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In This Issue:
Other Issues of this Newsletter (Link to MegaTapper News Archive)
From the Editor
MegaTapper Newsletter is Expanding!
As your friendly tappistry instrument-maker, we naturally want to make your free tapping newsletter to be a thing of beauty and a joy forever. So we're happy to report that we have more articles about two-handed tapping than ever before. So many, in fact, that they will no longer fit in the print version of our newsletter.
So from now on, half the articles will be in the print edition and half will be in the email edition. There will be some overlap, and maybe sometimes we'll have a chopped down version showing up in the other edition, but the fact remains clear ... IF YOU WANT THE WHOLE SCOOP, YOU'LL NEED TO RECEIVE BOTH EDITIONS!
So here's what you should do --
- If we only have your email address, send us an email to add your postal address so you can get everything. The print edition is nice to store, and to pass along to tapping friends.
- If we only have your postal address, send us an email to add your email address to our records. The email edition is nice for the color pictures and the soundclips to hear.
You can email us at
As always, please pass this newsletter along to your tapping friends and bass-players, so they can get a subscription too!
Happy Tappistry!
-Traktor Topaz, US Manager, Mobius Megatar
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News Bites
A Report on the Belgian E-Tap Seminar
A summer without going to the E-Tap Seminar in Belgium ... is like a day without sunshine. Except, of course, that it's longer! Whoa!
This is so fun. You learn so much. You meet so many great musicians from around the world. It's good tapping, good music, good friends, and good fun. Here's a sampling of the 2001 Summer E-Tap Seminar ...
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Daniel Schell conducts the Bartok class
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Myron Edwards plays 'Suzanne' all soulful.
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Tappers queue for delicious Belgian cuisine!
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Traktor and Sylvain puzzle out a duet!
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Happy Tappers in Belgium!
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Performance! Flamenco with Daniel Schell.
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Then, of course, the beer club.
Photographs shown here courtesy of and copyright by Ola Rinta-Koski (in white jacket making toast above), Mehool Patel (blue shirt with single red suspender above), and others. For all the inside scandal about Tap Night, the seminar, the courses, the tappers, and a magnificent (and hilarious) photo essay, here are the links:
Course Description and Report from Clic Music's Daniel Schell. Daniel is the coordinator of the annual E-Tap Seminar -- Here you'll find a complete description of the classes and teachers, and this wonderful school in the town of Neufchateau!
"My Neufchateau Vacation 2001" -- A great report on Tap Night and the E-Tap Seminar by Ray Ashley (lower right in beer club, above) --
A Photo Essay on the E-Tap Seminar by the great Ola Rinta-Koski of Finland. (Magnificent photo essay includes many pix of instruments, including several new homemade and European tapping instruments, plus pictures of the great swimming adventure, Wolfgang sprouting horns, mbira night, and many, many embarrassing beer club photos)
Next, year ... don't you miss it! Be there! Be in these photographs!
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The True Bossa Nova
An interview with Brazilian keyboardist Marcos Silva
Marcos Silva's music is melodic Jazz-Fusion, infused with the rhythms and harmonies of Brazil. A native of Rio de Janeiro, his music study began at the age of eight, and he has toured since most of Latin America and the United States. We interviewed Mr. Silva in Berkeley California:
 How did you begin in music? A: The first thing was that I saw this classical guitar sitting on top of the wardrobe, and I wanted to try it. "Oh, you want to try that?" my father said. "I know these three chords,"he said, and he showed me.
But then, I had learned my three chords but I couldn't move them around the fretboard. It was a challenge. I knew three chords but couldn't play a song. And it wasn't rhythmic.
So while I then studied classical guitar, I found myself listening to something different: The Bossa Nova era was just coming in, it was around 1963. Those songs had chords that weren't just triads. When I heard those Bossa Nova chords, I had to play it.
Your rock band? A: Yes, with some friends. We played in clubs. Led Zeppelin, Steppenwolf. We had a singer who could speak English to sing the lyrics.
What was your family like? A: My father worked for some factories that made fabrics. He took care of the finances. We lived with uncles and aunts and lots of cousins in a big house.
Nobody in my family was a musician.
I'm a lot like my father, in that I'm stubborn. It's a good thing. To persist in music, you have to be stubborn. Not like stupid, but you have to keep on and on.
How did you learn Bossa? A: In Brazil, you must back up singers. You have no chance of starting out on your own. At sixteen I was playing professionally. I had got a chance to sub in a nightclub, and that led to other jobs. We don't have jazz or popular music schools in Brazil. The learning process in Brazil is that you have to play in nightclubs, with no charts. You learn from recordings, and you play the gig from 11 until 5 in the morning.
It's tough. One day you've learned all the songs for the male singer, in his key, and the next day it's a female singer, and everything has to be in a different key. The harmony is very complicated, so playing different keys is not so easy.
But I had to do that. I loved playing the piano. Sometimes we'd go to the singer's house and rehearse a little bit, you know. But then you're on your own; you really have to practice.
Did the other musicians make it difficult? A: No, it's more like 'let's try to play without screwing him up.' It's supportive.
 During that time was there one singer who particularly carried you along your way? A: Leny Andrade. One of the best singers that Brazil every had. She sang only great music; in fact, at 67 she still does.
Why was she so valuable to you? A: Because she also knew how to play the piano. So if I played a different note, she'd say 'Oh, you played something else there ...' And the groove that she had while singing was unbelievable; it carried you along. So exciting. Can you believe how it was growing up, and playing with all these people? These were the best singers in Brazil. It was like electricity. I felt so lucky, and still do.
What taught you the most? A: First of all, life. Because when you have to do things that you can't do, you do it. Like what if someone gives me a chart that I can't do technically. I have to find a way to do it.
What's the most exciting thing you've ever done? A: Aierto Moreira had written a spiritual mass, and he asked Gil Evans to do the orchestration and arrangement for him. Gil didn't have time and offered it to me. It was a 63 piece orchestra where I wrote every single note, and conducted it. I was 28. I had to do it in two weeks. It really made me stretch out.
What did you learn from your early years? A: You have to work hard, harder than you think, to get what you want. We all say you have to work hard, yeah. But that word 'hard' is not enough.
 What's the silliest thing you've seen in your gigs? A: I was doing a show in Panama. The piano leg slid off the edge of the stage, and the piano fell on my lap, and I was having to hold it up. The guy who was supposed to fix stuff on the stage, I'm trying to get his attention, and there was a percussion thing, and he couldn't hear me and I just had to hold up the piano while we were playing.
What is your style? A: Simple. I'm a guy that plays what's inside of me and what I learned. I play Brazilian music. I like funk, and Brazilian music, they go together very well. The funk and the Brazilian music are both very rhythmic, and that means you can't be shy. But I don't embellish the peacock. I don't do unnecessary things. If the music is good, you present it simply. If the music is not good, you can call the best musicians in the world to play, and it's going to sound like what it is.
How did Bossa Nova evolve? A: The story I heard from Airto was that people used to play outside the clubs, in the streets, on guitar and they'd sing, and on flute. So maybe 2 am on the sidewalk, and you can't wake up the neighbors, so they had to swing softly.
And they wrote so many songs, sometimes ten songs a day, there was competition going on. Some guy would say "Today I got this chord, see what you think ..." The composition is not necessarily diatonic, or in modes, it's just what sounds good. A lot is composed on guitar.
Before bossa, there was rock and roll, and a simple kind of music ... I was seven years old and my Grandfather listening to the radio, listening to old-style Brazilian classical music, it was quite different.
If a trio was playing in a Brazilian club from that period, what are the instruments? A: You're going to hear guitar, bass, and drums, or piano, bass, and drums. Maybe a singer, maybe not. One chordal instrument, one percussion instrument, and bass.
The bass player has got it easy! A: Yes, no problems. Oh bass players complain, "Oh I don't add anything to Brazilian music just by going root and fifth," but they do. Without that bass, Brazilian music is dead.
What is the authentic Bossa rhythm? A: Aha! I grew up in Brazil, and spent half my life there, and I never heard a Brazilian drummer play bossa nova the way Americans usually hear it played.
Let me write it down. Here's two measures of 'WRONG', and then there is a correct example. ['RIGHT.']
 Why is this one wrong and that one right? A: First, the Bossa Nova is not really a rhythm. The Bossa Nova is a period of time. The true Bossa Nova is music from that period. It's not just the rhythm.
In my opinion, the American guys went to Brazil, and they brought it here -- Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd -- To play that true rhythm on the drums is very hard. So these musicians went out and they played some 'Latin stuff.' And the combination wasn't a happy one, you know what I'm saying? (laughs)
They were playing root-root five-five, like in 'Ricky don't lose that number'. And I don't know anybody in Brazil who plays the bossa nova with the clave rhythm.
In other words, this whole simplification that says you take the samba clave rhythm and you move the last beat one click later, and now you got your bossa nova, it's just not true.
The clave - we don't have that instrument in Brazil. So the thing about the clave and Brazilian music, I don't know where it comes from. These claves, bongos, and so on, if you hear them in Brazilian music they are just enhancement. They are not part of the music. In Brazilian music, the harmony and melody dictate where the music is going.
Why couldn't American musicians like Stan Getz get it right? A: Because they were doing something new, and nobody cared. That's the only reason. And also, realize that to interpret Brazilian music in the right way is not easy. It's very exact.
In jazz, you've got a piece of paper (a chart) and it becomes a rough guide. But in Brazilian music, you have to play what is written, you can't change it.
If I'm talking about a C seven flat nine sharp eleven on top of the fifteenth, you've got to play that. In jazz, you can play a C seven anything. In Brazil, the composer wants it just the way he wrote it.
 So we're talking about a layer of subtlety, that's not really part of the jazz tradition? A: That's it.
So we can play Lester Leaps In just any old way, but if we play My Neighbor's Blue Canary … A: That's right, we have to play just those chords as written.
Also there's a difference in that jazz is often written in four/four time, but Brazilian music is usually in two/four time, and this makes a difference in the lyrics and in the feel. It eliminates swing. You can relax more in four/four, but in Brazilian music the sixteenths are precisely exact with no swing.
What does it matter what pattern we play? A: Well it matters because it goes against the melody. In the song Corcovado the way you hear it in the US has different lyrics, and in fact anything you play behind it will sound fine. But the original lyrics have a different feel to them. In fact none of the lyrics in these songs are the same as the original. You've been robbed!
What is your suggestion for learning this kind of music well and musically? A: Simple. Go to the source. Get someone who has a background and study with him. If you live in Idaho and don't have access to somebody local, call me. If you want to learn this music, you must find somebody who knows.
Do you play other types of music? A: I don't know how to play bebop. I can play a bayon, that's Brazilian. I can play fusion.
How does a person get to be a working professional? A: You play a lot, and wait for the luck to happen. Some people never become pro, but it's not really their fault. The musician is totally helpless, being controlled by somebody else. I was lucky. I came here playing with famous Brazilian artists. The gigs came to me. That's just luck.
I know you play bass, rather well. Do you have any suggestions for bass players? A: It's funny. The bass is not a very technical instrument. You don't play around the chord. Brazilians who play the bass, it's a precision that makes everything happen, holding the groove. You don't play the altered chord tones, if you do, you might as well play guitar. We need you here to do this simple thing. You're not going to go all over the fretboard. My technique suggestion would be you have to have heart, a bigger heart than anybody in the band, because you are dictating what's happening. It's not a technique thing. It's mental.
Advice for beginners? A: Speak out. Whatever you hear, ask why is that. Be nosy. Don't be shy. You'll never know if you don't ask. If you go for it, you won't have regrets.
What do you think about this new touch-style method of play? A: If it's going to add to the music, it's great to use two hands, three hands. But if it's going to make the music sound different, that's not so great. In terms of Brazilian music, you're playing two instruments. If it's going to add and add some embellishments that's fine. But it must continue to show accuracy toward the forms we already have.
I love the idea of how the fingers move in the same direction. That's even better than piano, because it's such a natural movement for your two hands.
I know I gave up on guitar because I couldn't play the bass notes like on a piano. I couldn't do the bass and the harmony at the same time. Being able to do this simply is powerful.
Your tapping instrument, it's not exactly a replacement piano, but I can see an advantage. When a guitar and bass play together, sometimes there's something missing. Sometimes the harmony is going to be there; sometimes not. The same goes for the rhythm. But with your instrument, like a piano player, the two parts are one guy, and they should fit together well.
Your current project? A: These days I still gig, but I love teaching. First of all, because we didn't really have the chance. There was no school of this type in Brazil. But here in Berkeley, at The Jazz School, I can fill a lack. Someone comes into my class and says, "I want to learn the real thing,"
The Jazz School is unique in that Susan Muscarella  [founder of school] had an opportunity to get somebody from Brazil who knows the real thing, and she said, 'Why don't you do this here?' And people who want the real thing, different from what Stan Getz did, well, I want to pass that along.
I've also got two records on Concord jazz, and others I've played on. I'm working on the third.
What's important and often overlooked? A: Talent. Sometimes a guy has talent, and he's got no chance in the world. A lot of music gets written by folks with no talent at all. Talent is totally overlooked.
What can be dispensed with? What do people spend way too much time on? A: Bad TV shows, which is 90% of them. Bad rock and roll. Not all rock and roll, just bad rock and roll. Bad music in general, because how can you enjoy that? You have to be mindless.
Marcos Silva continues to work with many of the world's best Brazilian artists, including Dori Caymmi, Flora and Airto, Danilo Caymmi, Edu Lobo, and Joyce. In Summer of 2001, he was a special guest on Ivan Lins's recording Jobinaiando, his homage to Jobim. With Intersection and other artists, he has performed around the world. He serves on the Faculty of Jazz Camp's popular Summer Program, and on the Faculty of Berkeley California's The Jazz School since 1997. He may be contacted by mail at 1032 San Souci, Walnut Creek CA 94996 USA, by phone at (925) 945-0138, or via email at msilvakeys@aol.com.
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Free Music Lesson:
Hear the BOGUS Bossa Nova and the TRUE Bossa Nova!
As you've probably read in the interview with Marcos Silva above, what we generally call the 'Bossa Nova' rhythm is actually a kind of Latin pulse that some of our American musicians made up. (As Homer Simpson says "Jazz ... pffft! They just make it up as they go along!")
Our bogus Bossa Nova is a pleasant sounding pattern, but a more authentic pattern will give more of the feel of real Brazilian songs from the Bossa era.
If you will examine the four measures below, you will see two measures of the old bogus rhythm, and then two of a typical bossa rhythm supplied by Mr. Silva. In the True Bossa example, the bass is always the same, but there are a number of variations that can be made to the upper-staff rhythm. The one shown is typical, and a good one to learn, but you don't have to stick to it always.
First, the bogus rhythm
In measures one and two, which are repeated over and over, on the lower Bass Clef you'll see the "American Jazz fake-Bossa" bass pattern. (If you cannot read standard notation very well, just follow along and then we'll explain the rhythm in a different way below.)
In our example we've shown a C7 chord, but this same bass rhythm will generally be applied to every chord in a song. If playing in a combo, the bass usually echoes the bass drum. For our example we've shown the fifth of the chord (the note G) above the root of the chord (the note C), mainly because in our recorded example following, it's slightly easier to hear. However, in actual play, you can play the fifth either above or below the root, just as long as it's in the same rhythm.
In measures one and two, on the upper Treble Clef you'll see the "Clave" rhythm. Claves are two cylindrical pieces of hardwood which are clicked together. In the Samba, there is often a special pattern of three syncopated beats in the first measure and two beats in the second measure. You call this a "3-2 Clave" rhythm. The rhythm shown here is a slight variation of the Samba's 3-2 Clave rhythm. For our notes, we've used the "guide tones" of the chord, that is, the third and the seventh, in this case being the notes E and Bb.
This clave rhythm over the pulsing bass has a nice sound, and if you gig with others you may need to know this combination. It's generally referred to as a "Latin" rhythm, as in "Play something Latin, you know?"
Now, the Real Bossa rhythm
In measures three and four, which are repeated over and over, on the lower Bass Clef you'll see the actual Bossa Nova bass rhythm as was originated in Brazil. Rhythmically it is an identical pattern. The difference is that in each pair of notes that occur close together, the note is moving, either from the root (C) to the fifth (G), or from the fifth to the root. Rhythmically, it sounds the same, but it has more of a sense of movement.
This basic pattern is repeated, over and over, on each chord in a Bossa Nova song. Two exceptions: If the chord calls for a chord such as C6, you would normally play the root (C) and an octave (also C), instead of the fifth. If the chord has a flat five, as in Cm7b5, you would normally play the flat fifth. Usually you do not play any other chord tones. (That's the guitarist or pianist's job; your job is to be the beating heart, nice and solid against all the syncopation in the rhythm and in the melody.)
In measures three and four, on the upper Treble Clef you'll see a syncopated rhythm. It's not the clave rhythm, it's something else. Again, for our rhythm we play the 'guide-tone' chord comprised of the chord's third and seventh, in this case being E and Bb.
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The Time Signature is 2/4
The most common time signature is 'four-four' meaning four beats in a measure and using a "quarter note" (a one-fourth note) for each beat. It would seem that the naming of the notes, such as "quarter note" and "half note" was made up especially for the time signature of four-four.
However, Bossas are usually written in two-four time, meaning that there are only two main beats in each measure, and that we still use a quarter-note to show each beat. This then requires us to use two measures to get the rhythm pattern completed. Why is it done this way? We don't know, but suspect that it's because it's easier to read syncopated rhythms if there is less stuff in each measure.
How to Count Out the Rhythm
If reading rhythm in standard notation is difficult for you, you can fall back on the old "1-e-and-a 2-e-and-a". You pronounce this as you count. Each measure has two beats, one and two, and you're breaking each beat down into four parts by counting like this.
So in measures three and four, the bass notes fall like this: "1-e-and-a 2-e-and-a"
In measure three, the upper rhythm chord falls like this: "1-e-and-a 2-e-and-a"
And in measure four, the upper rhythm chord falls like this: "1-e-and-a 2-e-and-a"
Listen to the Two Rhythms, and Hear How to Play a Bossa Song ...
We've recorded an audio example of this lesson, so that you can hear the Bogus Bossa Nova and then the True Bossa Nova as described above. And then you'll hear the True Bossa Nova rhythm used in a True Bossa Nova. Sounds nice! Click to download --
True Bossa Nova Lesson (RealAudio)
(2.3 MB)
True Bossa Nova Lesson (Mp3)
(3.5 MB)
(Recording Notes: The rhythm examples were recorded on a Mobius ToneWeaver with Four-Bart pickup array, as shown in photos in next article. For the song, on the first pass we recorded the bass and rhythm parts with the ToneWeaver, in our standard 'Bass-Bottom' tuning. On the second pass, we used a Mobius MidiTapper Twin to record chords and melody. The MidiTapper Twin has a 'Bi-Melody' tuning, with both strings sets strung high. For the MidiTapper left-hand chords we used the natural string sound very softly, and a lush string pad from the Roland guitar synth. For the right-hand melody we used the Roland V-Guitar System, a patch they call 'mild jazz,' just perfect for the soft harmonies of the song.)
Happy Tappistry!
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Mobius Announcements
Fanned-Fret ToneWeaver now shipping
 If you examine the instrument on the right, it may look like a fun-house mirror, but that is no illusion -- the instrument is not twisted. Instead, the frets are installed using a 'fanned' arrangement.
It looks odd to the eye, but it feels about the same to the fingers!
As you see in the photo, the largest bass strings on the left become much longer, over 35 inches long. And the highest melody strings on the right become much shorter, down to 31 inches.
Why do this? Because short melody strings sound more focussed and sweeter, and long bass strings sound deeper and more powerful.
That's why guitars are usually short, and basses are usually long of neck. It's just that simple.
On a specialty tapping instrument, where both sets of strings are installed on one neck, one side or the other can have a problem sounding its best. If you use a 25 inch neck then the bass will sound, well, kind of weak. But when you use a long neck to get the good bass sound, the melody becomes less focussed. You can get a good sound, but for the absolute greatest sound, the bass needs to be longer, and the melody strings shorter. It's just a fact of physics.
After announcing our licensing of the Ralph Novak Fanned-Fret system at the January 2001 NAMM show, we are now proud to announce that the ToneWeaver is now in full production, and can be delivered to your door without delay.
You will notice that the bridge on the ToneWeaver is of a special design. We call it the "Twelve-Tone" Bridge. In addition to making the bass strings longer and the melody strings shorter, you'll notice that each bridge plate is completely separate, not touching its neighbors.
 We have found that, by using separate bridge "platelles", each string maintains a greater clarity. Because there is less cross-vibration from one string to the next. When you play a chord using the Twelve-Tone Bridge, you hear each note more clearly, less blended with the other tones.
It's a bit more work to install than a single plate, but this is our very best instrument, meant to have the entire neck be one big sweet spot, so the extra time is worth it.
The ToneWeaver normally comes with our rich-sounding "JazzMaster" pickup array, with four humbucking dual coil pickups. Two (switch-selectable) for the bass, and two (switch-selectable) for the melody. One of the best guitar hot-rodders in the US, Matt Griblin, has described this bass as 'Ominous, Stalking Bass' because it sounds so deep and solid, as if the sound came up out of the earth. If you visit our website at http://www.megatar.com/ and examine the ToneWeaver model, you can hear a sound clip using the JazzMaster pickup array. Deep, rich bass, and clear strong melody.
However, many of our initial ToneWeaver orders have specified our optional "FourBart" pickup array. On the melody side, these special Bartolini-designed pickups provide a strong mid-range and clear highs, especially in the neck-position pickup, and in the bridge pickup just tons of raw power. The result is a surprisingly clean, strong voice with authority.
 On the bass side, our special Bartolini pickup array provides a bright and almost glassy sound for capturing the mellow sound of the neck-position bass strings to provide a warm and solid bottom, and in the bridge position a deep tone saturated with the groaning sound of long low bass.
To hear the powerful sound of the FourBart array on the ToneWeaver, just play the soundclip (above) in this issue's lesson!
 The ToneWeaver is also absolutely unique in that it is the only bass in the world providing both the sweet tone of Novak Fanned-Frets as well as the sweet, in-tune clarity of the Feiten Intonation System. And with the FourBart pickup array upgrade, this is one of the best sounding basses in the world.
As you can see from the Mobius Pricelist, the standard ToneWeaver retails for $2395.00 US. With the FourBart upgrade, the price still only comes to $2735.00 US -- much less than other instruments of comparable tone and quality!
And yet, you will not find another bass in the world with both the sweetness and clarity of the fanned-frets, and which also plays in tune all over the fretboard. Give a listen. You'll hear it. This bass is an ultimate axe. Have you ever wanted to play an ultimate axe?
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Do you have an article idea for the MegaTapper News? If so, please send us an inquiry. We're looking for short articles that relate to two-handed touch-style. Articles can be about technique, about unique musicians in this genre, about tapping-instrument design, or about general musical knowledge applied to two-handed play. If it interests you, maybe it would interest our readers! Article donors receive a small payment and a byline. If this sounds interesting to you, send us an inquiry about your interesting article ideas!
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Contact us:
Mobius Megatar USA
Post Office Box 161
Weed, CA 96094 USA
http://www.megatar.com/
Business Office (530) 938-1100
Member Better Tapping Bureau
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