July 2020 Bassbuzz Challenge

Here, MusicXML format
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eAFwfTOejddU3QugqFDccvxec0B2f8T5/view?usp=sharing

Just don’t assume it’s correct! Did my best to write it down, it’s possible something escaped. I know for sure the last bar is lacking something but my limited notation knowledge can’t put a name to it

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Okay I haven’t checked but at least the first few bars are in order so here is the full prelude as written by josh, copied by @gcancella to guitar pro and then imported into noteflight:

Few adjustements I had to make:
It didn’t know the instrument from the XML so it played on a piano.
I had to cut out the Tab line, change the Instrument Part to “E-Bass” and then added another part “E-Bass (Tab)” and inserted the tab line there.
Compared to Joshs Notes it was an octave up but it was an easy fix as I just could select the whole part and move it an octave down.

Since you mentioned the last bar I compared to Joshs Tabs and a slur or tie was missing on that chord but I don’t understand what it means as it usually should be connected to the next note. I guess the transition to the low note should be smooth or you let the chord ring just a little longer!? I dunno. But I don’t think I’ll get that far soon anyway.

Oh also I was wondering about the 76bpm tempo. Did you adjust that for yourself or why is it at that tempo? As said as far as I can tell it should be 80bpm for the original.

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Got it from here https://tunebat.com/Info/Cello-Suite-No-1-in-G-Major-BWV-1007-I-Prelude-Johann-Sebastian-Bach-Alexander-Rudin/0rWvGcPB1rrmZMW4gRCQa8, other sources give other tempos. I suppose it depends on the performer.

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This guy adapted the piece to a 20 fret bass, it’s doable with some octave changes (and artificial harmonics the way he did it) -

Generally though - it’s hard to fit Bach cello suites on bass because cellos have way more range, since they’re tuned in 5ths (7 half steps) instead of 4ths (5 half steps). Fun challenge though!

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That is a divine rendition.

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So… this is how far I got in one day.
Although I probably should have practiced the band songs at least a little bit cough.
I had so much fun with Bach I have to admit. Not that I had doubt beforehand but I really enjoy playing it.

One thing I noticed - @JoshFossgreen manages to connect and hold the notes very nicely while mine always suddenly stop. I remember the Bassbuzz video that his is a sign for a beginner bassist but now that I actually want the strings to ring I’m having problems letting them. I am so used to muting everything after I played and plucking through that I stop notes I do not want to.
I only noticed after the video so in this version I still don’t care. But when testing I had problems even when not focusing on timing and doing it very slow.
Any tips for that?

And @T_dub as well as @Gio told me that I had to keep wearing the cape. Hopefully it gave me power during practice. I am very satisfied for one day although I hardly put the bass away for the whole day. Probably not the most effective. Still fun :slight_smile:

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Dude, you’re a machine! Right after finishing a custom build bass, you’re tackling this, love it!

Great playing, man, your timing is really good, and the fingering on the fretting hand. I think slowing it down is normal to learn it, I’m doing the same. It is a joy to play for sure - okay, 6 bars down, you think you’ll go for the whole thing? It’s a long weekend here in the USA, and, with the renewed stay at home orders, I want to make some progress too with it in the next few days.

I think the first few times playing and learning it, it almost has to be this way, whereas, down the road, you can do more stylistic things with the piece. Right now (at least for me), it is just a bunch of memorization - so - it sort of comes across as a “one note at a time” sort of playing. But yeah, watching Josh, other bassists, and other cellists on YT is inspiring, to see just how artful it can get :art:

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Only a suggestion. If were working on that piece, I’d try slowing it down, but be just as quick as you are to the next note. In this way you artificially are holding on to the note longer…but with the quick transition the notes have got to ring. Then you can try tightening it up again by speeding up the tempo.

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Well… looks at floor
I’m definitely not a cleaning machine. Still have to tidy up after that build.
This was more fun though.

It’s a good suggestion but that’s what I’m doing already (okay, trying to). I sped up again to 65% shortly before the video because 60% felt okay already. It’s not what I was talking about though. Josh let his strings actually keep ringing after playing the note if possible and I noticed when I play a note on the D-String followed by a note on the G-String I automatically mute by plucking through the G the string and muting the D-String. But I guess the answer to my question would be: “well don’t do that anymore”. In combination with what @Vik told me: Don’t worry about it for now and just memorize the piece itself at first - a bit like what I told you about muting :wink:
I guess I should go back to 50% speed for a while.

I don’t know.
To be honest once I got the first bar down bar 2-4 were easy as they are exactly the same pattern.
Let’s see. One step at a time.
Errr - One Bar at a time.

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Heehee, yeah, there are some very similar riffs in this on different bars, though it changes up a bit after bar 4 - you got to bar 6 so you saw that! For anyone thinking of trying this, but don’t know where to start - do this - just play a G major scale starting with the 15th fret G on the E string. That same pattern we learned in B2B for major scales. Most of the notes in this are just that scale. Sometimes they’re moved a little - for example bar 1: that 12th fret on the D string is the same note as the 17th fret on the A string - a fifth. The 16-14-16 is just a third-second-third, one octave up. It’s kind of an exercise in finding major scale note positions.

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… and I stand by that statement…

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Yeah. The hard thing is just memorizing it and also remembering “did I play this thing twice already? Yeah, I’ll move on to the next bar. Oh sh*t. I only played it once. Damnit!”

I wanted to see if a good nights sleep changed anything but it seems I overdid it yesterday and today the skin on my fingers is complaining so I have to take a break from practice.

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@Vik that is very helpful. I’m still at C scale and it’s fluid after weeks. I’m now just seeing how much bpm I can get to.
Jamie

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Nice job @juli0r so far! Loved the smile at the end of the video

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Relief as this was probably take number 20 or something.
I got it right multiple time practicing but we already talked in another thread about “Oh, I think I’m nailing this. Let’s record.”
2 hours later
“I’m not nailing this.”

But I wanted to get the video out so in this case I kept pushing through to an acceptable result. Fret buzz I can accept (as you can see/hear) but completely messing up like moving to the next bar too early or completely missing notes wasn’t something I wanted to have in the video as I already played it “that good” a few times during practice.

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And I stand by that statement…

Besides, seems to be working. Good work.

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While I enjoy fooling around with the cape I hope it’s mainly me and not the cape :wink:
But it probably still helps in a psychological way. “Okay, time to record. Where’s my cape?” :grin:
Thanks!

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@juli0r Capes are cool! The last time I saw one worn by a musician was a organist for hire. I was in the choir loft, and seeing the cape, “What? Who is the guy?”

Very professional…with a cape!

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Takes practice! You have to clean up your fretting technique a lot to shorten transition times. This is a good idea -

I’d also recommend thinking of each bar as a chord voicing that’s getting broken up (“arpeggiated”). So get your hand ready for G, D, and B all at once, try to play it as a chord, then play the actual written music. Think of it all as one unit, rather than separate notes to jump around to.

At the very least, the notes in this piece should be played “legato,” with note lengths running right into each other without space. I also took the liberty of letting some notes ring over others, which reflects the ‘chord voicing’ mentality in the above paragraph, but that’s not necessary for the piece.

It was written for cello, which is played with a bow, which can only hit two strings at a time max (because of the arch of the cello’s bridge), so having all 3 notes of a chord ring at once is a bass guitar flourish that Bach wouldn’t have actually intended. (sorry Johann :crying_cat_face:)

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Thanks for repeating the pointers from the video I kind of ignored :flushed:

I tried at first and wasn’t able to reach. Anyway - back to square one. But for now I still want to practice for the band :grin:

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