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  • He should slow down think it would make a bigger impact if he did

  • Clapton should,really should watch this...

  • There are SO many crazy talented bassists out there today. A few when I started playing, (1969)... Hundreds today... Jeff has always held the Gold Medal as far as I'm concerned. Every time I watch him play, I take a tiny little piece to the woodshed and develope something of my own... Thank you Jeff... Best of the best...

  • Good!

  • I personally think the chorus sounds BAD ASS

  • Молодец!

  • really just listening to music in its entirety and being immersed allows you to absorb influence

  • Jeez I wish Jeff would lose that damned dated Chorus sound!

    Reverb never dates, but that is a very dated sounding bass, and chorus never really worked for bass.

  • @thrunobulax1

    He's got at least one other rendition of this tune without the chorus on youtube

  • @thrunobulax1 Whuuuut. Chorus is lovely on bass.

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  • I love to develop that style- is that what you call chording technique in bass?

  • @moronslave

    Yeah pretty much. Coming from a bass player, I gotta say its hard as hell.

  • This guy looks like a Home Depo worker, or a comedian

  • this man needs a war guitar

  • His tone really is annoying and midrangy at is worst. But he is a good player.

  • This is his rendition of Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" from his solo bass album "Talking Notes" just for those interested :) also, like most people playing live, it's not the exact same arrangement!

  • He's no Wolfgang Van Halen

  • @JohnGuitarSolo LMAO

  • tears in heaven on bass.

  • omg why this is not famous and electronic and shitty music is everywhere u.u 

  • 1:55 My face just melted.

  • This is real music

  • how could any one not like this! this is beauty!! the people who dont think this is good, have never felt love for anything in their entire life..

  • 1:56 ... what a sound? amazing!

  • that bend he did at 4:00 was pretty amazing!

  • He's playing what would be fingerstyle guitar on a bass. If you want to do it, too, learn fingerstyle guitar first - there's plenty of music out there for it. Then work it out for the bass fretboard.

  • who knew that a Dean bass could sound this good? well i guess in jeff's hands anything can sound good.

  • remember: just 4 Strings !!!!

  • nice! Erick Clapton's cover "If I saw you in heaven"

  • Is it bass playing though? it's all very clever but to me it just sounds like he's playing classical guitar on a bass. It sounds and feels wrong in my eyes.

  • @floouk He's holding a bass, and he's playing said bass. That makes it bass playing. It's just not "traditional" bass playing. And that's cool.

  • @floouk im sure he can slap, tap, gallop, walk, run, and whatever else too...it's called versatility. there is no wrong in music anyways

  • Nice nice! He really is a good musician. Took a bottom end instrument and played it like an entire band almost!

  • I would expect no less from someone who is worshipped by Geddy Lee!

  • ES MUY BUENO ESTE BAJISTA ......... MUY MELODICO (AUNQUE ME GUSTA MAS EL ESTILO ALOCADO Y EXPLOSIVO DE ABRAHAM LABORIEL) PERO ES MUY BUEN BAJISTA

  • Jeff Berlin truly has no limitation on his instrument...Hes a god on bass !

    Truly remarkable!!

  • is it a version of tears in heaven of eric clapton?

  • @dimguitar95 Its gotta be. I thought the same thing, it sounds just like it.

  • @dimguitar95 Yes.

  • Re: 12 notes. Western music is 12 notes, but the are infinite notes available through bends, glissando, etc.

    Add that melodic variety to the infinite expression available through meter, tone and inflection and you have infinite possibilities for creating new songs.

  • @tamkukushka

    well if you're so fucking right, tell me why i'm wrong and why you're right. over 70% of jazz is based on tradition and concepts that are seen over and over again in the genre. those include chord progressions, chord types, use of melody, etc. what is wrong in what i'm saying? and yes jazz fusion does deviate from the rest because it brings those traditional elements and mixes them with newer influences outside the traditional genre.

  • @tamkukushka

    either you're douche or you're a douche. i'm not sure which you are, but either way it doesn't matter. as for the language that i'm using, there's nothing crazy about. agree to disagree, or keep being a douche.

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  • Very Very Nice. oops changing that to awesome!!!!

  • Very Very Nice

  • Jazz people arn't narrow. Jazz was made because some musicians thought music was too narrow

  • @ZappaFan101

    however jazz has tons of 'standards' and usually relies on very particular progressions. because it's almost always recognizable as jazz and nothing else, it sort of is narrow.

  • @LfunkeyA

    Yes, jazz does have standards, but compared to the rest of jazz, thats just a tiny fragment of whats out there. I think tunes like "Stairway to Heaven", "Sweet Home Alabama", "Iron Man", etc can be thought of as rock standards, but no one calls them that, but theres still plenty of rock music out there.

  • @ZappaFan101

    i don't see how it is a tiny fragment, considering all of jazz is based on standard chord progressions, and most of the soloing is based on specific modes too. modern jazz fusion is probably the only exception. as for the songs you mentioned, they're not really standards because no one else plays those compositions (unless it's a cover or a rip-off). In fact, the jazz tunes that deviate the most from the rest of jazz are the highly composed ones.

  • @ZappaFan101

    i guess 'narrow' wouldn't be the right word for jazz though. 'instantly recognizable' fits more in my opinion. i'm not hating on jazz, it's one of my favorite genres nowadays.

  • @LfunkeyA

    Ok, I see what your saying now. I would agree that it is instantly recognizable, but not narrow. What I love about it is that you're never gonna get the same thing twice music wise. Maybe they play the standard over, but the best will play something new every time when its time to solo. Alot of the time you won't get that kind of spontaneity at other concert events. Of course there are exceptions, but you get the idea.

    And yes, I love jazz as well. It's great stuff!!

  • I went to see these guys at B-3 in Detroit. You wouldn't think three bass players could put out anything but the deepest lows. These guys were playing all the classics. Of course they had guitar backup, but all the leads were played by the three of them.. I loved it.

  • I've never come across such moronic comments...

  • Jeff may not be the most 'charismatic' of bassists, but by God he can play ... he's easily within the all-time top ten and is a fine role-model for up and coming bassists.

  • Man, I wish he'd drop the Dean. Always thought that bass sounded like shit.

  • Damn it... I gotta study chords more...

  • I haven't read through all the comments here but I see a lot of hate, you people need to grow up and realize this is one of the all time bassists to walk the planet. This guy hung with Jaco and many players would do anything to play by his side or like he does. end o story 

  • holly mother .... o.o

  • 1:56

    I can never get those harmonics

  • he plays amazing... but im already bored... he is feeling nothing ... me neither

  • @jorgecds I don't think so much practice would have gone into it if he didn't feel good about playing bass.

  • jeff is a bass god!

    with all the big name basses out there...[alembic,ken smith,sudosky,ect...],the man endorses freakin' Dean!

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  • I know someone related to him from my school

  • This tune sounds really familiar. Anyone know what it is?

    BTW, Jeff Berlin is a terrific bassist!!

  • @RandomGuyBlake54 Tears in heaven eric clapton!

  • 1:19 to 1:31

    Are you flippin serious?!

  • the incredible thing is that he has been playing like this for the past 35 years ! A true innovator. Together with Jaco they opened the doors and all the others walked through.

  • one of the most physically awkward performances ever. he looks like he's having a stroke. kinda makes it hard to take the music seriously.

  • @hebbleworld

    Just minimize the window and listen to whats important - the music. You shouldn't factor in the image. It's the least important part in music.

    @igy2008

    Totally agree. It just boggles my mind that many bassists havent even heard of this guy. Everyone knows Clarke, Wooten, Miller, Jaco, and others, but jeff isn't talked about much. Why that is I will never know.

  • it seems like their is some speed problems...

  • its SO IMPRESIVE! OMG. but so boring to listen to. I want wooten! :) (this guy fucking rocks though!)

  • Helps to be black though...hehehe

  • improvisation at its best.

  • @Nikkorea that's not improv...its Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton with a variant

  • Great technical playing. All it takes is dedicated practice and pretty much giving up everything else in your life.

  • 12 notes. Just 12, and no more. All music is based of a dozen notes.

    So someone tell me how the hell can think up something like this? We all have the same notes, but Jeff can use them in phrases that most of us can only dream of. How the hell can the human mind come up with something like this? Jeff is not only one of the best bassists; he is one of the best musicians on planet earth. I could never come up with something like this in a billion years. Its just mindblowing.

  • @ZappaFan101 he didnt come up with this... its a composition already written. he is just putting it to bass... which is very very amazing. he does add alot of his own flair to it. Look up Eric Clapton Tears in Heaven. thats the original song. i agree what he does is absolutely mind blowing. but i wanted to give you a little heads up as to where his head is at.

  • @rehtrem

    You're 100% correct. The thing is I already knew that, it was just a poor choice of words on my part. I meant to say that this rendition was based off Clapton's tune. Damn sleep deprevation is most likley the reason for that mistake, as I was up for 30+ hours when I typed that comment. But thanks for bringing that to my attention. This is one of my favorite videos on youtube and I don't want to come across as a dummy. I'll delete it that comment, and thanks for the heads up.

  • @ZappaFan101

    Sorry, but you're wrong. All WESTERN music is based off 12 notes.

  • @jgum86

    Ok, but you get my point.

  • @ZappaFan101 It's the difference between talent and genius.

  • @ZappaFan101 I totally agree with you about the 12 notes thing and all that! but he's playing his rendition of Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton

  • @kagen22222222

    Yes, but its a HELL of a rendition

  • @ZappaFan101 I couldn't agree more!!

  • @ZappaFan101

    People hear "12 notes" and think that's a limitation, when it's anything but. Do you know how many tastes there are said to be? 5. With only 5, there are people out there that, alone, can think of 100 different dishes all tasting different.

    There might only be 12 notes, there there an infinite amount of possible sounds.

  • @ZappaFan101 : This is only true for western classical music. Asian and oriental instruments, music and compositions use up to 30 notes from one octave to the other and are used to hear the differences (whilst many of us can not even HEAR the 12 notes we commnly use)...

  • @cyreander

    I think ZappaFan101 was just making a general statement about Jeffs compositional skills. =]

  • @ZappaFan101 agreed!

  • @ZappaFan101

    "So someone tell me how the hell can think up something like this?"

    Practice, practice, practice, practice. And if you're done practicing, practice some more. And oh yeah, did I mention practice? And practice of course. You can never practice enough!

  • @MomoTheBellyDancer

    You can practice your butt off for years learning the lines and fills and be an amazing musician. However, its hard to practice creativity. Being creative is something that you cant really learn.

  • @ZappaFan101 creativity is accumulated through knowledge of feelings between intervals and scalular/modal relationships. lots of jazz/fusion exercises to build technique and theory to understand it

  • sounds kinda like tears in heaven at first

  • @watever4201 Yes, I hear that also...

  • 1:56 !!!! awesome!

  • Wow hermoso uuff viva Jeff, i like so much...! ;)

  • saw him in buenos aires six years ago. amazing.

  • This guy can play.

  • 1:59 to 2:07

    .....Seriously? Da Fuck.

  • I love how every time I watch this video I am still hearing things that I overlooked from the previous viewing....

  • Dang, he's got a really honky mid range sound goin on there.

  • most beautiful bass impro i've ever heard... the harmonics, the legato parts, the licks...

  • There are 27 assholes in this world. That much we know.

    that was pure wow. THisis first time I have ever seen him. Thanks internet, for making stars out of people who really deserve it. Lets hope we never have another Britney of Justin ever again.

  • What an amazing impro on Tears in Heaven - perfect!

  • jeff berlin is still my favorite bass player of all time, alongside marcus miller, victor wooten, mark king and many others. this was absolutely pure amazing. people that dont understand this are useless retards that have no real feel and heart for amazing and real artists. they are just pissed off that they will never ever become a respected artist like jeff berlin. you are old and pissed off hahahahaha now go back to bed and cry

  • @TomBrooklyn who is this "we" you speak of?

    If you like the back street boys.. get a back stage pass to blow them.

  • @TomBrooklyn

    That comment was lamer than FDRs legs.

  • 27 people dont like this... 27 people needs to get shot!

  • 27 People have no computer speakers

  • Wow, It's like Joe Pass playing bass.  fantastic playing

  • eric clapton tears in heaven ?

  • Very nice, thanks for sharing.

  • MASTER

  • You don't have to be black! O_O

  • @taufoofar same thing i was thinking! I thought there was no hope for me

  • i guess 27 idiots out of 262,987 people isn't too bad

  • now i know your name

  • BRAVO!!! HE'S A MASTER!!!

  • Woooow, gave me the creeps

  • Check out and pause a bit between 0:50 through 0:55

    I've seen plenty of basses with low action, but DAMN! Could his action be any lower? That's a plus, he doesn't need to worry about putting much effort on the fret hand - he can play with a light touch. The bit at 2:00 is a great example of this

  • @ZappaFan101 I got to see that bass close up when I went to the Player's School... there is actually a slight backbow in the neck, and the top of the frets is somewhat flat. It's an interesting setup to say the least, but it works for Jeff.

  • @nicjimbass

    That's awesome! How was your experience at the school? I've always wanted to go there - what's it like?

  • @ZappaFan101 It was great! I went for a 10-week course, but I really want to go back for the 2-year course, when money allows it. It was a small group of students, many from outside the US, so there was a lot of one-on-one teaching. I had private lessons with Jeff twice a week, and I learned a ton! Jeff is such a funny, nice guy, and is an incredible teacher. I'd reccomend PSOM to anyone who wants to learn music as it's meant to be taught.

  • i like the simpllicity of the bass itself

  • the closest thing to jaco himself. the best bass guitar player alive (seeing that jaco already has the "best bass guitar player of all time" spot)

  • truly world class.

  • Very very very beautiful GOD bless you Jeff...!

  • AWESOME

  • AWESOME

  • I just can't dig the tone. I'm all for some reverb, but the chorus kills it for me.

  • @GaryNull ... The tour I saw had Bill, Jeff, and 'the unknown John Clark, and Dave Stewart, and I met him at a record signing in Rochester NY. . . so I am going to guess it was the 'Gradually Going Tornado' Tour.

  • @videocanone I caught them at a club in Prov, RI around the time "One of a Kind" had just out. Holdsworth was amazing, make no bones about it. But Berlin just blew my head clean off with playing Lead on the Bass!!

  • thnxx 4 the bein good

  • whats the beatles song some of this revolves around?

  • @MeckelBot nvm, its eric clapton tears in heaven

  • Hot Dang ! I saw Jeff with the Bill Bruford Band in the early 80's and he was a monster back then too ! The way he toys with the bass like it was a little banjo blows me away ! LOL ! he just played a friggin' bass concerto ! The Bach of the Bass !

    I'm sorry to offend, as I also love Jaco, but only the mighty Berlin can compose and play like this. When I saw him with Bruford, HE took all the solos ! and why not ! he never bores ! It wouldn't even surprise me if most of that piece was improvised!

  • @videocanone what tour you see?

    I saw the Gradually Going Tornado one.

    Bruford said this about Jeff playing a lot: "no problem, I just had to play less, and it's less work for me" . . . . or something like that.

    

  • @videocanone

    It's not Jeff's composition. He does his own(unique) version of Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven". He really makes it his own though.

  • @Pastorius333 ... got that right ! I doubt Clapton could write that 'theme and variations' solo out for Jeff, even with the respect I have for Clapton ! Using other folks themes as a starting point for your own composition is as old as classical music, and Jeff is a master to be sure ! (did not mean to step on EC's toes ! LOL !)

  • He's a solo man for sure, but sometimes a lot of talent can be bad... take Billy Sheehan for instance, he's pretty good(not as good as this) but he got fired from his old band with Steve Vai because he was too good... with that logic the lesson is not to be good? Just play shitty rap music and get 10 times the views. Fuck that I'd rather be talented.

    God bless Jeff & all the talented bassists.

  • thanks jeff... greatest bass player! what a sound!!!

  • @garynull...."forget It" was a figure of speech

  • is the brother in law of Catherine Fulop. I saw him in Buenos Aires some years ago !!!!!1

  • Music is just this, harmony and melody on an instrument; simply is this

  • Oh My! He's playing lead guitar on the bass and those harmonics are awesome.

  • Forget all the technical prowess....Listen (if you can) to the harmonic mastery. There is so much going on! For instance check 1:32 to 3:50! The substitutions, the reharmonizations! This is what jazz is. If you don't get it, you don't get it.

    It can be gotten...but you gotta want it.

  • @911bass >> Forget all the technical prowess....

    Yeah, you'll forget it until you try and play some of Jeff's stuff. I am now and it is very difficult. The combination of his technical skill and mastery of music are both required for what he is doing here. 

  • Forget all the technical prowess....Listen (if you can) to the harmonic mastery. There is so much going on! For instance check 1:32 to 3:50! The substitutions, the reharmonizations! This is what jazz is. If you don't get it, you don't get it.

    It can be gotten...but you gotta want it.

  • He's not good enough to be in Linkin Park, but I guess he isn't bad. A little sloppy though.

  • @DontSendMeSpam i love sarcasm

  • Who says thumbs are just for slapping? Jeff has mastered an awesome finger style technique just like acoustic guitarists. Inspiring!

  • Harmonics at 1:57 are impossible! Wow!

  • Esto si es un genio...

  • Thats sick playing right thre

  • Good god. It's like he's playing a classical guitar up there. What a monster.

  • the music man

  • Squeaky clean

  • I think "Beautiful" is the best definition for his playing.

  • wow. awesome take on tears in heaven

  • @dwilmer7 There's not even one sloppy second in this video, what you're talking about?

  • @dwilmer7

    I don't hear any sloppy stuff in this tune. Maybe you're thinking that because it's the the way those chords sound with his tone. Its got a real warm sound to it, but nothing is sloppy in this.

  • Im just JOKING ..

    Jeff Berlin is sloppy, = stephen hawking is unintelligent

  • AMAZING!

    though the sound of hiss bass is a bit too bright for me...

  • brilliant sheer genius thanks for the posting!

  • 100% agree with "Im2L8"

  • People who "don't get this" or can't understand this type of playing should stick to listening to Britney Spears and asking people if they want mustard on their hamburgers. Jeff Berlin has always been a phenomenal bass player. Jazz and Fusion are more for thinking people. People who want to listen to more than just 4/4 and dance beats. This was another great example of what you can do with a lot of talent, feel and technical ability. Practice and you might be 1/10th as good as him some day.

  • @Im2L8 - perfectly said. Not that many people are interested in hearing this kind of music and I they have that right. Appreciating this type of music takes effort, in a way.

    I remember I had to play Bill Bruford's first 3 solo albums (which Jeff plays on) about 20 times before I could "get into it".

    I still love those albums today. Some people are just not into music as other people. Some people like sports, I don't. Music today though makes me wanna puke.

  • @Im2L8 Prob the best comment ever. This man is a complete legend and knows this instrument inside out :)

  • @Im2L8 maybe you should aid them in their path of fail to get a bit more win :)

  • @Im2L8

    Wrong,

    Ive been practicing all my life and Im still not 1/10 of Jeff.