Rhodes bass ..... snuf, snif...... brings a tear to my eye. I LOVED my gear in the 70s.

Yeah, duh, I can't believe I never thought of that. Morrison just sang.

UD may have a better memory than me, but I believe Felix from the Young Rascals and Steve Winwood also pimarily used left-handed B-3 bass.

Trio work with a strong guitar or horn lead player is easier than playing a duo with a strong mix of instrumentals. Keeps you on your toes, is a work-out, particularly if you do a lot of up tempo jazz selections, but extremely satisfying.

Let's keep those left hands "walkin".

russ

Well it's up to me to provide an alternative view again I guess...

Playing bass robs you of one of your most important assets: your left hand. What a beautiful chording instrument it is... but not if it's turned into essentially a monophonic player. If I didn't use SMF's or my arranger to their fullest and still needed bass then I would go the Steve Winwood route - he's doing some amazing stuff with bass pedals currently.

Speaking of which - I don't know why so many of you guys are so adamant about not using midi files. It really takes the guesswork out of a performance, and for me personally it allows me to explore new chording and lead territories everytime I play. I discovered a new right hand riff on stage last night that just confirms this. I know some of you aren't confident with your keyboard abilities but jeez if you lock your left hand into playing bass then IMHO you miss out on the chance to improve your piano skills.

But hey, lots of ways to skin a cat...

LH bass is a great way to go. You can do so much with the bass line playing this way and it really can spice up a song. Auto accomp bass is decent, but again is always limited due to scale recording restrictions. Playing it manually with the left hand allows you to go nuts with it I however prefer to do this on a board with 76 keys. This way you have more room to solo with. I played LH bass a lot with my old PSR-550 and really felt confined with only 61 keys.

Squeak

[This message has been edited by squeak_D (edited 11-19-2004).]

If I play a G, D, Em progression using full piano, my left hand might play G, F#, E. Nice. The auto-arranger wud play G,D,E.
Starkeeper

I don't think we're talking about whether using sequences, auto features or whatever
is the better way of doing things...left-handed bass, for me, at least, allows the maximum flexibility for certain styles and
performances. At jam sessions or when backing outstanding soloists, you can listen and respond to the performance of the soloist, extend the length of the tune, change arrangments on the fly, etc.

I don't use sequnces at all and use the arranger feature about 50% of the time on solo jobs; usually in a dining room.

That works for me and the types of jobs I play. Obviously, that's only my way of doing things.

Do whatever works for you.


Russ

Esh,

You are right about the limitations of playing with LH bass + RH comping/melody. LH bass is just ONE great way to play a keyboard with its own limitations. Playing along with midi files - made with BIAB - is one of my favourite methods of practicing piano. For that I just need a synth with midi file playing capabilities, say an S90. Years ago when I was studying at the Yamaha Electone International School, I learned to play bass with the pedal. I didn't have the time nor the patience to develop this technique well, but managed to play simple bass lines. It's preferable over LH bass, as it opens more possibilities, but requires an investment of time to acquire a decent pedal technique. LH bass is limited in a solo situation, but it's great when interacting with other musicians in a duet or a trio.

-- José.

I saw Stevie Winwood play last year on Austin City Limits and was surprised to see he did all his Bass work with his left hand on a b3. I would have thought he would use the footpedals. I've never seen Felix play but for 30 years now I assumed those guys use pedals.
According to an article I read most jazz players use the left hand and use the pedals as an accent or for slow tunes.


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qqqwq@hotmail.com

You're right, Mike. The ability to walk a bassline with your left hand and tastefully place right hand chords and fills in the "sweet" spot is beautiful thing! Then, for balads, the ability to do inversions and
hold full chords with the left hand and play complementary inversions and lead lines is a classic style I really enjoy.

We have a jazz arts society here, with many active members...many GREAT players. A while back, we had drummers, horn players and others show up for a performance...no bass players.

Everything at these performances is "on the fly" Counting all the solos, we played some tunes for 15 minutes or more.

GREAT FUN!


Russ