Giving Upright a Try

[Ben Coffin]

So I've been playing electric for about 4 years, and I want to expand my bass playing into upright. I've convinced my parents to rent an upright for me for several months before I go off to college, to see if it's something I like. I've got a couple of questions first.

First, does anyone have any suggestions of a good place to rent an upright in the Alpharetta, Georgia area? I've looked at Atlanta Violins and North Fulton Strings, and both seem reasonable. I work in a music store that could rent me one, but I'm looking for a little bit better quality. My brother also bought a violin from Atlanta Violins, so we have a customer relationship there.

Second, what is the best way to get started? I play mostly jazz, fusion, and funk on electric, and I'd like to keep in a jazz style on upright, also trying some swing. Can you reccomend a couple of musicians to listen to, as well as books or any instructional material that might help me?

Thanks for the help

[AMJBASS]

Well, in all seriousness the best way to get started is to get a teacher. Find a reputable player in your area whos playing speaks to you. There are so many great players to go listen to that its difficult to make recommendations without knowing more about what you want to play. If you don't own Miles Davis's "Kind of Blue", go get that record(Paul Chambers on bass). Check out Ray Brown if you want to know the definition of swing! Ray Brown wrote a great book called Ray Browns Bass Method. Also check out John Goldsbys "The Jazz Bass Book" for a TON of information on some of the great jazz players, and some really good studying material. Lots of great stuff out there.

[Ben Coffin]

I'm a big Paul Chambers fan, I really enjoy his stuff, and I'll look into a lot of those other things.

[Herbie 80's]

Teacher. First and foremost. Find a good teacher, and bring him books that you want to learn from. It'll help you progress as a player a lot faster than just playing by yourself, and save you from the bad habits.

[Paul Warburton]

Ray is alway a great place to start, as is Paul, Red Mitchell, Scott LaFaro, Charles Mingus, Percy Heath, Sam Jones, Milt Hinton, Jimmy Blanton, Slam Stewart, Charlie Haden, Gary Peacock...etc.
There's a lot of threads where we talk about the historic players......

Here's one (below) where we throw around some names that aren't mentioned a whole bunch, or that you may not be aware of. The above players, just to mention a few, have many threads under their own names. (Under the Bassists, Jazz Technique
and Recordings forum Headings).

Underrated Doublebassists