Bassists to study with for college?

NewYorkBassist · #1 09-01-2008, 02:34 PM

What are good teachers to study with for college (for bass performance)? I'm just looking for different opinions.

Ok, just to add a bit, I'm a german bow player, and I play in the classical style. I'd like to hopefully have a solo/chamber career, at least that is what I am aiming for.
Thanks everyone!
Louisa

mattgray · #2 09-01-2008, 07:37 PM

Bruce Bransby is a guy I couldn't recommend enough. I'm a freshie here at IU, and even after 2 lessons my excerpts have gotten (I think) exponentially better. He's an excerpt man, and he teaches them damned well.

thedbassist · #3 09-01-2008, 07:52 PM

Paul Ellison at Rice
Hal Robinson at Curtis
Ed Barker at Boston U
These are only if you're one of the best in the country.

damonsmith · #4 09-02-2008, 12:48 AM

Mark Dresser at UCSD.

Jason Sypher · #5 09-02-2008, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedbassist

Paul Ellison at Rice
Hal Robinson at Curtis
Ed Barker at Boston U
These are only if you're one of the best in the country.

Ouch!

koricancowboy · #6 09-02-2008, 01:11 PM

Depends on what you want to do. If you want to play in an orchestra, study from a pro orchestra musician, jazz a pro jazz player, solo bass a soloist, new music... well you know what I'm gonna say. There are many great teachers. Checking the status of their former students is a great to gauge the efficacy of their approach. At the end of the day it is all about the dynamic between you and your teacher. Before you make a decision about a school, I'd highly recommend taking a lesson with the potential teacher if you can. Thats just my 2¢. Good luck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by thedbassist

Paul Ellison at Rice
Hal Robinson at Curtis
Ed Barker at Boston U
These are only if you're one of the best in the country.

And if you are one of the best in the country, go get a job. I think Minnesota is hiring and so is Atlanta.

Cheers,
Oz

Eli_Upright12 · #7 09-02-2008, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by damonsmith

Mark Dresser at UCSD.

I didnt know he taught, I though he was mostly a soloist. He's amazing. The things he does with harmonics blow my mind.

thedbassist · #8 09-02-2008, 02:15 PM

To clarify, one of the best in the country at your age level, which is around 18 for most undergraduate students.

WJGreer · #9 09-02-2008, 02:29 PM

At the University of Texas, John Fremgen as a jazz player and Dave Neubert as a classical guy. Both journeymen. I studied with Neubert briefly, Fremgen came after I had finished but I hear great things.

Plus, there is much to be said for attending school in a musically vibrant community - there are tons of opportunities to play outside of the curriculum.

Dr_Atomic · #10 09-02-2008, 05:29 PM

Timothy Cobb is the guy to study with! At Juilliard, MSM, SUNY Purchase, or Lynn in FL. I loved working with him at Juilliard.

Also, Jeremy McCoy (the Met's assistant principal) will be on faculty at MSM starting in fall 2009. He's fantastic and everyone should seriously consider working with him. Peter Lloyd at Northwestern is also terrific. A friend of mine is really enjoying working with David Moore & Paul Ellison at Colburn... and I've heard great things from friends at IU with Bransby. I also had a great time working with Todd Seeber and Larry Wolfe at Tanglewood, they're both great choices - I think they're both on faculty at NEC, and Todd's on faculty at BU.

txstatebass · #11 09-02-2008, 09:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WJGreer

At the University of Texas, John Fremgen as a jazz player and Dave Neubert as a classical guy. Both journeymen. I studied with Neubert briefly, Fremgen came after I had finished but I hear great things.

Plus, there is much to be said for attending school in a musically vibrant community - there are tons of opportunities to play outside of the curriculum.

Fremgen is still there, but alas Neubert has moved to a different position at the school. The Bass teacher (Classical) is none other than the great Daxun Zhang

Speaking of Texas, we have Bradetich at UNT, the afore mention Paul Ellison at Rice, Mark FREAKING Morton at Texas Tech, Lynn Seaton at UNT, Steve Zeserman (My old teach and an AMAZING teacher) at UTSA, and David Dawson at Texas State (Go Bobcats) Gonna be a lot of great young players here soon...

NewYorkBassist · #12 09-03-2008, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr_Atomic

Timothy Cobb is the guy to study with! At Juilliard, MSM, SUNY Purchase, or Lynn in FL. I loved working with him at Juilliard.

Also, Jeremy McCoy (the Met's assistant principal) will be on faculty at MSM starting in fall 2009. He's fantastic and everyone should seriously consider working with him. Peter Lloyd at Northwestern is also terrific. A friend of mine is really enjoying working with David Moore & Paul Ellison at Colburn... and I've heard great things from friends at IU with Bransby. I also had a great time working with Todd Seeber and Larry Wolfe at Tanglewood, they're both great choices - I think they're both on faculty at NEC, and Todd's on faculty at BU.

I actually just had a lesson with Jeremy McCoy! And I've heard great things about Timothy Cobb from some of his other students as well.

Also, thanks to everyone who has commented so far!
-Louisa

damonsmith · #13 09-03-2008, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eli_Upright12

I didnt know he taught, I though he was mostly a soloist. He's amazing. The things he does with harmonics blow my mind.

He has his teacher's, Bert Turetzky's old job. He is good for those wanting a big overview of the bass, he has had orchestra jobs, studied with Bert, Petrrachi and Fernando Grillo and has obviously had that long career in jazz, improvised music and new music.

jgbass · #14 09-03-2008, 07:46 PM

If you are considering studying with Mark Dresser at UCSD. be aware that this university focuses on "new" music. Even when I attended their jazz camp there was a lot of interest and instruction in that area. Burt Turetzky also has a number of interesting CDs. You can sample them on amazon.com.

koricancowboy · #15 09-03-2008, 09:16 PM

Greg Sarchet (Lyric Opera and Roosevelt University) and Rob Kassinger (CSO and Depaul University) in Chicago are fierce teachers. A couple of the nicest guys you'll meet too.

Dr_Atomic · #16 09-04-2008, 07:25 AM

+1 on Kassinger being great. I've never had a lesson with Greg Sarchet, but I've met him and he's a very nice guy.

-Depending on what you're looking for, you should consider whether you want to study at a university or at a conservatory. If you go to a university, you'll have academic requirements that you won't have at a conservatory...

-Try to find someone to study with (ideally) whose playing you admire and who you get along well with. I had a teacher who was extremely nice, great teacher in theory, but we just didn't get along so I didn't get much out of lessons and ended up switching to a different teacher.

-Other good teachers who haven't been mentioned yet are Chris Hanulik at UCLA, Don Palma at Yale & NEC, Ben Levy at the Boston Conservatory, Tim Pitts at Rice, and Orin O'Brien at Juilliard & MSM.

-Yes, Tim Cobb is really terrific. He knows it all - Solos, chamber rep, excerpts (opera & orchestral - he was in the CSO before the Met), etc. and he's a great teacher! I would definitely highly recommend auditioning for his studio.

-I worked with Todd Seeber at Tanglewood for a few years, and he's a great German bow player. He really knows his excerpts, and is a great chamber coach and soloist. He's also a fantastic teacher in general, great player, & super nice. Same goes for Ed Barker and Larry Wolfe - They know just about everything, too. Both are amazing players, effective teachers, and nice people.

There are a lot of great teachers out there! Good luck with your college search & auditions!

Best wishes.

NewYorkBassist · #17 09-08-2008, 06:20 AM

Thank you to everyone, for your suggestions.
Louisa