Quote of the Week

"Open your arms as wide as you can to receive all the miracles with your name on them"
-Sarah Ban Breathnach

"Open your parachute when jumping from a plane lest you become street pizza"
-BassBassDude

Practice Time

About a month ago, I had transcribed a choral piece for the folk group/choir. Last night, a bunch of us got together to give it a go. Overall, it went well. We got through a good chunk of it and with a bit of work, it should be ready for the concert in May. Hopefully we keep ploughing through it.

Gig?

Just to let you know, I might have something in the coming spring (when things thaw out) where I'll be playing a public gig for a friend of mine who's fundraising for something. I don't have much details, but I still have to iron those wrinkles out with the other guys I play with. Anyway, just to let you know how things are going. More on that later...

Quote of the Week

"Love is how we feel toward those who show us that which is lovable about ourselves."
-Gerry Spence

"If looks could kill, then I should be handed a mirror"
-BassBassDude

How did that go again?

How did that go again?
Originally uploaded by BassBassDude.

One night in Toronto, I was catching up with some friends in a near-by pub and one of them sent me a couple of pics from that night. I know this is annoying to a lot of people, but when a song comes on, whether it be in a pub, a restaurant or even a public washroom, I can't help but try to mentally figure out all the parts. Whether it be the drum track, the bass line, or at the very least, figuring out which key the song is in, I've got this need to learn the "W5Hs" of a song. Just one of those wierd quirks that I have.

Thanks for taking the pic. I look kind of silly.

To Gig or not to Gig

Well, I've got a potential gig coming up durning the last week of April. I'll be the pit bass player for a stage company called Spotlight Productions and I should be getting the music sometime next month. This will be my third season with Spotlight and I'm looking forward to it. It's always good to get a chance to sight read stuff at a quick pace and being a part of team. That, and it's great to be working with a good group of people. Here's hoping things work out especially with the date of the shows.

My Textbooks...

I had mentioned to a friend in passing that I referred to my CD's as my textbooks; stuff that I had to go through and learn from. For the past little while I have been calling my music collection as my textbook library. I'm not sure if many musicians do the same, but it is a good habit to get into if you're serious about music. In addition, it's important to listen to music that you would like to aspire, to surpass, or to build upon.

My old Jazz shop leader, Al Henderson said "What goes in is what comes out. This also applies with music and what you play as a musician."

I've always felt this to be true. If you listen to jazz, you'll better yourself as a jazz musician. Likewise, if you listen to classical, you'll better yourself as a classical musician. My old professor went to the extreme of throwing out his Soul LP's and kept only Jazz LP's in order to devote himself completely to Jazz.

The only way that the learning can occur is if you actually enjoy what you're listening to. Otherwise, that's a pretty tough barrier to overcome.

Quote of the Week

"Only solitary men know the full joys of friendship. Others have their family-but to a solitary and an exile his friends are everything."
-Willa Cather

"A full deck of cards is necessary to play a good game of Solitaire"
-BassBassDude

Bop Heads

Now, as a double bass player, I find this task to being difficult. If you were a virtuoso player, this may be laughable, but for me, it's quite frustrating and yet humbling at the same time. I would like to take this opprotunity to state that playing Charlie Parker's Bebop Jazz Heads is difficult. Now, I'm not talking about walking the changes, but the actually melody. This to me is hard. Listening to various other jazz players get through it as if they were just breathing makes me feel like my playing can be closest described as "death". Anyway, even listening to a double bass player get through Bach's Prelude flawlessly provides me with this wonderful feeling of "you suck." Anyway, I'm still ploughing through these little pieces/heads in the hopes of at least achieveing some level of mastery. Although sometimes disheartening to hear these jedi-like bass players, knowing that the potential of a double bass of doing what they do is pleasing.

Right now I'm enjoying (every blue moon so as not to dig a bigger self-depressing hole) Christian McBride/Roy Hargrove/Stephen Scott Trio's Parker's Mood. There's this one track where all three of them play the head together. To me, I really like their sound (no offence to any drummers out there). Anyway, when I got serious about playing double bass, I took it upon myself to learn "Scrapple of the Apple". Anyway, I tried playing it last night, and found to my delight that I can get through it pretty well. Like a lot of things that need some work, I have to watch my tone and pitch, as well as speed and dexterity.

Well, I'd love to learn more Parker heads, it'll just take some time and dedication.

Wibi/Cadence Concert

Last night I drove up to York U to watch both Wibijazzn' (my a capella alma mater) and Cadence (a Wibi spin-off group) perform in my old stomping grounds of Winters College. Both groups performed in an effort to help raise money for the college and to display a little taste of what they could do. Wibi and Candence put together a stellar show with great music, a solid sound and great entertainment value. In fact, a friend of mine actually drove in from Waterloo(approx 1 hour west of Toronto) and back just to catch the concert.

Since my departure from Wibi, I'm always amazed at how the sound of the choir always evolves and creates something unique from years passed. This year, the focus seems to be on a tight, conisistent sound with extremely strong soloists; above all, they're having fun.

Cadence was brilliant once again displaying what only 4 men with mics can do. Huge sound, great arrangements, amazing vocalisms and enormous energy are what Cadence brings to the table each time they perform. It turns out they just returned from a tour in British Columbia and will be finishing their second CD in the next couple of months. I'm just glad that some of the Wibi-ites were able to get a taste of how being in Wibi is a great stepping stone into many other great musical opprotunities.

It's always a treat to see either of them perform, so to have them perform together was fantastic. I was so inspired to hear them that when I came back home, I stayed up an extra hour to finish cleaning up the arrangement I was working on.

If you get a chance, check out www.cadence-unplugged.com and www.wibijazzn.com.

email me at:mfpenafiel@hotmail.com

Quote of the Week

"It is a wise father that knows his own child"
-William Shakespeare

"It is a wise decision to remember what you were going to...um"
-BassBassDude

Clean Up

Well, with all the chicken scratchings that I made, I decided last night to put the choral arrangement onto our mac and make it look a little nicer. Usually, my buddy just takes the chart and does it himself. With me doing it myself, I can at least make sure that all that I've transcribed souds right. The possibility of me making a couple of mistakes is possible, especially if you had to transcribe the piece without any keyboard. It was pretty much me and a pitch-pipe. Anyway, I got a program last night from a buddy and started putting it together...

It's Done

Well, the last section was really easy. I could have finished this chart in a day. Too bad I don't have a day to spare solely for transcribing. Anyway, I finished the chart after hanging out with friends and coming home at around 11:45pm. I stayed up for just over an hour to have it finished. Piece of cake.

I have a couple of other charts that I've been asked to transcribe so those will be next. Hopefully, I can practice a little bit more than I have this week.

Just on a side note, the board game "Gestures" can become very competitive.

Almost Done

I'm almost done the transcription.

I found myself just starting to get into the transcription when our friends dropped by for a visit. It's always nice to have people over, too bad it slows down the steam that you had going for your work. The unexpected is what makes life so interesting and fun. So, after my friends left, I went back at it for another hour; with more yawns than I was planning that night. The neat thing about the visit is that the arrangement is for my friends. Tonight I'm planning to have it all done to give them tomorrrow. I'm not too worried. It will be done.

If there was an exercise I would advise people to try is to take a choral piece and transcribe it; or any piece of music. It's a chance to get an idea behind the arrangers musical tools and devices used for a piece of music. I've definately learned a fair bit from this transcription. I just have to get it done.

mfpenafiel@hotmail.com

A capella @ York U

If you're in the Keele & Steeles area on February 9 and have an appetite for some good a capella singing, then come on out to York University's Winters College. Both Wibijazz'n (of which, I and many of my friends are proud almunists) and the award-winning Cadence (a spin-off group of Wibijazz'n and a group that I am a proud supporter of). Anyway, they are performing together in the Winters College Dining Hall and the show starts at 6:30pm. Admission is pay-what-you-can with the suggested price of $5. Proceeds will be donated towards the Winters College Fund. So, come out and have a good time.

Blogger Shout-Outs

Last Friday night, I went out with some friends and I bumped into Amber, from Call for Help, the person who introduced me to Blgger.com. She definately knows her stuff and can help a ton of people with their web problems. Anyway, I'm just really happy with how easy it is to post stuff on blogger.com. Anyway, thanks Amber. I still have a lot to learn about html, but I'm glad I've got my head in the game.

Arranging Project

I love challenges.

Just this past weekend, I was given a couple of a cappella songs to transcribe by a friend. I haven't done this in a while so it's refreshing to get back into it. On top of that, there's a loose deadline where my friend would like it done sometime in February. I'm setting a personal goal where I have my first arrangement finished by this Sunday. I'm already through the first section. It's just a matter of ploughing through and gettting it done. The hardest part is actually sitting down and doing it.

Quote(s) of the Week

"There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow annonymous benefits upon the world."
-Rober Louis Stevenson

"Don't Worry... Be Happy"
-Bobby McFerrin

"???"
-BassBassDude

Quote of the Day

"The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy"
-Merryl Streep

"The great gift of elephants is their power of never forgetting where they left their trunk"
-BassBassDude

Quote of the Day

"We cherish our friends not for their ability to amuse us, but for ours to amuse them."
- Evelyn Waugh

"You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your friend's nose"
- BassBassDude