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Columns: How Tos, Advice & Lessons for Bass Players

Rhythms and Transcriptions: A How To Guide to Notating Rhythmic Patterns
Ask Damian Erskine

Rhythms and Transcriptions: A How To Guide to Notating Rhythmic Patterns

Q: I have a question about transcribing. I’m a pretty skilled player and can read, but I have a lot of problems writing down the rhythms that I hear either in my head or from a particular song. Any suggestions on how I should go about learning to notate more difficult rhythms? A: Rhythms can be tricky when you’re first...

Left Hand Thumb: Pressure
The Lowdown with Dr. D

Left Hand Thumb: Pressure

Note: For Left Hand Thumb positioning, check out the previous installment. When there is excess tension in the hands, the source is often improper use of the thumb and its corresponding muscles. The thumbs of both hands, just like all the fingers, should use minimum effort and pressure to achieve any particular technical goal. Pressure When in standard “neck position”...

Lazy Horns and Keeping Time
Ask Damian Erskine

Lazy Horns and Keeping Time

Q: I’ve started rehearsing with a big band and while I’m finding it a lot of fun and a good challenge, I’ve been having a hard time keeping the time. The horns seem to play way behind the beat much of the time and it just feels uncomfortable no matter what I do. If I try and lay back for...

The Most Influential Blues Bassists: Part 2
Blues Bass

The Most Influential Blues Bassists: Part 2

After reading the previous column in this two-part series, I’m hoping you’ve had a chance to check out some music featuring the playing of Willie Dixon and Duck Dunn. Their old school approaches to playing blues compliments the players they accompanied and reflects how novel full-band blues recordings were in the 1950’s and ’60’s. Early on, blues recordings typically only...

Custom Shop: An Interview with Grant Freifeld of Grant Bass
Custom Shop

Custom Shop: An Interview with Grant Freifeld of Grant Bass

Armed with passion and determination, Ontario-based bassist Grant Freifeld got his start building instruments after becoming disgusted with “cheap painted plywood guitars” and basses that are “someone else’s idea of custom.” After apprenticing with Joe Kovacic of Lado Guitars, Freifeld created his own brand, Grant Bass. His humility allows him to be more open to ideas, citing that expanding his...

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On Improvising: Modal vs. Chordal Approaches
Ask Damian Erskine

On Improvising: Modal vs. Chordal Approaches

Q: I’ve been playing for a little bit now and would consider myself a solid player, but I’m looking to really up my level of expression. There seems to be a dichotomy on modal vs. chordal approaches to theory, I figured I’d ask you where the break is. Both seem necessary, but some seem to think the modal stuff is...

Left Hand Thumb: Position
The Lowdown with Dr. D

Left Hand Thumb: Position

For all instrumentalists, excess tension should be a source of concern. We should work to eliminate it as much as possible. For string players, and especially bassists, excess tension can not only lead to technical and musical inaccuracies, but also to physical discomfort and injury. Sometimes these injuries can be resolved or worked around, other times they cannot. When serious...

Location, Location, Location. Does it Matter for a Pro Musician?
Ask Damian Erskine

Location, Location, Location. Does it Matter for a Pro Musician?

Q: Having read previous columns, I noticed that you’ve lived all over the US. I was wondering if you’d found that developing a music career was any more beneficial in one place than another. I live in Edinburgh, Scotland, and get the impression from a lot of musicians and friends that Glasgow, Scotland or London, England would be a better...

The Most Influential Blues Bassists: Part 1
Blues Bass

The Most Influential Blues Bassists: Part 1

One of the common bonds between a lot of us bass players is that we learned how to play by ear. Unlike other instruments, such as the clarinet or piano, we didn’t start out by taking private lessons, nor did we play in the fourth grade orchestra at school. Instead, we heard songs on the radio with cool bass lines...

Reading Requirements: Bass and Treble Clef?
Ask Damian Erskine

Reading Requirements: Bass and Treble Clef?

Q: I can already read treble clef fairly instinctively, having played the clarinet for years. I started playing jazz (on bass) a few months ago, and now can find my way around most lead sheets, but my question is: should I bother to learn bass clef, when treble clef feels more natural to me? I rarely have a need to...

Dr. D’s Guide to Improving Your Walking Bass Lines
The Lowdown with Dr. D

Dr. D’s Guide to Improving Your Walking Bass Lines

I regularly see students who are unhappy with their walking bass lines. Perhaps they don’t like how their lines lead (or don’t lead) from chord to chord. Perhaps they find themselves falling into predictable patterns over and over again. Perhaps their range is limited. Perhaps they just don’t find their lines satisfying. All of this can occur even when the...

All Bass, No Treble: When is a Bass Not “Bass”?
Columns

All Bass, No Treble: When is a Bass Not “Bass”?

Here at No Treble HQ, we watch a ton of bass videos, read a ton of email from bassists, and get all the news releases about everything bass. Our name is obviously an attempt at being clever. No Treble, after all, is another way of saying “All Bass”. We love the instrument, we love bassists, and we love where bass...