Tony Levin at Bass Player Live

[Rano Bass]

for me, having Dave Marotta on the forum is an honor.

Jack

Well said Jack, Dave is also a great player.
Just watch this: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QuKym39qi0"]YouTube - MAROTTA plays[/ame]

[oddjob]

Someday I would like to repeat the experience we all had at the Desert Bash with you, Cliff, Tony, BP, Dave LaRue, John and Luke sitting in a row, talking about things and playing a bit. I'm REALLY sorry I didn't get to see you guys at BPL. It's always an education.

And, for me, having Dave Marotta on the forum is an honor. Play that funky music, white boy!

Jack

Couldn't agree more, Jack. I had the pleasure of the "mini" hang with Dave and Cliff at the Desert Bash and it was an education. Love Tony's playing, love Dave's and love Cliff's (and all 3 were smoking that night)

[oli@bass]

Well said Jack, Dave is also a great player.
Just watch this:

Fabulous!

More and more, I get the impression that a looper would be a great tool for practice.

[Powman]

Tony can rip but never over plays a line.

Dave you are no slouch either when it comes to playing.

I would love to learn from either of you.

tk

This is an interesting perspective. While I also love the flash of good bass slapping (Wooten, Miller et al) I have come to realize that most (95%) songs out there don't really have and call for this type of bass playing. Not that Tony Levin is any slouch as someone lese pointed out (Liquid Tension stuff).

What got me thinking about this is that I have really only been playing bass seriously for about 1 year. Back then I was just satisfied to play a couple of songs live without getting tomatoes, beer bottle and garbage throw at me (Get off the stage loser...)

But we have got to the point that we are going after paid gigs now! This is a dream come true, but I am not quitting my day job

So now, I need to focus on what is truely important to be a good bass player. Sounds like Tony Levin's workshop nailed it on the head. Good tasteful bass lines are critical. So I am going to continue to focus on the folllowing skills:

1. Good tone...this includes good right and left hand techniques, well muted strings, no buzzing, low finger noise etc.
2. Good understanding of music theory for bass players so that I know why I am playing a bass line a certain way and so I can create my own bass lines. Ie scales of commonly played keys, Ionion, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian modes etc
3. Know the notes on the fretboard better...I still get a bit hazy at naming the notes between frets 6 to 11...but its getting better. I play there all the time but ask me to quickly tell you the note and it takes me a few seconds..

I do slap sometimes, but not that well...But if I am going to invest time in practicing skills I would rather focus on these three rather than slapping.

Any thoughts from the experienced folks here???

[Big Poppa]

Play with drummers...good ones...talk to better players with pinted questions...When you cant play with drummers play with cd's mp3's and drum machines....time and feel time and feel.....repeat after me.....find the pocket.....is it back or pushing...its different with each song and genre....time and feel baby

[adouglas]

BP nailed it.

Groove, baby, groove.

Tone and knowledge are not as important as being in the right place at the right time with the right feel.

I don't slap if I can avoid it. Of course, part of the reason for that is that I suck at it... I can't seem to get it to sound as it should for some reason... but mostly because it's not what being a good bass player is all about.

[Powman]

Play with drummers...good ones...talk to better players with pinted questions...When you cant play with drummers play with cd's mp3's and drum machines....time and feel time and feel.....repeat after me.....find the pocket.....is it back or pushing...its different with each song and genre....time and feel baby

Excellent advice...And I am lucky because I recently started playing with an experienced drummer. Not only do we get along personally, but I understand what he is doing and can almost predict what he is going to do next. I find it really relaxing to jam with him...some drummers I am stressed playing with.

How does one exactly define "pocket"...

[dmarotta]

Even at our age we can still get a little Norweigen wood.Life is good. How bout Jennifer Young? She rips!