| Author | Message | ||
| smokin_dave
Member Username: smokin_dave Post Number: 64 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hey everybody, I've decided to start teaching bass at a local music store but it's something I've never done before.People have been trying to get me to do this for years and I'm not sure what I'm getting into here but money is tight and I might as well do what I'm best at and that's playing bass.I kinda need some advice from any Alembic brethren who may be teachers out there.What am I getting myself into and whats the best way to approach this thing?I guess I'm finally following in my parent's footsteps as they were teachers themselves. Thanks for reading and sharing any thoughts and/or experences. | ||
| fmm
Junior Username: fmm Post Number: 22 Registered: 6-2002 |
It depends on what you want to teach. My students are all Jr high & Sr high students. About 80% of them play in at leact one school ensemble, usually concert band and jazz band. The other 20% just want to learn to play for 'garage' bands. Lessons are geared towards getting them able to play in the high school jazz band. I insist that my students learn to read music (no tab) and to improvise, so that they can solo as well as create walking bass lines. Lesson materials are usually whatever they're working on in school, plus charts from my fake books. I teach them at least a little chord theory every lesson. I also teach them how to buy a bass and and amp. They learn about the major construction techniques and manufacturers. I teach them to play scales and chords on the piano. They also learn their way around a mixing board. Lessons are 45 or 60 minutes long (30 is too short), held in my basement. There's nothing like seeing one of your students receive the Outstanding Soloist award and the State High School Jazz Band Championships (unless it's seeing her win it 3 times in 4 years). | ||
| 811952
Junior Username: 811952 Post Number: 20 Registered: 10-2003 |
Years ago when I taught bass I would teach my students a cool bass line and/or riff (such as "So What") without giving away the context, then introduce the (usually something they would not normally give a listen to) context after they were comfortable with (and digging) the riff. I was able to get a fair number of young people listening to a lot of different kinds of music that way, and wasn't stuck teaching them how to play BTO bass lines every week. Of course, they would then do the same thing back to me, which was really cool. I also tried to have a drummer or guitar player around every so often to make them comfortable playing with other people and listening/reacting to what's going on around them. I tried very hard to make it fun. Many of my students were younger, and one of them couldn't read and his father beat him everytime he brought home a bad grade on a paper, so I spent half of his weekly one-hour lesson time for nearly a year secretly teaching him to read up to his grade level. That may be the single most rewarding thing I've ever done. john | ||
| smokin_dave
Member Username: smokin_dave Post Number: 65 Registered: 10-2002 |
Thanks for the reply's.I hope to learn as much from student's as I hope to be able to teach them.It's the little things that count and I may get from them things that I may have missed or not thought about before.One thing for sure is that I will be playing my Alembic's more and I like that.That's all I really want to do anyway.;-) | ||
| bigredbass
Intermediate Member Username: bigredbass Post Number: 171 Registered: 9-2002 |
smokin' dave: I can't believe how much I totally agree with fmm: Tab (or locally here in Nashville, the number system) is fine, but it is NO REPLACEMENT for properly reading standard notation. Ever imagine Andre Previn leading a symphony with everyone reading tab? Ain't gonna happen. I also agree it's important to teach them about buying a useable bass and amp. Who wants to practice if you hate your tone? And I really agree it's important to learn chords and harmony, and keyboards are best for this because of the linear location of the notes. It's just easier to visualise the intervals on a keyboard. It's often hard for instrumentalists that play single note instruments (horns, viols, most bassists) to get a real good sense of the chords swirling around them since they can't make chords themselves. Steer clear of all of these idiotic videos/methods that promise the moon without building the rocket first. By the way, how's Kenny recuperating? What a terrifying crash! J o e y | ||
| smokin_dave
Member Username: smokin_dave Post Number: 69 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hey Joey, Just came back from visiting Kenny and he is doing real good.He's got a couple of guitars with him in rehab and we have a couple of gigs coming up so things are getting better all the time.We'll prop him up in a wheel chair,stap his guitar on and turn him loose.He want's to race again too.Thanks for asking and for the advice.I have good friends at the store I'll be teaching at and they will give me expert guidance.Speaking of which,I'm greatful for the expert advice I get from the good folks who cruise this board. Thanks everybody. | ||
| bigredbass
Intermediate Member Username: bigredbass Post Number: 172 Registered: 9-2002 |
smokin' dave: My favorite method book from someone who really knows is a set of five books by Chuck Rainey, "The Complete Electric Bass Player", published by Amsco. Volume One is ISBN0.8256.2425.8. This course starts you from absolute zero and builds from there. I highly recommend it. I love racing, but it sure is hard on your heart. Glad to hear KB is coming along so well. J o e y | ||
| 811952
Junior Username: 811952 Post Number: 22 Registered: 10-2003 |
For advanced students, the Real Book is a wonderful resource. Have them learn the melodies and play the chords in several different keys. Teach them how to phrase things the way horn players do, as well as to carry a groove like bass players should. That will help them aquire the mental tools to make decisions about leading the beat (jazzy stuff) or pocket playing. I have never been a competent keyboard player, but I agree that visualizing the chords and voicings on a keyboard will serve them well, but not as well as visualizing them on the bass, IMHO. Nothing wrong with playing chords on a bass... | ||
| smokin_dave
Member Username: smokin_dave Post Number: 72 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hey Joey, I was just at the store getting aquainted with my new surroudings.I picked up Hal Leonard's Electric Bass 1 written by Dan Dean.It has standard notation and Tab and seemed as good as any starter book I've seen.I didn't know about the Rainey series,I'm going to check that out for sure,thanks.Chuck Rainey is a favorite of mine.What a great player. I hear ya about racing being heavy on the heart sometimes.Now that I have become so close to one of the drivers aiming one of those IRL rockets around an oval track,It makes it a little less enjoyable than before for me to watch a race.But I still love auto racing too.;-) | ||
| smokin_dave
Member Username: smokin_dave Post Number: 73 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hey 811952, Very good points indeed.I intend to stress to everybody the importance of timing and rhythm.I'll keep an eye out for The Real Book.I figure that I'll use blues for a good starting point with beginner's since I feel that blues and jazz are the roots for all of today's music.Plus it's pretty easy to play a blues song in a short amount of time.Advanced students will be another matter.All in all it's going to be a new experience for me for sure. | ||
| palembic
Senior Member Username: palembic Post Number: 707 Registered: 9-2002 |
BROTHER DINO COME QUICK THIS WAY ...THEY'RE TALKING TEACHING BASS. Well brothers ...I don't get it: Brother Paul the fake one (the artist formerly known as Dino) is also a great teacher. I know he has a web-site where he always put down some lessons. He's the "odd-meter-dude" from BIT, so I guess some kind of walking metronome-with-a-twist. I suppose we all yell together ...maybe he'll come. Okay ... 1 - 2 - 3 .... Paul the bad one | ||
| dean_m
Advanced Member Username: dean_m Post Number: 207 Registered: 7-2002 |
Yes Yes Yes my brothers!!!! I am here!! I've been following this thread and I was going to chime in sooner or later. Everyone here has given great advice too!!! Through my experience, what works for one student may not work for others. I went through a phase where I tried to get all of my students into the same book. That didn't work at all. In fact, I rarely use any sort of method book. I pretty much hand write out everything or do it on my computer. I will go to certain books if I think my student might get something out of it. Like the Standing In The Shadows book, or a Real Book per se. The way I develop lessons now is to really listen to the students needs. Of course with beginners it's a different game. You sort of have to guide them more so than an intermediate or advanced player. My first lesson with any student is more of a consultation. From there I start a lesson program geared towards the students needs. Then I try to incorporate that material towards the students needs. Of course, the fundamentals have to be covered first. If a student can't read music, then that's where we have to start first so that he/she can practice the lesson. There are fundamentals that the student needs to learn but may not want to learn too. This is where you have to really turn that lesson into something the student will want to learn. Let's say minor pentatonic scales for instance. The typical phrase is "why do I need to know that?" Well because 90% of any classic rock riff is based off of that scale, and then give examples. I've also learned to try to budget the time. If it's a 1/2 hour lesson, devote 15mins to fundamentals and 15 mins to say learning a tune. This works with start off beginners, I usually do an hour once my student starts to progress. Like FMM said too, if you have a student that's in a band program, then you have a built in lesson every week for them. Also, here is one of my biggest pet peeves. Always keep a lesson log for each student so when the student comes into the lesson, you're not asking them "so what did we cover last week" I'm the teacher, I should know this as well as the student. Plus I usually try to prepare a lesson for them the night before so the log let's me reference back to what they're working on. I don't give lessons at a music store either for a few reasons. 1. I can budget my time accordingly for each student. 2. I get to keep the money instead of giving half back to the store. 3. I also have all of my materials on hand for my students to borrow or check out, such as books, videos, cds etc. Kind of like my own personal library. I think the most important thing is to really care about the student. Yeah it is a way to earn some extra cash but, having 20-30 kids a week really doesn't do you or the student any good if you can't really give them your undivided attention. I only have about 8 students at this time and I'll probably never go more than 10 per week because of my shedule. Most of them are beginners to intermediate and when they study with me, it's their time. The phone gets turned off, my family knows not to interupt. They're paying for my time. One other thing that I do that some of you may or may not agree with is this. If a student pre-pays for lessons which most of them do (4 weeks in advance), and then they cancel a lesson, even if it's a 1/2 hour before their lesson time, I don't charge them for the lesson. We just continue on the following week. I don't let it become a habit of course. The reason I do that is because I do give lessons out of my house, I just look at it as time I can use for something else while I'm at home. If I was at a store it would be a completely different situation because I would be stuck there for that 1/2 hour. My students are very important to me and I do little things to show it. I give a free lesson on the weeks of their birthdays. If there's a player in town I think they should see, we'll go and check them out. Things like that. I had some great teachers in my time that took the time to show me what I need to learn as a musician but also went that extra step too. It's just about them showing a genuine interest in my education. There is nothing more rewarding than going to a student's gig and seeing the enjoyment that they get out of some of the things you passed on to them. If any of you collect Bass Player Magazine, there is an article inside the back cover that was written a little while back by one of my teachers, Steve Bailey, about his experience with one of his first teachers. I'll look up that issue for you. It's pretty interesting. Anyway, Dave, or anyone for that matter, I'm always here to help. I hope this sheds some light on what I do. Peace, Dino | ||
| palembic
Senior Member Username: palembic Post Number: 710 Registered: 9-2002 |
Ok ...do you can fit me in your schedule?? | ||
| bassplaynmatt
Junior Username: bassplaynmatt Post Number: 28 Registered: 9-2003 |
Wow Dino! You are quit enlightened. I have to say I agree with everything you had to say. I am a fairly young player (24) and I studied the instrument in college not to long ago. The things that made me truly love my "one on one" lesson time are all those personal touches you talked about. In-fact, me and my professor got along so well we stopped having lessons in his office and started basically hanging at his house where he hipped me to Jaco and all the other wonderful things that I had missed being bread on rock & roll. I was even lucky enough to have him preform on a portion of my senior recital, he played upright on a few standards and I took the melody instrument role. He also turned me own to playing the Bach Cello suits on bass and that basically taught me fret-board theory for the stratosphere of the 6 string. Anyway Dave, I guess the point I am making is that to teach music IMHO is far beyond being just another gig. It has the possibility of passing on a passion and love that can only be had through playing. Take it from just another satisfied student, if you as a teacher can show how much playing means to you than your students will follow that example. Later, Matt | ||
| 811952
Junior Username: 811952 Post Number: 23 Registered: 10-2003 |
Yeah, what HE said... John | ||
| mica
Moderator Username: mica Post Number: 1206 Registered: 6-2000 |
My first bass teacher was at the local music store. He was a probably good teacher, but he wasn't the right teacher for me (perhaps the same as I wasn't the right student for him). It's hard to explain, but there was never really any "connection" between us. After about three months of lessons, I was feeling extremely uninspired and gave it up alltogether and went back to 100% piano. Years later, the bug to learn bass spoke up and I found a truly remarkable teacher that was the perfect fit. I only lament that he was so gifted he went off to college and then graduate school which was 500 miles away  and I only got the study with him for about a year. Boo hoo for me but hooray for Justin! | ||
| palembic
Senior Member Username: palembic Post Number: 711 Registered: 9-2002 |
Don'r cry Mica. Look outside ...they are que-ing to give you bass lessons! There is a new horizon opning for you (okay ...get those violins coming now!) Paul the bad one | ||
| 811952
Junior Username: 811952 Post Number: 24 Registered: 10-2003 |
20 years or so ago I sat in on a bass master class with Tim Bogert at BIT. I wasn't a student, but back then you could get into just about any class if you were simply carrying a bass. Anyway, we all sat in a big circle and just jammed on chords in a given key, with Tim calling out numbers. It was cool, though basic (no pun intended) and a lot of the guys really seemed to get inspired by watching and listening to other people jamming. Kind of like the two-drumsets thing Alan White does at his drum clinics. *Somebody* needs to start organizing more of these sorts of master class/get-togethers for us bassists here in the midwest.. :-) | ||
| dean_m
Advanced Member Username: dean_m Post Number: 208 Registered: 7-2002 |
Paul, anytime you can come in for a leeson, I'll always make the time. Matt, I don't know if I would call it enlightenment. I've got a longtime to go before I reach any sort of enlightenment. I guess I just love what I do. Because of that, I love to give some of it back. John, funny you should mention Tim Bogert too. Tim Bogert is a great friend of mine. I too met him when I was at BIT and we've been best friends ever since. He's is one of the teachers I was referring too as well. I learned just as much about fixing my Harley (don't worry, I won't go there) as I did about playing rock bass with Tim. When I was a student at BIT, he saw me pull in the parking lot one day on my bike. We started talking about bikes, the next thing I knew, I was invited every Sunday up to his house to hang out and talk about basses and bikes. That was in 91, we've been best friends ever since. Tim was one of those teachers that gave so much to his students. He also gave it in another way if you didn't give it 100% if you know what I mean. He was tough but very understanding. I am in the process of trying to organize a sort of Live Playing Workshop in my area. I want to get other students of other instruments involved as well. So that drummers, guitar players, bass players, keyboards all have a way to put together the things that they learn in the lessons but have no band or outlet to go try them out. Music stores won't give up there valuable retail space for one night and it's hard to find a lease spot for one or two nights a month. I will make it work though!!! Somehow!! Thats enough for now, I've gone longwinded enough already. Peace, Dino |
