso. The shape is an acoustic guitar with an offset on the sides like Picasso’s guitar,” Hino writes. “The body line and shape was...
Bass Transcription Analysis: “I Start With The Blues” Bob Mintzer Sax Solo, Part 1
I’m kicking off a new series here for Creative Bass Lines. In this episode, we’ll take a look at a really great solo over a jazz 12 bar blues – performed and transcribed by sax great Bob Mintzer! We’re really fortunate to have this music for our lessons. Bob very kindly agreed to let me share this with you, so...