I finally got round to doing my homework. I tried unsuccessfully on a noisy train, in a hotel room with my family and then, following a Victor Wooten approved tack, finally cracked it while sitting alone in a wood near my house while my son ran elsewhere collecting small animals with nature wardens.
Thanks Jonathan, it was a useful workout. It did focus my reading and writing chops.
Anybody know a freeware program for putting standard notation examples on the web, I'm still using pencil and paper. I did use one of the major programmes but it was pretty memory hungry on the computer.

Phil...I use Myriad's Melody Assistant, which is pretty good. It's shareware, I think it nags until you register it and pay $30, but everything still works even when it nags.

That'll print, but not to PDF's (it may print to a graphics format, I can't recall for sure). Download PDF995 (another freebie that nags when you print), and you can then print to a PDF file to post.

Dave

Thanks Dave, I've downloaded these.

Arrrgh, don't seem to be able to get rid of the tab stave under the main stave!

Downloaded Finale Notepad. I used it before and the program was a little hefty but with my newer, faster more powerful laptop . . . I might just get my homework printed up!

Hi Everyone,

Here is the place to post your reactions, comments, etc. to the Bass Player Homework Assignments.

I'm confused

erm...what? We get home work?? Look! over there!!!! *zooooom*

Where's the homework? Guess that will be on August issue. Right?

My dog already ate it.

It's well worth doing. At least for me it sharpened up my reading and writing skills a little. Unfortunately I seem to be able to write up the exercise using Finale Notepad but haven't a clue how to show that on here. Maybe I'll record it!

OK, I did a screenshot and resized it.

Any errors in there, please point them out, it was the first time I've entered notation into a program so there might be glitches.

i hate fanale notepad. It confuses the crap out of me....and i cant find the mute note thing (you can do that in notation right???[hope i didnt make myself sound stupid {wow! look at all these brackets}])

Thanks for the resize, Karl. yes, there are a bunch of symbols I've not found yet too such as the muted note 'x's

Phil if you ever find it give us a shout

OK, errr is anyone else going to have a go at the homework?

What home work?!?!

Is this in the BP mag.?

Yes, August issue! Bottom of page 93!

Thanks...

I don't read it. I was looking for it in the petrol station (gas station to you Yank's) and it wasn't there... Do you have to order it?

Just subscribe Karl, get your a relative to do it for a birthday present of give your parents the cash so they'll subscribe on their credit card, it's very cheap to subscribe and it's the best magazine out there. If you go to WH Smiths you'll probably find it but it's a lot dearer than subscribing. You wouldn't regret it. PM me if you need more details.

Now is anyone going to post about the homework?

I will as soon as I buy it, you that they never arrive to WH Smiths before the 8th, and can only find in bluewater or victoria station.

I know I know I need to subscribe

Phil,

Use Finale notepad to write the standard notation, and then print to PDF to create a PDF file you can display here with ease.

Macs print directly to PDF right out of the box as a built in option, and on Windows there are lots of PDF print programs available as freeware.

OMG! I just noticed. Sir! Phillip copied my homework!

I just had a look to this months issue and i'll try to post my homework ASAP

My homework is here!
You can hear it by:
1) By clicking here
2) Downloading this pdf file and playing it yourself.
or
3) By looking at the music below and sight-singing it.


That was fun!
Great idea, Greg!

Nice one! Think I'll go add pitches to mine!

I was away when the homework was set
Jeremy why have you set your key signature in G but shown every incidence of F natural? Was that a part of the question?

I decided that my bass line would be in the key of G, but it is based on a G7 chord. That's why I put in the F naturals. In a typical rock, funk or jazz tune in the key of G, a G7 chord for the first chord wouldn't be very unusual but the music would still be written with a key of G key signature.

I don't think it's too late to turn in your homework, but you may have a few points taken off for getting in after the due date.

Actually, I don't think Greg specified a due date, but I'm assuming the due date is whenever the deadline is for getting all copy into the September issue.

We may have all missed the deadline. What's up, Greg?

Here is mine. Cool nasty heavy metal line, a little chromatic, a little tritone and it may end up a A Little Bitter!! LOL

I'm to funny (crawls away). I think this is what they where after anyway:

Nice job!

You moved the first note of the first measure to the end of the second measure.

I moved the last note of the first measure to the beginning of the second measure.

It's all good.

Cheers Jeremy!

You could have ours of fun with this idea.

Reactions?
I only got the August issue a couple of days back. (Postal service to the Emerald Isle can be sloooowww ha!)
M

I did it!!

When you guys first mentioned the homework in BP, I thought, "I really need to get that". Although I picked it up a couple of weeks ago, I just did this yesterday.

Now the real question is... did I do it right?? I haven't done anything like that in years...

Right or wrong, thanks Jonathan for the homework! I hope there's more to come!

Looks good, Bubba.

The new BP homework is to write lyrics to a bassline.

Here are mine for Money by Pink Floyd:

Bm
7/4 I wrote a song in funny time
It's gonna make you lose your mind
You'll try to dance to this new beat
You will think you have two left feet
The lead guitar won't keep his place
He'll end up with egg on his face
The drummer will just pound away
He has no idea what to play...
F#m7
4/4 Now we straighten out
A few measures
Em7
6/4 Just to see if you're listening..
Bm
7/4 I wrote a song in funny time
It sold a million that's a crime..
4/4 Dollars and dollars and dollars and dollars and
Dollars for me and the rest of the Pink Floyd band


Now I suppose I'll have to make a recording of me singing it and playing it. How embarrassing that will be.

That's hilarious!

This is great, a score to read, and an audio playing the line. I like that because it allows me to read the notes while the music plays, and this really puts things in perspective for me. There should be more of this, with standard tunes bass lines though, maybe the ones everyone bass player should know, from basic to advanced.

Am I the only person in the world who is going to turn in the homework assignment for September?

What kind of class is this?

Please report to detention immediately!

I'm working on it, just a little here and a little there...

I was working on a little reggae style advertising jingle for BP - then I went back to work.

Maybe some time.

I didn't even got my hands on September issue.

David same here. I hope I get the October one.

I finished September's hw. I'll post it when I get home from work. It's a real hack job, but it's done.

Ok, this is a hatchet job of "Come Together" by the Beatles. The song was too long, so I chopped up bits and pieces and slapped them together (hence the title, right?). Btw, JeremyC set the bar WAY to high with his masterpiece.

Mine works like this:
Outro
Verse 3
Chorus
Bridge/Solo
Verse 4
Chorus
Outro

Here's the complete transcription of my mess, lyrics included (pdf format):
Chewbubba's BP Homework

Here are the lyrics only, but some fit certain fills Sir Paul seemed to be doing, so it would probably help to reference the pdf file in some spots.

Come Together - sort of
INTRO
This is a smooth line
It feels like it's odd time
But it's just straight four
Drugs made our minds soar

VERSE3
Rhythm comes in right here
Lyrics are sort of queer
Bass tone has no high end
Too much time here I spend
I just hear guitar licks
Can't find bass in this mix
There

CHORUS
Now we have straight 8th notes dropping
Down a major third
Go back up full step
Lennon looks like Depp

BRIDGE/SOLO
Time to play more straight 8th note D's
Lots and lots of straight 8th notes please
I've still got six more bars of this
All of these 8th notes must persist
Finally a chord change comes in
Makin' all my lyrics wear thin
Lots and lots and lots of low A's
I finally get to end this long phrase
Back to the smooth line
A flourish will refine - redesign

VERSE 4
Wrote most of this at lunch
Pressure, I felt a bunch
New BP is for sale
This work I must not fail
New homework does await
I get a brand new slate
Great

CHORUS
Now we have straight 8th notes dropping
Down a major third
Go back up full step
Lennon looks like Depp
I'm near the end now
Wiping the sweat off my brow

OUTRO/FADE
Lots and lots and lots of D's here
Lots and lots and lots of D's there
dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee
dee dee dee dee dee dee dee dee

There funny.

Rite. I've had a look and thanks to my year and a half of self teaching I do not have a clue how to do it. Any help?

How many kids with ADD does it take to change a lightbulb?

Answer: Wanna ride bikes!!!!

OK, kind of . . . but it could take a while.

Basically, in the example, you're soling over C major 7, D minor 7 and G7. Taking a standard diatonic (key based) approach you'd play using the C major scale (white notes on the piano) over all those chords.

Over the C you'd use notes from a C major scale CDEFGABC(probably avoiding the F) and over the Dm7 you'd notes use a C major scale starting on D: DEFGABCD; and lastly, over the G7 chord you might use notes from the G major scale starting on G (GABCDEFG) (but avoiding the C which sucks over G7).
Ok, try that first!
Give it some time!
Lots!

Now sometimes that approach can be cool but it can be limiting and unmusical. What the homework is asking you to do is to bung in some notes from outside the key of C (black notes on the piano now) which will create some tension. One of the best ways to use these might be to link a couple of the notes from the C major scale by playing a line which is chromatic - running up or down the fingerboard a fret at a time.

So instead of playing C D E, you could play C D D# E or something.


Try it!
Lots.
It can be very cool.

It's especially cool if you head for notes from the chords like CEG and B over the C major 7; DFA and C over the Dm7 and GBD and F over the G7. Just lead into them chromatically which means going up a semitone/fret at a time.

See if you can get a play a long CD with the chord changes, or record/loop yourself playing them on guitar or get a mate to play the chords while you try soling over the top. Use the chord sequence from the BP mag.

Maybe BP could post a soundfile of the chord sequence for you to solo over.

Any use?

I aint doin' no stinkin' homework!
*goes to detention*

Well, this is reason enough for me to resubscribe.
When I get it I will start my homework.

OK, here it is:


And here's a link, if you want to download it:
pdf file of my homework.

If I have time, I'll make a recording and add it to this post.

What a brown-noser, I mean come-on. "Teacher's pet"

Haha, I am only jealous because I am stuck doing real homework, you know like synthesize and name all isomers (diastereomers, constitutional, and enatiomers) of the following dehydration mechanism: tert-butyl chloride [(CH3)3CCl] and the addition of a Hydronium ion (H3O+), and don't forget to label each as a primary, secondary, tertiary carbocation as appropiate, cis- or trans- distribution and lastly the mechanism in which it undergoes dehydration (SN1, SN2, E1, or E2)

Yeah, that is what I do all week, weekend, day in day out - and my bass playing is severely suffering because of it. That and also writing papers, working, speeches, physical therapy/cold laser therapy, and I can go on (in other words my list of excuses for saying I didn't do the homework...)

Here is my home work. Hmmm! I think it needs help. Also, I am a little confused. The example in the magazine seemed to use notes 1/2 step away from a chord tone which was not actually played until much later. what is the rationale for that?

http://files-upload.com/files/599778/AugHomework.gif

Thanks for the assignment. I am struggling to understand this jazz language. It is not easy.

Well apparently my BP finally turned up today so I'll get round to the homework asap.

I don't know if I did this right, but here it is...

ohhhh myyyyy.... that´s what happens when you re-join class, ain´t it? Last time I subscribed ... it ended in 2003... I resubscribed again about a month ago, and found this forum right after (while waiting for my next issue to show up)... so I guess I¨ll file as a Rookie. Hope next homework is not too hard for January´s hangover... hahahaha!

ok ok ok you got me hooked, (And my excuses since I know this is a very late homework...) so I tried with one of my favourite bass lines ever.. Verdine White´s "In the Stone" with Earth, Wind & Fire. still... I am at the office and in between laughs I could just listen and add lyrics to the intro and first two verses. (How the **** you do put lyrics to the slap ´n pop noises on a phrase?? hahahaha!! That was quite difficult.. so I left it up to there.. I guess I´ll only get half the points...)

EWF´s : "In the stone"
(Intro)
Heyyyyy
Come alonnggg
shout it
top... of your lungs...
now again
come on and shout it
once more

(Verse form, no vocals)
Hey, Verdine, hey!
your´re so tall, then again
you jump, wow, bring it on
I wanna play
not like the fender
not like the fender
not like the fender

(Verse 1)
Hey, Verdine, hey!
your´re so tall, then again
you jump, wow, come on
(wont´cha) pump up the bass, yes, the Yamaha
not like the fender
not like the fender



Ok ok , funny lyrics, to say the least. Now... just to think I´d originally thought on adding lyrics to some of Rocco Prestia´s..... Has anybody heard Victor Bailey´s version of "Continuum" on the "Low Blow" album ??? NOW That guy did the homework indeed... highly recommended...

What program are you guys using to transcribe music? I really to get on top of the homework too. I actually did the July... or was it August... homework about rearranging sixteenth note patterns and got some awesome stuff out of that that I could share.

I used Finale Notepad. It's a free download.

...and is easy to use, also available for both Mac and PCs... not bad...

wow I guess I got in too late for this one, though I do have the BP issue this exercise is in so maybe once I work it out I'll post it for grins and giggles, and perhaps a wee bit 'o critique. nice looking exercises from those who posted, thx

.

Ok, I plucked the pluckable in every usual and unusual way and recorded.
I think that I will reconsider a plectrum (o a pick?). "Brass plectrum" is one of the best takes.
Pizzicato at the neck gets an unusual rating. That was where I played when I started, before triyng some Jacoization.
Generally, appoggiato tracks have low marks, too thuddy.

there's finale but that program is hard to use

Hey so if you go to http://www.basstabs.net/ and register, they have a tool that converts notes into bass tabs. It's kinda cumbersome but its free and will be converted so you can see on your computer screen

Richy J

Here's my homework, professor! A transcription of Pino Palladino's bassline off of Don Henley's "New York Minute."




Don't ask me to sight-read it...but all the notes, note values and articulation notes are pretty close, I believe...

I noticed there was no homework for the October 2008 issue. Youd think no homework would be a good thing... but I really liked the little homework "lessons" and hope that the next issue will have double the homework. Maybe even an exam? Bring it on

I noticed there was no homework as well. I like the assignments, most of them are very challenging for me.

Just got the Novermber issue.
I do the harmonic analysis thing a lot, mostly just in my head as I learn tunes and play.
For the homework I did 'East of the Sun, West of the Moon'.

There was only one bit that stumped me - I have heard this kind of progression before but I don't understand it theoretically.

In the key of G, bars 29 and 30 go |Am7 |Cm6 D7|
The Am7 and D7 are straightforward - iim7 and V7 but the Cm6?
Is it related to A half-diminished so an inverted iim7b5?
I know the sound, but not the reasoning.

Or is the ivm6 chord a misspelling of a iim7b5 chord in the fakebook?

Thanks to Dave Horne for pointing out the bleedin' obvious.

Dm6 has the exactly notes as Am7b5.

It's simply an older way of writing the chord.

So the progression is going -

| iim7 | iim7b5 V7 | using a minor ii V in a major key for harmonic variety

That's it exactly. Is the next chord Gm?

Well, that's the twist!
The next chord is G major - well, actually it's Bm7 but pretty much the same thing.
The use of a minor ii V resolving to a major adds a little interest.

Jonathan,
Regarding bebop scales - you are right that you can add chromatic notes wherever sounds right but although the minor (dorian) bebop scale you print in BP sounds good and is good, it's not the typical one that has been associated with dorian scale/chords.

Usually the bebop player might practise the V7 bebop scale over both the iim7 and the V7 chord so giving a dorian bebop scale of
1,2,b3,3,4,5,6,b7 with a natural third added to the dorian scale between the flat third and fourth degrees. That's the one that David Baker, Mark Levine and other theorists write about.

This puts the minor third, fourth and sixth on the strong beats which reflects what often is often heard when you listen to bebop solos over minor chords. It also simplifies ii Vs as the ii minor bebop scale and the V dominant bebop scales contain exactly the same notes.

Of course you are writing for applications other than jazz (maybe with less ii V patterns)so, I guess the 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, 6, b7, natural7 giving prominence to the chord tones is just as cool.

It's been a long time since we had any homework. I guess that means we're on vacation.

Maybe if there isn't going to be anymore homework, this thread could drop out of sight.

I think the monthly reply is very nice. But I don't able to understand that homework they are discussing. Please help me in this regard.

Adam, the questions and answers in this thread are about a feature that was in past issues of the magazine.

If you have a specific question, try asking it here.

Someone may pop in and try to answer it.

Welcome to the forum.