5 Minutes a Day Bass Challenge | Are You In?
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- čas přidán 20. 08. 2024
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His sound is simply amazing. I think there is half a ton of dedication and lyricism in every note. I love it. ❤
I practice triads ,diads and permutation combinations every day in all keys and in all triads ( major , augmented, minor and diminish) . It's contain round 2k exercises and obviously iconic lines .
this is neat. i've been playing nearly 40 years by ear, i'm a cartoonist in animation and i learn by patterns. music never 'sticks' with me, i've always struggled with learning to read. but many years ago i took lessons with bunny brunel, and he teaches using modes. this was revelatory to me! but i only 'sound' like i know what i'm doing. i play slap, fingerstyle, fretless... it's a fun hobby but i really don't 'know' music very well at all. this exercise looks great thanks!
A great exercise!!!! I really like what you said about being in the music rather than in the music. I often think of something that Marcus Miller referenced about doing sessions. He said that the reason that he, Will Lee, and Francisco Centeno got the majority of the studio work in New York back in the day is that they could read and not sound like they were reading.
That's a very good point. To be able to read and make it sound like you're not is definitely a good goal to have. I definitely try and sound like that whenever I'm in those situations. I've found that being able to read a few bars ahead is a big key to making the music flow.
I was wondering about a pdf with sheet music and you answered brilliantly. Thank you! I'm fortunate enough to have a face to face bass teacher as my neighbour but I'm always looking for stuff online. Much of it is a waste of time but this was useful.
Great exercise Janek, I've got the video on 0.5 speed trying to work it out on sax 🤣. So difficult but I can feel how getting this in 12 keys would be such a great workout. I'm making it a goal to get there!
I love this! Always looking for things like this that cover so much of what it takes, mechanically skill, creativity, musicality, musicianship, there is so much to gain by adding this to your daily routine. Thanks Janek!
I learned the cycle of fourths from my instructor who learned it from you. That’s my warmup. Even if I don’t fully practice I still play just that.
I'm humbled. Sometimes I can't even pick up my bass. But i think, i'll try to change it. Thanks janek.
Very nice pattern and your sound is light and beautiful. Thank you for sharing this
I modified this a bit.. every key I start on a different 16th note subdivision. Thanks for this. I used to do this exercise on the piano many moons ago! I was always more of a Czerny fan but Hanon works great for bass!
School of Velocity!!! 🤣👍
Thanks, a great exercise! Just tried it on the double bass - it's a hard one for me. But it sounds like music to me, so that keeps me going. Will try it on the electric also. 👍
Thank you Janek. It was an amazing video as Always 👍👍
Ah....new bass 😎🤟
Great video Janek! Looking forward to the show at the Bitter End!
Excited to hear that new record!!
First exercise is like Hanon for piano...thanks
haha, you convinced me, take my money, good man, just ordered the books
the exercise works the other way well too... 1235321 etc
Dear Janek, thanks a lot once again for this challenge, and for sharing all these insights as to how to prepare for a studio session. I would like to ask one question: if you happened to dislike (or disagree with some parts of) an arrangement, how do you proceed? What would be your advice? (assuming that you are a sideman, 'just' playing bass) thanks
It really depends on your level of involvement, how well you know the artist, and how confident you are in being able to enhance the song. If you simply dislike something and don't have an opinion about changing it, then it's probably best to keep that to yourself if you're in the middle of a session. And if that becomes a consistent artist dislike for the situation, you can always opt out of being there by turning the gig or session down.
If you have a history with the artist or the producer, then a subtle suggestion here and there isn't going to rock the boat too much. Especially if you're aware of the time it takes to try that change. If you can articulate your idea and try it in a very short space of time, regardless of whether it works out or not, you will be seen to be serving the music first and not wasting anyone's time.
But if your'e the guy who always has something to say about every song and aren't the producer on the date? That's going to get very old very fast.
I always say the music business is 5% playing music and 95% dealing with people. If you can read a room, know when to talk and when to keep quiet, and always put the music first with no ego involved, you're going to be in a winning position a high percentage of the time.
@@janekgwizdala Dear Janek, thank you very much for your quick and detailed answer; it gives me a series of options to be used in navigating in the situation; and this percentages "5% music and 95% people" and "putting the music first with no ego involved" are precious words of wisdom, much appreciated. Thanks once again for spending time to respond, and for being a permanent source of inspiration for me.
Challenge accepted sir.
Happy World Cup Month!
thank you for the inspiration you give. please let me know what a beautiful bass it is in this video, it´s a F BASS but which model...?
It's an instrument I had custom made for me and is maybe available as a custom order to the public? I'm not sure.
I can't say that I agree with the "easy way out" claim regarding having PDF with notation offered. For example I am still struggling figuring this out for 40+ minutes, especially since you use a high C and play fast (even when it's slowed down), and I could have already been practicing the phrase. The average person would probably be too frustrated to continue, but I'm far too stubborn. That being said, I'd be reluctant to join your teaching site now, since I have limited time to practice and can't use this much time to figure patterns to practice, I'd rather use that time for practicing transcribing, practicing with metronome, playing songs or improving technique (by actually doing the exercise and thinking about it and listening while playing).
So, after laboring for a long while, I managed to figure the exercise out, but I ran into a problem. I use a standard tuned 5 string bass with 20 frets and it seems no matter where I start the phrase, I ran out of space to play the 2 octave arpeggio eventually, so I play it in one octave. If I start on the C on 10th fret of D string, Ab (16th fret on E) can't be played trough 2 octaves from lower to higher register, Gb (14th fret on E), E (12th fret on E) and G (15th fret on E) as well. Same happens when I start lower. It seems that some of them have to be played as single octave? I am probably making a mistake somewhere, since it's 4:24 AM now and I started watching this video at 2 something...
You've already given yourself some incredibly useful information.
It took you over 40 minutes to work out something that is based on a major scale, and something I analyzed in the video in detail. I gave you the starting intervals on the descending shape, I told you that it mirrors the same pattern when it ascends, and that there is a descending major scale, and a two octave ascending arpeggio.
I did 98% of the work for you, AND you had a video reference, and it still took you over 40 minutes to work it out.
This is by no means me telling you you suck, or trying to be discouraging in any way at all. This is me highlighting that you are not ready for the exercise if your ear can't hear the fundamentals of the music yet.
Being handed a transcription that you could instantly read and mindlessly run up and down your instrument without having to do any of the work to understand the context, is selling you short. If I did that, that WOULD be insulting to you and to your process in learning music.
Don't be so impatient with your time that you think you're "wasting" it by doing this work. It's not always going to take you 40+ minutes to figure out something so simple. Your ear will improve. But it will only improve if you continue to do this work and stop taking shortcuts.
If you're serious about music, and want to build a foundation that allows you true creative freedom, then anyone who tells you different or simply hands you the answer on a plate, is wasting your time and/or money by doing so.
If you want to be a social media/bedroom bassist whose ability stops at the 60 second mark, then by all means, use other people's transcriptions, slow things down, and "Hacks Tips and Tricks" yourself to instagram stardom.
@@janekgwizdala Thanks for the response. I'll respond to each point you made:
You didn't analyze the video in detail nor did the 98% of the work for me, that's a false claim. First, you didn't go trough the entire exercise, which would make it a lot clearer and it only takes you 5 minutes to play anyway. In the video you play through F and B as you explained, then you don't continue from the 5th of Eb to which you've arrived (22nd fret of C string), like you did for Bb, but you go to 10th fret of C string, without saying why. I thought that the exercise works the way you described it in the first two keys, that it builds on itself without changing the starting location after the arpeggio is played and that you simply moved to other Eb because it's easier to see what you play lower on the neck, not because the 2 octave arpeggio can't be played when starting on 22nd fret of C. So that is still unclear, when to change the position after playing the 2 octave arpeggio. I think this detail is very important, because this makes it possible to play the 2 octave arpeggio every time, while the 1st option does not. You also frequently interrupt the phrase, change tempo etc., which doesn't help when learning something new.
You are telling me I suck in an indirect manner (but it's not far from the truth), saying I'm not ready for the exercise, because it took me 40 minutes to figure it out and that I don't have well developed ear. But you said in the video yourself, that anyone who can play the major scale can do the exercise, so being able to do that I jumped in. I also have to elaborate what I meant by saying "figure out" - in those 40+ minutes I went through the exercise several times starting from different positions, but not through all 12 keys most of the time, because I encountered the problem of not being able to play 2 octave arpeggios every time and thought I must be doing something wrong. I heard the pattern and understood it, but I can't play it as fast as you because it's technically demanding for me. This is the result of incomplete explanation of the exercise, leaving the student guessing, but not in the good kind of way. My 1st thought wasn't that an elite player didn't give proper explanation of the exercise, but that I'm doing something wrong, so that's why I tried to go through every scenario before writing my comment. I am still unsure what's the rule (or if there is one) when to change the starting point, but I'll be able to figure it out eventually...
I've NEVER had these issues with instructions from Dan Hawkins, Rich Brown, Damian Erskine, James Eager (eBassguitar), Mark Smith (TalkingBass) or any other online resource. Their videos/lessons are in no ways inferior because they include diagrams, notation and/or tab, because they also explain what they are doing in the video, but multiple choices for learning are present, since many different people, with vastly different skill levels are viewing the content.
One more thing to consider is that you might be speaking to someone who's disabled and has physical limitations, so it takes a lot longer to understand and play trough the exercise. It's not the case now, but it's something to have in mind when being a public teacher and interacting with potential students and customers.
I'm not impatient with my time, but I checked out the video at the end of my daily practice, since it's called "5 minutes a day bass challenge", which is also misleading, since it takes an elite player such as yourself 5 minutes, not the "bedroom bassists" that make about 95% of the viewership. I was simply frustrated because I'm used to better instruction that gets me playing and understanding what I'm doing a lot faster and gave my honest feedback with no ill intent.
You including the exercise in standard notation would not really diminish the understanding of the exercise, at least for me, since I'd still have to understand the context, I'm not able to sight read and play something without understanding why it is the way it is. It would also be a great workout for reading notation and another challenge added. I do understand your angle as well, since one shouldn't be averse to struggling, since it breeds exellence, but it can be disheartening to struggle because of incomplete explanation, it's manufactured struggle.
Closing statement reeks of elitism, most of people that are playing the bass and looking for instructions on the internet are what you call bedroom bassists, I don't know about the social media aspect. It's also demeaning to other online teachers. People that want to be professional musicians practice for many hours daily and don't need a video called "5 minutes a day bass challenge", since they mostly get curriculum from their 1-to-1 professors which they work with in person and have well developed ear. My bass teacher, who I'd call a virtuoso, never had a lesson in his life or even had the internet, but practiced 6 to 8 hours daily transcribing by ear and watching others play. Most people are hobbyists with no intent of being pros, open to having a simple gig once in a while. I am already an established professional, music is my hobby, despite being serious about my practice and approach. I am blessed that I can practice 2-4 hours daily, but most people don't have that much time or are way to tired to practice longer. Have that in mind.
Wish you all the best, good luck with your work and thank you for the free lessons.
🤦♂️
@@AlexandarShmex In the time it took you to write this response, you could have figured out fingerings and positions for the entire exercise. Again, good information for your learning process if you're actually looking for it.
But if your main focus is to refute my advice which is based on 30 years of professional experience, and try and explain the internet to me by listing other bass players/teachers, then I guess the music will have to wait.
And why would my first thought be to assume someone who wrote what you wrote is disabled in some way? Surely that would be their opening line to make me aware of something that wasn't covered in the video. When I film something, I don't immediately think of every conceivable angle that the entire cross section of the audience might possibly be watching from.
That's like me watching a video about tying knots and then commenting that the teacher didn't include a method for people with no hands. It's kind of assumed that if you want to tie knots, you might need full use of your hands to do it. And if you don't have that facility, maybe you would reach out and ask questions, state your disability, and try and collaborate on a solution. I think most teachers would immediately be open to such a request. I know I would.
But it comes down to one very basic fact: You watched a video that you assumed would be one thing, and it wasn't. You then complained about it not being exactly the way you think it should be, and then further tried to bolster your point by trying to explain my audience to me.
All that time, you could have just been doing the work.
@@janekgwizdala There's no point to continue arguing. I might have been a bit harsh and I apologize if I insulted you. I am thankful for the free lessons you're posting.
That being said, can you please tell me when should I change position of the starting 5th in order to play 2 octaves? Or should I just improvise and change it up every time? That's what I've been doing, but then I don't have a seamless transition from key to key, but it will come.
I've been doing the exercise for 50 minutes today at 60 bpm, I can see it massively improving my playing, both technique and musicianship.
So I hope we're cool, wish you all the best.
Nice Jojo and Nerve posters - when are you going to play with Jojo and record again with him? Please do
A good question, and something I do think about from time to time. I'm pretty sure it will happen in the next couple of years.
Wow! great exercise and more importantly I loved playing this. This exercise has shown that I need to work on my ear training (bought your ear training course today btw) Do you recommend this exercise with a metronome or just played on it's own. Hope the session goes well
It all depends on where your technique is at, and how much discipline you think you need with new material. I always keep the metronome open as an option.
@@janekgwizdala thank you
The complete library is an awesome deal!
As someone who's still intermediate with Bass playing, what order do you recommend going through your books?
Also, what headphones do you recommend using for practice?
I think what has been the trademark of all the books is that there is something in all of them for every level of playing. If you want to improve your knowledge of chords, then chordal harmony starts out with one of the easiest exercises in the entire library... It gets deep towards the end of the book, but there's basically no technical barrier to entry for each topic.
You want to be able to do the thing right away, and not wade through 50 pages before you get a sniff at what the book is about. So my recommendation would be to pick a topic and open the book, rather than think of the entire collection as a sequenced start-to-finish guide.
Headphones are a little like wine. There are some shockingly awful ones that most people agree taste like vinegar, and that you might find at a gas station in the midwest. Then there are some basics like a solid $10 Cabernet or Chardonnay, much like there are some entry level AKGs. The ones I'm using in this video are by AKG and cost $25 at guitar center. Then the sky is really the limit. You can go up to Airpods, Bose, Beats, and then get into custom moulded in ear monitors ranging anywhere from $200-$3,000.
At the end of the day, much like wine, it's what you like + your budget, that will ultimately determine what you get.
@@janekgwizdala Thank you so much for your reply, this is really helpful! I just ordered the books and super excited to dive in!
“Practice sound and timing” you don’t give any explanation as to what that means…
I actually said time and sound, not "timing". I think there's a bit of a difference. But that's besides the point.
What does time and sound mean to you? That's the question you should try asking yourself. This isn't a trick answer to your comment either. I'm dead serious. What does time and sound mean to you?
They are the two most fundamental elements of music, and even more so of your identity as a musician, so the question is definitely worth asking yourself on a regular basis. I start my day with it almost every day of my life.
Why wearing 2 watches at the same time? Just curious
The Apple watch is for data tracking in terms of my health. It's a really nice motivator to keep track of my resting heart rate, steps, and all workouts throughout my day. And now I've been wearing it for close to a year, I get amazing feedback in terms of trends, and also what happens when I'm sick, and how fast my recovery is. I know it's not crazy accurate in the grand scheme of things. Like it wont' tell me exactly how many calories I'm burning. But it is accurate to itself. So once I got a feel for the way it works, it has been a great tool.
The real watch is because I just love watches. It's probably my only vice, and if money was no barrier, I'd be a pretty crazy collector. I'm especially into vintage chronos from the 40's and 50's, as well as a few modern things. The watch you'll see me wearing most often, as I am in this video, is the Tudor Heritage Chrono Blue. It's a really solid daily wear, and isn't over the top in terms of size like a Panerai, or some of these ghastly fashion watches at 48mm+.
Would you recommend strict index/middle alternation for these kinds of scale workouts? And do you ever consciously start on different RH finger to mix up the pattern?
That's a tough one because picking technique can be really personal. I will say that whenever I work on a phrase that's new to me, I do spend an extraordinary amount of time focussed in on the picking side of things. I'll try as many combinations as I can until I find the one that is the best fit. Descending shapes always run into string skipping issues, so I've rarely found that it's ever possible to stick to a strict back and forth between two fingers. And similarly with the ascending shapes, when you want to phrase and give it shape, you won't be picking every single note.
Experimentation at a slow tempo is a good place to start. But remember, what works at a slow tempo doesn't always work fast. You might find you work on a specific fingering for a while, and then there's a ceiling to your technique as a result. Sometimes it's going to be because your technique just isn't there in general yet, but sometimes it's going to be about the specifics of the fingering. Don't rush it, and let it come to you.
Appreciate the reply! That makes a ton of sense
No more Mattison? Love the F bass
I so love the Mattisson. Great wood texture and sound.
I greatly prefer the F Bass. It sounds fantastic.
I still have the Mattisson, but I'm going with something different for now. It's been great both live and in the studio so far.
What is that new bass that you have master?
FBass. 👍
Hi Janek. Complete bundle is an excellent deal. Is there a paper option or ebook only? Thank you.
Only eBook with this bundle. Amazon don't let you make box sets unless the entire collection is in the same "series". Bummer.
Bummer. Thanks Janek. Will place order shortly regardless. 👍🏻