hey there Janek

[pierreganseman]

Hey Dude, I was wondering the influence of classical music(especially Bach) on yourself and your playing? Is it something you have studied? would you recommend it?

Thanks for any advise! :-)
Keep on rocking! :-)

[black.rose1402]

I'm going to answer as if I were Janek lol

if Bach influenced him:
"yes bach is an influence, anyway, anything you learn can be helpful, especially great music by bach.
It can help you with sight reading, melodies, awareness of cadences, technique...
so yes, go for it.
easy."

if bach didn't influence him:

"I didn't worked too much on Bach stuff, but his melodies are great, and a lot of musician have learned a lot from such a great composer.
It will definitely help your reading, your technique...
so it's not about what I practiced, and not about what I think, it's just about what you think about bach and what his works can bring to your playing, or even more, your music knowledge.
easy"

lol

[middlebit]

Originally Posted by black.rose1402

I'm going to answer as if I were Janek lol

if Bach influenced him:
"yes bach is an influence, anyway, anything you learn can be helpful, especially great music by bach.
It can help you with sight reading, melodies, awareness of cadences, technique...
so yes, go for it.
easy."

if bach didn't influence him:

"I didn't worked too much on Bach stuff, but his melodies are great, and a lot of musician have learned a lot from such a great composer.
It will definitely help your reading, your technique...
so it's not about what I practiced, and not about what I think, it's just about what you think about bach and what his works can bring to your playing, or even more, your music knowledge.
easy"

lol

LOL / what the hell?!

[black.rose1402]

it's just my way of saying "whatever works for you" lol.
I think the answer to the op is pretty simple, go to any interview of any great musician, and I think most of them have, at some point, got interested in Bach.

an easy one:

Jaco with the chromatic fantasy.
Phineas Newborn was a great classical pianist
Richard Tee in his video told that Bach gave him his fingerings
and the list goes on.

Classical music is really interesting because it offers a lot to the one who decides to analyse it.
the way composers use melody, the contrapuntal language (especialy with bach) opens a lot harmonically.
I love the way Mozart's descending chromatic chords to fit a melody in a piece I used to play on the piano.

the more vocabulary you get, the richer your playing and music will be.

that's just my opinion.

[janekbass]

I studied classical guitar for many years before picking up the bass, and as a bass player and just as a musician in general I have a great affection for classical music.

It's harmonically very rich, and melodically there's just so much stuff out there it's an endless pit of inspiration. A lot of my technique on the bass is maintained by using a classical piano technique book, the Hanon Virtuoso Pianist. And I have played many pieces of classical music on the bass when I'm practicing.

Bach's writing is very close to what ended up becoming bebop so I've checked a lot of it out to help with phrasing and technique.

Easy,

Janek