Archive for 2009 - Page 52

Q: how do you decide when to use your three-finger plucking technique or only play with two fingers (old school style. huh?). I mean, do you usually use three finger’s style for basic riffs and play solos with two (addin’ thumb only for triplets, for example)? I’m trying to learn that your technique now, so I’m curious if I’m right...

Bassist Chris Squire from Yes, the successful prog-rock group from the 1970’s gone classic rock/jazz/pop, recently talked about the band’s journey in an interview with azcentral.com over their four-decade career. Squire has been with Yes the entire time, but still did other work including the solo album “Fish Out of Water” released in 1975. When asked about Yes’s 40 years...

Sony/Legacy continues to release incredible 2-disc sets in celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, including the 50-minute performance by Sly and the Family Stone on August 16, 1969. To us, bassist Larry Graham was the anchor of this incredible performance and band, and he set the stage for a whole new generation of bassists to...

A recent piece by AllAboutJazz.com has highlighted the influential musical life of bassist Hugh Hopper. We covered his passing early in June from Leukemia. Hopper grew up in Canterbury area of England starting his music journey on guitar and alto saxophone. He joined Wilde Flowers with his friend and Robert Wyatt. the Wilde Flowers eventually evolved into both Soft Machine...

Legendary Motown bassist James Jamerson is to be inducted into the Fender Hall of Fame on August 7, 2009 held at the Tempe Center of the Arts in Tempe, Ariz. The Fender Hall of Fame was created in 2007 and has celebrated artists, innovators, leaders, and historically significant contributors to the Fender legacy annually as part of Fender’s missions to...

David Ellefson, bassist for F5, continues with his Rock Shop series on YouTube with “The Discipline of Practice”. Ellefson explains the many benefits to disciplined practice and ways to make the process enjoyable as well as productive.

Wilco has released their seventh album, Wilco (The Album), on NoneSuch Records. The album came together after the band’s January 2009 involvement in an Oxfam International benefit project in Auckland, New Zealand. Wilco is an alternative rock band out of Chicago IL, including original members Jeff Tweedy (vocals) and John Stirratt (bass), with guitarist Nels Cline, drummer Glenn Kotche, and...

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has announced band will play a final “handful of shows” in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles beginning August 22. June 12 was supposed to mark the end of the NIN US tour with Jane’s Addiction, but Reznor published a post stating: ““the NIN/JA tour felt like we had to rush through sets due...

Eden Electronics has announced the production of a new World Tour Bass head, the WTB1000. The WTB1000 will deliver 2 X 400/600 RMS @ 4 ? with a peak power of 2400 W and weighs in at 26 pounds. From Eden Electronics: ”…includes the footswitchable Tube control of the Navigator, our famed Enhance control, a semi-parametric EQ, as well as...

This series has been dedicated to learning the fretboard, the previous lesson covered the major scale. In this lesson we will cover an applying the major scale to a basic chord progression, the II-V-I. There are a multitude of ways to think about music. For this exercise we will focus on thinking laterally and vertically. When we think laterally we...

Ray Brown, one of the legendary jazz bassists of our time, has a personal remembrance piece from NPR Jazz. From his work with Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson and many other jazz greats, Brown has always stood out from the crowd with his melodic style and walking bass lines. As the article author remembers Brown’s performance: “For a 75-year-old veteran, let’s...

If there was ever the perfect name for a song, this is it. What an intro! Check out Adam Nitti playing his composition, Skitzo, from the Balance CD.