Bass Lessons!

Hey Everyone!

For a while now I've been trying to make a few extra bucks giving bass lessons. So far I've been doing them out of the Slamatorium (Naegleria headquarters) but now I am set to do video lessons via Skype and I have linked my personal email, jakeryanplaysbass@gmail.com, to pay pal. Now since I have all of the technical stuff out of the way let's talk about my lessons!

Lessons are $15 an hour, plus $5 after each extra half an hour. I can teach Beginners how to change strings, tune (showing you how to use a chromatic tuner, harmonic tuning, 5th fret technique, etc etc), finger placement, bass placement while sitting/standing, The Economy of Motion (the use of all of your fingers on the right hand whether if it's just chromatic playing or scales). I'll also get into Music Theory and that includes Scales, Modes, Chords and Chord Progressions, Arpeggios, and more!

Techniques I'll display will start by getting your finger strength up to par, both right and left hand, then we can get into the good stuff, and that includes 2 handed tapping techniques, slapping techniques, sweeping, different right hand picking techniques including the 3 finger gallop and the rapid Alex Webster 3 finger tremelo technique. If you're also interested we can get into more exotic scales including The Hungarian Minor, Pelog, Kumoi, and many many more.

I'll have tabs/sheet music, charts, powertabs, and some mp3 examples that I can send you during these lesson.

Anyone taking lessons must have their own bass (that should be obvious, haha), tuner, and metronome. If needed I can supply cables and a small peavy practice amp, and a tuner. All lessons are done at my bands practice space (email for address if interested) and for skype users you obviously need a webcam, and your own gear. For skype lessons you can email me and we can negotiate on a day we can do a lessons and it can be payed via paypal.

If you would want to know info you can email me at jakeryanplaysbass@gmail.com and maybe we can set up a lesson!

Have a great day :)

Jake Ryan.

Here's My Top 5 Favorite CD's

These 5 CD's I'm going to present you with have been played back and forth for the past couple months. I guess once I start buying more CD's I'll do this "Top 5" thing more often, but for now, here is my Top 5 Favorite CD's (right now).

1. Michael Manring - THONK



THONK is a jazz fusion masterpiece in my opinion. The CD includes a lot of MM's classics including Monkey Businessman, My Three Moons, and The Enormous Room, but in my opinion, they are all truly fantastic songs. On some of the tracks, MM has various guitarists, drummers, and a pianist play on the tracks. These Musicians include Steve Morse and Alex Sklonick on Guitar, Tim "Herb" Alexander and Steve Morse on Drums, and Philip Aaberg on Piano. I wish MM still put out material like this, even though everything he comes out with today is still just as incredible as THONK.

2. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black



I really wish I was exposed to Amy sooner... I really would of loved to of seen her live after listening to this CD (I also have Frank, and her last release, Lioness). This CD is just beautiful. Amy has such a brilliant voice, which can be comparable to vocalists such as Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald, and her sound was very 50's and 60's doo wop and r&b. Every song on here just brings you on this crazy emotional rollercoaster. You go from one song being happy, the next song is a bit more pissy, then next is sad... she was really a genius when it came to incorporating emotion into her music, which I thing is rare nowadays with a lot of the pop trash coming in. When Amy Winehouse died I think we lost another 30 to 35 years of great music. I think if she was still alive she would become one of the greats. RIP

3. Esperanza Spalding - Chamber Music Society



I think Esperanza Spalding really changed how people see jazz today. A lot of people find jazz boring, just these typical jazz standards, running through scales like a madman type playing sometimes (although of love old school jazz), but Esperanza does a lot of different things on this CD, "Chamber Music Society". The CD has the jazz roots, but she expands from that, adding in a lot of r&b influence and South American influences. After listening to this CD you'll know why she won a grammy for best new artist last year.

4. Cephalic Carnage - Misled by Certainty



This CD really releases the bass nerd in me because Nick Schendzielos is such a fantastic bass player. CC as a whole rules, but lately I've been having a bass crush on Nick. Before I bought the CD I listened to the song "OHRWURM" and I think my head exploded. The tracks begins with Nick doing a very "Wooten" sounding double thump progression, and I think that's where my head exploded... then the song still remains to be awesome, just like this whole CD.

5. Dying Fetus - Descend into Depravity



Dying Fetus really gets my Death Metal loins in a bunge. This CD is not only their most technical CD, it grooves harder than 95% of all the death metal out there. Before I bought this CD I watched the video for "Shepherds Commandment" and immediately started to throw my head back and forth... it was fucking brutal. I then bought it, and listened tot he whole thing and fell in love with it, but I think my favorite track on the whole CD is the last song, "Ethos of Coercion". The whole album punches you in the face, every riff, every slam, every cookie monster growl... it's such a killer CD.

Thanks for Reading,
Jake Ryan.

Happy Valentines Day!

I just want to say Happy Valentines Day to everyone, and I hope that everyone has a great a great holiday today. :D

2012 is going to be the BEST!

First off I'd like to say sorry for slacking on this blog, I've just been kinda lazy when it comes to this but that will change! I just got a ton of CD's so I'll be posting more blogs my favorite musicians over the next few months.

The reason why I say 2012 is going to be the best is because I'll be setting off for my first tour in June with Autonomy! The tour will be 15 days long, and we'll also be playing the Las Vegas Death Fest this year (8th day of the tour). Autonomy also just recently confirmed for the Building Temples of Death Fest in Texas with the legendary DISGORGE!

Naegleria is working on a few songs and we'll be recording and releasing a new record this summer, date TBA (hopefully July), and we'll have new merch available. We are also trying to fund a possible tour in the fall (which would be killer!).

Another thing that is going to happen is that I'll be recording my first solo bass record! Still working on songs and it'll hopefully be released in October or November, and I am truly excited about this. I'm going to try to put it out on CD, so major funding is definitely going into this project.

So that's it for my Musical Adventures, lol (for now!)

Other greats dates this year, July 24th I'll be 21, and August 4th will be Megan and I's one year anniversary being together!

I'll keep you posted on more exciting things happening in my life later on.

Have a great one!

Jake Ryan.

Kaki King

I've been a fan of Kaki King for a few years now. The first album I ever bought of hers was called "Dreaming of Revenge", and to this day I listen to that album in it's entirety a few times a week. The Album is just a piece of art in the sense that you can to one song and capture one thing, listen to another and it gives you a totally different feeling/image. After I bought that back in 2008, I needed to hear more.

I've listened to everything by Kaki King. Everything from "Everybody Loves You" to her 2010 release "Junior" and I love it all. All of her pieces, whether it's from an album of hers or a soundtrack she's worked on (Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" for example) it's all beautiful.

Kaki is known for her percussive playing, jazzy melodies, intense live shows, interesting tunings on her guitars and lap steel, and her diverse range in different genres.

Kaki King is definitely an artist that must be listened to.

http://www.kakiking.com/
http://www.facebook.com/kakiking

Have a good one!

Jake Ryan

Esperanza Spaulding

It's the end of the month, and I'd like to end this month with an artist I'm really crazy about. She's a very talented singer and bassist by the name of Esperanza Spaulding. Some of you may know her by her Grammy win for Best New Artist (beating out Justin Bieber, Drake, and Florence and the Machine), but I remember the first time I heard of her was seeing her perform her version of "Overjoyed" by Stevie Wonder for the president (on youtube of course). Her voice is incredible, and she is a fantastic bass player. Her Albums "Esperanza" and "Chamber Music Society" are both amazing, and I believe her next CD, "Radio Music Society" comes out in the first quarter of 2012. It's really hard to say what "genre" of music she plays, because her music has such a wide variety of different music styles. Some songs have more of a jazzy feel, or maybe r&b, funk, lounge, brazilian... it goes on!

Some fun facts about Esperanza: When she won her Grammy for Best New Artist she was the first Jazz Artist to ever win that. Almost immediately after graduation from college later the same year, Spalding was hired by Berklee College of Music, becoming one of the youngest professors in the institution's history, at age 20. She has also played for president Barack Obama four times!

If you've never heard of Esperanza Spaulding then look her up, listen to a couple songs, and then buy her CD's. She is a brilliant musician, and I believe everyone should listen to her.

Have a good one!
Jake Ryan.

Jaco Pastorius

A couple weeks ago I took the bus to the mall, and I had quite a bit of extra money with me that day so with extra cash equals new CDs. Like I stated in my last blog I've been on the hunt for other music besides Death Metal, and as soon as I walk into the Jazz section I see Jaco Pastorius's self titled CD (re-issue). If someone you know who plays bass and doesn't know who Jaco Pastorius is... Slap him in the Head! Jaco is considered to be acknowledged to be a virtuoso, doing many things your normal bass player wouldn't. His solos were intricate and he was the first to make his bass "sing", which was achieved from his fretless bass. Seriously, if you've never heard of him, look him up.

So getting back to the CD. The CD is magnificent. The bass line on "Come on, Come Over" gets me into a deep groove, and the song "Portrait of Tracy" is probably the most beautiful piece of music ever written on the bass (tied with "The Enormous Room" by Michael Manring, imo). But this CD needs to be purchased by not only bass players, but all musicians. I bought for $6 at FYE so it's very affordable. Don't download it, BUT IT.

RANDOM FACT: Pastorius was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame in 1988, one of only four bassists to be so honored (and the only electric bass guitarist)

Have a good one!
Jake.