i'll never get tired of being blown away at some new piece of the puzzle being dropped into place. to do a thing daily it's easy to let it fall into a normalized state where it just is. everyday you do the thing and there it is, same as it ever was. it can be challenging to gain new perspective or to otherwise breathe a little bit of freshness into it, whatever that may be. bass is certainly no exception.

continuing on the current topic i've discussed of arpeggios, this has been the new perspective. this is one of those things where it has completely flipped my perception of the instrument (for the better) and it is only in retrospect that i can begin to appreciate just what it really is. in my last post i talked about my pizza/broccoli matrix and how i'm using that as a device to focus my practice. in doing so, i've seen the absolute power of this new perspective on the instrument and music in general. 

the portion of my practice that deals with arpeggios goes something like this: chose the key for the day. set up a simple loop in Reaper using EZ Keys for the progression (usually something common like 1/6/2/5 or similar). then i'll spend 10 minutes reviewing the arpeggios that appear in the progression in all positions within the first 12 frets. then for 15 minutes i'll improvise over the progression focusing on arpeggio visualization. then i deserve a treat.

what i've noticed is the first few minutes of improv is a little rough just getting used to the changes. but then some interesting things happen. i stop thinking about the changes and start hearing the changes. it's a subtlety but there very much is a difference and it's a much more natural way to exist within the music. i'm no longer thinking something like "1-2-3-4CHANGE!" but more like "D major...B minor (niiiiice)... E minor (oh cool)... A major (oh check this out)". i also stop thinking about what i'm playing and am just sort of moving through the shapes. it's very liberating to be able to move freely anywhere and not not know i am.

this while approach is built on really knowing the arpeggios but also thinking in terms of harmony in a general sense. this may be the hardest part for me to transform into the natural state of thinking, but i'm determined to do so. for the past 28 years or so i've thought in concrete terms of "this is the riff. it is played on these frets." which, yes, is completely valid if it is indeed a riff that is essential to the song, like if it mirrors the guitar riff or is the hook like in any New Order song.*ahem*... i just needs to be played a certain way and no knowledge of the harmony is needed whatsoever. just play the riff. the problem with this approach is it gives you nowhere to go if you decided to throw a little pepper on the bassline.

if, however, you think in terms of harmony in a general way, in particular being aware of the chord progression, then suddenly you have absolute freedom. yes, you can still play those tasty riffs but if you're thinking harmony first, then those riffs just dissolve into the arpeggios. this leaves you with the sick riffs and freedom. well, shit. that sounds like a pretty nice situation to be in.