Upright Bass Limitations…or Possibilities?

Question:

Recently, in an effort to immerse myself in the Ray Brown ethos, I purchased an upright bass and have been taking some lessons on form and stance. Generally, it seems like the instrument is quite mechanically difficult to play (relative to the electric — heck the neck hits the body at the "7th" fret) and lacking frets makes it much harder to easily play patterns up and down the neck (like the c chordal scale or g chordal scales you teach in your Jazz Bass books). I’m curious if you feel that string bass (at the advanced level) really limits the musician in terms of tonal vocabulary and speed. I’m far too inexperienced to really gauge this yet.

Response:

> Recently, in an effort to immerse myself in the Ray Brown ethos, I > purchased an upright bass and have been taking some lessons on form > and stance. > Generally, it seems like the instrument is quite mechanically > difficult to play (relative to the electric — heck the neck hits the > body at the "7th" fret) and lacking frets makes it much harder to > easily play patterns up and down the neck (like the c chordal scale or > g chordal scales you teach in your Jazz Bass books). > I’m curious if you feel that string bass (at the advanced level) > really limits the musician in terms of tonal vocabulary and speed. I’m > far too inexperienced to really gauge this yet.

I just recently started playing an electric upright which is the same scale as a conventional upright. While my conversion from bass guitar has been helped by taking upright lessons, it’s still pretty challenging, but I think it’s actually a more versatile instrument. If you get a chance, check the Diana Krall DVD, "Live from Paris" and see some of the amazing things John Clayton does. You might also want to check out some Christian Mcbride. Both these guys are all over it and with very little apparent effort. Neal — Neal Pollack The Bad Habit Allstars http://www.badhabitallstars.com Carbondale, CO, USA

Response:

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