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Transcribing Bass Lines

 
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nylenny



Joined: 31 Mar 2007
Posts: 291

PostPosted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:37 pm    Post subject: Transcribing Bass Lines Reply with quote

As a guitarist, I try to transcribe bass lines. I've found that it helps me follow the changes when playing with bass players. The best two tricks I know for doing this are:
a) use good-quality headphones (otherwise the bass gets lost); open-backed are best
b) sing the bass line

I'd be interested in hearing what others think. Are there other guitarists out there that work on bass lines?
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Larry_DC



Joined: 31 Mar 2007
Posts: 207

PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 2:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great topic, Lenny. When I started transcribing I would focus only on the instruments that soloed. Listening to them slowed down really got me interested in what rhythm section was doing. Nowadays when I transcribe I usually include bass and piano comping. Headphones are a good idea I had not thought about. The bass can be tricky to pick out, especially in the low register. And singing the bass line goes hand in hand with singing the solos in making it easier to remember and notate the material. I have found that transcribing bass lines has made it easier for me to develop my own lines when arranging chord melody. On a further note, transcribing what little I can from the piano parts has given me understanding of how to use rhythm and chord fragments.
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nylenny



Joined: 31 Mar 2007
Posts: 291

PostPosted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good point Larry. There's so much more to transcribe than just the soloist's notes.

Right now, I'm focused on blues. My practice includes playing along with the likes of Robben Ford. I've learned so much from doing this. For example, use of stacatto, how to end a phrase (some air and maybe a little bend or gliss), etc., etc.

Transcribing involves learning by assimilation. If you play along with a great player, you will pick up so much subtlety. At least I've found that to be the case with Dexter Gordon, Robben Ford, Jeff Beck, etc. I'll play along with them for several weeks, and then my phrasing, tone, vibrato, bends, etc. etc. magically get better.

Glad you liked the headphones idea. I'm addicted to open-backed headphones, because they allow me to focus on a given part. I've tried EQing in Transcribe! for that purpose, but haven't found it as effective. EQing removes the "pocket;" that makes it harder to capture the feel.
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Mark
VM Coach


Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 479
Location: Portland, OR

PostPosted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 6:54 pm    Post subject: Re: Transcribing Bass Lines Reply with quote

nylenny wrote:
I'd be interested in hearing what others think. Are there other guitarists out there that work on bass lines?


Len,

I think you know my answer to that one? My dad (trombonist) was a bass "nut" who transcribed great walks by Ray Brown, Sam Jones, Ron Carter, Paul Chambers, and others for me when I was very young. I commonly joke that I learned how to walk before I could run. Laughing

Over the years I've done likewise, spanning several genres. However, one of my most productive transcribing projects stemmed from the initial release of the Jamey Aebersold play-a-long series, when it dawned on me that you could shut the piano off and isolate great bass lines from players like Carter, Jones, Reid, etc.

So I decided to transcribe the entire All Bird release (Vol. 6) in the series, because I was SO struck by the harmonic strength of Ron Carter's work. I guess I wasn't alone, because several months later the company released a companion book of his walks. Of course, the greatest benefit always lies in doing the transcribing yourself, so by the time the book hit the market I had already taken "master classes" with Ron and had so many of his $$ moves in my ear and under my fingertips.

Consider what I did as potentially something that you guys can do in order to learn from these great bass legends. As a matter of fact, I highly recommend picking up the Cannonball Adderly edition (Vol. 13). If you want to hear some drop dead awesome bass work, check out what Sam Jones was doing on that session. All for now...

- Mark
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"Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple" - Mingus
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