Lessons with the Pros

[sulcobass]

Hey I was wondering what people think about asking for a lesson. Say Medeski martin and wood is coming to your town is it appropriate to ask Chris Woo d if he would ever give a lesson

2: how do you ask?

if anyone has an opinion it would be very helpful

thanks

[damonsmith]

It can work. They Generally are expensive. It can be best if they have a specific quality you are after. For example when I had an opurtunity to get a few lessons with John Lindberg I really wanted to know about the really driving, propulsive sound he has with the bow. He can really drive a band with an arco line. So he showed me a lot about that and even though it was just a few lessons I found it really productive. Ditto for Mark Dresser in regard to how the overtone series relates to the tempered pitches on the bass fingerboard.
So try to find something special about their playing that you would like to learn about. Try Emailing their site or contacting the local promoter.

[Aaron Saunders]

Originally Posted by damonsmith

It can work. They Generally are expensive. It can be best if they have a specific quality you are after. For example when I had an opurtunity to get a few lessons with John Lindberg I really wanted to know about the really driving, propulsive sound he has with the bow. He can really drive a band with an arco line. So he showed me a lot about that and even though it was just a few lessons I found it really productive. Ditto for Mark Dresser in regard to how the overtone series relates to the tempered pitches on the bass fingerboard.
So try to find something special about their playing that you would like to learn about. Try Emailing their site or contacting the local promoter.

+1 Good idea.

I take it MMW is coming to your area?

Go for it, man. Damon's got the right idea...good luck.

[Bruce Lindfield]

I have found no problem getting to talk and have lessons with UK Jazz pros - most of whom, are involved with education in a big way, anyway.

I suppose it depends on how busy the person is - so if they are on a world tour, where they have to be in a different capital city every night - then they might not have time for anything but sleeping and eating!!

Also - they will be gone before you can arrange anything....?

I suppose it depends very much on where you live - so if you live in a city, like I do - then there are likely to be at least a few professional bass players who are quite open to giving lessons, even if they don't advertise.

If you live in the middle of nowhere then I suppose it's going to be very difficult... ?

[Andy Allen]

Originally Posted by mb1

I learned a long time ago that as long as you're not being a pest, and are willing to take no for an anwer and still be gracious, you may be pleasantly surprised at the number of people who say yes.

I’m lucky to be living in L.A., as many great players pass through here on tours or live here and play in the local Jazz clubs when they are not away. I almost always get to talk to them afterwards, and without exception they have been wonderfully gracious and accessible. In our conversation I usually ask if they teach, and mostly they have politely declined (Dave Carpenter was unable to teach because he was just about go on tour with Herbie Hancock – now that’s a pretty good reason ). On the other hand I got lucky with my present teacher, Putter Smith, after speaking to him at an Alan Broadbent gig.

Originally Posted by Bruce Lindfield

I suppose it depends on how busy the person is - so if they are on a world tour, where they have to be in a different capital city every night - then they might not have time for anything but sleeping and eating!!
Also - they will be gone before you can arrange anything....?

Originally Posted by mb1

One thing I'd sure like to see more of in my area - equipment manufacturers will often sponsor 'road shows' where some major talent will tag along for promotional 'clinic'. We get a few of these here but not nearly as many as the major cities do.

Many of these pro’s schedule private lessons around their musical or demonstration tours, officially or unofficially, to help fill their dead time with something worthwhile and make a little extra money. I’m kicking myself for not contacting Danny Thompson enough ahead of time to get together with him while he was here with Richard Thompson last year – I saw the great live show, and I’m keeping my eye on the schedule for next time.

Andy

[threshar]

There's a company that has just gotten started called Music Virtuosity - www.musicvirtuosity.com. Their big thing is arranging private lessons via webcams with their teachers. The lesson is private, and i t is personal (not a recording, but done via a webcam). I think this is a great idea in our day and age, especially when you want a lesson with a real pro and cannot travel for various reasons.

They just got started, and currently have Aram Bedrosian, Kai echhardt and Stu Hamm teaching.

as for asking chris wood, I'd say try it. the worst that'll happen is he'll say no (He may not have any time to set aside for it. but you never know).

[Ed Fuqua]

When I used to live in East Bum****, ANYTIME ANYBODY came through, I'd be pulling their coat about a lesson, to talk to me about what to work on, what to listen to,what it was like in NYC, what it was like to work with Jimmy Cobb, basically ANY information they could give me about playing.
I'd show up when the band got there to see if they needed any help with equipment, if they needed coffee or a drink, if they needed directions to a vegan restaurant, basically ANYTHING I could do to transform from Another Guy Asking Me Questions into That Nice Helpful Guy.

They don't usually have a whole hell of a lot of time, but they are also Bereft of Things To Do after the hit. So, depending on whether or not they are sleep deprived, they may be more amenable to spending time after the gig. You want to have some familiarity with them and the music they have played (John Williams was kinda stand offish until somebody else backstage asked him about his recordings and I was able to rattle off a bunch of'em and the one that I said was my favorite was one that he felt pretty good about. After that hanging out was no prollem), you want to (as DEMON says) have soem idea about what you want to get out of the lesson. Although, I gotta say, most of the cats that I met coming throug were pretty up front about saying that there wasn't anything that we could deal with in the short amount of time we could spend that would significantly change anything about my playing; that lessons are more about consistent work than they are about That One Thing. So mostly we would hang and they would listen to me play and talk about what they heard in my playing and what musicians they thought I should check out to reinforce those inclinations. There were a few specific suggestions about physical approach (whyncha try this?), but most of it was almost philosophical.
So I got to hang with John B. Williams, Walter Booker, Roy McCurdy, Michael Wolff, Ronnie Matthews, Jimmy Cobb, Bill Barron, Clifford Jordan and Junior Mance; none of these guys asked for a dime in exchange for whatever knowledge they shared.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

Although, I gotta say, most of the cats that I met coming throug were pretty up front about saying that there wasn't anything that we could deal with in the short amount of time we could spend that would significantly change anything about my playing; that lessons are more about consistent work than they are about That One Thing.

So mostly we would hang ...none of these guys asked for a dime in exchange for whatever knowledge they shared.

Yes - so there are (at least) two different things here.

So firstly - a few Jazz pros do live in my City and I have had regular(ish) formal lessons, after having talked to them at a gig I saw them play.

But also, as Ed says, if there are touring Jazz guys playing a gig that I'm interested in, then I will make an effort to go and buy them a drink, chat to them and ask questions. No expectation - just genuine interest and exchange of ideas!

I think it all goes towards learning about the art and also watching thes guys play at close quarters, seeing what they do in certain situations - can often yield as much info as a formal lesson - but in a different way!

I have also been lucky enough to combine all these things - so having seen something happen at a gig, then later ask the person involved at a more formal teaching situation (e.g. Jazz Summerschool) - what the **** was going on when you played at xxxxx with Xxxxx ......?

[Zachmozach]

A teacher of mine has a great story about getting lessons from Ray Brown. He had somehow been in contact with him in Chicago maybe, but I don't really remember and he had turned him down for lessons. However he knew where he lived and just showed up when he knew he would be home all day knocked on the door and told Ray he would be on the porch until he felt like teaching him. Ray actually gave him a lesson and at this time my teacher was just playing fretless EB and apparently Ray was cracking up watching him try to pull his big amp out of his car and his gear and just stood at the top of the stairs laughing and then he told him, "Why don't you get a real bass sucka"?

Then when he found out he could play he really dug teaching him and was even curious about some concepts he had.

However I've heard it's best to get lessons from the pros during things like jazzfests or at workshops. Sometimes though it's just not going to happen.

[damonsmith]

Originally Posted by airbass

I On the other hand I got lucky with my present teacher, Putter Smith, after speaking to him at an Alan Broadbent gig.

- Great player. Did you ever ask him about how he ended up in a Bond movie? He played Mr. Kid in "Diamonds Are Forever". You can't really get more hip than that!
I just saw a huge poster of him on kiosk at LACMA last weekend.