The Next Level Bassist - Practicing

controlled sense of dynamics and phrases, and, most importantly,
savvy of the style.
Is it really necessary to practice Jazz?
As a creative jazz bassist, consider yourself an illusionist,
someone who makes one feel and hear what’s not really
there. The listener becomes so engaged by your performance,
they feel a great pulse, but there is no drummer.
They hear wonderful clear harmony, but there is no piano,
or any chordal instrument. The listener is totally satisfied
listening to your presentation without the feeling of missing
something or someone. When you are successful achieving
this, you will be remembered and sought after for the clarity
and control you bring to any ensemble. The mindset I
wish you to develop is:
You are the only rhythmic and harmonic substance
there is! You do not need a piano or drummer! We may
want them to play with us, but you don’t need them for
you to play well. If they are doing their job well, they do
not need you either. We bassists have the unique ability to
immediately sabotage every ensemble we play with if we
lose our focus. Yes! Absolutely! In addition to the attributes
of a great musician, the jazz musician must be capable of
thinking quickly by functionally creating new melodic material
to satisfy the sounds of any given structure or form
of a song. There is a definite vocabulary of sounds that
make up structures of compositions. I call these structures
“Musical Playgrounds.” Generally speaking, a playground
is a place where all sorts of sports are played. Each sport
has its own playground with very specific areas, boundaries,
and rules. If we consistently don’t observe those specific
rules, fouling all the time, stepping on the lines, etc., we are
asked not to play. Music making is no different. Learn the
rules to be in control of what comes out of your instrument.
It is not a mystery to become an improvising jazz musician.
You just need to know the rules so you can navigate within
the playground successfully. It is NOT rocket science!
What are the ingredients that make up that chord sound
that you hear? It is the “root”, “third”, “fifth”, and “seventh”
of a scale, that makes up a chord. There are only
five (5) basic chord sounds: Major, Minor, Diminished, Augmented,
and Dominant! All five have a very distinct sound
unto themselves. Learn and internalize each sound along
with their respective scales. The rest of the sounds are slight
alterations of these five, and THAT’S IT! No matter what
key they are in, they all sound the same. The main difference
from just reading music, is, the improvising jazz player
decides how he/she will play by imagining what are the
possibilities. YOU make all of the decisions of what notes
to play, how many notes, what rhythms to use, what dynamics
to use, etc. Thinking of how you want to sound before
you play is crucial to your success! You must practice
how to think, as well. Learn how to construct satisfying
bass lines. Figure them out at the piano. Sing them in your
head. Learn to play them on your bass by listening to how
they sound. These are the very same sounds that Bach,
Mozart, Ravel, Brahms, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk,
etc. used. The sounds that make up these structures are
called Chord Progressions. The style and how these sounds
are presented is what distinguish the different genres from
one another. There are many excellent books available
to learn how to become more fluent on the various techniques
to play a successful improvised solo in the jazz style.
I’m a bassist.
Why should I be friendly with the piano?
I am NOT asking you to become a pianist, just learn the
basics of where the notes are related to where they sound
on your bass. I was not told how important the piano is
when I began to play music, particularly when I began to
play the bass. I had a good ear and learned quickly, but
that eventually was not enough to really get inside the
music that I loved so much. I had to learn how to identify
the sounds I heard from the symbols I saw. Whatever kind
of music you wish to play, you will be a better musician if
you become very friendly with the piano. Guaranteed! The
piano is the “orchestra” of sounds. You can “see” what the
chord looks like, as well as hear it. Learning the keyboard
and studying harmony will answer all of the questions of
what makes up a chord sound and its harmonic motion.
This is where you can practice your melodies or the phrases
of the music you are working on by very clearly singing
along in tune. Learn the sounds of the basic chords and
their related scales. This functional knowledge will carry
over onto your instrument because you are hearing these
sounds clearly in your head. Again, no one cares if you
practice, or who your teacher was, or if you take lessons
or not, or how long it took you to get it. What matters is
once you get on the bandstand or stage, all they want is to
hear the music clearly and swinging! When these elements
of good practice are present, they will hear consistent, confident,
enormous clarity, and passion soaring out of your
bass. What more can one ask?
What to practice?
LISTEN to the individual or individuals who inspire you on
a daily basis. Listen to their choice of notes in the chord
progression. Listen how they hook up with the drummer.
Practice on the CONCEPT of the kind of music you are
attempting to play. CONCENTRATE on all of the nuances
you hear in their playing, i.e. their “time feeling,” their
“choice of notes” in a walking bass line, the “pizzicato
sound” being produced in the right hand. Try to incorporate
and emulate by aurally transcribing everything you
hear. The best way to transcribe is to sing and/or whis-
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