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Rob Allanson's avatar

Question…. How would you recommend to proceed with the scales book (it’s huge and congrats on such an amazing project!!!)

What I mean is, page one for a couple of days til it’s almost there… then in all 12 variations?

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Janek Gwizdala's avatar

I think the list of use-cases for the new book is kind of endless. I know that's a bit of a shit answer, but I think it highlights that we should probably asking ourselves:

What do we need to improve in our playing?

Then use the book as a tool to help that rather than think of the book as a method that is going to correct or improve only a certain set of parameters in your playing.

To me, the book is basically the ultimate western harmony and technical reference manual for what I consider to be the "right" or at least the most efficient way to play all that information on the bass.

The exercises in the back help expand the harmony a little, but I think the main focus is that it has the potential to give any player a fantastic technical foundation on the instrument.

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Tyler Ray Hughes's avatar

First time sitting down and really taking a minute to read and take in your newsletter. I really enjoyed the references. How awesome! Thanks Janek. Also, I was watching an old podcast of yours where you were talking about the switch to substack. You were laughing about "You're A Musician Now What" and how its a dinosaur now. Just wanted to say here that I remember sitting down with that book out of high school and going through it step by step. Even the word press. Thanks Janek.

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Dwain's avatar

I’ve been a big fan of jazz fusion and several other genres of music since I was a kid. I’ve always fantasized about how much I’d practice on my bass if I had the time…well, I arranged my work schedule such that I work two weeks a month. I recently purchased a great app for metronome, called PolyNome. This app is unique in that it keeps track of how long you’re actually practicing with the metronome, whilst providing goal tracking and a daily practice log. I can barely get to one hour of total time on the metronome, disabusing myself the notion I can put in hours a day. That said, I’ve adopted one approach that Janek has shared, and that is take ONE thing and focus entirely on that for a period, even if it’s only 15 minutes. I’ve adopted that approach DAILY and have made significant progress over the last two weeks. Thanks again, Janek.

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