Private Instruction

As bassists in today's world of jazz we tend to be overlooked and under "listened" to. Sad to say most of the blame lies within us. We have fallen into this lazy tendency of "oh, they're not listening anyway" and subject ourselves to the "stock" bass lines. The reason they're not listening friends is because we're not giving them anything to listen to. It's about our note choice, our sound, our harmonic choices, our rhythmic choices; if we investigate these options and apply them to our performances, we can achieve better results and explore more possibilities!

In the One on One lessons, we work on a multitude of ways to ameliorate your performance in the practice room and on the gig.

We'll look at the necessary tools for achieving a good sound on your instrument.

01: Bass, Harmony & Rhythm

Bass: Technique - Major scales 3-4 octaves Pizz. and Arco in circle of fifths starting @ 60 BPM
- Minor arpeggios (1, 3, 5, 7, 1, 3, 5, 7, 1, 3, 5) in circle of fifths Arco starting @ 60 BPM
- Diminished arpeggios ‘ ‘ E, F, F# starting @ 60 BPM
- Ring’s Things starting @ 70 BPM up to 120 BPM

Harmony: Piano - Major Arpeggios 4 octaves @ 45 BPM (this is just to HEAR, not for fingerings) in the circle of fifths.
- Hold Minor chord down with sustain pedal (in any inversion you can) (with bass) & play corresponding minor scale @ 60 BPM

Rhythm: Drums - Walk the dog with hi-hat on 2 & 4.

02: Analyze

Recordings: What are you listening for and who is playing it?

Learning Tunes: Choose 5 different recordings of the same tune and listen on repeat for a day. What are the similarities and differences? Transcribe the spots that speak to you--at the end you will have a firm ground on all the necessary material for that song.

03: Ensemble Playing

Do you know the changes? Well enough to play on piano?

In theory: What could you play to change the direction of a soloist or section? What can you do to increase the momentum of the band?

04: Sight Reading

Choose a page of 8 to 16 melodic phrases in any book or tune, classical or jazz; that you’ve never seen before and try to get it in the least amount of time. 

*Using a pencil, writing in fingerings, phrase shapes, and tricky rhythms that occur in the passage.

05: Classical

Pick any Bach Cello Suite Movement.

*It is currently only possible to book a minimum of (4) four private lessons. Please use our lesson request form below to inquire about Joe's availability and scheduling options.