New Beginnings: Exploring New Bass Tunings (and String Counts)
Q: I have been playing bass professionally for over 15 years, but I’ve recently decided to expand my horizons by tuning one of my 5 string basses E-C. I decided to do this after playing a six string bass in a music store one day and realizing how easy it was to play lines across the fingerboard in a lower...
Jazz Box: A Look at the Chord and Scale Reference App for iOS
Jazz Box, in my humble opinion, has just helped to fulfill a need for a thorough, high quality harmonic study app. While not perfect and not 100% inclusive of every harmonic consideration, it goes way beyond any of the other apps I have seen in explaining scale considerations in the jazz idiom, spelling out various chords and explaining what certain...
Connecting with the Drummer: A Discussion for Bassists
Q: I’ve found myself in a situation where I can’t set up a musical connection with my drummer. It’s been three months of rehearsals, but I just don’t feel comfortable playing, the rhythm-sections suffers and we don’t sound good. In my other bands, the great, non-verbal communication came right after one or two rehearsals. I realize I am also responsible....
No Bass Amp? A Guide to Hearing Yourself Practice
Q: My amp and most of my gear got confiscated when I got to college because they said it was a fire hazard. What do you recommend for some amp-less ways for me to get my sound amplified? I really have no idea. A: My first question is: what kind of amp did you have that was such a fire...
Beatronome: A Look at the Metronome App for iOS
Ever since I got my first iOS device, I’ve become a bit of a metronome junkie. I’m endlessly curious about how many ways one can implement time keeping into a design aesthetic and how many functions can developers think of doing. I’m also a fan of minimalism… I love a great, bare bones design: no fluff, no fat, just what...
Bass Players: Get Out of the Shed and Into the World
Q: I practice a lot, but I don’t get to play music with other people all that often. How important do you think it is that I play with other actual humans? A: The short answer? Extremely important. There is no shortage of reasons why this is important, but here are the most important in my book: Feedback! What you...
Life as a Bassist: Balancing Art and Income
Q: I do regular cover gigs, but I also play with a few original artists and I’m worried about them conflicting. I was wondering how you balance your “work” gigs with your “fun” gigs? A: I have touched on this in previous columns, but this is a topic worthy of its own dedicated discussion. For starters, this is a subjective...
iHarmony: A Look at the Music Theory App for iOS
iHarmony is an app described by its creator as “a fully complete collection of scales, chords & harmonizations…” The harmonization part of the description describes what is actually a list of chord qualities for every note in a given mode (i.e.: Maj7, -7, -7, Maj7, Dom7, -7 & -7(b5) for the Major modes), which is quite handy. While I wouldn’t...
Rhythm Bass? What To Do When the Rhythm Guitar is Missing
Q: I play bass in a rock/metal band with only one guitarist, who does plenty of guitar solos. I was wondering if you had suggestions on how to fill up the space, so to speak, to overcome the lack of rhythm guitar. Any insight you might have would be greatly appreciated! A: Although it’s been a while since I played...
Creating Bass Lines: Getting Your Mind Right
Q: I’m struggling with the thought process behind coming up with bass lines. What advice would you give for ways to approach and think about constructing lines? A: This is another question that is ripe for comments, as everyone probably has something unique to them going through their minds when developing a bass line. To start, a lot of what...
Rhythm Calculator: A Look at the Rhythm Helper App for iOS
I just discovered JET Powered Apps’s Rhythm Calculator app, a gem of an app I guarantee will live on my phone for quite some time, and I suspect that’ll be true for you other iOS device-carrying folks as well. Rhythm Calculator is exactly what the name suggests: an interface that allows you to enter rhythms of most any type, in...
Playing a Gig with No Prep Time: A Guide for Bass Players
Q: I will soon be filling in on a gig with no rehearsals or charts. I’m a little freaked out. They said we’d get a few minutes during sound check to run through a tune or two, but how can I expect to play well when I can’t really prepare? A: I feel your pain, friend! In the scenario you...