Alesis NanoBass, Reference Manual, Page: 80 / 83

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
––––––
80
NanoBass Reference Manual
* Study the bass role in other musical forms: like the bass clarinet and bassoon,
or trombone and tuba, in orchestral writing; or the bass voice in vocal works
(Handel’s Messiah; anything by the Bobs, the Nylons, or Bobby McFerrin; any
doo-wop groups or barbershop quartets); or the synth bass in dance music.
* Break your favorite bass lines and solos down into small sections. Put those
sections on flash cards, shuffle the cards, and follow their lead.
* Play either a high-hat or bass drum with one foot while playing your bass lines.
When this is no longer challenging, sit down and use your two feet to play both.
* Focus on smaller and smaller elements. Play a single note repeatedly, trying to
pull some meaning out of the rhymic and timbral variations. Or play quarter
notes at a relentlessly slow tempo and search out melodies that are interesting to
you anyway.
* Edit your sequences to remove one of the “strings,” losing all the notes that
would have been played on a real bass minus its E, A, D, or G..
* Deliberately listen to music you don’t like, and force yourself to understand
something in it (you can make this rationalization up if you want; in fact, more
points if you do).
* Set yourself challenges, like playing against sequenced music with chord
clusters so massive there is no clear tonal center, or changes in tempo or rhythm
that are tough for you to track. And, of course, as soon as they get easy —
make’em worse!
* Play beat the clock. Set a timer and give yourself five seconds to improvise a
valid musical statement. Record all attempts for later assessment,
embarassment, and enlightenment. Give yourself more and more time, in five
second intervals, until you can hold a coherent musical thought for a full 60
seconds. Then go back to the short stuff.
* Set up a loud, simple drum machine riff in a time signature you are not
comfortable with, and play along with it. For hours.
* Wear a blindfold (and then edit out the clunker notes).