As of late, I’ve been really aware of two great weaknesses in my playing. The first is no great surprise: I’m a terrible soloist. I am still relatively new to the idea. I think most bass players come to the soloing game late and I am no exception. I feel like I have most of [...]
I am blessed by having so many close friends that do music either as a profession or as a large and important part of their lives, since it gives me a bit more perspective beyond what my own experiences with music are. All of these people do something a little bit different from one [...]
I just gave a productive lesson to a student concerning the modes of the major scale. We’d gone over them in the past but this was the first time I think he really had a lightbulb moment and GOT it. I won’t bore you with too many of the mundane details concerning diatonic music theory, [...]
I had a student today ask me about how to properly produce vibrato. I was momentarily stumped. I really never thought about it before, and I had to pause for a bit to think about it. In the past I have had this problem with questions about left-hand muting, and a good 95% of right [...]
I retract my statement about being a nerd. I am no nerd. I don’t know if I am smart enough to be a nerd.
I am taking my first steps in experimenting with Linux (Debian) and I am a Linux midget. I got nothing. No skills. Nada.
My lack of knowledge is the main reason I am [...]
Sometimes as a music teacher, one finds themselves falling into the familiar pitfalls of their students. I am the worst offender of the “do as I say, not as I do” teaching philosophy. I am trying hard to overcome my personal hang-ups in order to be more of the “lead by example” type of instructor, [...]
I was just reading an excerpt from Anthony Vitti’s website about his transcription of a George Benson solo and how he likes to study non-bassists for soloing ideas. It seems like a pretty common sense thing but I don’t think it’s done often enough. There’s a contingent of bassists, especially here in Virginia, sitting around [...]
