I'm so offended

[AlphaMale]

I've called a couple of universities that offer degrees in music. I asked a couple if I could take Electric bass as their main instrument and they get an attitude. They suddenly get a tone like electric bass is beneath double bass. They say "NO WE DO NOT TEACH ELECTRIC BASS AT THIS SCHOOL"

I know it's a classical instrument but why do they at so snobby about it?

[RWP]

Because they are losers. Everyone knows EB>DB.

[funkometer]

Welcome to the real world, they just want your money anyways.......

[JKT]

It has mostly to do with history and tradition, two areas that make it easy for people to act like idiots.

Double bass has been around mostly since there have been orchestras and so to much of academia it is a "real" instrument. Electric bass is less than 60 years old and so is not "steeped in antiquity" like double bass.

What these people do not realize is that when it comes to tradition there was always a time when what they hold dear was not "tradition" Like Victa once said: "when they invented the car the guy that invented the horse and buggy was probably really mad"

Another thing academia does not realize or admit is that the electric is capable of doing things that the double will never be able to do. And that is no slight against the upright, it is just fact. If you wanna really get mad at music schools just check out what they do to most peoples vocal ability by the time they get a degree. Natural singers enter music schools all the time only to have their voices "weaponized" with unnatural vibratos and all sorts of unpleasant opera-like techniques that is all but useless for anything else.

JKT

[drwhiteguy]

Maybe they don't want to have to compete with the bigger budget schools that would give honorary doctorites in Funkology to Flea and the like to teach classes there.

There are so many great electric players that young people would want the "names" to teach them. College is very much a business.

[Jim Carr]

I agree is it unfortunate that there aren't more electric bass programs. I might also note that Music Technology (synths, recording, etc.) has changed quickly in the last couple of decades. Most schools are scrambling to cope with that, so it does seem very short-sighted to track music tech, but not electric bass, which in many ways is the defining instrument of Popular (vernacular) music. I might also note that many Musicologists now specialize in vernacular music and even so-called world music, so it is quite hypocritical of music departments to ignore the electric bass, which is a big part of those fields.

However, in their defense (sort of), they want you to become a very thoroughly trained musician. It is not surprising that they focus on instruments for which they have a very large written repertoire and over 500 hundred years of history and pedagogy, not to mention an entrenched system of musical education. Also, they believe they are doing you a favor by making you learn double bass, partly because it is so important to Jazz, which has a lot more respect, as Art, than popular music. We could go into a long argument about popular music as Art, but I won't join in.

Classical is a general term, unless used to describe just the late 18th and early 19th century central european styles of instrumental music (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and company). In fact, there are so many different styles of what we call generically classical music, that it is really hard to list them all. Think of it this way: every (mostly european) locale/court and every 20 years, for say 500 years has a different style--assuming you want to draw an arbitrary line at around the date 1500, which is about when you start seeing music for large viols that are really double basses. The double bass has a musical role to play in most of those styles and repertoires.

Also, IMHO, studying double bass is also a great way to become a much better musician and bassist in every way. It allows you to play in lots of different kinds of ensembles and in an endless number of styles where the electric bass has very little presence (yet).

I am not defending these schools, I am just trying to explain why things are as they are.

Advice: Speak directly to the bass teacher(s) at a given school. If they are interested in you as a prospective student, you may be able to get credit for electric bass lessons as part of your study.

[AlphaMale]

Yeah man I agree with all of you guys. I am finding a few that od offer it. But most of them are saying no.
Cal State Northridge said that the only time they let an electric bassist play was when he was amazing, and they didn't even let him take a performing class they made him take music industry.

[Dr. Cheese]

Originally Posted by AlphaMale

I've called a couple of universities that offer degrees in music. I asked a couple if I could take Electric bass as their main instrument and they get an attitude. They suddenly get a tone like electric bass is beneath double bass. They say "NO WE DO NOT TEACH ELECTRIC BASS AT THIS SCHOOL"

I know it's a classical instrument but why do they at so snobby about it?

Check the school where I work: Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. They offer degrees in jazz performance, and bass guitar can be your main instrument here.

www.siue.edu

BTW, I am not in the music department.

[AlphaMale]

Originally Posted by Jim Carr

I agree is it unfortunate that there aren't more electric bass programs. I might also note that Music Technology (synths, recording, etc.) has changed quickly in the last couple of decades. Most schools are scrambling to cope with that, so it does seem very short-sighted to track music tech, but not electric bass, which in many ways is the defining instrument of Popular (vernacular) music. I might also note that many Musicologists now specialize in vernacular music and even so-called world music, so it is quite hypocritical of music departments to ignore the electric bass, which is a big part of those fields.

However, in their defense (sort of), they want you to become a very thoroughly trained musician. It is not surprising that they focus on instruments for which they have a very large written repertoire and over 500 hundred years of history and pedagogy, not to mention an entrenched system of musical education. Also, they believe they are doing you a favor by making you learn double bass, partly because it is so important to Jazz, which has a lot more respect, as Art, than popular music. We could go into a long argument about popular music as Art, but I won't join in.

Classical is a general term, unless used to describe just the late 18th and early 19th central european styles of instrumental music (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and company). In fact ,there are so many different styles of what we call generically classical music, that it is really hard to list them all. Think of it this way: every locale/court and every 20 years, for say 500 years has a different style--assuming you want to draw an arbitrary line at around the date 1500, which is about when you start seeing music for large viols that are really double basses. The double bass has a musical role to play in most of those styles and repertoires.

Also, IMHO, studying double bass is also a great way to become a much better musician and bassist in every way. It allows you to play in lots of different kinds of ensembles and in an endless number of styles where the electric bass has very little presence (yet).

I am not defending these schools, I am just trying to explain why things are as they are.

Advice: Speak directly to the bass teacher(s) at a given school. If they are interested in you as a prospective student, you may be able to get credit for electric bass lessons as part of your study.

Thanks for the advice.

But hey you know what else helps me become a better bassist... Playing bass.

[CaptainKY]

I am currently down here at Texas State University-San Marcos, and they allow you to do Electric Bass - if you are one of about 100 in the Sound Recording Technology program. Keep in mind there is about 30,000 students here, so that is pretty tough to get into. However you can do Jazz Studies and double on EB and Upright. So there are some places out there that will let you study what you want - but they are rare.

[Jim Carr]

Originally Posted by AlphaMale

Thanks for the advice.

But hey you know what else helps me become a better bassist... Playing bass.

Agreed!

But really it's not just about bass for them, it's about their students become educated and well-trained musicians. I am not saying playing bass is not a good way to improve musicianship (and bass playing), it is. It's just that there is a very big world of music out there with no electric bass in it, and they have a perspective from that place.

If you want to study electric bass, you might study it with the best private teacher you can find while getting a degree in something that interests you and which might be a way to support yourself until the bass can do that. You can probably minor in music and take most of the courses you want anyway--but check this very carefully, because all schools have rules and priorities that favor majors for entrance into classes, ensembles, etc.

[AlphaMale]

California baptist unviersity just said Electric bass isn't a legitimate instrument.

[Jim Carr]

I'd say it might be good to get the names of some of these dopes!

If it is any comfort, they said the same thing about the piano for about 75 years, too.

No? I guess I didn't really think it would be...

[AlphaMale]

I will edit the list of the colleges in california

Yes's
-------------------------------
California Polytechnic State University *
California State University, Chico *
California State University, Fullerton *
California State University, Stanislaus*
Los Angeles Music Academy*
Mount Saint Mary's College*
Musicians Institute*
Biola University *
California Institute of the Arts*
California State University, Los Angeles
Point Loma Nazarene University

No's
------------------------------
California Baptist University
California State University, Long Beach
California State University, Northridge
Chapman University
Loyola Marymount University
California State University, San Bernardino
La Sierra University
Pacific Union College
Humboldt State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
The Colburn School

Maybe's
----------------------------------
Notre Dame De Namur University

[BellBottomBlues]

pffft why would you wanna go to college?

[Jim Carr]

Cool!

I think San Francisco State has an electric bass major, at least they used to when I was teaching there. Check them, too. It's a cool place (in more ways than one).

ps. Middle Tennesse University has a Jazz studies program for which it looks like electric bass is an option.

[Jim Carr]

Idea!

google this: electric bass syllabus

and the hits just keep on comin....

[BillMason]

Originally Posted by AlphaMale

I've called a couple of universities that offer degrees in music. I asked a couple if I could take Electric bass as their main instrument and they get an attitude. They suddenly get a tone like electric bass is beneath double bass. They say "NO WE DO NOT TEACH ELECTRIC BASS AT THIS SCHOOL"

I know it's a classical instrument but why do they at so snobby about it?

Maybe it's just that they don't have an electric bass prof? DB and EB are two different instruments, easy to confuse since the strings have the same pitch, but as except for string pitch about as different as guitar and banjo. I took two years of university level Jazz from a DB bass prof but my instrument was EB. Technique is approached completely differently between the two instruments; for example, you can't slap on a DB - so for a classical school, do you plan to bow your EB? You'll need a neck radius of like 3" and huge cutaways at the sides of the body to do it properly. Maybe you could invent something like that and they'd let you in!

[DocBop]

What's the big deal, you'll still be studying bass. You act like can't play EB anymore. You play DB at school and at home and on gigs you play EB. Most guys in school play both and the knowledge acquired on one enhanses the other. Plus being able to double just increases the number of jobs you can take. Bottom line your there to learn to play and write music that knowledge can be applied to any instrument.

Did you check USC I though they had a Jazz studies program. Doesn't Alphonso Johnson of Weather Report fame run their improv program. I would say get ahold of some of the teacher and or students at the school you like. They will usually paint a different picture than the administration office. I remember the college I went to was on paper the traditional music trainning. The head of the department was big jazzbo and the classes definitely were more modern than the office said they were.

[Jim Carr]

Originally Posted by DocBop

What's the big deal, you'll still be studying bass. You act like can't play EB anymore. You play DB at school and at home and on gigs you play EB. Most guys in school play both and the knowledge acquired on one enhances the other. Plus being able to double just increases the number of jobs you can take. Bottom line your there to learn to play and write music that knowledge can be applied to any instrument.

+1 DocBop

I might add that some places ofter EB study, but not as a major. You just gotta learn DB! Learning double bass was the best thing I ever did for my education, because it opened doors to "a great many things," (quoting an infamous Star Wars bad-guy).

My experience on double bass BEFORE I started school as a music major was mostly in playing square dances with string bands at Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University. I took a few lessons from a friend, bought a bass, learned some scales, and wrote my own audition piece. I'm pretty sure the audition commitee thought little of my arco, intonation, or of my mostly pizz. little piece (the notation was not too bad, though). HOWEVER, they saw that I was deeply committed, a self-starter, and could somehow see beyond my full beard and the pony-tail that reached nearly to my waist! OK, enough geezer stories, it was 32 years ago, cough.

Originally Posted by DocBop

Did you check USC I though they had a Jazz studies program. Doesn't Alphonso Johnson of Weather Report fame run their improv program. I would say get ahold of some of the teacher and or students at the school you like. They will usually paint a different picture than the administration office...

UCSD seems to have electric bass as an applied instrument. Again, googling electric bass syllabus will yield a lot of useful links, not to mention the contents of the syllabi.