Jon Burr Archives - Page 2

We know that there are many flavors of dominant chord. Various upper extensions of the chord—or alterations of the fifth—suggest different harmonic environments, each with its own chordal scale and triad polychords expressing the arrays of extensions. We’ll explore the most commonly used of these chords and extensions in a future column—but first… What do these extensions mean for the...

In case you missed them, here are the top headlines from No Treble, for the week of October 12th. Lessons Jon Burr’s Pivots in Chord Inversions Evan Kepner’s Fingering Strategies for the Upright Bass Columns & Features Ask Damian Erskine: Reading Scenarios Ray’s Raving About… Kenny Werner’s “Effortless Mastery” Our Player Spotlight is on Mantis Evar We’re thrilled to welcome...

We’ve talked in previous columns about anchors and pivots occurring primarily on roots and fifths. What do we use for pivots in the case of chord inversions? We often see these inversions and other sorts of alternate bass notes in the form of compound chord symbols: C/Bb Bb/A Db/F Ebmin/Gb Go/C etc In these chords, there is a triad over...

All musicians benefit from practice with a metronome, yet many, if not most, musicians tend to avoid it some or all the time. The metronome can feel like a scolding tyrant reminding us of our incompetence, or maybe we want to get through our work quickly without the discipline of methodical practice, or maybe we believe that the metronome is...

In case you missed it, here are the No Treble highlights from the week of September 27th, 2009. We added a new Lessons section! Jon Burr‘s latest lesson focuses on the Stance on the Upright Bass. Donovan Stokes latest Lowdown with Dr. D. column, Making the Switch from Electric to Upright, Part 2, focuses on the right hand. Damian Erskine...

There are 2 elements that are helpful to gain fluency in all keys, making transposition much easier. The first is, learn fingerings avoiding open strings as much as possible, so that interval and visual mapping is consistent. The other is to learn to think by the numbers; think of each pitch not as its letter name, but as its numerical...

Evan Kepner takes us through his first in a 2-parter lesson, Thinking in Minor. Don’t miss Jon Burr’s incredibly popular lesson on Learning Tunes Quickly. Ray Riendeau is raving about… NPR. Our Player in the Spotlight is Steve Uccello. Damian Erskine covers Target Notes in his latest installment of Ask Damian Erskine. Videos Linley Marthe: Solo at New Morning Marco...

One of my Facebook friends raised the subject of remembering tunes, which led me to another thought: how do we learn tunes quickly? A seasoned bass player might not even know the tune you’re hearing him play. I used to go watch Bob Cranshaw play obscure tunes all night with Jimmy Rowles – nobody, I mean NOBODY knew all these...

In case you missed it, here are some of the most popular features from last week (September 6th through 12th). Jon Burr latest lesson covers the all important task of practicing chord changes. Damian Erskine answers a reader on the topic of a light vs. a hard touch. Evan Kepner provides a beginner’s guide to getting radio airplay. Bassist Darren...

Today’s lesson is a preview from Jon Burr’s forthcoming “Physical and Mental Programming for the Improvising Bassist”… In order to gain an understanding of how to practice effectively and efficiently, it is useful to have some understanding of the structure of the brain, mind and nervous system. It is possible to “practice” and not get better-or, even, to get worse,...

In case you missed it, here are some of the most popular features from last week (August 23rd through 28th). Features & Columns Lesson: Melodic Construction Jon Burr introduced a new lesson series, on melodic construction in improvisation. Player Spotlight: Adam Tanner Our player spotlight showcased the work of Adam Tanner (aka ZenBeer), a solo bassist from Ottawa, Ontario. Ask...

Another Look at Melodic Construction in Improvisation What do we play? Where does it come from? How do we make our own melody? The melody of the song or tune The rhythmic structure An alternative positive melodic statement derived from the harmonic or rhythmic environment, or a melody from another song that fits the “changes” The development, embellishment, and ornamentation...