Here is a video I just posted on You Tube. It is a free lesson on how to learn chords for electric bass guitar.
Have fun!
Bass Guitar Lessons Online
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Feel the Music – A Tribute to Jackie Orszaczky
Bass player, vocalist, composer, arranger, producer, Jackie Orszacsky died on 3 February 2008.
This tribute to Jackie is purely a personal one. Although seeing Jackie perform live several times, I never met him and I know little about his personal or even professional life. I do know, however, how his music, his depth of groove, his funkiness, his innovativeness, affected my playing and musical outlook … and inlook.
Jackie is my favourite bass player in Australia. Listening to him play teaches about space, about laying back, not rushing, letting the music be felt – in short, Jackie’s playing IS about FEEL. Stuff everything else – technique, speed, theory etc. - emotional content is what music is about. This is what every body takes in.
Jackie was one of very few musicians who taught me how to completely give in to the music of the moment, to let go, let flow, let groove.
Thanks Jackie. Your playing, and therefore your person, has changed my life. I’ll catch up with you in the future.
George Urbaszek
Australian Musician Bass Columnist
Creator of BassLessonsOnline
This tribute to Jackie is purely a personal one. Although seeing Jackie perform live several times, I never met him and I know little about his personal or even professional life. I do know, however, how his music, his depth of groove, his funkiness, his innovativeness, affected my playing and musical outlook … and inlook.
Jackie is my favourite bass player in Australia. Listening to him play teaches about space, about laying back, not rushing, letting the music be felt – in short, Jackie’s playing IS about FEEL. Stuff everything else – technique, speed, theory etc. - emotional content is what music is about. This is what every body takes in.
Jackie was one of very few musicians who taught me how to completely give in to the music of the moment, to let go, let flow, let groove.
Thanks Jackie. Your playing, and therefore your person, has changed my life. I’ll catch up with you in the future.
George Urbaszek
Australian Musician Bass Columnist
Creator of BassLessonsOnline
Sunday, January 20, 2008
A Music Lesson in Easy Improvisation
Here is a lesson in creative improvisation in only 4 steps:
1. Play the notes of a G7 chord as an arpeggio - G B D F
2. Precede each chord tone with a semitone (half step) from below - F# G, A# B, C# D, E F
3. Use any combination of the two-note groups (approach note plus chord tone) making sure, however, that you always end on a chord tone (G B D or F)
4. Be creative with your rhythms and choices of register.
The great thing about this approach is that you don't even have to know the note names of the chords you are improvising over. Nor do you have to know the names of the approach notes. And you will be using eight notes out of twelve possible notes (of the chromatic scale) for your creations. All you initially need to learn are the arpeggio shapes.
This lesson - and many more - brought to you by Online Bass Lessons
1. Play the notes of a G7 chord as an arpeggio - G B D F
2. Precede each chord tone with a semitone (half step) from below - F# G, A# B, C# D, E F
3. Use any combination of the two-note groups (approach note plus chord tone) making sure, however, that you always end on a chord tone (G B D or F)
4. Be creative with your rhythms and choices of register.
The great thing about this approach is that you don't even have to know the note names of the chords you are improvising over. Nor do you have to know the names of the approach notes. And you will be using eight notes out of twelve possible notes (of the chromatic scale) for your creations. All you initially need to learn are the arpeggio shapes.
This lesson - and many more - brought to you by Online Bass Lessons
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Girls on Bass
At last female bass players are emerging!
As a male bass player and music teacher I'd like to present some of my observations regarding the emergence of female bass players over the past 32 years. (That's how long I've been teaching music).
In 1976 there was hardly a female bass player in sight. This applied across the board, in any music genre. Things were changing, however, in all walks of life. Emancipation of both males and females was a priority in many minds. Especially art forms were undergoing the (r)evolution instigated in a huge way in the 1960s, and music was a driving voice.
The bass guitar had only been commercially available for about twenty years - just one generation. It is a lot less cumbersome than the double bass, and apparently more suited to petite hands. The double bass, however, after being set up correctly, is only slightly more physically demanding. Both instruments fulfill the same function in almost all musics: to provide the center of rhythm and pitch.
My main comparative observation - so far - has been that females intuitively have a superior sense of both rhythm and pitch (sorry guys). That's a killer combination, because the result is usually melodic bass playing (I'm in heaven!).
In my teaching, I've gone from zero female bass students to about 15%, which roughly equates to the real world of music performance and recording. I would love to see this percentage increase dramatically - because I love bass and I know what girls on bass can do.
-- George's mini CV --
Besides being an innovative and highly respected music educator, George Urbaszek plays double bass, guitar, bass guitar and bassitar. He has over 3000 performances and 120 recording sessions to his credit and has toured Australia, Central Europe, Canada, USA and the Pacific Islands.
George has performed with artists ranging from Rolf Harris through to Judith Durham, Beccy Cole, Marina Prior, George Washingmachine, Thelma Housten and the New York production of Porgy and Bess. His former students include Brendan Clarke (winner of the Australian National Jazz Award), Kim Khahn (Robbie Williams, Mel C, Natalie Imbruglia) and Rory Quirk (John Butler Trio).
After lecturing for thirteen years in the Jazz Department of the Australian National University, George is now residing near Byron Bay, Australia, where he works from home teaching students from all over the world using an innovative approach of step-by-step online bass lessons. These lessons cost as little as US $3.46 each and are available at Bass Lessons Online.
This article first appeared on the net at Ezine Articles in January 2008
As a male bass player and music teacher I'd like to present some of my observations regarding the emergence of female bass players over the past 32 years. (That's how long I've been teaching music).
In 1976 there was hardly a female bass player in sight. This applied across the board, in any music genre. Things were changing, however, in all walks of life. Emancipation of both males and females was a priority in many minds. Especially art forms were undergoing the (r)evolution instigated in a huge way in the 1960s, and music was a driving voice.
The bass guitar had only been commercially available for about twenty years - just one generation. It is a lot less cumbersome than the double bass, and apparently more suited to petite hands. The double bass, however, after being set up correctly, is only slightly more physically demanding. Both instruments fulfill the same function in almost all musics: to provide the center of rhythm and pitch.
My main comparative observation - so far - has been that females intuitively have a superior sense of both rhythm and pitch (sorry guys). That's a killer combination, because the result is usually melodic bass playing (I'm in heaven!).
In my teaching, I've gone from zero female bass students to about 15%, which roughly equates to the real world of music performance and recording. I would love to see this percentage increase dramatically - because I love bass and I know what girls on bass can do.
-- George's mini CV --
Besides being an innovative and highly respected music educator, George Urbaszek plays double bass, guitar, bass guitar and bassitar. He has over 3000 performances and 120 recording sessions to his credit and has toured Australia, Central Europe, Canada, USA and the Pacific Islands.
George has performed with artists ranging from Rolf Harris through to Judith Durham, Beccy Cole, Marina Prior, George Washingmachine, Thelma Housten and the New York production of Porgy and Bess. His former students include Brendan Clarke (winner of the Australian National Jazz Award), Kim Khahn (Robbie Williams, Mel C, Natalie Imbruglia) and Rory Quirk (John Butler Trio).
After lecturing for thirteen years in the Jazz Department of the Australian National University, George is now residing near Byron Bay, Australia, where he works from home teaching students from all over the world using an innovative approach of step-by-step online bass lessons. These lessons cost as little as US $3.46 each and are available at Bass Lessons Online.
This article first appeared on the net at Ezine Articles in January 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Bass Practice Advice
Practice Minutes
Here is a personal observation I made while a student of classical double bass
Fist of all I must tell you that I am a lazy person. As a matter of fact, I am so lazy that I don’t want to do things twice. The result is that I organize myself! I consider this to be the highest form of laziness.
Anyway, back to the (related) observation.
As a music student I sometimes was too lazy to rosin up my bow, tune my bass, and get some practice done … especially if I only had about 15 or 20 minutes “downtime”. So what did I do? Nothing really, just hung around and waited for the bus, a friend to show up, or whatever else was next on the agenda.
Until one day it dawned on me! If I were to do SOME practice in my “downtime” every time, the minutes would add up to hours, to weeks, to months. Yes, I even did the calculation that converting 15 minutes of daily downtime to uptime amounted to a staggering 91 hours of additional practice per year. Whoa! Ninety-one hours! I was in! And since then I have retained the same attitude. So that’s my Laziness Conversion story.
Find out how my "laziness can help you become a better bass player at Bass Lessons Online
George Urbaszek
Serving Bass Players Worldwide since 1996
Bass Lessons Online
Here is a personal observation I made while a student of classical double bass
Fist of all I must tell you that I am a lazy person. As a matter of fact, I am so lazy that I don’t want to do things twice. The result is that I organize myself! I consider this to be the highest form of laziness.
Anyway, back to the (related) observation.
As a music student I sometimes was too lazy to rosin up my bow, tune my bass, and get some practice done … especially if I only had about 15 or 20 minutes “downtime”. So what did I do? Nothing really, just hung around and waited for the bus, a friend to show up, or whatever else was next on the agenda.
Until one day it dawned on me! If I were to do SOME practice in my “downtime” every time, the minutes would add up to hours, to weeks, to months. Yes, I even did the calculation that converting 15 minutes of daily downtime to uptime amounted to a staggering 91 hours of additional practice per year. Whoa! Ninety-one hours! I was in! And since then I have retained the same attitude. So that’s my Laziness Conversion story.
Find out how my "laziness can help you become a better bass player at Bass Lessons Online
George Urbaszek
Serving Bass Players Worldwide since 1996
Bass Lessons Online
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Transcription Techniques – Part Four
Today’s Lesson
Transcription Techniques – Part Four
With the guidelines provided in the previous three lessons on Transcription Techniques, you should now be well equipped to follow this lesson and work out further bass lines on your own.
This lesson involves getting the actual bass notes of “I Feel Good” with instrument in hand. Enjoy!
Again, I will be “thinking out loud”.
Listening – This time WITH bass in hand (YEAH!)
Vocalize the central note, the first note of the bass riff.
Pause the CD, hum the note and find it on the fretboard. It is D.
Resume the CD, listen to the first bar of the bass riff. Pause the CD. Vocalize the bass riff.
How many different notes in the first bar? Three. LOW – HIGH – MID = Root – Octave – Seventh (alternating) = D D C# D C# D C# D.
Play the notes to check if OK. Good. Next.
Second bar. The syncopated rhythm (worked out before) uses notes 1 – 8 – b7 – 5 (D – D – C – A) and back to 1 (D) for the beginning of the next bar.
Play the 2-bar riff in one position between the 5th and 7th frets.
Play along with the CD. Fine.
Bar 5 goes to the IV-chord – starts on low G, 3rd fret, E-string – same shape as before.
Bar 7 goes back to the I-chord (D). But wait. It doesn’t go D D – it goes C D. Problem cleverly solved.
Bars 9 and 10 go V V (A A) IV IV (G G) – easy.
The ascending unison line in bars 11 and 12 sounds like it begins with a major triad. Hum it. Yes.
Ah ha, the next note is the flat 7. Of course, it is a dominant 7 arpeggio.
The next note is higher still and seems to “hang” a bit openly. Play a couple of frets up the board. It is E.
The unison line is D F# A C E.
The next verse is the same as the first. Play along from the beginning, just to make sure.
The Bridge is just sax and drums, but I will work out the notes anyway (because they sound so funky and I like the challenge.)
Same root as before (D) with octave, flat 7 and that last note … so cool – the flat 3 (F)
“When I hold you …” descending bass line, sounds like the IV-chord.
Hum it. Play it. With CD. It is the IV-chord.
Bass starts on G, does 2 G’s, 2 F’s, 2 E’s, 2 D’s – times 2.
Goes back to the I-chord – same bass sequence: DD CC BB AA x2
Goes back to the same sequence off the G.
Ends differently – 3 quick notes.
Have another listen. Hum. “Up-to-five” – chromatic from G to A, i.e. G G# A
Back to chorus.
That’s almost it.
Play along from the beginning.
Get the right changes.
The tag is the same as the end of every chorus except for the extended ending.
Let’s have a good listen to that.
It goes up to the 9th and then appears to descend over the minor pentatonic scale.
Let’s check that. Yes, from E to D C A G F D.
Check it out! All notes of the descending run are on the “dots”, the fingerboard makers; this makes it very easy to visualize.
That’s basically it. A few more play-alongs from beginning to end wouldn’t hurt.
Get it tight and have some fun!
George Urbaszek
Serving Bass Players Worldwide since 1996
Online Bass Lessons
Transcription Techniques – Part Four
With the guidelines provided in the previous three lessons on Transcription Techniques, you should now be well equipped to follow this lesson and work out further bass lines on your own.
This lesson involves getting the actual bass notes of “I Feel Good” with instrument in hand. Enjoy!
Again, I will be “thinking out loud”.
Listening – This time WITH bass in hand (YEAH!)
Vocalize the central note, the first note of the bass riff.
Pause the CD, hum the note and find it on the fretboard. It is D.
Resume the CD, listen to the first bar of the bass riff. Pause the CD. Vocalize the bass riff.
How many different notes in the first bar? Three. LOW – HIGH – MID = Root – Octave – Seventh (alternating) = D D C# D C# D C# D.
Play the notes to check if OK. Good. Next.
Second bar. The syncopated rhythm (worked out before) uses notes 1 – 8 – b7 – 5 (D – D – C – A) and back to 1 (D) for the beginning of the next bar.
Play the 2-bar riff in one position between the 5th and 7th frets.
Play along with the CD. Fine.
Bar 5 goes to the IV-chord – starts on low G, 3rd fret, E-string – same shape as before.
Bar 7 goes back to the I-chord (D). But wait. It doesn’t go D D – it goes C D. Problem cleverly solved.
Bars 9 and 10 go V V (A A) IV IV (G G) – easy.
The ascending unison line in bars 11 and 12 sounds like it begins with a major triad. Hum it. Yes.
Ah ha, the next note is the flat 7. Of course, it is a dominant 7 arpeggio.
The next note is higher still and seems to “hang” a bit openly. Play a couple of frets up the board. It is E.
The unison line is D F# A C E.
The next verse is the same as the first. Play along from the beginning, just to make sure.
The Bridge is just sax and drums, but I will work out the notes anyway (because they sound so funky and I like the challenge.)
Same root as before (D) with octave, flat 7 and that last note … so cool – the flat 3 (F)
“When I hold you …” descending bass line, sounds like the IV-chord.
Hum it. Play it. With CD. It is the IV-chord.
Bass starts on G, does 2 G’s, 2 F’s, 2 E’s, 2 D’s – times 2.
Goes back to the I-chord – same bass sequence: DD CC BB AA x2
Goes back to the same sequence off the G.
Ends differently – 3 quick notes.
Have another listen. Hum. “Up-to-five” – chromatic from G to A, i.e. G G# A
Back to chorus.
That’s almost it.
Play along from the beginning.
Get the right changes.
The tag is the same as the end of every chorus except for the extended ending.
Let’s have a good listen to that.
It goes up to the 9th and then appears to descend over the minor pentatonic scale.
Let’s check that. Yes, from E to D C A G F D.
Check it out! All notes of the descending run are on the “dots”, the fingerboard makers; this makes it very easy to visualize.
That’s basically it. A few more play-alongs from beginning to end wouldn’t hurt.
Get it tight and have some fun!
George Urbaszek
Serving Bass Players Worldwide since 1996
Online Bass Lessons
Monday, January 7, 2008
Bass Amp Purchase - Part 2
(Continued from Part 1)
EQ – Equalization can be graphic, parametric, semi-parametric, or a variety of combinations. What suits you? Usually shop staff are knowledgeable and will assist.
Compression – Most high-end bass amps have good in-built compressors. A touch of compression is not to be overlooked in your sound. All recordings have a degree of bass compression and it is an excellent asset for live playing too. (All of my lessons are recorded with bass compression. Have you noticed? If not, that’s good. Online Bass Lessons are available at CreativeBassLessons.com)
If you purchase separate pre-amp, power amp and speakers, you can always mix and match. This is a great way of achieving your ultimate sound. You can try tube/solid state amp combinations with speakers and speaker cabs of various sizes and quality.
Many amp heads now have the option of blending tube and solid state pre-amps. Some do amp simulation (of well-known and successful combinations) too. This will enable you to find out what is most suitable.
My current setup (for the past 12 years) is an amp head containing two 250W power amps plus all the other shbang such as DI with output control, a good compressor, semi-parametric EQ, shelving (graphic) EQ, headphone jacks, tuner and effects in/out plus more. And very importantly, a tube pre-amp. This makes the amp sound better as it warms up. I run both power amps into bridged mono, giving me 600W RMS into a 350W RMS 2x10 speaker cab with an attenuateable horn. The cab can handle peaks of up to 800W.
A note on speaker cabs – 2x10 has approx. the same surface as a 1x15 speaker. Therefore the 2x10 has a similar amount of bass depth as the 1x15, yet a better, faster, clearer response, making it fine for 5-string basses.
Although the info provided above might seem in-depth, it is not really. Many issues have not been mentioned. I trust I have provided you with enough insights to get you onto YOUR path.
George Urbaszek
Serving Bass Players Worldwide since 1996
Bass Lessons Online
EQ – Equalization can be graphic, parametric, semi-parametric, or a variety of combinations. What suits you? Usually shop staff are knowledgeable and will assist.
Compression – Most high-end bass amps have good in-built compressors. A touch of compression is not to be overlooked in your sound. All recordings have a degree of bass compression and it is an excellent asset for live playing too. (All of my lessons are recorded with bass compression. Have you noticed? If not, that’s good. Online Bass Lessons are available at CreativeBassLessons.com)
If you purchase separate pre-amp, power amp and speakers, you can always mix and match. This is a great way of achieving your ultimate sound. You can try tube/solid state amp combinations with speakers and speaker cabs of various sizes and quality.
Many amp heads now have the option of blending tube and solid state pre-amps. Some do amp simulation (of well-known and successful combinations) too. This will enable you to find out what is most suitable.
My current setup (for the past 12 years) is an amp head containing two 250W power amps plus all the other shbang such as DI with output control, a good compressor, semi-parametric EQ, shelving (graphic) EQ, headphone jacks, tuner and effects in/out plus more. And very importantly, a tube pre-amp. This makes the amp sound better as it warms up. I run both power amps into bridged mono, giving me 600W RMS into a 350W RMS 2x10 speaker cab with an attenuateable horn. The cab can handle peaks of up to 800W.
A note on speaker cabs – 2x10 has approx. the same surface as a 1x15 speaker. Therefore the 2x10 has a similar amount of bass depth as the 1x15, yet a better, faster, clearer response, making it fine for 5-string basses.
Although the info provided above might seem in-depth, it is not really. Many issues have not been mentioned. I trust I have provided you with enough insights to get you onto YOUR path.
George Urbaszek
Serving Bass Players Worldwide since 1996
Bass Lessons Online
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