$245

Do you practice? How often? What do you practice? For myself, I never have just sat down and practiced scales or exercises on bass, although I did on trombone. I learned to play bass by playing along with records and that is still how I practice if I hear something I'd like to play. I never just sit down to play for the hell of it, although I enjoy playing. I'd much rather play in a group setting than alone. What d'ya think?

Not real "proper" practice with modes and
new tunes and stuff ... but I keep telling
myself I'm about to go there.

Mostly I practice on non-gig days just cuz
I enjoy it and to keep in touch with the ax.

I write out ideas for basslines to tunes I'm working on and play them to see how they sound. That way in the studio or at practice/gigs I have plenty to be creative with and plenty of ways a tune can go ready in my head.

I also like to ask myself, "What if this were a samba? Straight 8th-note rock? How would Rocco Prestia play it? Krist Novaselic?" etc. etc. etc.

And I have etude books, which are the best chop-working tools that money can buy, hands down. Hrabe, Storch, and Simandl. You'd be amazed what you can do on the bass after going through those guys. Then move on to Simandl's Gradus ad Parnassum once you've bested all the other books. That's frightening stuff. I don't even have the guts to buy a copy yet.

There are transcriptions of Bach's Cello Suites for bass that are nice as well. Jethro Tull did a version of Bach's "Bouree in E Minor" on Stand UP! that has very nice bass solo by Glenn Cornick, too. Murray Crewe, bass trombonist in the Pittsburgh Symphony, told me that he prefers to play excerpts rather than scales because it's much more fun and give you the same kind of workout. Same thing could apply for bass.

That's also all trombonists have. There really isn't much rep for them. All the exciting stuff is in orchestral pieces. Particularly Berlioz. His requiem asked for a chamber orchestra and 24 trombones. He was also clinically insane...just fyi.

Anyone who tells the violins to play with the stick side of the bow is OK in my book (Symphonie Fantastique).

Bert Turetzky, one of my bass heroes who studied Berlioz's music very early on, went on to write a piece for Lou Harrison in which the player is required play the entire bass (not just the strings, but the ribs and back and neck) with chopsticks. We've come a long way since Berlioz, but that piece is still a cornerstone in modern extended techniques, not to mention harmonies. The witches' dance was a bear to analyze for theory courses. Glad that's over...haha. I'm definitely a Berlioz fan, too.

Before the Turetzky piece, the word
"chopsticks" lacked any functional
connection to the actual use[s] of
the object to which it refers. So, I
thank Turetzky for redressing that !