6 Responses

1. Bass Players Do It Better

   November 14th, 2009 at 11:02 pm

   1

   Go for it! I’ve been in jazz band for a year now, as a freshman, and I just barely learned it as the school year started. I didn’t really have a teacher- just the bassist who was a senior and leaving at the end of the year. He was a great teacher, no doubt about that, but I actually learned most of it on my own, with the help of a fret chart. I practiced A TON on all of the songs that I was given to learn and I was able to preform them all at concerts and in the middle of the year a bunch at jazz night. I had no experience on bass, other than playing the cello for less than a year. It’s very important that you can stay on beat and follow the band, drummer, and band director so you may want to practice that before you try out. Especially when the bass line is just a walking bass line you need to keep on tempo. I would also suggest that you learn how to read music. There are many tricky rythyms and things in jazz music so learning how to count and read the notes is very important. Out of all of the stuff I said, the MOST important thing is to practice and be dedicated to what you want to do.
   Good luck and have fun!

2. Cjax

   November 14th, 2009 at 11:02 pm

   2

   Go for it. Jazz is a great genre of music (for bass and just in general) that will really help you get a better grasp of music and build on your improv skills.

3. m wood

   November 14th, 2009 at 11:02 pm

   3

   You can do this. When I started highschool I couldn’t read music at all. The bass player had been a senior the year before and when the try-outs came I was the only one so I entered as a freshmen in a band full of seniors who had just won a nation Jazz band competition the year before. By the Christmas concert I was ready to go.

   Work with you private instructor and talk to the Band director about getting some of the charts to practice now, if anything he/she will be impressed by your effort.

   Don’t stress out over improvising because most highschool jazz charts don’t require a lot of it. You’ll learn to make up jazz bass line by learning ones other people have written.

   Good luck!

4. ryell_yells

   November 14th, 2009 at 11:02 pm

   4

   Depending on the type of jazz your school band plays it can be easy or difficult. If it is more of big band jazz the bass player usually reads a written out bass line from the chart and can improvise from there when you feel comfortable. So for that all you have to do is learn how to read music which your bass teacher can teach you in a short amount of time.
   If it more of a dixieland band you will be doing more improvising than anything because usually all you get is a lead sheet with chords and you have to make up a bassline to fit the chords. For this you need to know your therory like the back of your hand…ive been playing bass for 4 years and still have a hard time with theory but it just comes to certain people better.
   The last thing i suggest is listening to the style of jazz that ur school plays and get to know the different sound the bass has in jazz and maybe find a professional player that you like and try to mimic their style at frst.
   Jazz is so much fun to play, but you also need great dedication to make the audition by next semester! Good Luck!

5. Anthony S

   November 14th, 2009 at 11:02 pm

   5

   Its exactly as Ryell stated, we are friends and we both played in jazz bands at our school. For me, I learned theory in sixth grade and it just came easy and for others its really hard to understand. A personal tip from me would be to take the circle of fifths and learn all the keys, learn their chords(major,minor, diminished,etc..) and just learn it and become very familiar with it. This plays a great deal in all styles of jazz u play. Also, it would be a good thing to go out into your community and find a local jazz society and get involved. This is how i have learned everything and its great practice for your playing. Good luck with your jazz band! Its a great thing to get into, and it will lead you to a lot of things! Im gonna be a jazz major cuz it was soo much fun! Just remember, stay calm and just be your self and show it in your playing.

6. Chris C

   November 14th, 2009 at 11:02 pm

   6

   If you learn how to read music, learn the cycles of 5ths and fourths, and learn how to determine key signatures quickly, you shouldn’t have much trouble in jazz band. Most high school jazz bands aren’t that difficult anyway, but they may have you read from a bass clef horn of some sort, which can make the music difficult as the mechanics on each insturment are very different.

   How many bassists normally audition for jazz band? in my 2 years of it, there were so few people that they allowed brass players who had no experience and just an instrument into the class, so depending on your school size, it might not be that big of a deal.

   And the audition will probably most heavily test your counting/rhythm skills and your sight reading, I’d doubt that after 2 years of bass that technique would be an issue in a high school jazz band at least.

   Good Luck