My First 5-String Bass Guitar
One of my face-to-face students recently asked my about converting his 5-string bass to a 4-string. This "backward" conversion brought back memories of my first 5-string bass.
It was around 1988 that I became interested in playing 5-string. Although the concept had been adopted well over a hundred years ago for double bass, it was quite new for bass guitar. Being a formally trained classical double bass player, I was already familiar with the 5-string concept in its various guises, and had played several 5-string upright basses on occasion.
Because no music stores in my area had 5-string bass guitars at that time, I decided to convert my one-and-only bass guitar myself. I bought a bridge, a tuning peg, a B-string and a blank nut, drilled a hole in the headstock, filed the nut grooves, and did the conversion in one afternoon. Brave? I don't know. I just had to find out.
That very night I had a gig. Yikes! Brave? I didn't even think about the implications at that time ... I was so excited about my "new" bass. The worst thing that happened was that I occasionally played fifths instead of chord roots. Of course I was used to using the E-string as my visual reference. Which 4-string player is not!
The lesson I learnt from that very first night on my 5-string was to learn the notes equally well on ALL strings and to not use any specific string as a reference. The main thing I practiced - and made myself conscious of on all gigs - was to know which string I was on at any given time.
This new consciousness has helped me enormously in my confidence of playing any stringed instrument (except when I am playing completely by ear) and definitely helped my learning of the 6-string bass (which is another story where further learning elements were introduced).
The student I mentioned above has not done his "backward" conversion yet.
Besides being an innovative and highly respected music educator, George Urbaszek plays double bass, guitar, bass guitar and bassitar. He has over 3000 performances and 120 recording sessions to his credit and has toured Australia, Central Europe, Canada, USA and the Pacific Islands.
George has performed with artists ranging from Rolf Harris through to Judith Durham, Beccy Cole, Marina Prior, George Washingmachine, Thelma Housten and the New York production of Porgy and Bess. His former students include Brendan Clarke (winner of the Australian National Jazz Award), Kim Khahn (Robbie Williams, Mel C, Natalie Imbruglia) and Rory Quirk (John Butler Trio).
After lecturing for thirteen years in the Jazz Department of the Australian National University, George is now residing near Byron Bay, Australia, where he works from home teaching students from all over the world using an innovative approach of step-by-step online bass lessons. These lessons cost as little as US $3.79 each and are available at http://www.creativebasslessons.com
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/
Added: April 10, 2008
Takacs Quartet shines in pre-Cliburn appearance - Fort Worth Star Telegram
String of poor signings indicated serious flaw - Irish Times
SkySports String of poor signings indicated serious flaw Irish Times, Ireland - YESTERDAY'S NEWS from Sunderland didn't come as any great surprise; once Roy Keane talked publicly about his self-doubts, about how he wondered if he had ... No one safe as Prem clubs wield the axe again Sunderland get stuck into search for new boss Sam Allardyce the favourite to replace Roy Keane as next ... -US mortgage rate scheme may push on a string - Telegraph.co.uk
Sify US mortgage rate scheme may push on a string Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - The US Treasury thinks lowering interest rates on mortgages will help stabilise the countrys spiralling housing market. It wants mortgage giants Fannie Mae ... Mortgage rates continue to fall