Any TBer teaching bass in Staten Island, NY

[Papalampraina]

Hey there. I am looking for a bass teacher in Staten Island. If anyone is available, send me a pm.

[Ray man]

Wow, another staten islander.

I took a few lessons at the staten island school of rock.
It was ok If you wanna learn realy basic run of the mill blues bassed rock, but you can learn that anywhere.

If you realy wanna learn the deep things of music theory then forget it. These teachers are kids that will teach you the blues scale and the I-IV-V progression.

They learn the basics and the next thing you know, there somehow qulified to teach you .

[Papalampraina]

I was looking for a bass player that teaches, not a school. I know how to play, with lots of mistakes (self-taught), but I was looking to learn how to slap.

[bassmaster831]

Originally Posted by Ray man

Wow, another staten islander.

I took a few lessons at the staten island school of rock.
It was ok If you wanna learn realy basic run of the mill blues bassed rock, but you can learn that anywhere.

If you realy wanna learn the deep things of music theory then forget it. These teachers are kids that will teach you the blues scale and the I-IV-V progression.

They learn the basics and the next thing you know, there somehow qulified to teach you .

Hahah so true! I know alot of the people that work there and there aren't any actual bass players. Just guitarists that learned a bunch of covers on bass

[Ray man]

Yeah, the only thing I learned at that place was that I was better off teaching myself.

My teacher at the time told me thers no D in the key of C.
Obviously he was thinking a C triad, he had no clue that 9ths could be used as a chord tone especialy in a jazz.

But since hes the well repected teacher, that somehow made him right I guess.
So thers no D in the key of C from now on guys ok? Maybe if I start telling people this then I can get the same repect he does.

[Papalampraina]

Maybe I can get a job there. I'll even start a new cult, one that would prohibit finger style on bass.
Seriously now, anyone that can show me how to slap and some exercises?

[Ray man]

Originally Posted by Papalampraina

Maybe I can get a job there. I'll even start a new cult, one that would prohibit finger style on bass.
Seriously now, anyone that can show me how to slap and some exercises?

So sorry about the rant.

But in all my years of playing, slap was just not my thing.
However, I thing you have a great chance to learn it by watching youtube videos of people slappin. You'l find videos from good teachers that will set you straight.
Its like having many teachers. Just watch, you may pickup something from one video that you just didnt catch from another video. Watch em all, something will click.

[Papalampraina]

I'd like to get a teacher, because if I'm left to my own devices, I'll never do anything about it.
Btw, I don't mind ranting.

[Ray man]

Originally Posted by Papalampraina

I'd like to get a teacher, because if I'm left to my own devices, I'll never do anything about it.
Btw, I don't mind ranting.

Ok, in that case you migh have a better experience then I did finding a teacher. I just became closed minded after my experience and that motivated me to not underestimate my own ability to teach myself. From there any questions we easily answered by web searching and videos

I know you can get lessons from Lane Music, Rustic Music, Castellano's house of music, possibly Mandolin Brothers. Thats just off the top of my head.

Im sure anyone of them give you a slap, I mean slap lesson.

[GrooveChef]

Lots of teachers will do online lesson through skype. I know 1 great teacher in Bayside, Queens area. If u are interested I can give u the contact.

[Ray man]

Originally Posted by GrooveChef

Lots of teachers will do online lesson through skype. I know 1 great teacher in Bayside, Queens area. If u are interested I can give u the contact.

Yup, that sounds even better than watching you tube videos.

[maisbass]

Lessons are great but not necessary, it just will take a lot of dedication and drive and exposure to various styles of music. I am a fellow Staten Islander and I have been playing for over 30 years. I took one lesson in my life and it was a very bad experience for me. Obviously there are a lot of excellent teachers out there, especially in the city (Patrick Pfeiffer to name one), but with all of the info at your fingertips today, there is so much to learn from and absorb.

As for slap, I learned listening to Larry Graham, Louis Johnson, etc. There are so many great funk groups in the 70's to check out and to learn from. Bands like "Pleasure", "The Bar-Kays", "Sly and the Family Stone", "Rufus", "Fatback", "Parliament Funk", Rick James, the list goes on and on.

I taught myself by submerging myself in this music. Listening to it for hours on end, where the notes were placed, the nuances of the sounds coming out of the bass, etc. I had a lot of how the bleep did he do that moments??? It was hard back then because there were no videos to look at like now, I had to use my ears and figure it out.

There is a lot of good, and a lot of bad on You Tube. If you stick with watching videos of the major players of this technique such as Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, Anthony Wellington, Flea, Etc., you will pick it up. You're at an advantage to start learning that technique now as well. It has transformed over the years. I'm from the old school of bouncing off the string, whereas guys like Victor have taking it to a whole other level playing through the string, double thumping, etc. Simply amazing use of economy of motion. So hard for an old dog like me to learn new tricks.

If you want to learn some Music Theory, I highly recommend visiting Anthony Wellington's website. He has some great recommendations on must have books.

I don't mean to discourage you from finding a teacher, but just trying to inspire you that it is possible to do it on your own, as long as you have the ears, feel, and will to do so.

Another fantastic video to pick up is Victor Wooten's Groove Shop. I bought this a few years ago. After all my years of playing, I never thought that I could learn so much this late in the game from a video. That video is truly inspirational, and really opens your eyes on looking at music in a different way. If you could master what Vic is teaching in that video, there will be nothing you cannot accomplish.

Sorry for the long winded response. Hope this helps a bit.

[Papalampraina]

Kudos to you sir and for your post.

[pbass888]

2 names come to mind
1. tony cimorosi... great teacher in nj and does skype lessons great all around bassist in jazz funk etc on upright and electric
2.ray peterson great bassist will teach you slap... he is in astoria queens and i think does the online thing. his teacher was none other than jaco himself. he is a great player and a great guy. contact me if you want his info. good luck

[Kevin Hailey]

I live in Brooklyn but would be happy to come to S.I. to give you some lessons.
Send me a PM if you like.