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And make careful note that she specifies that they were as good and as fast as they were because they were great sight readers.
Tedesco was once doing a song for Jan Berry of Jan and Dean. Jan passed out the music. The did the count off. Tedesco started playing some wild, crazy stuff. Jan stopped the session and went over to ask Tommy what he was playing. He looked at the music stand to see that the sheet music was upside down and he was playing it note for note. Upside down. That's my favorite Tedesco, as it was told by Glen Campbell.
Whoever DOESN'T have that Wrecking Crew DVD (and get the deluxe with the 2nd DVD) needs to have it.
And make careful note that she specifies that they were as good and as fast as they were because they were great sight readers.
<...snip...>
Whoever DOESN'T have that Wrecking Crew DVD (and get the deluxe with the 2nd DVD) needs to have it.
Sightreading is definitely an asset. A guitarist I worked with in the 1970s got more gigs at Criteria Studios in Miami because he could sight-read, and he had a strobe tuner.
I second the Wrecking Crew DVD set. If you don't own it, at least try to rent it, or check it out of your library if they have it.
Ms Kaye is a superb bassist,jazz guitarist and tutor/teacher. When she talks bass for aspiring/learning bassists she talks about chord tones which leans toward knowing chords early on to get by rather than getting too caught up in reading. Not all of the "Crew" were good sight readers. Glen Campbell, as mentioned in many other interviews of Crew players and in the doco., wasn't always a reader when he was a regular but worked by ear, chord charts and asking the other players about the key & progression.
Last edited by rayc; 06/27/2305:09 PM.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
And make careful note that she specifies that they were as good and as fast as they were because they were great sight readers.
<...snip...>
Whoever DOESN'T have that Wrecking Crew DVD (and get the deluxe with the 2nd DVD) needs to have it.
Sightreading is definitely an asset. A guitarist I worked with in the 1970s got more gigs at Criteria Studios in Miami because he could sight-read, and he had a strobe tuner.
I second the Wrecking Crew DVD set. If you don't own it, at least try to rent it, or check it out of your library if they have it.
Notes ♫
That documentary (the single DVD) is available on a bunch of different streaming services in the U.S., but only on Apple TV+ here in France. 3,99 € to rent the HD version and 8,99 € to buy. I think I'll just rent it.
I couldn't find any reference on Amazon France about a deluxe 2 DVD version.
I started learning to sight-read piano scores when I was 8. I studied with the soloist for the St. Louis Philharmonic from 10-12, and got really good at it. You learn both clefs from piano scores. That has really helped my bass playing.
Last edited by TheMaartian; 06/28/2312:51 AM.
ThinkPad i9 32GB RAM 7TB SSD; Win11 Pro; RME Fireface UCX II; BiaB 2026 Ultra Bitwig Studio 6; Studio Pro 8; Melodyne Studio 5; Tonalic Studio 1; Acoustica Premium 7 Gig Performer 5; NI S61 MK3; Focal Shape 65; Beyerdynamic DT 880 & 770
I went to that link, and found out that there's a Blu-ray version with over 6 hours of content! And no import duties when shipped to France. Ordered. Thanks for the link!
During one of Ms Kaye's retirement periods due to hand and wrist problems, she and my wife both taught at Steven's Music in San Jose. Wasn't the first time we had met but I got to spend a bit of one on one time with her and that was fun.
I never took lessons, however. She was still advocating one finger per fret, same as in her early instruction books—also the cause of hand and wrist problems for many players, especially those with small hands like hers. Holding down a symphony chair at the time, I was a devotee of Simandl fingering which causes far less strain, even on the electric bass. She eventually recovered and I noticed that she used Simandl on a video she made with Gene Simmons.
BIAB 2025 Audiophile Mac 24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP Digital Performer11, LogicPro, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5
Ms Kaye is a superb bassist,jazz guitarist and tutor/teacher. When she talks bass for aspiring/learning bassists she talks about chord tones which leans toward knowing chords early on to get by rather than getting too caught up in reading. Not all of the "Crew" were good sight readers. Glen Campbell, as mentioned in many other interviews of Crew players and in the doco., wasn't always a reader when he was a regular but worked by ear, chord charts and asking the other players about the key & progression.
Yes, Glen talked many times about Tommy Tedesco showing him parts that he couldn't read. Tommy was arguably one of the best guitarist sight readers back in the day. I think the wrecking crew's strength lay in the creation of parts when all they had were chord charts. The creation of some of the most iconic parts of songs we probably all know by heart today were created on the spot in the studio by these players.
My wife asked if I had seen the dog bowl. I told her I didn't even know he could.
Tommy was arguably one of the best guitarist sight readers back in the day. …
I'm guessing that you never read his Guitar Player columns back in the day. According to Mr. T., when the part was too difficult to read, he'd always find the flute player—they were the ones who could read anything.
I learned quite a bit from those GP columns of his but the biggest money-making tip was to always bring both a soprano and a tenor uke when the session called for ukulele. For a couple of decades, I was the only uke player registered with the local Musicians Union and that netted me many thousand$ over the years. Thank you, Tommy Tedesco!
He often played on The Lawrence Welk Show. It was fun to watch his chording wizardry while dressed in those silly suits.
BIAB 2025 Audiophile Mac 24Core/60CoreGPU M2 MacStudioUltra/8TB/192GB Sequoia, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP Digital Performer11, LogicPro, Finale27/Dorico/Encore/SmartScorePro64/Notion6 /Overture5
The Wrecking Crew blu-ray disk has been delivered. Ordering from Amazon.com in the U.S. for delivery in France was seamless, and took about a week. In addition to the 1:43 hour documentary, the blu-ray includes 25 songs that the Wreacking Crew provided the instruments for. Right-click and open each image in a new tab to get the full-size version. Easier to read the song info.
Last edited by TheMaartian; 07/10/2303:20 AM.
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The bonus DVD is fantastic. So many of those folks were total cutups.
I searched for the double DVD version, but didn't find it listed anywhere. I would have bought the blu-ray version in any case. Looking forward to playing my way through all of it. I've never seen any of it before.
ThinkPad i9 32GB RAM 7TB SSD; Win11 Pro; RME Fireface UCX II; BiaB 2026 Ultra Bitwig Studio 6; Studio Pro 8; Melodyne Studio 5; Tonalic Studio 1; Acoustica Premium 7 Gig Performer 5; NI S61 MK3; Focal Shape 65; Beyerdynamic DT 880 & 770
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