This year the pdf’s have been sent to you via your enrollment email. You can also send an email to hamiljohnny@gmail.com to get another copy. We hope you enjoy this final concert.
The secret message song is the first song in George Vance which is a great way to learn how to push your technique while also learn the fundamentals of counting. These two concepts are very important to know as they take daily practice to master. We hope this song will help every level of player at the workshop.
We are pretty excited to play this piece with everyone as this will be our main featured solo piece at the final concert. It is a solo piece but, we love to play one song in unison to expand your ideas of what the bass orchestra can do. …and also we are a lil bit crazy and love the challenge. Anyone can learn the parts from Vol. 4 but, if you don’t have time or this part is still too difficult for you then please check out part 1 harder part 2 somewhat easy or part 3 easiest. Remember all three of these can go along with this version. We recommend fingering along and watching the music go by a time or two before you start to play it. The middle section will most likely not go as fast as he does here.
This is the original recorded version from Live around the World. One of Francois famous albums. If you don’t own any of his albums please know this is a good place to start. This is still only available on CD which we have for sale in our store. You can buy one for a workshop sale price of $5. There is something special about listen to a whole album from first piece to end. This album is flawless. The sheet music of the original can be purchased in our store as well in the solos book by Francois Rabbath $22. It’s also just great to own your own paper copy of these amazing pieces.
Here is our kcbass faculty Mikyung version. We really value everyone’s interpetation. Francois very proud that people play his pieces like they wrote it. as you can hear in this interview with Johnny. He wants the performer to use their imagination and play it like they want. For Francois almost every piece he’s written comes with a story that he creates with each note. This is untold to the listening audience since it’s an instrumental piece. These stories he’s told to us students whenever we study the piece with him. Last year Johnny documented them in this interview and we have the story in his own words/voice about Iberique. This start at the 40 minute mark. Please listen to the whole interview to prepare yourself for a week with Maestro. This piece is very well loved and we can’t wait to perform it at the final concert.
Here is also another great version by kcbass family faculty member Nina DeCesare. She is playing the original version. Francois loves both versions and tells you to play whichever one you like.
Money by Pink Floyd was written by the bass player and vocalist Rodger Waters. Rodger is one of the unsung geniuses of the bass. Most people don’t know this but the bass player is one of the main creative force behind one of the most famous and ground breaking bands of all time. So this piece is presented as a history lesson for bass players to learn more about how players work collectively to make amazing art. This song comes from the Album Dark Side of the Moon released 1973. This album is along with the Wall would be a real game changer in the music recording industry and pushed the band to new artistic heights. They are masterpieces and some of the most herald and beloved works of art. Most of the rock band ethos is that the whole band makes the music with each player composing their part by interpreting their part the way they want. This takes years of creative process, rehearsals, concerts, and recording sessions. A great rock band makes a sound like no other and Pink Floyd is a giant in this category.
The baseline is iconic and it’s also in 7. We will explore a bit of this concept of time during this piece. It’s super easy to not think about it being in 7 and then developing your skills of counting. It’s also such a great version of how dynamics can change a recording feel. There is a lot of space in the groove and the sax solo is perfectly placed in tone (gonna be hard for a bass section to get that kind of growl the sax gets in the first note of this solo) and spacing of his phrasing. After that it takes off with the big unison scale into the 4/4 groove Guitar solo. the metric change helps drive the rhythm and emotion. But also the guitar playing is some of the best ever recorded. The tone of and phrasing of David Gilmour’s guitar is perfection. The other amazing thing about the band is the control that the drummer, baseline, and keyboard part all have in not overplaying in all sections of the tune (the solo section that gets quiet is so nice). Many times this section gets left out of the radio mix (a bit of a bummer when that happens).
Sweet Georgia Brown is one of the great jazz standards. the best part about the the song is that you get 100 years of interpretation. The 2 beat groove of the the original 1925 (earliest recorded version), virtuosic playing of Sydney Bechet version, the Harlem Globetrotters version with the groove of drums and whistling , Ray brown’s slower bluesy version, and the hot swing version of Stephane Grappelli version. Really so many great jazz players all play this song in their own way. From just studying the groove of these recordings you can learn so much about playing the bass. We are more like the drums than any other instrument.
The other thing about this song is that it gets played in all 12 keys. Since the progression starts on the 6th chord and moves thru the cycle of 4ths it’s a great chord progression to learn to hear. It also uses the Dominant 7th to move thru a few key signatures (one # (g major) no # or B (c major) to 1 b (f major). So you have to know your key signatures either by sound of knowledge to make it thru the song. We present our chart arranged by the great jazz bassist Sam Copeland which starts in F major and then goes to not as easy key. If the hard key signature get you don’t worry we can have the advanced jazz players cover that part. But it will be good for everyone to see those key signatures and know it’s a good to get to know your circle of 5ths.
This piece is one of George vance repertoires most popular and beloved solos (vol. 3). The best part of George’s method is that it’s leading the young bassist to great bass playing in Orchestral music. The orchestra is such a powerful expressive tool. Reinhold Gliere is a master at making this piece such fun to listen to and play. We think the Bass orchestra has that same kind of power. Gliere has written many great solo bass pieces and is a really wonderful composer.