My bass journey
My journey from 2021 until now
In November 2020, I went online (TradeMe -NZ online auction site like EBay) to find a second hand bass.
No idea of a good price,
No idea what to buy.
No idea that the length, weight, and that the type of wood makes a difference to tone & weight
I never picked up a bass in my life.
Clueless! in Christchurch, NZ
I compared basses by their description from their owners. I asked questions, and saw a green one that I liked. I had a 'watch' on it... no one bided on it, then the auction was finished. The description said that she bought the bass for $1250 and her son doesn't play it. She wanted $600. Hum... I rattled and rolled and just couldn't make up my mind.... until she offered it to everyone who was on 'her watch' for $450.00 SOLD
Click here to gawk at my first bass.... (opens below)
The Jackson that started it all (but it's heavy at 4kg!). Love at first sight (well, lowering the price helped too:) )
A month before I bought my Jackson, I went to the 4 String Festival in Kawhai, New Zealand. Anyone is allowed if your instrument has 4 strings-- violin, ukulele, bass, mandolin, percussions. (basically anything except a guitar). It's in November every year (different location now) Email me and I'll forward it on to the right person.
Stuart had a 5 string bass. (that's okay as he was only playing 4 strings (just joking...)) Stuart was the guy in the background quietly accompanying people with their music/songs, with their blackboard concert… just a tall lanky British guy, unassuming just getting on with the job…..UNTIL he started playing the bass like nobody’s business AND sang at the same time.
I was awestruck. Actually dumbstruck as (looking back) I was pretty naive with this instrument and who plays it. A bass workshop using a Ubass, the next day, had me hooked. (Line, sinker, and tuner)
Who are my influencers? Most people who play bass will say Paul McCartney, Flea, John Entwhistle,.... but for me, it was Stuart. He's not even a full time musician anymore!
How do I play the damn thing?
Like everything, you look online for solutions. Youtube, Google
I stumbled on Scott’s bass lessons, signed up but was a bit overwhelmed with all the information. I wanted a quick, step by step approach to mastering the instrument. I am still a member and appreciate the vast resource now because I learned my music foundation
Then I found E Bass Guitar (for beginner/intermediate players) Perfect I thought! (I'm still a member) and have been on two 90 Day Bass Challenges where I learnt some songs. Again, there is a whole bunch of bass players who have been my encouragers all the way. They still remember me a year later!
And then, there was theory... tone.. and a long journey !
The real joy ride for me was stumbling on Ariane Cap. I discovered her on Scott Bass Lessons. In one of the workshops, she talked about her book Music Theory for Bass Players.
That was exactly what I wanted. BASS THEORY I wanted to know why music works, what are the nuts & bolts, I wanted to unravel the mystery... I wanted to understand how music is put together.
This was perfect for my analytical brain.
I realise other teachers have books on music theory, but her book sang to me. Ariane was very supportive in our email exchange and encouraged me to get her online course that goes with the book.
In all honesty, that course gave me the foundation that I needed to understand music theory using the bass (and not the piano, or the saxophone, or flute like so many music teachers like to use).
I was also encouraged to join the Cohort. It was a FORTY WEEKS LONG online community where you committed to practice then submitted your video for other students to watch and comment on.
Dominant - 7 Team was born with me in it!
I enrolled for a roller coaster of a year! 2021
And you can watch my progress here. (opens in another page) I made a webpage all about my Cohort days. It was such a positive community. People were so encouraging, and in all honesty I would have never have progressed as far as I did in 40 weeks without that support, that course, and those lessons.
What comes after a roller coaster of a year?
Another one, of course!
2022
Thoughts on Feb 2024: was a good live course to take and I got to play live on stage, and learned a bit of jazz, but I probably would be more receptive to the different coloured notes of jazz if I would take it again.
My aim for the Cohort was to know and play enough bass to enter Jazz After 3 Community Programme in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Needless to say, got in, and had another roller coaster of a year. There were 4 terms of 10 weeks, and at the end of each term was a performance. Gulp!
Monday evenings (3 hours) reserved for the history of jazz, theory, and ear training. Thursday (3 hours) bass lesson and band practice.
Six hours a week at College plus all of the hours of practice for our performances.
Term 1- we played Sandu and Blues/Jazz song. We had a few people drop out, so we had to shuffle, but I came down with Covid.
Term 2 -- I performed in front of a live audience at A Rolling Stones Bar on Colombo Street, Christchurch. The first performance taught me to take my time when walking on stage because
I COULDNT HEAR MY BASS on stage during the performance!!
I was so peeved. Of course I videoed it on my cellphone and heard that I was ON TIME, ON BEAT. I seriously couldn't believe that I actually played so well for my first time on a 'real' stage and without hearing my bass. I ony heard rumblings from the front speakers which weren't directed my way!! I complained to the sound guy at the bar and he said 'you must have heard something as you played well'... great compliment, but not worth my ANGST! [ I subsequently learned that this happens a lot to musicians, and you just need to know your stuff so well that you can play with your eyes closed}
Term 3- - Our guitarist got Covid so Joe stepped up to play guitar. He didn't know any of the songs, and he winged it. That blew me away
Term 4 -- Personally, I felt that this was the best term because our tutor joined our practice sessions and really gave us some really great insight on how to play together. Paul plays saxophone. That certaily added colour to our songs.
Enrolled in Bachelor of Music in 2022
I didn’t think that I would have enough of the Jazz School, so I enrolled in Music School at the University of Canterbury -- studying for my Bachelor of Music….slowly….. love my student card :)
University is another type of roller coaster
What the heck was I thinking of?! There are 2 terms at Uni, and the first term was making sure that students had the foundation of music ... SERIOUSLY, what was I thinking !!
Let me put it this way-- I had one year of bass theory, never played a 'proper' rock and roll song on my bass, instead I started on playing jazz (do you know HOW HARD that is?! ) .
I am the bass player for our amateur uke, mandolin, banjo, guitar group (The Flamin' Dees) and I seem to be 'doing the job' -- a nice switch from jazz!!
University taught me that:
I need to learn how to READ MUSIC real fast (hum... I'm getting there),
different rhythm in music (not just 4/4, but 9/8, 2/4) and to write them out
that the British and American have a different way of saying the note system
Sol-Fa (when you sing) is different in major and minor. (My tutor at Hagley didn't think so -- according to Uni, he was wrong, but alas...)
write a composition in 16 bars -- I got 92.5 % -- this was the HIGHLIGHT of 2022.. not performing jazz, or playing bass, but actually creating a song and getting high marks. This mark saved my bacon as I was on a cusp of scratching by.... I got a B overall (woop woop!)
I learned MUSESCORE -- an online computer programme to write music notation. Not that it was hard, but frustrating to try to figure this out. BUT, once you put all your notes in, you can PRESS PLAY and hear it. The composition that you can listen to "Inspired Mist' uses the PLAY to listen to my Work of Art. It started to give me an ear worm.
I only went to University for Term 1 because it was getting too stressful doing both Hagley Jazz and Univeristy at the same time. One had to go on Term 2. (July to Oct)
2023.... I'm going back to University and doing a World Music Course. Only one course as I took 2.5 months to travel around Canada in the 2nd semester.
I have to let Hagley Jazz go. As much as it was a learning curve, I missed practicing my bass in my routine way. Hagley was taking up to 9 hours a week of my time and I was pretty stressed. But who knows maybe 2024
AFRICAN DRUMMING
I will be posting my bass practice on this website. If you want to follow my progress, my YouTube Channel is called @bassrumblings.
and catch me on Facebook Page called Bass Rumblings. I am posting my weekly videos and what I've learned.
2024 Unexpectedly, I'll be doing the C20 week 2024 Cohort. I'll be reviewing and practicing what I did in 2021, however, I'll be extending myself as I've done the pattern course.
I'm taking 4 papers at University - 2 in each semestre. The first semester is Community Music, and Video Production. This should be an interesting year!
UPDATE: Feb 21 '24 --- As an older student who felt a bit out of place when I first started a couple of years ago (I only took 2 courses so far) , it is really so nice to have my younger fellow students, acknowledge me, and welcome me. They didn't seem to care that I am older. We just had some great conversations around music. The workshops from last year, and this year certainly facilitates this 'bonding'. I joined some clubs which I shied away from in the previous years, and I might finally have a university life that I missed when I first went to Ottawa U.