You’ve heard Eddie Gomez’s solo on “You Must Believe in Spring,” and now you want to learn it. I consider it the greatest upright bass solo of all time. It’s on the Bill Evans Trio album You Must Believe in Spring, with Bill Evans on piano, Eddie Gomez on bass, and the great but very underrated Eliot Zigmund on drums.
Quick answer
Start with the melody, because that’s where Eddie Gomez starts, and his solo keeps returning to it. Then work on your thumb position: practice your major scales in thumb position, like E major and B-flat major. Give it weeks, not one sitting. You could spend two weeks on this solo.
When I was a freshman in college, I got the amazing opportunity to spend some time with Eddie Gomez himself and talk to him about this solo. So a lot of what I show in the lesson isn’t just something I transcribed. It’s something I learned from the time I spent with him. Here’s how the solo is built and how to start learning it. The fingerings themselves are in the lesson.
How does Eddie Gomez start his solo on You Must Believe in Spring?
He starts with the melody. Literally. Nothing has changed so far. Then he plays something that isn’t in the melody, and then the melody again. Up to that point, it’s pretty much just the melody.
From there, the solo gets progressively more involved as he varies the melody and comes up with almost an exposition on it. What I love about it is that it keeps returning to the melody. It’s also on the listening list in my jazz improvisation primer.
It also gives you a lot to work with, even when a phrase is very simple. You can take his phrases and use them however you want. They’re not set in stone, and that’s kind of what he’s doing with the melody. When I improvised along the lines of one of his phrases in the lesson, I was just using a natural minor scale.
Where the solo gets difficult
Some spots are really tricky. In measure 20, the phrase changes key, and that’s really tough to hear. The way I hear it, I want it to stay in B minor, but it doesn’t. It goes to F minor, so it almost sounds dissonant.
As I explained this solo in the lesson, I realized how difficult it actually is. There’s so much to unpack that I didn’t even get to the harmony. So rather than looking at it as me teaching you this solo, look at it as us exploring it together. I’m really just showing you how much I love it.
This is a real masterclass in extended harmony, in technique, in modulation.
Cole Davis
Eddie actually showed me one phrase two different ways. In the lesson I chose the fingering I think is most accessible to all of us, and I show the other one too. There are fourths in thumb position as well. They’re tough to execute, but the fingerings are actually pretty natural. For the fourths, I use two and three. Working through these fingerings is a great thing to practice, for thumb position or really just to increase your ability to solo on the bass.
How do you practice thumb position for the Eddie Gomez solo?
One line seems really difficult, probably because it is, and it comes from the idea that the thumb can move anywhere. I find that understanding you can move the thumb is a great way to really improvise on this instrument. Up high, I can play all kinds of things just because I understand how the thumb can move.
A lot of people ask me about learning thumb position, and I always say the same thing: practice your major scales in thumb position. When’s the last time you actually did that? Probably not recently, if ever, because it’s difficult. Thumb position is a beast, and we don’t like doing the things that are extremely difficult. Play the E major scale in thumb position. Then play B-flat major. Once you understand how the thumb can move, you’ll be well on your way to playing a solo like this.
Thumb position also gives you the freedom to pivot around. When I taught the melody to “Inner Urge,” I made the point that playing it down low would actually be more difficult, because down there you have to shift and stretch. In thumb position, you’re just making little pivots to get around. Pivoting like that is all over Understanding Thumb Position.
Eddie Gomez also showed me a thumb position exercise that helps with this solo and pretty much any other solo. It shows you how you can maneuver the thumb, and it comes with my lesson on Eddie Gomez: You Must Believe in Spring.
Give it weeks, not one sitting
You could spend two weeks on this solo. A great solo like this can’t be explained in 20 minutes. When I was at Juilliard, I spent two months on one Paul Chambers solo, because a great solo has so much to break down: the technique, the harmony, the attack, the fingerings, the time feel.
- Melody first. Learn the melody of “You Must Believe in Spring.” The solo starts there and keeps returning to it.
- Scales in thumb position. Play E major in thumb position, then B-flat major, and notice how the thumb moves.
- Borrow a phrase. Take one of his phrases and improvise along its lines with a natural minor scale, the way he varies the melody.
If you want to get better at learning solos off the record in general, here’s how I transcribe bass by ear. And if you’re still working out how to solo on the instrument at all, start with how to solo on upright bass.
Put the record on tonight. Then, before you touch the solo, play your E major scale in thumb position.
Go deeper
Eddie Gomez: You Must Believe in Spring
The full lesson on the solo, plus the thumb position exercise Eddie Gomez showed me himself.
FAQ
Who plays on Bill Evans’s You Must Believe in Spring?
Bill Evans on piano, Eddie Gomez on bass, and the great but very underrated Eliot Zigmund on drums. Eddie Gomez’s solo on the title track is what I consider the greatest upright bass solo of all time.
Did you talk to Eddie Gomez about this solo?
Yes. When I was a freshman in college, I got the amazing opportunity to spend some time with Eddie Gomez himself and talk to him about this solo. So a lot of what I show in the lesson isn’t just something I transcribed. It’s something I learned from the time I spent with him. He even showed me one phrase two different ways.
Where does the You Must Believe in Spring solo get tricky?
In measure 20, the phrase changes key, and it’s really tough to hear. The way I hear it, I want it to stay in B minor, but it goes to F minor instead, so it almost sounds dissonant. The whole solo is a real masterclass in extended harmony, in technique, in modulation.
How long does it take to learn the Eddie Gomez solo?
Give it time. You could spend two weeks on this solo, and a great solo like this can’t be explained in 20 minutes. When I was at Juilliard, I spent two months on one Paul Chambers solo, because there’s so much to break down: the technique, the harmony, the attack, the fingerings, the time feel.
