a boy named sue Posted May 18, 2004 Share Posted May 18, 2004 Main question, practicing on a keyboard: is it a good idea to work on walking bass by playing chord progressions with my right hand and trying to construct bass lines with my left? I find it very hard to 'hear' chords in my head so I need to have them played. Does anyone else use this technique? Random thoughts... For all those people who play keys as well as bass. Do you play 'proper' bass lines with your left hand and chords with your right or stick to chords with the left hand and melodies with your right? Having had no lessons on keys (and only practicing for a few hours) it seems really hard to play good bass lines and play the melody. I find that my "playing riffs I know chops" are way ahead of my creativity and reading skills (on bass) -- how should I progress? I'm currently working through the book "What Duck Done", trying to work on my reading but mostly just getting some cool riffs A man is not usually called upon to have an opinion of his own talents at all; he can very well go on improving them to the best of his ability without deciding on his own precise niche in the temple of Fame. -- C.S.Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
passgroove Posted May 18, 2004 Share Posted May 18, 2004 I suggest you to check out Jamey Aebersold Jazz Handbook. He has some very good practice suggestions which will help you to get to the real you instead of playing only riffs. He also suggests non keyboard players to play some keyboard every day to strech the musical ideas. Here are some suggestions: *Make phrases flow naturaly; even when playing scales and exercises*Mentaly sing the exercises, scales, patterns as you play them*Listen to every note you play. Match your minds ideas*Be patient. You're not first to make mistakes*Improvise some every day. That's the REAL YOU. Play what you hear in your head* Make a habit of practicing inall 12 keys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a boy named sue Posted May 20, 2004 Author Share Posted May 20, 2004 Wow, I decided to buy that book. Did a search and it turns out its free! From here A man is not usually called upon to have an opinion of his own talents at all; he can very well go on improving them to the best of his ability without deciding on his own precise niche in the temple of Fame. -- C.S.Lewis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Force Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Cool! Amazing--a free book with no shipping charge! This must mean one is placed on some marketing mailing list. Perhaps a fair tradeoff--more junk mail for a good book? I will soon find out! Steve Force, Durham, North Carolina -------- My Professional Websites Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbroni Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Tom, I play a little keys (not well )but I usually end up playing the melodies with my left hand instead of the right. I concentrate on it more, Cause I don't have to use my brain as much to control my right hand. That said we need that level of control with both hands Together all sing their different songs in union - the Uni-verse. My Current Project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarkus Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 I play bass and keys. I use the Ray Manzarak approach. Lately I've been playing a lot of Led Zep, espescially In Through the Out Door stuff. JP Jones uses bass pedals live, where as I rely on a good left hand. I play a lot of octaves and "pedal" the bass with my left hand. I'm biased: check out ELP - from the live album WBMFTSNE. Keith Emerson does an excellent job of Moog Bass on Tarkus and on 1st Impression. I found that if I played poly-phonically on the synth but thought mono-phonically in approach, my synth bass was a little more accurate to the structure even though it wasn't note perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxofunk Posted May 20, 2004 Share Posted May 20, 2004 Originally posted by forceman: Cool! Amazing--a free book with no shipping charge! This must mean one is placed on some marketing mailing list. Perhaps a fair tradeoff--more junk mail for a good book? I will soon find out! I beleive that's the book I ordered a couple years ago. I still get an annual catalog from Abersold, but nothing else. Don't sweat, I don't think they sell the list. - Matt W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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