Tuesday 23 November 2010

Ravish

Brash Triple Bass, Brass & Bash

One evening last week, I was visited in succession by a brace of bassmen (a double bassist, and this guy with a Fender Precision), three brass players (baritone, Eb alto and Bb cornet), Sir Patrick Moore and his brand new vibraphone, a monocymbalic percussionist, and the bongo-bedecked ghost of Richard Feynman. I had to work quite fast to keep them all entertained, tossing off this three minute accompaniment to an imagined 70s cop series:


"Ravish" by John M. Kerr.
Creative Commons Licence: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Like my earlier Drummer's Hashpipe, Ravish started out as a bass guitar exercise. But rather than demonstrating how to build a "walking" bass figure, this time the goal was speed and accurate fingering. When the open E minor pattern is mastered, it can be transposed up a tone for a bit more of a challenge. The technical bass focus does mean that headphone listening is recommended over speakers. Srsly, the cans.

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