The IIB Monthly Newsletter
Volume 9, Number 12

Happy new year fellow bassists and friends!

Welcome to the latest issue of the International Institute of Bassists newsletter!

As the year comes to a close, it is time to reflect on a collection of the best bass products to come through our doors in 2008. Every year, we value the opportunity to review some of the finest basses, amps, recordings, DVD's, books, and software in production. There is nothing like an innovative piece of gear or an inspiring instructional video to get you fired up and excited about playing the bass, and this year didn't disappoint. Here is a compilation of some of the top bass products of 2008. Artists and manufacturers are listed in alphabetical order. ... Read More!

The Markbass Little Mark 250 is a stunning bass amplifier that combines great sound, compact size, and light weight. Featuring a solid-state preamp and an analog power amp, the Little Mark 250 is the little brother of Markbass' top-selling Little Mark II. It is a smart and inexpensive choice for those who don't need the full power of a 500-watt head. It delivers 250 watts of power into a 4 ohm cabinet or 150 watts into an 8 ohm cabinet. Its small size makes the Little Mark 250 easy to transport, yet with a 4-band EQ, VLE (vintage loudspeaker emulator) and VPF (variable preshape filter), its tone is nothing short of professional. The front panel includes an input that can handle both passive and active basses along with an extra XLR balanced input for acoustic bass pickup systems or a microphone. On the rear panel, you'll find a neutrik speakon combo jack output that accepts both speakon and 1/4" speaker cable as well as a second 1/4" speaker out jack. You'll also discover a balanced XLR out, unbalanced tuner out so you can tune as you play without passing your signal through pedals and an effects loop which saves you from losing your signal if one of your pedals dies or a cable in the chain gives out.

The innovative Italian bass amp manufacturer Markbass, after shaking up the industry with their popular Little Mark II amplifier and a varied product line of high-quality and lightweight amps, cabinets, and combos, are reconfirming their reputation for lateral thinking and cutting-edge technology by introducing a dynamic recording plugin called the Mark Studio 1. The plugin, one of very few on the market that accurately models bass amps and speaker cabinets, is based on three Markbass amp heads and six Markbass cabinets. It also incorporates six different microphone choices plus control over compression, mic position, tweeter level, room ambience, and more. The amps featured are the all-tube Classic 300, the tube-preamp R 500, and the solid state (with tube compressor) TA 501. The cabinets modeled in the plugin are the Standard 151HR (rear-ported 1x15"), Standard 152HR (rear-ported 2x15"), Standard 104HR (rear-ported 4x10"), Standard 104HF (front-ported 4x10"), Standard 106HF (front-ported 6x10"), and Classic 108 (sealed 8x10"). Users can combine and adjust any combination of heads, cabinets, and microphones and store their settings in one of 64 user presets. They can also browse through 64 factory presets which have been designed by project engineers as well as top Markbass artists. The plugin can be applied to a bass track either during or after recording, and a "standalone" version, which operates on its own without recording software, is also included. Both Mac and PC versions are offered. The plugin gives users a wide array of sound choices for bass, providing a convenient, high-quality alternative to recording with bass amps and cabinets, while accessing more exciting, realistic sounds than are generally achieved by simply recording direct. The plugin is useful to not only bassists but also producers, engineers, songwriters, and anyone who uses hard disk recording software to create music.


The latest generation of Ibanez BTB basses takes the traditional BTB formula that combined a massive body with a substantial neck and moved it forward. BTB's continue to have the right mixture of select woods and high-tech appointments which supply the huge tones and sustain that BTB players have come to love. The new BTB's feature neck-thru construction and deeper cutaways that enhance playability and make upper fret navigation effortless. With its 5-piece maple/bubinga thru-neck and figured maple top, it's an electric bass that will stand out in any situation on aesthetics alone. Soundwise, the mahogany body produces plenty of smooth tones and depth which is enhanced by the dual Bartolini MK2-5 pickups. The 35-inch scale length provides superior articulation and is perfect for 5-string basses where "flopping" can occur on the low B-string with standard neck scales. The Bartolini MK2 pickups deliver fat sound and precise response while the Bartolini 3-band EQ offers detailed tone control. ... Read More!

Jazz Improvisation: Targeting Chord Tones With Approach Notes
To achieve harmonic clarity when soloing, an improviser may employ a number of techniques. The easiest method of outlining any particular harmonic structure is through the utilization of chordal arpeggiation. While many students feel that playing arpeggiated triads or seventh chords is too obvious or basic to be effective, an analysis of the great solos reveals otherwise. Most of the finest recorded solos can stand alone without the aid of chordal accompaniment because they have so much harmonic strength due to the meticulous placement of chord tones. Since relying solely on chord tones can be too restrictive, soloists will constantly shift the feeling of tension and relaxation in their phrases by combining the usage of chord tones with scale tones and chromatic approach notes.

There are 4 basic techniques an improviser can use to achieve harmonic clarity when soloing.
- Extend the durations of chord tones and make their values longer than non-chord tones.
- Emphasize chord tones by positioning them at significant points in the phrase such as the first note, last note, highest note, or lowest note.
- Place chord tones on the metrically strong downbeats within the measure such as beats 1, 2, 3, or 4.
- Approach chord tones with chromatic ornamentation.

In this lesson, we are going to utilize a combination of all these improvisation techniques to present a clear picture of the harmony. We will use the basic ii-V-I chord progression, the most common harmonic formula found in the jazz repertoire and the basis of numerous jazz standards to demonstrate how you can easily target chord tones on the downbeat of a measure by preceding the root, third, fifth, and seventh with various diatonic and non-diatonic approach note techniques.

Following measures 1-12 which contain one-octave D Dorian, G Mixolydian, and C Ionian modes along with their respective two-octave seventh chord arpeggios, you are presented with 24 different scalar and chromatic combinations which result in a total of 96 distinct permutations over the ii-V-I in C major in measures 13-300.

After you have played through each of the notated examples in C major, transpose every exercise to all of the remaining keys such as the ii-V-I in G major, D major, A major, and so forth. Next, practice moving the target tones to different beats within the measure. In jazz music, the downbeats serve as rhythmic points of rest and define the harmony of a phrase while the upbeats supply rhythmic motion. If you assign the chord tone that was originally placed on the first beat of a measure to the fourth beat of the measure that preceded it, the phrase will anticipate the subsequent chord change. Likewise, if you appoint the target tone that was initially found on the first beat of a measure to the second beat, the phrase will imply a delayed resolution. You can also shift the target tones just a half of a beat earlier or later in the measure as well. There are countless variations that can be generated by exploiting the concept of rhythmic displacement, and as you experiment with the positioning of target tones, you will notice that the harmonic character of the phrase will begin to change. Although the underlying motion of tension and release can be greatly intensified by simply relocating target tones, the harmonic clarity of the phrases will become more ambiguous as the target tones continue to deviate from the metrically strong beats. Once you feel comfortable targeting chord tones with these scalar and chromatic approach note techniques over the ii-V-I chord progression, expand this improvisation concept by applying it to other changes and improvise solos using these techniques on jazz standards. ... Read More!

Soloing Techniques: Charlie Parker's Solo On "Au Privave"
One of the most effective ways to learn how to solo involves the transcription, analysis, emulation, and manipulation of the phrases recorded by your favorite soloists. Similar to learning a new language, soloing involves studying and using a vocabulary to express and develop ideas. Because note choice, rhythm, and phrasing are too many variables to consider at the beginning, transcribed solos that have been recorded by your favorite musicians will initially limit your focus and help establish a solid foundation so you don't feel overwhelmed with all of the possibilities that are available to you as a soloist.

Keep a collection of transcribed solos by your favorite bassists, saxophonists, trumpet players, pianists, and guitarists. This archive may consist of solos you've personally transcribed as well as solos you've acquired through other resources. Even though there are a number of outstanding bass soloists including John Patitucci and Jeff Berlin, be sure to check out the solos of other great instrumentalists like Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Oscar Peterson.

As bassists, we devote most of our time to practicing grooves since our primary function in an ensemble is to provide support within the rhythm section, and as a result, bassists are generally not the best soloists. While bassists such as John Patitucci and Jeff Berlin spent time analyzing bass solos early in their development, today they are considered elite bass guitar soloists because they have spent a significant amount of time studying solos that were recorded by their favorite horn players, pianists, and guitarists which they then assimilated into their own approach. By examining the solos played by horn players, for example, you are presented with a different approach to playing bass since horn players don't have to deal with the same physical limitations that are imposed by a fretted bass guitar.

After you transcribe the lines of your favorite soloists, practice playing them along with the recordings by memorization without referring to the notation. Listen very deeply to how the master soloists communicate through the language of improvisation. Strive to not only play all of the notes and rhythms perfectly but also emulate the sound and feel that has been captured on the recordings as close as possible. Pay particular attention to all the little nuances and inflections that soloists often incorporate into their phrases, and try to make an emotional connection to the solos. Once you understand how they arrange their phrases, you will be able to utilize that knowledge and create more sophisticated solos by altering the basic structure of your favorite phrases through melodic interpretation and rhythmic displacement and then assimilate those ideas into your own solos.

As a soloist, one technique of melodic interpretation involves the varying of phrase lengths. This can be accomplished through either phrase extension (prolongation) or phrase compression (reduction). Phrase extension can be applied by simply making the durations of notes longer or including notes not found in the original melody. Phrase compression is a technique where a portion of the phrase is omitted or note durations are shortened.

Besides altering the melodic vocabulary within a phrase using the techniques of extension and reduction, phrases can be modified through rhythmic displacement. Rhythmic displacement is a basic musical concept that involves taking a figure and manipulating it by simply shifting notes from their original position to other beats within the music. Effective rhythmic phrasing is an essential aspect of sustaining rhythmic interest. When presenting a speech, the best speakers will pause in order to allow the listeners to absorb the information. Great soloists take the same approach and will incorporate pauses so that the listeners can process the musical ideas being expressed. A completely different solo phrase can be created by just changing the place within the measure where you begin and end phrases as well as manipulating the length of the phrases.

Have you ever sat through a speech where the speaker talked in a monotone voice throughout the entire presentation? Just as a skillful speaker will use different inflections during a speech, sophisticated soloists will integrate various articulation techniques, dynamics, and vibrato into their phrases. Instead of just playing the notes without accents, you can breathe life into your phrases by using articulations such as grace notes, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and slides. You can also assimilate different degrees of dynamics and vibrato according to your personal taste. If, as a soloist, you don't insert a combination of both melodic and rhythmic interest into your solos, listeners will simply tune you out as they would someone speaking in a monotone voice so you should always try to maintain interesting and varied phrasing.

Learn as many melodies as possible because they usually contain repetition and the best target notes, and experiment with improvising phrases using variations on those melodies. This is a great way to understand how ideas relate to each other which will help you expand and personalize your own ideas. Melodies can begin early, start late, speed up, or slow down, and the accompaniment will continue. By learning how to play and interpret melodies, you will acquire the ability to break free of outlining every chord change that is played because you will learn to hear the chord progressions moving underneath your phrases instead of using specific note choice to constantly remind you of the chord changes. As you learn more melodies, you will acquire a sense of the independence the melodic instrument has from the accompaniment.

In this lesson, we will take a look at a blues-based solo recorded by alto saxophonist Charlie Parker on "Au Privave." Parker was one of the most prominent figures of the bebop era and is today regarded as one of the most innovative musicians in the history of jazz music. He created a musical legacy that will continue to influence musicians for generations to come. Over half of Parker's original compositions were written in the standard blues form, and this brilliant solo on "Au Privave" features an extensive collection of melodic phrases over the 12-bar blues in F. Since the 12-bar blues is the most common set of chord changes utilized in the jazz repertoire and the foundation of numerous jazz standards, you can take your favorite phrases from this solo and easily incorporate them into other jazz tunes. ... Read More!

Walking Bass Lines: Ron Carter - "Now's The Time" In Eb
Having appeared as a sideman on over 2,000 recordings and on dozens of projects as a leader, Ron Carter is recognized as one of the most original, prolific, and influential bassists in jazz music. Born in 1937 near Detroit and raised in a musical family, Ron Carter's career in music began with a classically influenced background. He took up the cello at age ten and in high school learned to play violin, clarinet, trombone, and tuba. At age 17, Carter picked up the acoustic upright bass and within six months was awarded a scholarship to the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York where he became the first black member of the Eastman-Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. After graduating with a bachelor of music degree from Eastman in 1959, Carter moved to New York and earned a master's degree in double bass from the Manhattan School of Music in 1961. While attending the Manhattan School of Music, Carter freelanced as both a bassist and cellist. He played with the Chico Hamilton Quartet as well a number of other prominent musicians including Eric Dolphy, Thelonious Monk, Jaki Byard, Cannonball Adderley, and Art Farmer.

In 1963, Carter replaced Paul Chambers as bassist of the renowned Miles Davis Quintet. Davis' classic quintet of the mid-1960's is considered by many critics to not only be Davis' finest group but also one of the most influential bands in the history of music. Alongside Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonist Wayne Shorter, and drummer Tony Williams, Carter played in clubs and concert halls around the world while contributing to some of the most significant recordings in jazz history. With Williams, Carter anchored one of the greatest rhythm sections of all-time.

Carter left the Miles Davis Quintet in 1968 and settled permanently in New York where he worked as a sideman and led his own groups. In the 1970's, Carter developed a cello-like piccolo bass which he played as a leader of his own two-bass quartet with bassist Buster Williams. Throughout the '70's and '80's, Carter played and recorded with an extraordinary list of legendary jazz artists including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Henderson, McCoy Tyner, Wes Montgomery, Freddie Hubbard, Horace Silver, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Stanley Turrentine, and Red Garland.

Over the past five decades, Carter has received numerous awards and accolades from both critics and reader's polls alike for his contributions to jazz music. Carter has been named by Downbeat magazine as "Jazz Bassist of the Year" and "Most Valuable Player - Acoustic Bass" by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He has also been acknowledged as "Outstanding Bassist of the Decade" by the Detroit News. Carter has been awarded two honorary doctorate degrees in music from the New England Conservatory of Music and the Manhattan School of Music and is also the recipient of the prestigious prestigious Hutchinson Award from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. Carter won the "Best Instrumental Composition" Grammy award in 1987 for "Call Sheet Blues" which was featured in the film 'Round Midnight. In 1994, he won the "Best Jazz Instrumental Performance" Grammy for A Tribute To Miles.

As an instructor, Carter has authored several method books on jazz bass technique and classical bass studies. He has lectured, conducted clinics, directed jazz ensembles, and taught the business of music at numerous leading universities. When it was located in Boston, Carter served as the Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Studies, and after 18 years on the faculty of the City College of New York, Carter retired as Distinguished Professor Emeritus.

One of the most effective ways to learn how to improvise walking bass lines involves the transcription, analysis, emulation, and manipulation of the bass lines recorded by your favorite bassists. Similar to learning a new language, improvising involves studying and using a vocabulary to express and develop ideas. Because there are too many variables to consider at the beginning, transcribed bass lines that have been recorded by your favorite bassists will initially limit your focus and help establish a solid foundation so you don't feel overwhelmed with all of the possibilities that are available to you as a bass player.

Keep a collection of transcribed bass lines by legendary bassists such as Ray Brown, Ron Carter, and Paul Chambers as well as your favorite bassists. This archive may consist of bass lines you've personally transcribed as well as bass lines you've acquired through other resources. After you transcribe the lines of your favorite bassists, practice playing them along with the recordings by memorization without referring to the notation. Listen very deeply to how the master bassists communicate through the language of improvisation. Strive to not only play all of the notes and rhythms perfectly but also emulate the sound and feel that has been captured on the recordings as close as possible. Pay particular attention to all the little nuances and inflections that bassists often incorporate into their lines, and try to make an emotional connection to their performance. Once you understand how they arrange their lines, you will be able to utilize that knowledge and create more sophisticated bass lines by altering the basic structure of your favorite lines and then assimilate those ideas into your own playing.

In this lesson, we will take a look at a complete transcription of the walking bass line recorded by Ron Carter on "Now's The Time." Charlie Parker, who was one of the most prominent figures of the bebop era and is today regarded as one of the most innovative musicians in the history of jazz music, originally recorded "Now's The Time" as a 12-bar blues in F. This rendition of "Now's The Time" was recorded by Sonny Rollins in 1964 as a 12-bar blues in Eb.

After you listen to the recording of "Now's The Time," play through this transcription of Carter's bass lines many times, and commit as many of these lines to memory as possible. Since the 12-bar blues is the most common set of chord changes utilized in the jazz repertoire and the foundation of numerous jazz standards, you can take your favorite bass lines from this transcription and easily incorporate them into other jazz tunes.

You can expand these concepts by transcribing and analyzing the bass lines of your favorite bassists, and incorporate modified excerpts of those lines into your own playing. By developing this approach to bass line construction, you can borrow ideas that have been recorded by your favorite bassists and then create lines that are in their styles but at the same time still retain your own voice since you are using altered lines and not playing excerpts note-for-note. ... Read More!

Be sure to check out the latest books, DVD's, CD's, and gear. ... Read More!

New Hampshire Bass Fest 2009
Aguilar Amplification Glows "White Hot" With DB Series Bass Cabinet Color
Michael Pope Design Releases Ultra-High Performance Bass Preamplifier
Aguilar Amplification Names Dave Avenius CEO - The Beginning Of A New Era For Aguilar

If you purchase a 6-month advertising package, not only will you receive 2 months of web site advertising for FREE, but your banner will also appear in each monthly newsletter during that 6-month period for FREE! That is a savings of $150 off the regular 6-month newsletter advertising rate! In September, 1999, the IIB delivered its first monthly newsletter to less than 100 subscribers. Today, the IIB's newsletter reaches over 15,000 bass enthusiasts each month! The International Institute of Bassists is a bass-centric web site aimed specifically toward the art of contemporary bass playing and the study of the bass tradition. Since its founding in 1997, the IIB has established a long-time presence on the internet and grown into one of the largest and most popular interactive bass-related web sites found online. As a viewer of the IIB, you can read exclusive interviews with bass virtuosos including Michael Manring, Stuart Hamm, Jeff Berlin, Gary Willis, Alain Caron, Matt Garrison, Keith Horne, and Brian Bromberg to name just a few. Viewers of the IIB also have access to free, downloadable lessons which are published by a staff of highly-respected instructors such as Michael Manring, Todd Johnson, Ray Riendeau, and Berklee College of Music professor Jim Stinnett. In addition to these lessons and interviews with the bass greats, viewers have access to interviews with the founders of manufacturing companies, bass shops, and bass events along with the latest bass-related news, reviews, and streaming media. Plus, viewers can also watch selected instructional, concert performance videos, and live bass clinics on IIBtv as well as communicate with other bassists around the world through the IIB chat room. ... Read More!

Each month, the IIB gives its viewers the opportunity to participate in various monthly giveaways. Sponsored by: D'Addario, Planet Waves, LightWave Systems, Ibanez, Markbass, Line 6, Evidence Audio, Nordstrand Pickups, Zon Guitars, Comfort Strapp, and BassBooks.com. To become eligible to win products including basses, amplifiers, speaker cabinets, combo amps, effects, strings, instrument cables, pickups, gig bags, straps, gift certificates, DVD's, CD's, books, lessons, t-shirts, and more!

ENTER TO WIN TODAY! ... Read More!

The IIB MP3 Bass Samplers are comprised of selected tracks that have been recorded by many of today's premier bass artists including Marcus Miller, Michael Manring, Stuart Hamm, Gary Willis, Adam Nitti, Norm Stockton, Ray Riendeau, Tom Kennedy, Yves Carbonne, Gerald Veasley, and many more.

2 HOURS OF MUSIC! ... Read More!

The IIB Monthly Giveaways - Each month, your name will be entered in all of our various giveaways providing you with the opportunity to win basses, amplifiers, speaker cabinets, combo amps, effects, strings, instrument cables, pickups, gig bags, straps, gift certificates, DVD's, CD's, books, lessons, t-shirts, and more! ... Read More!

The IIB MP3 Bass Samplers - Volumes 1 & 2 - You'll receive access to the IIB MP3 Bass Samplers which feature selected tracks that have been recorded by many of today's premier bass artists including Marcus Miller, Michael Manring, Stuart Hamm, Gary Willis, Adam Nitti, Norm Stockton, Ray Riendeau, Tom Kennedy, Yves Carbonne, Gerald Veasley, and many more. 2 HOURS OF MUSIC! ... Read More!

Bass Tips Of The Week - You will have access to a huge database of lesson material that has been written on subjects such as Classical & Jazz Music Theory, Sight Reading, Ear Training, Bass Line Construction, Right & Left Hand Technique, Soloing, Jazz Improvisation, Slapping, Tapping, Chordal Techniques, Harmonics, Fingerstyle Funk, Altered Tunings, and Concepts For Solo Bass Playing. All of the lessons are available as downloadable PDF files.

There are over 90 individual lessons and over 100 MP3 play-alongs currently available for download within the IIB Subscriber's Area.

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Editor: The IIB
December 2008

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