Archive for 2014 - Page 64

I’m not quite sure how Zander Zon produces such incredible arrangements and performances as often as he does. In this piece he performs music from the Lord of the Rings. He even shared some terrific quotes from people who have watched so far: “One instrument to rule them all!” “Lord of the strings!” So true. Zander is sporting his Zon...

Don’t keep faking your way through songs. Learn how those great players created the sounds you love. Usually, it’s all about a technique — like Flea’s slapping, or Jaco Pastorius’ finger-style and harmonics. A new book aims to provide you with need-to-know techniques. is a 74-page book that’s accompanied by library of 86 audio tracks and examples available online when...

Q: I would like to ask about voicing/phrases on bass when it comes to chord progressions. How should I step into the next chord when I’m phrasing the actual one? Should I try walking lines? Are there any standard licks that can bring the feel of translating to a next chord? Or they are all built on the same concept...

When we interviewed Gerald Veasley in 2011, he spoke a lot about his time playing music with the late great Joe Zawinul in the Zawinul Syndicate. That’s some great reading, if you want to check that out after this video. Gerald was Zawinul’s longest tenured bassist, which should say a lot. Zawinul prided himself in picking only the great bassists...

French bassist/composer Olivier Babaz has released his third album, . Paris-born and now Montreal-based, Babaz usually focuses on working with small, acoustic jazz ensembles, but this 11-song album straddles the line between jazz and acoustic rock. Babaz’s previous recordings include the Akoz Duo record La Lune de Kala and his own Midnight Cafeine. This latest album finds Babaz working with...

Meet Sam Lord a musician from the UK who has had a bass in his hands pretty much since the day he was born. So it is no surprise he’s been one of the youngest bassists around his local scene. Sam is No Treble’s reader in the spotlight for the week of May 26th, 2014. Bio: I grew up in...

Here’s a new slap bass lesson for you to try out to incorporate cross-string hammer-ons into your playing. We’ll practice this with a line I put together in the key of E. In the video below, I play the line at full tempo, followed by half speed and finally super slow speed. Follow along with the video and this transcription...

I love discovering new artists, and it’s even better when a No Treble reader shares something with us. Justin Barker dropped me a line about bassist Dave McMillan of Big Wreck. “Just heard the single ‘Ghosts’ from a band called Big Wreck,” he wrote. “It’s pretty rare to me that a bass player from what I’d consider a ‘mainstream’ act...

The Roots’ latest, is one of the group’s shortest efforts while still being a conceptual piece focusing on self-destructive cycles. With the low end provided by bassist Mark Kelley, the record is a deep, different offering from the group, which is now on its 14th album. The group’s drummer and bandleader Questlove even goes so far as to call it...

Electro-Harmonix has expanded their bass offerings with the announcement of the Nano Bass Big Muff Pi, a distortion/sustainer pedal that blends features of its predecessors into a smaller package. The new pedal is voiced like the EHX Russian Big Muff but has a classic Big Muff Pi control layout with Sustain, Tone, and Volume knobs. Electro-Harmonix says the pedal dishes...

Less than a year after scoring their first number one album in the United States with 13, the metal pioneers in Black Sabbath may be getting ready for a followup, says bassist Geezer Butler. “We’ve still got four tracks left over from the album,” he told Time Out Dubai, “so maybe we’ll fill in the other four or five tracks...

During the 2014 Musikmesse show in Frankfurt, two remarkable bassists – who have wowed us all with their solo performances – got together to perform one iconic song. Those bassists are Victor Wooten and Federico Malaman. The tune is Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely.”