Full title: Flea: Adventures in Spontaneous Jamming and Techniques
Year: 1993
Publisher: Hal•Leonard
Time: Approx.
60 minutes
Formates: VHS and
DVD
Stars: Flea,
Chad Smith (jamming partner on
drums) and host
River Phoenix
"I don't wanna imitate anybody or be like anybody, but I wanna be open to everything."
- Flea
Description:
This is a
bass instructional feature starring Flea, the acclaimed bassist from
Red Hot Chili Peppers. The feature consists of 2 parts, which are clipped together and alternated. The first part features Flea and his fellow bandmate Chad Smith (drums). Together, they
jam out
spontaneously, and although they
improvise 100% they still manage to cover a wide range of
musical styles. There's no talk going on here, which means that there isn't any breaks where Flea (and Chad) are discussing what they are
playing or such. The other part features a sort of
talk down session where Flea is interviewed by his friend, the late
River Phoenix. Flea talks about his
musical life in general, his
influences, his various
styles and his
philosophies. Although the focus is mainly contained on a
lingual level, Flea occasionally demonstrates his various
techniques and styles.
Included (atleast in the DVD version) is also a small
booklet with
tabulatures and
notations of some of the jams and demonstrations that
Flea performs in the feature.
Review:
I'm a
bass player and a great fan of Flea. For years I have
admired his style, and have played along to
Red Hot Chili Peppers records in the quest to develop my
style. I bought the DVD version a few months ago, hoping to learn more, and I certainly did. However, don't expect the same unless you're fairly
adept on the bass. The term "
instructional" is very
misleading. As Flea says in the beginning, he relies (or did at that time at least) solely on his own
intuition and ability to
improvise, rather than on
theory. That means, you won't hear him talk about
scales, or
patterns, or anything else in that lingo. Secondly, Flea does very little to explain
verbally how he
executes his various techniques, especially his
slapping, which I could presume the majority would be interested in. He does demonstrate and slow down
slaplines in
songs like
Black Eyed Blonde,
Skinny Sweaty Man and
Get Up and Jump, but again, he isn't
instructing, merely
displaying what he does. Arguably, you could say that this is instructing in itself (and it is), however again I must say that I personally think the term is
misleading in this
genre, and that people could be left
disappointed. Finally, the DVD itself is not very
high tech. I've seen other DVDs where there are
slow motion replays, or
tablature scrolling at the bottom of the screen. None of that here. To conclude, if you're a
beginner on the
bass, or if you want to learn
techniques (like
slapping) and/or theory, I suggest you find a feature which is specifically orientated in that direction.
Well, what DO you get then? Primarily, you get a complete insight in
Flea as a
musician and
individual. Every
bass player who is interested in Flea, be it
beginner or
advanced, can be sure to find out more about the guy. Secondly, you get a great view at the techniques that Flea executes. As I said before, Flea doesn't explain much, he just does it. And if you're familiar with, say the basic
concepts of
slapping, you can learn tremendously by just watching and listening to him
jam out. I especially improved greatly in both slapping and
fingerstyle improvisation, just by watching him
play. Finally, Flea also gives some simple, but useful
advice on how to improvise with other
musicians. To conclude, Flea doesn't instruct, he presents his
style for you to
study or
modify or
whatever you choose to do with it. You're on your own, but you can still learn a lot.
Techniques displayed by Flea:
Slapping
Funky fingerstyle
Arpeggio
Open string droning
"It'll be hard for me and you to talk about theory since neither of us knows a damn thing about it."
- Flea, responding to River who asked if they were going to talk about theory
The Jams:
-
Tour de Flea: The jam that kicks of the feature is a sort of tour de force of Flea's various techniques. He starts off in a mellow, dreamy arpeggio, using the open strings. He then transcends into a chord strumming phase, which is quickly replaced by some harder fingerstyle playing that gradually becomes faster and faster. The jam explodes towards the end in a furious slap riff.
-
Slapping: Flea demonstrates the fast slapping/popping technique that has made him famous. It's impressing to hear how solid, yet varied Flea can slap. Towards the end Flea breaks into some fingerstyle which gradually mellows out.
-
Overdrive: Flea steps on his overdrive box and flows into a bass solo.
-
Speed Slap: In this jam Flea demonstrates just how fast he can slap, yet still manage to keep it solid and funky.
-
Envelope Filter: This is probably one of my favorite jams on the feature. Flea steps on his envelope filter box (ala Bootsy Collins) and lays down the funk with his fingerstyle approach. Especially noteworthy is the way Flea uses breaks, chromatic walks and open strings to enhance the funky feeling. A perfect example of a jam you can learn a lot from by just listening.
-
Light Slapping: A short little jam where Flea slaps primarily on the D and G string, something which is harder than you may immediately think.
-
Mellow: Flea jams softly and slowly, using both chords and open string arpeggio.
-
Jumpy: A soft, sort of jumpy riff. Probably the most awkward jam, which never really gets time to develop.
-
More Envelope Filter: Flea once again lays down the funk with his envelope filter. This time he incorporates chords and slapping. People claiming that Flea's technique suck should shut up and listen to this.
Notes:
Concerning
equipment, Flea uses his black
Music Man Stingray bass in this feature. His cabinets are from
Mesa Boogie and the head is a
Gallien Krueger 800RB. The
envelope filter is a
DODFX25, which isn't produced anymore, but there's a newer version of it called
DODFX25B. I own the newer version, and I can
recommend it. I'm not sure what the
overdrive box he uses is called.
Flea's bass is not
tuned standardly.
This was one of the
last features that
River Phoenix appeared in before he
overdosed.
Flea was with him in the
ambulance when he
passed away. Later on, Flea wrote
Transcending a song from
One Hot Minute which is dedicated to River.
Sources:
1) The DVD version of the feature.
2) My head.